Peterbilt 281 (1954)

[Kangal]

Well, i've looked for it and i've found here a print about it, but sadly it's no more available
http://www.smcars.net/forums/blueprints-donation/23762-peterbilt-281-1956-a.html
So, even if i don't like to get prints from 3D models (and surely the Moritzamica's print were a true one, maybe even patent), the only way to get it has been to download it from Google Warehouse and to set it in Sketch Up to have the correct views and proportions. The backgrounds don't match but the truck's images match perfectly.
Original model uploaded by ''eerez'', also the modeler of it.
I also attack a pic of the only survived 281 of the 4 used in the film ''Duel'', near to a 68 red Plymouth Valiant which also appeared in the 71 movie.

note: Since the first 281 came out from the Denton's factory (TX) in 1954, i've put that date in the title.

 

[greenvampire]

I've got the ones I originally downloaded from this site... attached them to this message

Also, although some debate as to what version the Duel truck was, I think it was a 351, although the 289 was very similar


have them on photobucket here:
Photo and image hosting, free photo galleries, photo editing

 

[Kangal]

Thank u so much, great prints

About the trucks used in the movie , there are lot of misconceptions i think.
The facts, for what i know, are:
The surviving truck is what we refer to as Truck number 2. There are 4 Duel trucks, depending on what
you count, but in an effort to be "all inclusive", the four trucks are:

The 1956 Peterbilt 281 that was used for most of the movie had in the engine bay a Caterpillar 274 hp (mod. 1674). Since that engine have been used not before the mid 1960, it was a sort of ''tuning'' (or replacement of the original engine).
That also is the reason for the Cat horizontal air cleaner form a 966 Wheel Loader.
The truck had a 10 speed transmission, most likely a Fuller RT-9510. The truck
was on its last legs during filming, and thus Speilberg ordered a second truck to be
made to look like it, thus truck #2.

The 1960 Pete 281 (owned by the original font of this post) was the second truck. It had a 262 Cummins and a 5x3 Spicer/Brownie. This truck lost its Duel makeup to appear in a Malibu commercial, David Lee Roth's "She's My Machine" video. It was re-adorned in Duel garb to have a cameo in the 2003 biker movie "Torque". Neil Losasso bought the truck from George Sack in 2004 and the auctor of this font bought the truck from Neil in October 2005.

The 1964 Peterbilt 351 that was used to film the extended gas station/laundromat scene, the school bus push and the railroad crossing push.

The fourth truck was the mid 60's short wheelbase 351 that was used during
the Incredible Hulk episode "Never Give a Trucker an Even Break" from the first
season. They used volumes of footage and sounds from Duel, but used this
fourth truck for new scenes with the actors.

I've found these news somewhere on the net, so it seems of a total of 4 trucks, 2 281, and 2 351. Basically the Peterbilt 351 looked identical to the 281, save its two driven axles.

 

[greenvampire]

interesting, always good to know

 

[Kangal]

It could be a very good subject to model, maybe creating a scene together with its Plymouth Valiant antagonist.
To get a great ''Duel'' 281 requires great texturing skills (rust, bumps, dirt etc.), which unfortunely i don't have. But someone here could do it with interesting results.
U're one of them, for example

P.S The exact car should be a 68 Plymouth Valiant Signet (i guess) , never found it as blueprint

 

[Kangal]

@ Greenvampire
Oh, i've just seen u've started to model the Pete in 2008, but u've never finished it. What a pity, it was looking so good !

 

[greenvampire]

cheers! yeah, I really need to finish that model one day...