Peterbilt 87-present page 3

While the Jade Sublime 389 paint is curing, I started this 378 as a heavy haul tractor. My original idea was along the JADE theme - dark metallic green with orange roof caps. Once I painted the roofs I know I didn't like the look.

I grabbed another set of roofs and painted them silver. I liked that look so I masked off the hood and painted the fenders and part of the hood silver. I will add an accent stripe - color not yet decided - then clear coat the body.9/26/09

The kit frame was extended 2 inches. I fabricated 5th wheel loading ramps, and reworked the fuel tanks eliminating the visible seams on the end caps. The rearward tanks are smaller than the forward tanks. (these are left over pieces used to lengthen the fuel tanks on Sublime 389 below) The ends were covered with Bare Metal Foil and polished to a luster. The faces of the fuel tanks were wrapped in Koitchi film.

As you can see, I decided against an accent stripe between the silver and green.

Parts: Italeri 378 main kit. Italeri Peterbilt 377 for the sleeper, quarter fenders, roof marker lights and extra fuel tanks. RNK/AITM tool cabinets (these same cabinets were previously on a two-tone green 377 that is now a wrecked-trailer mounted model). The crane is from an Italeri Accessories kit. The driver is from a parts box from another modeler. Front wheels and tires are from Kit Form Services. The rear tires are resin from Mo'Luminum. The mudflap hangers are from an Italeri Western Star. The extra turn signals and amber beacons are from an AMT amber tree, the beacon bases (round) are from the AMT Peterbilt Wrecker. Plano Model Products mesh used for the grille and round-hole mesh for the air cleaners. Thanks to Kurt McLucas for the correct Detroit Diesel color and MAG for the door sign decals. 10/11/09.

The cab is from the Italeri 378 with side panels from Spaulding Trading and Shipping. The hood, fenders, headlamps and bumper are also resin from Spaulding Trading and Shipping. The sleeper roof is resin from Budd Ricker. Note the shape of the lower sleeper panels. These are tapered to mimic the lower ledge of the cab door.

Inspired by a beautiful Peterbilt 389 glider built by JADE Transport of Winnipeg that I saw at the St.Ignace Truck Show.

I painted the entire body Duplicolor gloss black, then masked off the black and painted the lower half Tamiya lime green. This is my first (yes, the first) time using Tamiya paint, and I must say it goes on fantastic. The reason I don't use much of it is that I don't have a hobby shop within 100 miles that carries it.

I stretched the kit frame for a 268" wheelbase. The engine matches the exterior.

I plan on full rear fenders (parts coming from Sourkraut). The real truck has some radical rear bumper treatment that I don't think I will attempt.

Sublime is almost done (Oct 10,09), some small parts still to be added and a booger in the clear above the drivers door needs to be fixed (don't ask how I scratched the clear). Mr.Weatherman said cloudy and rain for days and days and this morning the sun came out for a short period - I took advantage of the sun and snapped a bunch of almost-finished pics. I'll take finished pics once the sun returns.

My honored guest to my truck room during the St.Ignace Truck show was the Ice Road Trucker Alex Debagorski.

Here's a kit I haven't built before, the Revell of Germany "Can-Do" Wrecker, based on the Stepp's Towing fleet.

twintriwreckermockup72109.jpg (118601 bytes)

I'm going with a tandem steer and tridrive. Instead of the 1/25th scale Peterbilt 359, mine will be on the 1/24th scale running gear/cab/sleeper of an Italeri kit. I widened the wrecker body to fit 1/24th scale. The frame is Evergreen channel. Started 7/14/09.

On 7/20/09 I painted the cab and body. The clear coat ended up a bit pebbly, so I used various rubbing compounds and waxes to bring a nice gloss to the parts.

This tandem steer, tri-drive wrecker has sure taken a long time to get built. It has graced my workbench from mid July to the end of August. I finally finished it! The wheels are painted with Alsa Killer Chrome spray system. Similar in appearance to Duplicolor Bumper Chrome, but not as thick and it dries. The grille screen is stainless mesh from Plano Model Products.

I got stuck on a company name for the wrecker. The decal from the Lindberg Dodge L700 flatbed with the old car on the flatbed had the perfect company name, an auto restoration business, ideal for a company with a wrecker service. I made the Winnipeg and phone numbers using Bare Metal Foil decal paper for ink jet printers. While taking the photos the bee's were swarming the model! They thought the amber marker lights looked like flowers.

One of the nice things about digital cameras (and also a bad thing) is that you can see detail in much closer/clearer views. I see several things that I have to fix, including the crooked left exhaust, the lower left exhaust elbow and trim some BMF from the right cab pillar. 8/30/2009

I started this hood as a hood with no intended project. I sliced the fenders off a Spaulding Trading and Shipping 357 hood, scratchbuilt the hood shell, reworked the 357 fenders a bit and grafted them onto my new hood shells to make a 365 SBFA. I have found it is just as easy to make two hoods as it is to make one hood, so I now have another version of the hood for a future built.

A friend suggested the configuration, tandem lift axles, long dump body. I've cut out the corners of the cab for the corner window option. Under cab DPF on the right, a small fuel tank under the door on the left and a space saver battery box just aft of the cab. Single exhaust. Everything else is up in the air at this point. I'm leaning towards this truck for colors. I can't decide "private fleet" or municipal. Stay tuned. 5/31/2009

And the color choice is:

The color looks more red than orange in this photo. It is indeed orange. 6/1/09

The DPF cover is a simple box cut from plastic with a hole cut for the piping. A piece of round tube simulates the diesel particulate filter. The tool box cover is a resin piece from Spauldings Peterbilt 389 conversion. The cover was cut down for just the face. The battery box is the COE box from AITM and slightly modified for the newer "SpaceSaver" box. Air tanks from the kit were relocated to under the box. The fuel tank is from the kit, cut down for a smaller size with scratchbuilt steps. The tank, box and DPF were all painted with Duplicolor Bumper Chrome.

365abovealmostdone62509.jpg (113490 bytes)

365almostdonefront62509.jpg (80032 bytes)

365frontalmostdone62509.jpg (125138 bytes)

6/26/09 progress... Not quite finished, but the sun and sky were perfect for photos so I snapped a few with the cab and roof resting in place for the photos.

I made the company door logos using Bare Metal Foil clear decal paper for ink jet printers. The logos crinkled as they cured and have a texture that I am not pleased with. The company name "JUIS Sand and Gravel" is a fictitious name based on a line from the 1970's Saturday Night Live TV program. The truck's name is "Jane."

As with all my late model PB's, I start with an Italeri kit, this time the 378. The hood is a resin copy of my pattern cast by Spauldings. Spauldings offers the hood, headlamps, bumper, air cleaners, battery boxes, springs and cab sides to convert the Italeri 377 into a 389. I'll use the springs, air cleaners and batter boxes on another project.

My PTC 389 will have a 355 wheelbase, a 70" sleeper, and Ultracab roof. Started 4/19/2009. Actually, the hood was painted in early March.

I'm calling it finished for now, there are a couple of things that need to be corrected, but those will come later. 4/29/09. Mirrors, horn and bumper repositioned on 5/2/2009 with more photos added.

The Inspiration: A PACCAR Technical Center 389. My version is be slightly different with polished air cleaners.

Peterbilt 386 in aero-dress. My 386 will feature full side fairings, roof deflector, cab/sleeper transition panels, aero visor and mirrors.

Starting with the Italeri 377, a resin hood from AITM and a resin roof from MonkeyClaw, I cut down the sleeper to a 48" length, modified the cab for the newer door/window style, scratchbuilt the side fairings and aero visor. The resin hood has been massaged too.

Since my plan is the Wal*Mart 386 Hybrid, finding the Dupont Imron color in spray paint would be a big problem. I did a Google Search for "custom mix spray paint" and found Tower Paint in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The custom mixed the Viper Green, packed it into a large spray can and in 3 days I had my color. I am impressed with the quality of the paint. It sprays evenly, no splats, no pressure issues, the metallic goes on smooth and consistently. The only drawback so far is that I have to wait five days before clear coating. (2/14/09) Okay.. 6 days later I cleared it and the clear crinkled. Hmmmph. Everything was stripped, it was painted again, and six days later it has been clear coated again. 2/28/09.

I've gone as far as I can for now. I want to re-do the unit numbers and rework a couple of things. So for now, it is done. 4/29/09

I finally found a rattle-can paint that is close to the color I need for "Stacks." The paint is Duplicolor engine enamel "Torque and Teal." The white stripes are thin automotive grade vinyl cut to shape (vinyl from www.flaminfrog.com). 8/16/2008

Stacks is owned by John Smedile of NJ and is leased to Horseless Carriage. Stacks is the nickname for John's 2008 Cat powered 389.

3/17/09 update: Stacks is back on the workbench. Using pieces left over from another PB kit, I stretched the frame to a 295 wheelbase, installed the glass and interior and applied Bare Metal Foil Chrome. The new formula for BMF is quite nice. The foil polishes up nicely and seems to work around corners better.

3/21/2009 Update: Finished! Resin hood from Spaulding Trading and Shipping, along with resin cab sides, bumper and springs to convert the Italeri 377 to a SFFA 389. The 70" sleeper was scratchbuilt except for the roof front and sleeper front. I goofed on the sleeper - the real Stacks has a "Werner Door" on the RH side.. I forgot the option. I should have stretched the fuel tanks too (not just reworking them for 4 straps). The exhaust was reworked for the '08 style with DPF and dull aluminum piping (Testors Metalizer Aluminum). While I mention "wish I hads," I was I had laid the stripes out more carefully so the stripes matched better. I had to splice them where I didn't want to because I didn't take enough time laying them out ahead of time. Special thanks to Cheryl of Flamin'Frog for the great work on the lettering. 3/21/2009.

In southern California is Southland Sod Farms with their fleet of 379-119's in classic dress. Painted fuel tanks, battery box sides, cab mounted steering reservoir, painted rear wheels and small bumpers. This fleet has captured the look of a mid 70's Peterbilt 359. My version starts with an original issue of the Italeri 378 kit. The cab was converted to a daycab with a new back wall. The LH cab side was modified to omit the molded on air cleaner mount and intake hole. The hood was modified to appear as a 379 short hood (minus the huck rivets). The frame has only been modified at the end, removing the tractor taper. The rear suspension was moved forward. The deck is made from the flatbed trailer from Lindberg. The brown I chose is really confounding me. In some light it is really close to the Southland color, in other light it is too dark, or too metallic or too red or.. arg! Started 10/30/2008 and finished 3/09/2009. Thanks to Cheryl for making the door logos for me.

I watched this truck being built in September 2005. A unique paint set-up on this 378. Black with a white roof and silver fenders. Being unique, it was added to my truck-to-build list. I modified the cab, roof and sleeper in mid 2006 and painted the body in October of 2006. I returned the 378 to the workbench on 9/25/08, constructing the frame, running gear, etc. I added metal mesh to the air cleaners, along with mesh for the grille screen (www.planomodelproducts.com).

A couple of detail highlights I tried on this one include painting the inside edge of the headlamps black, and the recessed area of the fog lamps on the bumper. The fog lamps now have a nice recessed look to them. The headlamp lenses were covered with Bare Metal Foil on the backside. The black highlight and the BMF gives more depth to the lamps. The curved exhaust tips are from an Italeri Western Star, as is the frame step. The air horns are from a Revell of Germany 359. The mirrors are made from aluminum tube.

Tamiya turn signal orange is used for the amber lenses.(yes, I finally found some of this!). I dislike the bug deflector mounting slots that the top of the grille/crown has. I filled these in and wrapped the top of the crown with Bare Metal Foil. The paperwork in the windshield represents items seen on a factory-fresh truck including the sequence number, target build date and Denton "bilt with pride" sticker. The front wheels are resin from Mo'Luminum. The rears are the kit wheels with the PB oval holes drilled out and painted with Duplicolor Bumper Chrome. The engine is a fake Kitty-Cat painted new Cat yellow.

Since taking these photos, I have corrected a few crooked items that the camera lens sees and the eye misses: Right hand toolbox, RH mirror and left air cleaner. The bad news, this model suffered damage from damage after a multi-truck crash. The crash occurred while transporting 50+ models to Peterbilt in Texas. The bumper is scratched, the roof fairing is scuffed and chipped and some other odd damage - 10/22/08.

Big Blue is a 2007 Peterbilt 379 conventional in a unique configuration. 127" BBC, 63" flat-top sleeper, cab to sleeper transition panels, sleeper box extenders with top panels, underhood air cleaner and outboard rack mounted exhaust stacks.

I used the Revell of Germany Peterbilt 359 kit as the base, modified with a resin cab and hood to a 379. I reworked the older resin cab to the current year cab. The transition panels were made from Evergreen plastic. Headlights are resin singles from www.stsmodeltrucks.com. The red pin striping is from www.flaminfrog.com. I made the modern style cab mounted mirrors from aluminum tubing bent to shape. The deep tapered front bumper is from a Revell Can-Do wrecker kit. Plenty of Bare Metal Foil was used on this. 4/14/06

Stripes applied after body work.	Mock-up on the frame.	Chassis painted, test fitting exhaust.	Exhaust rack	On the workbench	Chassis with some assembly
Finished Big Blue parked along the shore of Lake Superior in Michigan
48' Fruehauf trailer with Peterbilt logo enhances the long look of Big Blue.			These three 379s are all based on the same resin kit and Revell of Germany 359 kit.

One of the many things that fascinated me while at the Peterbilt factory was the tire trailer. Trailer after trailer delivered wheels and tires mounted and loaded in racks in the order that the truck would be built. After staring out the window at these trailers for a while, I was challenged to build one. March 2006. The 378 tractor was built in March of 2007.

$35 in Evergreen square rod was used to construct the racks. The tire labels are strips of vinyl, as are the tie down straps.

20 tires per rack. 7 racks on the trailer. Not one new tire was use... Mostly the AMT too-skinny Goodyear tires. The rims are all from the spare parts box.

The real tire trailer.. I suspect it's a 53' trailer, mine is a 40 footer and only holds 7 racks.

The new style Peterbilt 388 and 389 inspired me to build this "fantasy" 388. The 388 will replace the 379-119".

Mine rides on an almost stock Revell of Germany Peterbilt 359 kit. The hood/cab are resin items. I modified the cab for the 2006-current cab design. The hood was shortened from 127" to the 123" BBC with the slope added t the top. The cab sits 3 inches off the frame. I reworked the grille for the new smoother rounded grille. The headlights are scratchbuilt versions of the new projector style modules. The bumper is scratchbuilt from Evergreen plastic and is the 389's bumper. I scratchbuilt the EPA pollution box on under the right door, the stacks are polished aluminum tubing. The stack shields are corners from a spare sleeper box cut and extended, then covered in chrome mylar. The aircleaners have the new rear-tab air foil.. The mirrors are scratchbuilt from various Evergreen rod and plastic. The 36" sleeper is the Revell 63" bunk cut down. I removed the right door for the correct look. 4/14/06

Various primer shots					The new headlight pods. I don't quite have the shape right. The should be more "golf club wood" shaped.
My initial plan was to have the 388 be all red.	I changed my mind and added stripes.	The 388 looks much better, more traditional with stripes.	Just ahead of the rear fender you can see chassis warning decals. I made these by reducing photos of the real items.	The "Target Delivery Date" paper in the window is for some time in the future.

I started with an Italeri Peterbilt 377A/E, swapped in a resin 378 SBFA hood from Griffen Designs, then shortened the wheelbase by 1 inch, cut down the sleeper from the 63" size to a 48". I reworked the front of the bunk and rear of the cab for the UniBilt sleeper, modified the bumper for the plastic one that was offered. I made a filler panel to replace the left muffler. Forward mounted fuel tanks from the Revell-Germany Peterbilt 359 kit were used. The battery box is a resin item from MTFAco (Now AITM). The rear tires and wheels are resin from RNK Conversions. The single headlights are Griffen from Spaulding Trading and Shipping. The paint is Duplicolor metallic gray. (8/20/2005)

I started the B train back in July of 2005 and just finished it on 4/13/06. I used 2 AMT Fruehauf tankers, cut, chopped and hacked both to create a Canadian B train based on a rig I saw on www.hankstruckpictures.com. The "Transport" logos are from the AMT kit decal sheet just cut and spliced. The Canadian Flag is from the www.kitformservices.com North America decal sheet.

2004 Peterbilt 379-119"BBC with 63" bunk. I modified an Italeri Pete 378 kit, added a resin bunk from Spaulding Trading and Shipping (removing the right door, and adding a rear window), a Texas Bumper from Griffen Designs, and muffler shields from an Italeri Western Star. Plenty of Bare Metal Foil on this!

Making a short/standard hood 379 out of a 378 requires that the hood be chopped, remove the top of the hood, cut 2 inches (in 1/24th scale) from the rear-bottom of the hood top, tapering to to front where nothing is removed. This eliminates the sloped hood. Reattach the sides. Square up the front and rear edges. The real 379 sits 2 inches lower than the 378 at the cab and sleeper. Remove 2 scale inches from the cab mounts, sleeper mounts, steering column linkage and exhaust piping. The hood will have a visable seam, as the 379's hoods are aluminum, where the 378's are fiberglass. Add rivet detail if you wish. Voila! 379 standard hood! Mine is a Bruce Dewey Trucking tractor.

My late-model Peterbilt row. 357 Vocational Hood 6x6, 379-119", 357SBFA slope hood, 357 SBFA and 385 single axle tractor.

2002 Peterbilt 357 SBFA

I mated the AMT Paystar Dumper with an Italeri 378 and 377, some scratchbuilding and reworking of the hood and have a 357 SBFA. Front tires and wheels are resin from RNK. The chrome is mostly Bare Metal Foil, and the chrome on the dump body is 3M "chrome" vinyl.

I've been building older "classic" Peterbilts for ever, so I thought I toss in another later-year truck. This one is a 2004 model 385 single axle tractor. Complete with new for '04 door glass, mirrors, peep window and door handles.

I took parts from several left over Italeri PB 377 and 378 and Revell 359 kits and combined them to make this little beauty. I chopped the 377's hood and fenders in 6 places and massaged the plastic into the 112" BBC 385. I modified the cab for the UniBilt rear window, corner windows, larger peep window in the passenger door, new larger door handles, new door glass and new cab mounted mirrors.

This view shows a corner window and the 1 piece door glass, and a slight glimps of the instrument panel that I reworked for the modern look. The grab handles are all bent stainless wire.

This was one of those "lets see if we can pull this off" projects. I didn't use a fresh kit for this, everything was left over parts from other projects.

Peterbilt 379 single axle. I built this to see if I could convert the AMT/Ertl Pete 359 kit into a modern 379. I reworked the hood, fenders, cab, used parts from several kits, plenty of Bare Metal Foil. Close, but not quite. The windshield needs to lean back more to look right.

2001 Peterbilt 377 axle forward. I modified the cab for the Ultra-Cab raised roof, and a 1 piece windshield. Bare Metal Foil covers the door trim and other non kit-plated items. This truck won 1st place in the truck category at the U.P.Modelers contest in Marquette, Michigan in 2003.

11 axles grace this one. The chassis is from an Italeri 377, the cab from a 378. The hood is resin from Griffen Designs (Spauldings Trading and Shipping too), the wheels and tires are RNK Conversions items (truck only). The log crane, bunk, tower and trailer bunk are all scratchbuilt from Evergreen and Plastruct.(Summer 2004)

The logs are birch from a tree in my yard. Colors are Duplicolor metalic bright blue. The fuel tanks are AMT tanks covered in chrome vinyl with Revell 359 steps.

Picker - old hood

Picker - new hood

I built the blue Peterbilt 378 SBFA Michigan Logger back in 2004. The white Canadian picker was built in January of '07 out of pieces-parts and resin. The hoods are resin copies from Bobby Griffen from a hood that I made. I made the hood slope incorrectly and never was pleased with the look, so in mid '07 I made a new hood. I decided to replace the wrong sloped hoods with new hoods.

I started at 5PM on 1/19/08 by first dismantling both trucks. Then removing the hoods. Luckily I still had the same paint that both trucks were painted with.

The paint gods were smiling on me for this quickie project as I painted in the garage with the temp in the garage at 15 degrees. All paint curing was done in the house. Less than 24 hours later the hoods were ready to install.

Logger - old hood

Logger - new hood

I swapped cabs for these pics

loggerpicker switch 12008.jpg (102364 bytes)

loggerpicker switcha12008.jpg (87576 bytes)

I finished the hood redux at 9:00PM on 1/20/2008.

Peterbilt 357 SBFA-Heavy Haul Mixer
Here's another 2005 Peterbilt 357. This one is a tall/flat hood "HeavyHaul" version meant for front PTO applications. I was inspired by a factory fresh unit.

I started with an Italeri 377 cab, 378 hood and a Paystar Mixer. I combined plenty of plastic-massaging, some resin wheels and tires from RNK and reworked the mixer a bit for a more modern look. The grille is an AMT 359 grille, inside a modified 378 grille. The fenders were moved rearward and sloped, the hood top was raised for a slight slope (less than a 378). This model appeared on the cover of ModelCars magazine in 2004.

I based this 357 on the different trucks used by both Mackinac and Chippewa County Road Commissions in Michigan. Belly blade, front plow frame, large stand-up fuel tank and wet-kit. The Italeri 378 is also a 357, just add some heavier spec'd components. RNK Conversions wheels and tires all around. The Mackinac County Road Commission logos were made from a digital photo, reduced and printed on Bare Metal Foil decal paper. I'm honored that this model was featured in Readers Models in the April 2004 issue of Truck Model World magazine. Thank's Peter!

This Peterbilt 377 started as an eBay built-up I bought in early 2000. I rebuilt it after robbing many parts from it. The frame is a Ford Aerostar. The aircleaners are resin from CFC, the headache rack from RNK as are the tool boxes.

The poor ol' 377 was suffering shelf damage, and looking sad, and I started robbing parts from it. The resin parts long gone to other projects. I was about to scrap the thing completely when the idea of a wreck on a lowboy hit me.

I popped out the glass, bent and bashed the 377 to look like a light rollover on the side.

The hood being fiberglass is broken rather than dented. I might use this as a test platform for weathering, so the model is bound to change over time.

The primered hood is new, as is the bumper lashed to the deck behind the cab.

The lowboy was built in September of '99. For the wreck, I stripped the chrome from the wheels, painted them and weathered the trailer.

10/1/06

The burgandy 377 is the Italeri Peterbilt 377 reworked for a forward front axle and a 1 piece windshield.

Revell-USA recently reissued the 1/25th scale Snap-kit Peterbilt 359. The kit is a little gem! Everything fits and does indeed snap together. I had on original Monogram issue of the kit (molded in red) with some warping to several parts plus the chrome was worn on many parts. I didn't want to build it as it was 'rare' when I bought it. Now that the kit is back I decided to build this one. I decided to stretch the twisted chassis adding 2 inches in length, then modified the cab slightly (not enough) to resemble a modern 379 cab and hood. I stripped all the chrome parts except the wheels, then painted everything black. Black is impossible to photograph!

I really rushed this build just to build it. Sort of mind-numbingly easy and enjoyable. My next version of the kit will be pretty stock. This kit has quite a few 'bashable' parts including the Cat motor, a nice aircleaner cap, and the sleeper can be cut off and used on any other Peterbilt kit including the Italeri kits with some modification. The grille is PERFECT for a 379 long hood. For the price of the kit, it's worth it just for the parts.. or build it and enjoy! Built June 14, 2006

Many of my Peterbilt conventionals start as the Italeri 377 kit. With scratchbuilt hoods, resin hoods and other modifications, many other Peterbilt models can be built. The photo below shows just a few trucks built from the 377 kit. 385 daycab, 377 glider, 377, 378 SBFA at factory, 378SBFA 48" sleeper, 357 HH tri-drive, 357-123 and 377 SFFA with 1pc windshield.


			This still isn't 100% complete.. no mudflaps yet.