"Duel" rusty 1955 Peterbilt truck with gasoline tanker trailer - 8-wide movie-inspired MOC (finished 5/22/23)

[Murdoch17]

You REALY don't want to see this in your rearview mirror as this truck is killer!

This 8-wide LEGO MOC is inspired by the villain vehicle (driven by an unseen psycho trucker) as featured in the TV production-turned-feature film "Duel", which was Steven Spielberg's first feature-length film by the way. It also uses parts of the truck in Jurassic World set 76948 (T. rex & Atrociraptor Dinosaur Breakout) as a general guide to the cab area, and CITY set 60357 (Stunt Truck and Ring of Fire Challenge) for the area forward of the actual driver's compartment.

The 1955 Peterbuilt 281 'needlenose' semi truck, with tanker trailer attached, is what was used in the film originally. Later, as the film was extended for theatrical release, a 351 was used as a stand-in for more scenes due to the original truck being... unable to fulfill it's role. (watch the movie so you know what I mean!)

I've tried to make it as accurate as possible to the original 251, with the AC unit behind the cab, sleek streamlined 1950's tanker design, and single exhaust pipe in black. There is a steering wheel in the cab, but no way to place a figure at the controls. This is because we never see the driver's face in the film. So putting a placeholder in there would be totally inaccurate.

The tanker by itself, balanced upright by my finger on the back bumper. This is because I didn't add jacks / stands underneath the trailer that are used when the cab is separated from the trailer.

The truck seen in most (some added scenes used a 351 model of the same truck maker) of the 1971 action-thriller film is a 1955 Peterbilt 281, which Steven Spielberg selected because of the long hood of the Peterbilt, its split windshield, and its round headlights gave it more of a "face", adding to its menacing personality. Additionally, Spielberg said that the multiple license plates on the front bumper of the Peterbilt subtly suggested that the truck driver is a serial killer, having "run down other drivers in other states".

(The above paragraph is taken from Wikipedia article on the film)

Any thoughts on this model or it's accuracy? Comments, questions and complaints always welcome!

UPDATE 5/22/23: Real world photos added!

Edited May 22, 2023 by Murdoch17

[Murdoch17]

A match made in motor heaven, built with a fiery passion for deadly action nothing can extinguish!

(The film "Duel" 1955 Peterbilt semi-truck with my take on @hachiroku's older MOC '57 Plymouth Fury from the movie "Christine".)

Two killer vehicles, two very thrilling films - coming soon to a auto-lot near you!

Edited June 29, 2021 by Murdoch17

[Portal Out]

Duel rocks!  These are really well made too, you should do some renders and put them both on Lego Ideas if they let you.

[Murdoch17]

On 6/29/2021 at 12:02 PM, Portal Out said:

Duel rocks!  These are really well made too, you should do some renders and put them both on Lego Ideas if they let you.

Sorry for the late reply, but thanks for the compliment! As for Ideas, I don't do upload there, becuase I like having control over my own models future instead of giving it away to Lego.

Also, I just updated the first post with a better truck and more content. Here is a comparison between the two:

New 8-wide...

...and old 6-wide.

[Johnny1360]

It lives, lol, nice to see this project still going on, looking forward to seeing some real world brick versions. These smaller truck builds are among my favorites.

[Murdoch17]

On 8/18/2022 at 4:57 PM, Johnny1360 said:

It lives, lol, nice to see this project still going on, looking forward to seeing some real world brick versions. These smaller truck builds are among my favorites.

sorry for the late reply @Johnny1360! I am also glad to still be tinkering with this model. speaking of which, the first post has been updated as of now.

The front end of the old truck really bothered me, (it was totally inaccurate) so I stole the front end from CITY set 60357 (Stunt Truck and Ring of Fire Challenge) to make my model better. I'm going to probably built this one, if I can get over the fear of using reddish brown as I am afraid that I will shatter parts trying to build this using brittle brown. Also, money is a bit tight right now, and I don't want to have to order many more parts than I need (just in case of accidents) only for it not to occur. So basically I'm in two minds about this right now.

Hopefully I get over my fears by my next paycheck so I can order it!

[Murdoch17]

I've found and built everything I can, now I just have to order the $25 worth of bricks to finish this classic movie villain / truck.

[Murdoch17]

The remaining $14 worth of parts have been ordered. All that was ordered was 95 parts... the rest is already assembled as shown, or in a bin waiting to go on the model.

Honestly, I'll be glad to get this one done. Brittle Brown is really annoying to build with. I've cracked or shattered at least five parts so far. (that I know of!) I shudder to think what would happen should I ever accidentally drop it on the floor.

Edited May 20, 2023 by Murdoch17

[Murdoch17]

@Johnny1360 @Portal Out

After nearly two years in development hell, this model is DONE, and all six real world photos have been added to the first post!

If I tagged you in this post, you commented before when it was a WIP and I would appreciate your thoughts (alongside everyone else's of course!) on the finished MOC.

[Portal Out]

On 5/22/2023 at 4:20 PM, Murdoch17 said:

@Johnny1360 @Portal Out

After nearly two years in development hell, this model is DONE, and all six real world photos have been added to the first post!

If I tagged you in this post, you commented before when it was a WIP and I would appreciate your thoughts (alongside everyone else's of course!) on the finished MOC.

Stellar work!

[Murdoch17]

On 5/26/2023 at 3:58 PM, Portal Out said:

Stellar work!

Thank you! It's been as slog to find a working, accurate design these last two years. Glad I got it right in the end!

[Johnny1360]

Nice, @Murdoch17 really impressive that you finished what you started, something I wish I could do more of myself. I see you have made many changes in the tractor, likely truer to the source material, it has been so long since I remember seeing the movie. Though there are some details in the older one I like, the front fenders are a huge improvement and turned out well but I think the other cabin roof looks a little better. I get a big kick out of seeing people stick with a moc for years and finishing, I have a green cargo plane, City, that I have been working on for 5 years now, lol, needs extensive fuselage rework but I will finish it.

Anyway looks great, good luck with the brown bits and thanks.

[Murdoch17]

6 hours ago, Johnny1360 said:

Nice, @Murdoch17 really impressive that you finished what you started, something I wish I could do more of myself. I see you have made many changes in the tractor, likely truer to the source material, it has been so long since I remember seeing the movie. Though there are some details in the older one I like, the front fenders are a huge improvement and turned out well but I think the other cabin roof looks a little better. I get a big kick out of seeing people stick with a moc for years and finishing, I have a green cargo plane, City, that I have been working on for 5 years now, lol, needs extensive fuselage rework but I will finish it.

Anyway looks great, good luck with the brown bits and thanks.

Thank you! I can't wait to see your cargo plane in it's finished state!