New 2024 Peterbilt 579 Hi-roof sleeper

[RoninUtah]

Those who have been following my Peterbilt 352 pre-Unilite conversion topic in the WIP section know that I was sidetracked by another build- this one. I've been playing around with 3-d printing, and it's opened up all kinds of new possibilities. One of which is the chance to add newer trucks to my "fleet."

This is a new 2024 Peterbilt 579, just like the hundreds you'll see on the freeway on your next road trip. The cab is one that I downloaded from the Cults site, designed by Hora80. As you can see, it's reasonably accurate. I had to deepen the seams between body panels, but other than that it was a matter of printing it and building a chassis.

A few months ago I bought a ton of parts that a collector had accumulated, almost all from Revell kits; mostly their Kenworth and Peterbilt wreckers. I don't have any complete kits left, but there are a ton of various chassis and chrome parts to play with. So, for this one, the chassis is mostly a leftover Peterbilt chassis, improvised and augmented by Kenworth parts where necessary. I scratchbuilt the rear crossmember to resemble the rear of an actual 579.  A special shout-out and thanks to Jurgen, who designed the front wheels and sent me the files to print them. Overall, it was a fun learning experience- the cab might be a touch to small for 1/25, but close enough and don't want to re-do it after all that work!

A Pete is born!

The chassis of many colors

And now, the finished truck:

Edited October 31, 2024 by RoninUtah

[BK9300]

Good looking truck, Ron!  Seems 3d printing will produce new build opportunities that just aren’t being offered by traditional kit manufacturers.

[Jürgen M.]

Looks great! And it's a rare model. As said, a lot of trucks are not available as a kit and printing does open doors! 

Keep going! I can't wait to see your 352 here!

By the way, the front wheels fit the modern truck design perfectly! Glad I could help!

[trick my mixer]

Isn`t that red Peterbilt a 579 and not a 589?

[RoninUtah]

You’re right, of course!  Brain fart in my old age. I’ll try to edit it.

[Biggu]

1 hour ago, RoninUtah said:

You’re right, of course!  Brain fart in my old age. I’ll try to edit it.

Doesn’t getting old suck ? That truck is a beauty, Ron ! And I think Brian is right about the 3d printing thing. It sure opens the doors to really cool projects like this one. Really nice job pulling this together …

Jeff

[Jim B]

Beautiful Peterbilt.  Very well done, and a very unique subject.

[Rockford]

Very nice. Well done. Welcome to the future in more ways than one. 

[JohnH1973]

Very nice Peterbilt

[yh70]

Awesome Job

[Gary Chastain]

Well done

[RoninUtah]

9 hours ago, Biggu said:

Doesn’t getting old suck ? That truck is a beauty, Ron ! And I think Brian is right about the 3d printing thing. It sure opens the doors to really cool projects like this one. Really nice job pulling this together …

Jeff

Thanks, Jeff! 3D printing definitely does open up a lot more options... I'm planning to do a Kenworth T680, as well, to go along with this Pete and my Freightliner Cascadia.  Also in the works is an older (2010) style Cascadia, and eventually a Mack Anthem and a Volvo VN 860. With those, I'll have models of about 95% of the trucks I see on the road around here!

The only drawback for me so far is the time it takes- some of these print files are humongous and it takes all day just to print out one part. And then a print will fail and I have to start over... patience was never my strong suit, but I'll learn!

[Biggu]

5 minutes ago, RoninUtah said:

Thanks, Jeff! 3D printing definitely does open up a lot more options... I'm planning to do a Kenworth T680, as well, to go along with this Pete and my Freightliner Cascadia.  Also in the works is an older (2010) style Cascadia, and eventually a Mack Anthem and a Volvo VN 860. With those, I'll have models of about 95% of the trucks I see on the road around here!

The only drawback for me so far is the time it takes- some of these print files are humongous and it takes all day just to print out one part. And then a print will fail and I have to start over... patience was never my strong suit, but I'll learn!

Man that sounds exciting. If I had any inkling or printing smarts I’d be into the old iron that is no longer seen in the roads. I will be following your builds with great interest and an hoping you get to them all.  This is quite exciting. Keep going ,I have a front row seat!

[RoninUtah]

1 hour ago, Gary Chastain said:

Well done

Thanks, Gary!

4 hours ago, yh70 said:

Awesome Job

Thanks, Dave!

5 hours ago, JohnH1973 said:

Very nice Peterbilt

Thanks, John!

5 hours ago, Rockford said:

Very nice. Well done. Welcome to the future in more ways than one. 

Thanks, Steve- yeah, you got that right! Soon everybody will have a 3D printer on their workbench, and it will be just another tool.

6 hours ago, Jim B said:

Beautiful Peterbilt.  Very well done, and a very unique subject.

Thanks, Jim!

 

19 hours ago, BK9300 said:

Good looking truck, Ron!  Seems 3d printing will produce new build opportunities that just aren’t being offered by traditional kit manufacturers.

Thanks, Brian- it's been discussed before, but the "big plastic" kit manufacturers seem to think that the market for these new trucks is too limited for them to invest in the cost of licensing, tooling and product development. Based on Moebius' experience with the ProStar and LoneStar, they may not be wrong. But that sucks for those of us who want to build something more recent than the 70s!

18 hours ago, Jürgen M. said:

Looks great! And it's a rare model. As said, a lot of trucks are not available as a kit and printing does open doors! 

Keep going! I can't wait to see your 352 here!

By the way, the front wheels fit the modern truck design perfectly! Glad I could help!

Thanks, Jurgen, your wheels make the build!

[RoninUtah]

2 minutes ago, Biggu said:

Man that sounds exciting. If I had any inkling or printing smarts I’d be into the old iron that is no longer seen in the roads. I will be following your builds with great interest and an hoping you get to them all.  This is quite exciting. Keep going ,I have a front row seat!

Sadly, I haven't seen much on Cults in the way of old iron that is of what I'd consider good enough quality to build. Hopefully designers will see the void and fill it. Now that AITM is gone, we really don't have many decent sources for older truck conversions.

[Biggu]

Just now, RoninUtah said:

Sadly, I haven't seen much on Cults in the way of old iron that is of what I'd consider good enough quality to build. Hopefully designers will see the void and fill it. Now that AITM is gone, we really don't have many decent sources for older truck conversions.

Well said , Ron, we can only hope they follow this site and take the hint…. I am looking forward to what you have planned ,……

[PappyD340]

Very nice rig!

[ChrisR]

Nice.

[Bren]

Terrific build Ron. I know you had to climb a steep learning curve to get this one out - but you did it and hopefully will inspire others to dip their toes in the water! Well done my friend!

[vincen47]

Nice! Great to see another modern truck. 3d is the way of the future, especially when modeling trucks we see on the road today. I wonder if anyone is making a Kenworth T660? That would be a good one to add to your list.

[RoninUtah]

 

10 hours ago, Bren said:

Terrific build Ron. I know you had to climb a steep learning curve to get this one out - but you did it and hopefully will inspire others to dip their toes in the water! Well done my friend!

Thanks, Bren, for your help and inspiration on this one. I don't think I could have done it without your guidance... not to mention your help in slicing this enormous file!

[RoninUtah]

1 hour ago, vincen47 said:

Nice! Great to see another modern truck. 3d is the way of the future, especially when modeling trucks we see on the road today. I wonder if anyone is making a Kenworth T660? That would be a good one to add to your list.

Thanks, Victor! Actually, there is a T680, and it's on my list. Also an older-style (2010) Cascadia with the wide grille, and a new Volvo 860 and a Mack Anthem. I need to make some repairs to my printer, though, before I can tackle another big printing job, as some of those files are a little challenging.