It seems I'm the first to start.
So, lets go.
For the Emergency Vehicle Build I diceded to build a Peterbilt Wrecker.
It's a not so young kit, Revell nr.7541 released in 1992.
This one.



Today I opened the box for the first time and what the f*** am I starting with.
17 spreus were smiling to me. And a big decalsheet.
With 124 decals on it.



The rest of the box
First the cabine.



Some sprues.



















The cromeparts. On the third one you can see my fingers, so shining.









Some blue ones.





The clear parts.



The tires, see the difference between front and rear.



Some chains and the rope used for the towing.

Now that's a big kit. Have you considered masking off the big red areas and airbrushing them instead of the decal route?

Wow. That's a BIG kit. Good luck with it!

I think anything I post related to this build is going to feel...insignificant by comparison.

-YL

That's a big one. Excellent choice of kit.

Thanks for the replys.
@Scott; I'm thinking of airbrushing the red area's, but it's gonna take a lot of time and maskingtape

Last friday I started building, but the chassis gave me a bad feeling. The parts used to make it a 3 axle (4 with the front one), didn't fit. They need some improvement. And after two evenings, this is how it looks now.

Complete chassis, still a little work to be done on the suspension.



The grey parts are the one with the bad fitting.







Frontside.



Engine testfitting, still a lot of work to be done.



Is there a difference between a Peterbilt engine an a '56 Chevy block?





Li'l Coffin possing next to the Wrecker.



Back to work

Erikssson.

Erik,

I checked with the "Peterbilt Guru" about this kit, and the truck ON the box is not the same as the truck IN the box.

The truck on the box is the actual "Can-Do" wrecker which is a 1987 Peterbilt 379-119 with a Caterpillar engine. Probably a 3406.

The truck in the box is a 1980 Peterbilt 359-119 with a Cummins NTTC475. So what does that mean? Well, Cummins engines of that era were Beige, but Peterbilt ordered all engines white (until 1986), and transmissions semi-gloss black.

Figured you'd like to know. The frame is coming along nicely. Any updates?

Jim

Hoi Jim,

thanks for the information.
I've got still some other kits and maybe I can switch engines.
And tomorrow there'll be an update.

Erikssson.

Hi guy's and girls.
A little update.
The chassis is ready to be cleaned and then it can be painted in satinblack.

The powertrain.



The first axle is a dummy.





The front.



Steering unit.



Global sight.





Erikssson.

P.S all my kits contain a Cummings engine. So it will be a Cummings.

Looking good! The frame is even straight. Of course it is a Revell of Germany kit nad not a AMT.

Hey, there's nothing wrong with a Cummins. If you really want a yellow engine, check here:
http://sourkrautsmodeltrucks.com/?page_id=3&category=5

You wouldn't happen to have an Italeri 378 kit hanging around would you? Reason I ask is here are some 379 convesions for the 378 kit:
http://www.monkeyclawmodels.com/Freightliner.html

Jim

Now I'm quoting myself.
I found a Kenworth kit (Revell) and it seems to be a Caterpillar engine.
The decal says "Cat 240".
Do you think I can use it for my project?

Erikssson.

I just clicked subscribe to this one.
Was the box heavy too?

I have one of this kit. The box art and instructions read that it is a Cummings engine.
sorry to plug an e bay auction:
http://cgi.ebay.com/MODEL-KIT-KENWORTH-T600A-TRUCK-CAB-AMT-ERTL_W0QQitemZ380076012198QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item380076012198
I just wanted to provide a picture.

Erik,

If you're talking about the Revell of Germany Kenworth T900 "Australia", that has a Caterpillar 3408 in it. It should work, I don't see why not. Again for this era Peterbilt 359, it should be white.

KoSprueOne,
Yes, the AMT Kenworth T600 does have a Cummins NTC350 in it. The only problem with that is the AMT kit is supposed to be a 1990-94 KW T600, but the NTC350 is a 1970s engine. And the rear suspension is all wrong, too. What AMT did was used the frame, suspension, & engine from the KW W925 kit (actually it's a W923); but made a new cab & hood. If you want to build that T600 correctly, it's a modeling challenge. Take a look here:

http://public.fotki.com/modeltrucks25thscale/model_magazine_articles/car_modeller/

There are six good articles on correcting the AMT KW T600.

Erik, you might want to take a look, too, as there is a pretty good article on detailing a Caterpillar 3408. I used his articles on the 3406 & 3208 when I detailed the engines in my Peterbilt 359 & Ford LN8000.

Good info. Thanks for the research.

@KoSprueOne and jimb.
Thanks for the info.

@KoSprueOne, actually it was a heavy box, compare to the car kits I used to build

And an updated is coming soon.

Erikssson.

No problem. Just trying to help.

Jim

Help. Who can help me?
Testfitted the tires and it looks like sh*t.
Does anybody know where I can find replacement?
Resin are beter rubber tires?

Erikssson.

New tires? Well, then it's Chris Schellberg of Sourkraut's Model Trucks http://sourkrautsmodeltrucks.com/ , or Dave Natel of American Industrial Truck Models http://www.aitruckmodels.com/ , or Howard Whitehead at Kit From Services http://www.kitformservices.com/ Those are the biggies that sell US truck stuff. If you like some of the Plaskit Resin stuff, you can email Daniel Gailloux directly are [email protected]

Or if you don't want to purchase new tires, you could try this trick:

http://pete389.proboards54.com/index.cgi?board=kr&action=display&thread=1884

Jim

Thanks jimb for the quick reply.
Nice sites and I think (I'm pretty sure) I can find what I'm looking for.

Erikssson.

No problem. Glad to help. Good luck.

Jim

Hi Guys
If you are doing an older pete as in its been on the road for a while you can paint the engine beige.I am a heavy duty mech on kws and petes mostly and they all got painted after an inframe(engine rebuild).In 15 years I have only seen 2 white engines.We actually have a pete wrecker that comes to us and it has the beige cummins.The cat engine from the kw kit is not that popular in north america but if you do use it they should match up because in real life the kw and petes use very similar engine mounting brackets,diff on the frame but same on the engine.Let me know if you want some pics.Thanks shawn.

Shawn,

That's true. Peterbilt stopped ordering engines white around 1986, with Caterpillar being the last one to paint them white from the factory. Kenworth stopped ordering engines whiote around 1974, again with Caterpillar being the last one to stop painting them white from the factory. Thats not to say that you would never see an engine in a Peterbilt before 1986 or in a Kenworth before 1974 with OEM colors. It did hapen, and once they left the factory the "white engine rule" really didn't apply. Them there's gliders to consider as well.

All I'm saying is that as a general rule of thumb engines in Peterbilts before 1986 and in Kenworths before 1974 were white, but like any rule there were exceptions.

Question for you: the Detroit Diesel 8V92, where they all silver, or just certain ones?

Jim

Hi Jim
I will Have to ask around the shop about the detroit.You cant order a kw with a detroit for many years now.I have not worked on a green leaker for over 10 years lol.Mercedes owns detroit as well as freightshaker so they are our competition.As of next year you wont be able to oder a kw with a cat either.Cat will be in internationals only at least thats what they tell us.Paccar would not play ball with cat apparently.

Cat is a real PITA! I'm supprised we haven't heard from the moderators of this forum that they've been getting emails from Caterpillar's lawyers threatining legal action due to copyright infringments because we're using their name & talking about their products. It's happened on other forums, so maybe they don't know about this one yet. Let's try & keep it that way. Copyright lawyers have to justify their job somehow! I try not to use Caterpillar engines in my models (see first sentence), and I generally refer to Caterpillar as You-Know-Who.

What's KW putting in thier trucks now? Just Cummins & PACCAR?

Jim

Hi Jim
Kw has a new engine made by daf which shuold be in our newer units anytime now.A few guys went to ohio for training already.it has been in europe for a while now and meets emisisons so should be good(we hope).Point taken about you know how's engine ,shawn.