Jeff

The other bug I have about these kits and it is just a personal one…… I HATE black plastic

Ok, so as per usual we start with the frame. Or I do anyway, these new ‘AMT’ kits that are re- released Italeri kits are good kits over all and are nothing like the old school AMT kits of the ‘70’s and ‘80’s. They do, however need a little love to fully bring them up to ‘snuff’. The first thing that needs addressing ( from a truck drivers perspective ) is the brake chambers. They are WAY, WAY too small , out of scale and moat definitely the wring system. The real deal would show at least a Type 30 spring brake chamber on both drive axles as per D.O.T. Regulations , rather than only ONE axle with a spring brake chamber and one drive axle with just a standard single chamber. Not at all realistic ( or legal) . So a change is required and quite hard come by actually. Next will be a slight frame mod. A small section to be ground out for air lines to be fed.

So Cathy says to me a while ago, IF you were to buy a truck and ‘we’ went on the road, what would you get and how would it look? Well, I took that as a bit of a challenge and an opportunity to get another kit ………😈 he, he, he ……so I snagged an AMT Peterbilt 378 ‘Long Hauler’ , which is a re- label of the Italeri Pete 378 of the same name. I am straying away from box art colors even though I like red and have some nice reds. The color as picked by Cathy will be a Testors Model Master enamel Ice Blue Metallic. A Boyd (Coddington) color with maybe silver fenders and silver roof yet tbd. This one will be mostly a ‘stock build’ with a few addons……I am changing out the kit engine for a 3d printed one that Doc Rob out me onto , more about that a bit later, also have the CTM Pete 378 photo etch upgrade kit, will be adding resin air fittings, 3d printed accurate brake chambers, a resin air dryer, head ache rack, and air lines with glad hands and electrical line. This will be a highway tractor so may not be as weathered as the Autocar, that is also TBD. I will also be adding bolts where needed for a little detail here and there as well….so in order to keep up with my buddy Ron the Logger I had better get on it. Thanks for looking and any advice or questions, I’m all ears Jeff

That Jeff guy is somewhat relentless. He shud be banned. 🤭🤭🫣 Your scratch work is awesome there, bud . Not a talent I possess. This will turn out to be another spectacular build. Are you going to make all your logging iron the same company? Or different contractors? This will look cool either loading or on a low bed……

Wow. Thanks Rob, I never ever thought of it in those terms. I have never really done any WIP’s publicly until Martin ‘encouraged’ me to do so and this site was ‘my first’🤭. I have always just built for myself and watched very closely to everyone else's builds in awe and hoped that one day I would have enough talent to turn out something decent. I only posed the question to make sure that I wasn’t wasting anyone’s time or taking up space. Also like most of the guys here I go in ‘spurts’…. I do aircraft for a long time and then back to the big trucks and cars. I have always thought that ‘my stuff’ is not good enough to be on the same site as the amazing talents I see here everyday. There are certainly no duff builds here and it is exciting to see whats new , daily. I’m kind of glad I asked the question, and I’m sure there are guys rolling their eyes but as Carl said ‘a healthy mix of variety’ is a good thing, and I thank you (all) for embracing (my) passion. And I will continue to build and post. When I do, and if there is any question about the rigs ask as you usually do, I’m no expert but am excited to share what I know. Who knows, maybe one or two of you guys mite take a chance and try something completely different. Many thanks for the feed back guys. My apologies if it was a stupid question to ask.

Thanks Scott !!

I would love to see a build on both of those. Especially the Torino !!

Thanks, and your reasons are why I look at them all as well. Jeff

Thanks Carl, I like your variety of builds as it , like the guys are saying , highlights your amazing skills. Always a huge pleasure to watch and learn.

Thanks Kevin, I hear what you are saying about the lost love. I bet you cud build a detailed car that wud be spectacular with all the details. It took me a while to get back into the big iron and I actually find I miss them. I guess thats why I’m back to building them to a level, hopefully a little better than the first time. …. Cooking eh? Ok NOW we have to have a cooking thread, and share recipes , and Carl is the BBQ King of Canada. So there is a huge resource there🤭😆😇

Thanks Gus, a friend of mine is doing steller scratch building ( not me, I can’t cut a straight line ) and I suggested he post it and he thought most weren’t too interested and that is why I asked the question. Jeff

Thanks Phil ….

I have a question to see if there is any real interest in the truck builds that have shown up here a bit lately. I am asking for my own edification. I do understand this is primarily an aviation model interest site, with a few tanks and the very odd race car tossed in. I ask because I don’t want to waste anyone’s time or fill the site with stuff that is of little interest. And I’m not looking for paise or faux interest. As you have seen trucks are a huge interest of mine and with a lifetime playing trucks this does become a passion . I just don’t want to bore you guys. You won’t offend me if you reply to this saying truck builds are of no interest to you. I will understand. Just curious. Jeff

Roof ?? Are you pulling the head liner out ? You are a far beaver man than I will ever be old buddy. I have heard over the years that headliners are a bear to deal with. I have no experience with it personally. I would be really curious as to see how easy or not it may be. I hope it is easy and goes well. Jeff

Many thanks Fran. Really appreciate the kind words and thoughts. She worked hard for it and continues to do so. cheers Jeff

Thanks Maru, she certainly has worked hard for it, and it seems never ending, half day of the ceremony albeit low key and then back on the new job she has first thing Monday morning. He Commanding officer and her coworkers spoke highly of her. And yeas, you are right the grandfathers would be proud. Thanks for the kind words and thoughts. Hope all is well with you as well . Love to you too. Jeff

Such a cool story , Scott. Thanks for sharing that story. Love to hear those

So cool Scott, my dad did RCAF time as ground crew in India / Burma with a transport squadron, Cathy’s dad did 25 years in the RCN and I have a second cousin who worked for Reuters and was attached to MacArthur through out the Pacific and we found out recently that our cousin escaped Corrigador under heavy Japanese fire, in the dark, in a stolen boat and just barely made it.

Lol like milk, they are brand new still in the ‘package’ I didn’t feel right taking them out and fondling them as they aren’t mine to play with. 😎 Thanks for the kind words , Scott. As mentioned I am VERY proud of her. She has gone higher than any other family member. My son, her husband is a Major and we have had another Major but he was back in WWI and he won the Military Cross and Carhy’s Uncle was a WWII Flt Lt ( today’s Captain) navigator on Halifaxes and Lancasters and he won the DFC.

Thanks Peter. Appreciate the kind words and thoughts

Thanks guys. It is a great achievement and Cathy and I are very proud of her. With luck maybe full Colonel in a couple years but that remains to be seen , we all know how this stuff goes. The ‘official’ ceremony is Friday and we are lucky enough to be able to attend. Looking forward to that.

She is being promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. I much prefer Wing Commander but sadly we don’t use those names any more. ☹️ Thanks for your kind words Martin. The ceremony is on Friday.

Thanks Carl. I will let you know when we get to town and out of the airport. Overnighting Monday and out early heading west Tuesday morning. Even if we don’t hook up it will be great to be in town