Regarding the 1/16 Scale, monogram Peterbilt and KW trucks

Sticktrucker

I've been fortunate enough to acquire 16 models on the 1/16 Scale Peterbilt NKW trucks that were brought to life by monogram.  Right now I'm in the process of building the 1/16 Scale KW  I do have two 116 scale flatbed trailers this KW that I'm working on right now it's going to be lit up with 3 mm and 5 mm LED lights and the trailer will be lit up with amber LED lights on the 3 mm size as well as four-way red, flashing lights on the rear of the trailer and on the rear of the tractor I'm really enjoying doing this.  

I don't know if this form allows me to post pictures but I will be doing that eventually.  I was blown away when I was able to buy all 16 truck model kits at $69 apiece. I got the trailers for $25 apiece at an estate sale.   I would like to connect with others that are building these particular trucks. 

 

The 1/16 Monogram kits were nice. For me, the drawback was they took up a lot of shelf space, especially with a trailer

They are nice kits.  Not super detailed, but the details that are their are crisp.  They do lend for a great amount of super detailing, based on your skill level.  

There are not a lot of aftermarket detail items for these kits.  There never were.  

There was an resin model caster in Australia or New Zealand, I can't remember which, that offered some items.  Spoked Trilex wheels, aluminum fenders, several different 1/16th scale engines.  I have a number of these parts.  They even offered a Peterbilt 372 cab over cab and rudimentary interior, which I also have which was meant to be use with the existing Peterbilt kit parts.   The Peterbilt cab was not very well done.  Brittle and easily prone to warppage and breaking.   Alas this supplier is long gone. Stopped selling in the early 2000s.

I'm sure a 3d printer could whip-up some items for these kits, especially if Revell decided to re-issue these kits and the demand was strong.  Revell does own the molds, since they acquired Monogram many years back.  

To my memory, Revell only re-issued the Kenworth and Peterbilt twice since the original release and never re-issued the flatbed trailer.  Maybe due to the Fruehauf trademark of the trailer.

One strange thing I noticed on the instructions of the flatbed trailer, is that one of the panels has a Mack R model truck in silhouette.  I have often suspected that Monogram had plans to offer more subjects in the 1/16 series.  Monogram did make the 1/32 scale snap kt trucks.  They did have an R model Mack in 1/32 scale and 1/32 scale is 50% the size of 1/16th scale.

As was mentioned previously, they will take up a lot of space when completed.

Hope you have big display shelves.

...and yes you can post photos in this forum.

WOW!  That sounds like an incredible deal.  Congrats on scoring those kits and enjoy building them.

Sticktrucker

I don't know if this form allows me to post pictures

It does, they just have to be hosted online some where, so you can't drag and drop them from your computer or the like.

You need your photos on Imagur, Flickr, or a similar photo site.  You can then use the "Copy Image Link" function to get  the URL to put into the Source box that appears on clickign the Image icon.

Viz:

The "stems" on the clear lens parts almost beg to have LED appllied to them, but the effect can wind up right odd.  Which means you are faced with having to clean up that stem from the backside of the lens.

For my 2¢, you are best served stripping all the chrome off and using a mix of alclad, molotow, bare metal foil and the like.

The vinyl tires are nicely detailed, and seem to survive a long time (which is a weakness of some vehicle kits).

The potential for adding "plubing" bits is pretty large, and relatively simple, as it's a "clear field" to work in for things like brake lines, electrical, and air lines.

Treating that huge sdashboard part like a kit aircraft IP, by stacking up "layers" will be its own reward.   KW IP are typically "edge lit" whic hcan be a bit of a challenge to recreate in model form (and the huge scale is a huge goad for that).

Their size makes them impressive, and they are as statisfying to build as they frustrating for being so large.  You do have to kind of have to decide how much detailing you are going to do before you start, as "going back" after you start getting sub-assemblies built up  winds up a task.