Jetdriver69

The second model is an oil drilling truck based on a 1930's Ford pickup truck. I added two supercharged engines, made it 4 wheel drive and the drilling platform was scratch built.

The real truck has a hood ornament from a 1931 Cadillac on the radiator grill. I bought a partial kit of the Caddy in 1/24 scale on eBay just for the ornament. Probably the most expensive piece of tiny plastic ever...but I think it is one of the coolest accents and the owner really wanted one if possible.

Shouldn’t glue parts down while drinking beer...

I didn't even notice that I glued down the 5th wheel backwards. Duh! Only held down with a drop of super glue, easily fixed. The new owner loves it. His Christmas present from his kids. I have no idea how many hours I have in her, but a fun and challenging build.

Metal ones off eBay. $20 if I remember right. Had to cut them to get the right angle. The heat guards are very thin polished aluminum sheet with left over hand rails from a second Revell kit.

Hi everyone. Im kind of new to big truck modeling but have been doing hot rods and military models for many years. As a favor to my friend, Im building a Peterbilt 379 that his Dad had driven for about 1 million miles. His truck is very customized with a lengthened frame. My question is, does anyone have some left over sections of the frame from an Italeri 378 kit or any other that might be close that I could beg or purchase? I could scratch build the frame sections, but a cut and splice piece would be so much easier. I need two 20mm sections at a minimum. BTW, if anyone needs a set of air horns still on the sprue, let me know. I'm using 4 pewter air horns I got off eBay. Thanks for the help. Jet.

Ok I'm finally done with this project. I've been working on and off on this Peterbilt since Feb. A lot of scratch parts and modifications took a long time and I found that resins parts are not as easy to paint as styrene. Also, aftermarket parts that supposedly fit the model really dont and a shatload of work is needed to fit them properly. Anyway, after a bit more polishing of the paint while the truck in glued down to the roadbed and cleaning the acrylic case I made to cover the model and it will be off to its owner and sit on his fender during truck shows.

Slowly making progress, hopefully done by Thanksgiving with the truck and the case.

Yes very well done. Everything to scale very nicely, hard to tell from the real thing.

Very cool and well done. I like the contrast between the rat rod body finish and the pristine chrome stacks and front bumper.

First time I used the Alclad Chrome. That stuff is expensive and doesn't go very far. Anyway, about the only thing you can do if you want to fill in the seams of chrome parts and do the chrome door jams and trim. Still got a ways to go. My buddy got a quote from a pro modeler at $2000 to do this model with all the custom work. At first I called B.S., no way it would cost that much to do this model. But now that I have God knows how many hours in this, a bunch of scratch and customs aftermarket parts, a $100 acrylic cover for the base and at $10 an hour, that quote ain't too far off. Does anyone actually make a profit doing contract model work? Not counting the extra kit I had to buy because our puppy ate one of the doors, I have near $500 into this including the base. I think I could have got a good start on restoring a real car with this many hours invested.

Its been a while, but nearing the end of the project. I cut the driver's door out so you can see the interior, so that needs to be finished and I need to paint the long nose hood. It was quite the PITA to get the hood to fit and swing properly, but that is done. A lot of small things to attach and build the display box. Custom work takes a hell of a long time.

Gary came to the rescue, ordered a long nose from him this evening.

For those who like pictures. The ass end is just about done. Now for the hard part. Those are resin lights from P&P. Scratch built the mount and shot it with Alclad II. The turn signal is a small diameter aluminum pipe with the marker lights from the extra Peterbilt kit I had to buy. Thanks dog for eating my homework...

Thanks, I sent an email to Gary this evening. Hopefully he has one in stock as I'm pretty much screwed without one.

Since I'm converting the 378 long hauler into a 379 long nose Peterbilt, I needed a different hood. P&P resins are out of stock on their resin hood, so I tried a 3D printing company called Shapeways that advertised a hood that would fit the Italeri kit. Well $40 later, I get the part in the mail today and it looks like complete crap. The finish is so rough that I would ruin the part trying to sand it out. Yes I'm getting a refund and don't use these guys for parts. Does anyone have a resin long nose hood for sale or know of another supplier? Thanks Marty

A custom step I made out of styrene and Alclad'ed

I found a guy selling a wrecked Peterbilt on eBay and the bidding got to $37.00 with shipping. Screw that, bought a whole new kit for $62 delivered. Will use what I need and put 95% rest of the kit on eBay in case someone wants frame rails, wheels or whatever. Will throw in the extra stuff from the original kit that I didn't use. Bumper, air horns and few other parts. If I can get $30 for the remainder, I will be happy with that. Included a picture of a custom Texas bumper I made out of sheet styrene and alclad'ed. Didn't come out too bad for the first time using the chrome spray. That little bottle is damn expensive and doesn't last long...

I am nearing completion on the truck and the worst has happened. I cut the drivers door out from the cab so the interior detail can be seen. After painting, clearing and color sanding the door somehow my wife's dachshund puppy got ahold of it and chewed it to pieces. I think half the door is in his gut, but he is just a puppy. Does anyone out there have a wrecked Italeri Peterbilt 378 or 359 cab or drivers door in their parts bin? I would gladly pay for the part and shipping. Just trying to avoid buying an entire new kit. Thanks!

Thanks, just ordered a set. Add a little thin styrene to the sides and I will be in business.

Too late for new frame rails. The truck owner didn't know the frame was not stock until I had the and axles together and painted. Now I have to stretch it 27mm. No big deal, but would have much easier with the frame rails apart and not painted. Does anyone have a pair of P&P resin works RF1 rear fenders they would sell? They are out of stock and may not have anymore until the summer. Again, much easier than scratch building them... Thanks

This is the truck I will be building, or attempting to build... It has a lot of extra chrome, rear fenders, air horns by the door, diesel APU on the left side and custom step with fire extinguisher holder on the right. The frame has a chrome insert all the way back to the tail lights. 8 inch pipes, old style headlights, custom bumper, 17 radiator louvers, the list is very long. Of course the kit didn't come with a flat sleeper roof, so I'm making that now. Will have to scratch the rear fenders, as the resin supplier is out of stock. Stripped the chrome off most of the parts and will Alclad eventually. The second picture is the diesel APU the owner had installed and the next is the 1/25 scale version. I stripped the chrome off the radiator grill and am installing louvers one at time. Very tedious to get the right angle. Might be done by Xmas...

Thanks, I will take a look at at it. This project will take quite a bit of time time as I have to scratch build a few things and build a glass and wood case. Told them not to expect it before Xmas...