Western Star Classic heavy haul

[Biggu]

So as mentioned , I wanted to make some changes to this truck and the engine was one thing that would make this a little bit different. So as I had an Italeri Detroit 60 series left over from my Pete 378 build , I thought I would swap the W/S kit Cummins for the Pete 60 series .  So with that said there was just a few adjustments which was really nothing, mostly just turning the pan around and making sure of tje fitment. 

[Biggu]

So fitment seemed ok , now time for a little engine detailing. Not a lot just a little to make it look a bit ‘busier’

Edited March 12 by Biggu

[Jürgen M.]

Nice!

[BK9300]

Looks right at home in there!  You still had DD valve cover decals left over from another build?

[Biggu]

8 minutes ago, BK9300 said:

Looks right at home in there!  You still had DD valve cover decals left over from another build?

No , actually it is a decal set from Jerry at Model Truckin. For Detroits. There are enough decals to do a few engines. And the same for the filer decals , it was a set from him as well

Edited March 12 by Biggu

[Gary Chastain]

Nice detail on that engine. 

[Bren]

10 hours ago, Biggu said:

So fitment seemed ok , now time for a little engine detailing. Not a lot just a little to make it look a bit ‘busier’

Love it ! Totally looks the part, and a nice change from yet another Cummins. 

[cifenet]

You have been busy making good progress!

Coming out great so far and the detailing/paint work is superb!  Keep up the good work, Jeff~

[Biggu]

47 minutes ago, Bren said:

Love it ! Totally looks the part, and a nice change from yet another Cummins. 

Thanks Bren your comments echo my thoughts exactly. I just thought something a little bit different.  

[Biggu]

20 minutes ago, cifenet said:

You have been busy making good progress!

Coming out great so far and the detailing/paint work is superb!  Keep up the good work, Jeff~

Thanks Steve. Very generous comments … I appreciate you and the other guys dropping by… I will have another update soon. 

[Biggu]

So with a few added details to the engine it fit nicely. Even tied in with the rad. So that was a win. 

[Biggu]

So as I was changing things , I saw some really nice replacement seats from 3d Concepts here in Canada. So, what the heck I placed an order for these beauties. They are nicely detailed and  have separate arm rests to pose as you like. I added the little W for fun. These are nice seats and a little wider than the stock ones that to me seem a touch under scale, maybe not but these most definitely look the part

[Biggu]

One thing that kind of bugs me a bit about the Italeri kits is the chrome. It is beautiful but to my old four eyes MUCH too shiny for an operational truck. For a show room model or show truck , it is wonderful but that kind of shine doesn’t last ling in the real world once on the road …. So I looked for a solution with out using those fancy paints I have no experience with ….. I decided to use real automotive ‘chrome’ tape …. It isn’t any where near as shiny but shiny enough to be somewhat convincing ( to me at least ). So I stripped the battery boxes and prepped them for paint and then took some of the tape and covered the battery box cover.  The battery box itself will be painted cab color that’s why I stripped the chrome 

[BK9300]

The tape definitely looks toned down, and presses in nicely to show all the detail in the tread plate - good solution!

[Biggu]

43 minutes ago, BK9300 said:

The tape definitely looks toned down, and presses in nicely to show all the detail in the tread plate - good solution!

Thanks Brian , it was a very precise and deliberate operation to burnish it down but I am happy with the final results as in real life it does look more like aluminum.  

[Jürgen M.]

Looking better everyday, even if that's actually not possible! 😉

[Gary Chastain]

Nice touch on those seats, battery boxes look the part, well done. 

[Biggu]

So , as I watched Brian’s world class build of his Western Star and his checking the fitment of  parts got me to thinking I had better do something of the same. I got to thinking about the issue Brian had with the dog house. As my truck does not have a set back f/a I was ‘fairly confident’ things would be ok , but I did change the engine and was a little bit concerned about engine height. As this engine came from a Pete 378 the firewall and dog house is a little different than the Western Star. Anyway. I slid the engine into place then set the floor pan/dog house into place. A fairly tight but good fit , just like our real ones ….. also note that I also changed out the turbo  once again I thought the Italeri turbo was under sized and way too thin , so into the old parts bin and I found an old AMT Cummins and liberated the turbo from that engine and used it here   Looks better to me and there is some slight modifications for it as well but that is on another update   …

Edited March 13 by Biggu

[Biggu]

So with all the changes on this and the extra a/m I thought well may as well try some printed Donaldson air-cleaners. So with my fairly significant order to Karl at 3d Concepts I added a set of air-cleaners.  They are very nice and detail up nicely. Although as with most if not all printed air cleaners and unlike the kit ones there are no locating pins which in the big world is not that big of a deal. So I had to take a few seconds and think about how to mount them so they didn’t look like a glue bomb… so I took a piece of channel stock and mounted it on the cab sides. Then a trial fit, it was discovered the air intake was a tad long to fit my application…. So I easily sanded it down to the correct length. The resin that Karl and Michael use is very easily sanded and in no time I had everything in place….. the air cleaners were painted a wash on the screen and my go to chrome tape ….. the pics don’t do justice and the chrome looks way better in real life , but here are a few pics to show

[Biggu]

. All the running gear was installed and as with the changes the kit wheels had to go. So the drivers are 2 hole Budds that I got from Jamie at Mo’luminum years ago and originally were for my other Western Star build ( the Arrow Transport one ) but they never made it to that build …. So here they are. The floats and tires are from Paul at STSupply, and once they were installed the frame needed ‘dusting ‘ up as this isn’t going to be a mud runner but one that may have been on the odd gravel road during the last few weeks

[BK9300]

Good job on the air cleaners - they look good painted the body colour and not all chrome.  Really like the ‘dusted’ up look, too - your weathering always turns out well!

[Biggu]

1 hour ago, BK9300 said:

Good job on the air cleaners - they look good painted the body colour and not all chrome.  Really like the ‘dusted’ up look, too - your weathering always turns out well!

Thanks, Brian..... painting the air cleaners just changes it up a little bit............... the weathering is a bit of a challenge, but over all I'm fairly satisfied.... thanks for checking in.. I appreciate that...

[Gary Chastain]

It just keeps getting better, well done

[Biggu]

1 hour ago, Gary Chastain said:

It just keeps getting better, well done

Thanks pal !

[freightshaker2]

Looking sharp. I was eyeing up those air cleaners and now seeing them on your project I think I will order a set too. They look awesome. Your building up a good lookin and tough star-car!