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explorer2770

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    Brandon VanNess, Ph.D.

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  1. Thanks, but I like my design better. Just need to print these on the resin printer.
  2. Well, this will be another "must have" to add to my build list. Am I the only want that wants a parts pack of the 1 ton wheels, leaf springs, and badging to convert previously purchased Moebius trucks to the 1 ton variety? I'd buy 6 parts packs right now. Guess I'll just have to 3d print the parts instead.
  3. Here's a few more tips from my experiences building these kits. 1. Use the full chassis from the Ford cabover, but don't glue in the rear axle until you test fit the body. It is much easier to use the cabover's chassis instead of extending or mating the pumper's chassis to the Fords. Akron's cabover is very similar to Fremont's 1977 Ford C8000/Sutphen pumper which had a 125 inch wheelbase. You can slide the rear axle on the cabover's chassis once you test fit the cab and bed, then mount the pump and transfer case to the cabover chassis using the parts from the pumper kit. Modifying the drive shafts to fit the new locations isn't hard, but takes a little practice. Since you have a C-700 series, you can use the gas engine from the cabover kit. You won't have to worry about squeezing the Detroit Diesel 8v71 from the pumper kit into the cabover's chassis. 2. Use David Parsley's video on the Ford cabovers to get them to sit right. 3. Don't glue in the water tank to the pumper body until you test fit to the cabover's chassis and check the ride height. You may need to cut the supports or modify the tank to get it to sit where you want it on the cabover's chassis. Tim Ahlborn's Peterbilt/LaFrance build is a great example of making sure you get the tank modified before gluing it in so that it fits on the chassis at the correct ride height since most kits have a different ride height compared to the pumper's chassis. 4. The Storz cap on the steamer line (main water inflow for the pump) can be found in the Trumpeter ALF Eagle kit. If you have a 3D printer, I might have a file that you can print. Shapeways doesn't have the appropriate sized fitting with cap. 5. Siren bracket can be found here: https://www.shapeways.com/product/TKKPUKQEC/1-24-c600-bracket-x4?optionId=292628592&li=shops or you can make it from scratch. 6. The Twinsonic bar on the roof can be sourced from AMT's classic emergency flasher parts pack (AMTPP032). David Parsley has an excellent tutorial on adding the little bits to the interior of the bar to make it stand out. 7. The nozzle on the tailboard can be sourced from the AMT pumper kit, it is the one typically mounted on the hose reel line. Use hand line nozzle with or without pistol grip on the crosslay and hose reel. DownRangeProductions (shapeways) has a variety of hand line nozzles to choose from. I've made my own in the past, but now I 3D print the ones that I want to use. 8. You'll want to mount a radio near the dashboard. You can source this from any 60s - 70s police car kit, or scratchbuild one. 9. The hand lights in the truck cab can be made by adding a round spotlight to a stack of strip stock, then adding a piece of wire for the handle. 10. The Shoreline plate on the driver's side can be made from 0.020" strip stock, a small piece of rod, and some half round. I don't remember the measurements right now, but I'll look them up. If you are feeling adventurous, you could consider adding the recessed fuel fill. You can accomplish this by gently drilling out the area with a 3/16" or 7/32" bit or die punch. Cut a sliver of 1/4" tube at an angle (~30 degrees), then add a piece of styrene to the back, and glue to the backside of the hole. Paint to body color, then add the gas cap from the kit. I recommend practicing the drilling on a spare piece of styrene until you feel comfortable.
  4. That rear axle/leaf spring looks really good. Do you mind sharing where you got the 2021 GMC 2500 from? I'd love to print my own for a Dodge ambulance I'm building and printing a modern pickup would be nice to do as well.
  5. Since the original tooling was snap together, I'm hopeful that Round2/AMT might be making changes to the chassis to make it more like a regular kit. I won't mind having another source of 1 ton wheels, a long wheelbase chassis, and side mirrors, it would make it worth the cost. If modelers can slip the regular cab from the C1500 kit onto the chassis with little modification, the possibilities for making tow trucks, ambulances, and fire trucks will be a breeze. If Round2/AMT can slide an engine in it or make it a full crew cab set up, I'll be more than happy to buy one. My only concern is the recent increase in warpage that I have been seeing in kits. I bought a few '55 Chevy Cameos recently and the warpage on the bed parts has been horrible. Thankfully, I'm making my own beds for my models, but pumping out >$25 for a kit with warped parts is getting ridiculous. As long as this "new tool" fits together better than some of the current offerings that Round2/AMT is pumping out, I'll go for at least one, if not more.
  6. I like the bumper as is. Looks better than this one: https://www.purplewave.com/auction/201202/item/DI1018/1987-GMC-General-Trucks-Flat_Bed_Truck-Missouri What are you using for the wood bed?
  7. Okay, I'm late to the game on this kit, completely forgot about it tbh. I see that there's a lot of issues with warpage, so, I have two questions for anyone that has the kit. 1) what is the cab to axle measurement for this kit? The kit looks a little long and I'm suspecting something around 108". 2) Are more kits going to be released? I'm only finding the kits at Model Roundup, so...I'm really hoping that more will be released in the future. I build fire trucks and ambulances, so the issues with the warped racers wedge don't bother me. I'm a little tired of stretching chassis for longer rigs, so I'm happy to see this one finally released. I can throw on another cab if the warpage is too bad, but as long as the chassis is straight and there are 1 ton wheels, I'll be good to go.
  8. This started life as a Revell Peterbilt 359 snap-kit and became the new Gables Corner VFD's Incident Support Unit 1. The box design is based on Summit Fire Apparatus' air cascade units, similar to Kenton or Columbus's units. Lots of scratchbuilding and a few parts from shapeways.
  9. Will this help? The drawing is based on a Hackney trailer for LA County FD but I modified it to fit your picture. but I can change the bay/door sizes to 52" if you'd like some extra length or add another bay. Send me an email and I'll send a pdf that you can print.
  10. Here some paint comparisons that I did today. For each comparison, I used Krylon white primer (Left), Krylon gray primer (Middle), and Plastikote Filler Primer (Right): Krylon Citrus Green: citrus green by Brandon VanNess, on Flickr Rust-oleum Key Lime: Key lime by Brandon VanNess, on Flickr Krylon Ivy leaf: ivy leaf by Brandon VanNess, on Flickr Testor Fluorescent Yellow (airbrush): testor fl yellow by Brandon VanNess, on Flickr I hope this helps!
  11. The paint looks like Krylon Citrus Green to me. Joel's half top was made by cutting down the original full top in the kit.
  12. I hope that Round 2 will re-release a Paystar 5000 kit (any version) and the Autocar Dump Truck within the next decade since there are so many possibilities for these kits. I have enough Mach's, Peterbilts, and Ford LNs to keep me busy, but I'm lacking these two trucks for some projects.
  13. Krylon Gloss Citrus Green and Ivy Green might be other options to try, although these are more green than yellow. I picked up the Ivy Green to make this someday: Slime lime is a hard color to get in a can, but the Rustoleum Key Lime is my go to if I have to use a rattle can. Rattle cans can be decanted and shot through an airbrush, or you can get acrylic paints and use aerosol adapters to shoot them. I have used DecoArt Americana Chartreuse Yellow acrylic paint for a slime yellow. I know a guy that uses Tamiya XF-4, which is a little greener than you might be looking for. You can try mixing various acrylic yellows and greens to get different shapes of slime. I'm going to try mixing Testor's Fluorescent Yellow and Fluorescent Green airbrush paints (picked them up on clearance at Michaels) to get a slime lime paint. Gravity Colors offers a National Fire Safety Lime Yellow color for airbrushing. Good luck with your builds.
  14. It's not too hard to convert the Ford Raptor kit into a crew cab. The hardest part is to resin copy the door handles and scribe the rear door line. 20180202_225908 by Brandon VanNess, on Flickr As you can tell, I'm not quite done with the crew cab. The nice part is that you can get a regular cab and a crew cab out of the conversion. 20180202_230414 by Brandon VanNess, on Flickr Not much to do with the regular cab, I'm thinking about using a utility box or making a long-bed. 20180202_230518 by Brandon VanNess, on Flickr
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