Home Page
This fairly complex model kit is from Revell of Germany.  Adding to the complexity was my decision to add working lights to this model.  Every light (down to the channel display on the CB radio) is illuminated.  It took me about a year to complete this model.

Here are some photos taken outdoors for realism.
Contact Us
Contact Us
Photos
Membership information
Coming events
Newsletters
Hobby shops
Links
Membership Information
Newsletters
Coming events
Photos
People
Hobby shops
Links
Search Site
Home Page
Last updated 2022/3/4
It has a fully detailed engine but I couldn't bring myself to weather it. But the real truck was kept in show-ready condition so it is feasible for the real truck to have a clean engine compartment.
Close-up of various antennas on the roof. I made them out of stainless steel wires. Bases are made from pieces of telescoping stainless steel hypodermic tubes. The dual CB antennas mounted on the side mirrors are also made of stainless steel wire covered with pieces of white insulation stripped from a piece of dollhouse wiring wire. The red tips are also pieces of red wire insulation.
Flags are kit's decals folded to appear listless.  They are attached to clearance poles made from hypodermic tubing.  A strand of fiber optic filament is threaded through the poles with the tip extending through the top. It is then illuminated by the the lightbulbs in the fog lights in the bumper.  I also photoetched all the Peterbilt emblems from nickel-silver. They are painted with red paint and the paint is rubbed off from the surface. Then several layers of clear paint gives them depth of the real emblems.
The cab is fully detailed (including a scale clipboard placed on the right seat). CB radio has an illuminated channel display.
At night, working lights make this model come alive.  The lights inside of the light bars illuminate sequentially to simulate flashing of the real light bars. I designed and constructed the electronic circuitry consisting of a power supply and various flasher circuits.  This model consumes about 1 Amp at 12V and it is powered by an external battery. The circuit boards reside inside of the wrecker crane's base. All the wires are carefully hidden. Shown also is an example of wiring for the light bars. Those wires will be hidden by a chrome cover.