Peterbilt 359 Conventional Truck. Revell 1:25

[richellis]

Peterbilt 359 truck

1:25 Revell Injection Moulded kit

The Peterbilt 359 is just what you would expect from an American truck with its big hood and lots of shiny chrome. The Peterbilt 359 was manufactured by Peterbilt trucks in the USA with the first rolling off the production line in 1967, lasting through till 1987 when a final 359s where produced as a special edition with numbered plaques.
The 359, also called the 259 (Peterbilt model numbers typically start with a 2 for a single drive axle, and a 3 for double drive), had various upgrades and enhancements during its production run and the kit made here by Revell is a late model with the fibreglass hood, and the Corvette dashboard. Behind the cab is a typical sleeper box, this looks to me to be a Mercury 63 sleeper with a raised roof and full height walk through from the drivers cab.

Construction starts with the chassis frame, this is made up from 2 rails joined with 4 cross members and a large frame that needs to be made up from 2 parts, upper and lower, that located between the rear suspension mountings. Some of the cross members are joined to the sprue by the ends so will need careful removal and cleaning up to ensure a square chassis. The rear suspension links are moulded onto the chassis, great if you are building a truck with this wheel base and axle spread, but a bit of a pain to remove and clean up if you are doing something different. The detail is very good on the parts and with them being attached will ensure the axles run true and square. The front springs are added and the front cab mounts in the next stop along with a substantial front cross member. There is a pair of large air tanks to build and as normal they are in 2 parts each so take care to minimise the amount of sanding you will have to do to erase the join. I will recommend you do this before gluing them along the chassis. Lastly you can add the rear suspension airbag halves and the trailing arms before popping the chassis to one side so you can crack on with the engine.

The engine block come in 2 halves, and I guess its biased on the Cummins engine that you could choose to pull you Peterbilt along with as there is a Cummins logo on the decal sheet! The engine looks good and has a good level of detail on the parts. Various ancillary bits glue onto the main block before its added to the chassis. Personally I will skip through some steps and complete my chassis with the axles and other bits so it can be painted before adding the engine. The kit includes some wire and vinyl hose to plumb your engine in a bit and this is very welcome, I will add more to my build but the inclusion of this is very welcome.

The completed engine can be dropped into the chassis, as I said I will complete, detail and paint my chassis before adding the completed, painted and detailed engine, with the radiator being assembled, and dropped into place with some hoses to join it to the engine.

Below is the reverse of the sprue shown above

The cab and hood come joined by some thick sprue gates, take care not to damage the parts when separating them, the level of detail on the parts is very nice with some subtle rivets and other detail on the parts and the shape is well captured of the cab and hood. There are some mould lines in difficult places to try and sand out and it will be hard not to damage the surface details.

The cab has separate doors that can be made to open and close with some hinges in the kit, the doors have a separate inner door panel with nice detail (shown above with the engine parts) and the hood needs the wheel arches adding. This will be useful if you build has different colour wings to hood! The inside of the cab is well detailed with the 2 seats having seat suspension detail and seat belts moulded onto the base. The Corvette dashboard has separate insets of the clocks and switches. You have the option to detail the engraved and raised details or sand it flush and use decals. The floor has the rear wall adding, before it is slid into the shell with the seats and dash being added through the open door apertures before hanging the doors on the plastic hinges.
The sleeper is made up from 6 parts, with some very good detail inside and out with rivet and door detail on the outside and nice quilted fabric inside the sleeper box. There is a big wide bed with a nicely moulded pillow and bedding that will come to life with some good painting. Its a shame it will be hidden away but you could leave the roof loose so it can be lifted away to view the detail.

Now comes the chrome, its an American rig and as such there are 2 large shiny sprues in the kit. The chrome is nicely done on the review sample, not being too thick and it allows the detail of the plastic come through. There are some parts that need gluing together, like the fuel tanks and exhausts so the will be some visible joins so you may want to strip the chrome, build and re-paint some bits. The big Peterbilt 3 bar grill is nice, and a dark wash will give the grill depth.

You get a bag with 10 rubber tyres, the detail look OK, with sidewall and tread detail but to my eye they done look right as the tread looks too narrow for the width of the tyre with a big stepped shoulder. I hope the picture shows better what I mean here!

There is a small decal sheet that has some data and signs for the truck, along with various Peterbilt badges and logos. There is some operator livery for a David Webb Trucking, a look on the net has found a David Webb Trucking but I cant confirm if this decal is based on fact, if anyone has photos of the real truck please Id like to see them! A couple of eagle decals complete the sheet to fit on the side of the sleeper and on the roof mounted aerofoil.
Conclusion
This is a nice kit of a popular typical American truck. Will be a cracking OOB build, but can also be a base for many conversions. A welcome return!

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