Aaronw

I haven't heard much positive about the Testor's decal maker program. I make quite a few of my own decals, I just use the micro soft paint program that comes with Windows for most of them. I set them up on the page for printing by inserting them into a word file. Here are some decals I've made this way for some of my projects.

I got a catalog from him 2 years ago, it had some "kits" that included at least a full cab, body and wheels. Don't remember if it required a donor for the chassis or not. There is some info in the contact section with email and phone # for the owners, if you know what you want you might be able to order something. As a recall now that site was put up in August or so, you might have a bit of a wait before its finished. Knowing how resin casters are in general and the lack of competition in the emergency vehicle area, that under construction site with contact info might be giving him all the buisness he can handle. This is a new caster that popped up recently http://www.grovegraphics.com/resin_items/index_resin.htm The stuff looks rough but usable.

Hey, I found I had Freds saved in my favorites twice, and the links are different. Seems he changed company names (can't say I blame him google turned up about 4 freds making resin stuff) and web addresses. This one works, it starts out wierd (a bunch of numbers and such) but it will open eventually. http://www.frmnco.com/ Thanks for your experience with Fred's most I know tried once and were unhappy with the service, maybe they just had bad luck or bad timing if you've used him that much with mostly good results.

The Trumpeter ALF is a nice kit, I hope that Trumpeter really does decide to follow it up with another vehicle, I've heard rumors of a rescue or a ladder. I really hope they do a parts pack of equipment for it though like you can get for military models. You know SCBA, nozzles, tools etc I'd buy a dozen of those. Good luck with your search. What was your experience with Freds? I've heard mostly marginal experiences from the few that have bought from him, good stuff but spotty service. His catalog is full of neat stuff though, I've come close to ordering a couple of times.

It is my understanding that AITM, still carries everthing MTFACO did, you just need to email to find out what he has unless you have one of the old catalogs. Be prepared with a list of what you want because the MTFACO catalog looked like a magazine (lots of stuff) and it would take forever for him to list it all in an email. Off the top of my head there was a decent smoke ejector, circle D lights, a variety of tools (flat & pick head axes, round shovels, square shovels, pike pole heads), a portable monitor (deck gun, wagon pipe, stang depending on local terminology), variety of sirens, some lights (but no light bars), most are cast metal. I don't recall any PPE or nozzles. I don't know if you have been to the Scale Fire House or not, its a model site for emergency vehicles and has a pretty good list of (the pathetically few) suppliers of parts out there. http://www.scalefirehouse.com/ If you don't mind my asking what are you going to build?

You could check STS or AITM, both have a variety of wheels/tires that might work. Spalding Trading and Shipping http://www.stsmodeltrucks.com/ American Industrial Truck Models http://www.aitruckmodels.com/ You will have to email Dave at AITM about wheels since he is still using the old MTFAco catalog for now (unless you have the old catalog). I am assuming you are looking for off road big rig tires, if you want smaller then there are a few more out there, but I'll have to try and remember where.

I'm an impulse builder so I need to have a lot on hand in case thats the impulse I get. I know I will probably never build some of the stuff I buy, but I might so I buy it. Also with the way kits come and go, some getting re-issued all the time and other one time only I treat kits something like resin, get it while you can. I'd prefer to have it on my shelf unbuilt than the urge to build it and no kit.

Sorry, thought you had a real one. Hope you caught the :wink: just giving you a hard time. Thanks Tim, that makes it pretty easy if its an older Pete the motors white.

So what color is it? geez you drive one of these and don't get the point of the post :wink:

Is that available in a kit? Never mind it was a typo should have been NTC not NTD in my list. :oops: fixed it

Edit - I updated this first post on 8/2/10 to reflect the additional info collected so far. Thanks for the help and feel free to offer further corrections or info. On another site someone was just asking about the correct color for the motor in a truck kit, this got me thinking it is a pretty common question and since there is a fairly limited number of truck engines available in kits or resin it could be handy to make up a list of the colors so we have the info in one place. Allis Chalmers - Plum Crazy Purple Caterpillar 3406 - New Cat Yellow 3208 - New Cat Yellow Cummins NHC250 - Cummins Beige NTA370 - Cummins Beige NTC350 - Cummins Beige N14 - Black (may have red valve covers) V-903 - Dark grey or Black Detroit Diesel Series 60 - DD Alpine Green 6-71 - DD Alpiine Green 8V71 - DD Alpine Green 12V71 - DD Alpine Green or Silver 16V71 - DD Alpine Green 8V92 - Silver Chevrolet 1940s to late 1950s - Medium grey Late 1950s to 1963 I-6 engines Chevrolet engine blue, V-8 Chevrolet engine red (orange) Ford Ford 331 Flathead truck engine - Dark Spruce Green OHV 1954 to 1961 - Red 534SD - Ford Blue GMC GMC 1940s - Avacado GMC late 1940s to early 1950s Dark Green GMC 1950s Crimson Red GMC 1960s V-6 Alpine Green, V-8 Red Turbine - Red International V-800 - Metallic blue Mack - Pre 1990 gold, Post 1990 grey, or blue / grey if equipped with an intercooler ENDT675 ENDT676 ENDT865 4cyl (Mack AC) - medium grey Super tip turbine - red Exceptions, some truck manufacturer's use their own colors instead of the engine builders color AutoCar - White through 1968-69 then manufacturer color Ford - Black until 1965, Ford Blue until 1982, Ford Corporate Grey Diamond Reo - Red Peterbilt - White through 1984 then engine manufacturer color Kenworth - White through 1975 then engine manufacturer color Might as well include the available paints as well Krylon New Cat Yellow Old Cat Yellow (I believe Caterpiller changed to the new yellow in the 1950's) Duplicolor Detroit Diesel Alpine Green Ford Blue Fleetrite (available at International dealers) Cummins Beige DT466 Blue Testors Model Master offers many factory engine colors. Suggestions for close matches with non-factory paints IH V-800 - Testors Model Master Lacquer #28150 metallic 1969 Ford Acapulco blue IH V-800 - Tamiya #TS19 Metallic blue Diamond Reo / Mack - Testors Model Master #52709 Boyd Red DD Alpine Green - Testors Model Master Acryl #4774 RLM 25, Polly Scale #505270 British Interior Grey Green AC Mack Grey - Model Master #1725 Neutral grey, Model Master Acryl #4757 Neutral grey

That is a great looking truck, what did you start with?

Thanks, the MEK has only made small amounts kick but it did work really well to thin the resin. I dumped out the excess resin and refilled the molds with MEK, after a short time the resin was really thin so I could get most of it out, then washed and dried the molds. At the least this has worked for 3 of the 5 molds I had filled with resin, the remaining 2 may be a lost cause because they are have small openings so I can't really scrape the resin out, I squirted some MEK into the molds with an eyedropper and will hope for the best. Of the last 2 one was an early mold which I should redo anyway, the other is a fairly new mold but not something critical, so if I end up losing 1 of 4 good molds and 1 old mold oh, well. I also use a polyethelene board for casting on to protect my work table, I used a little MEK to clean off the sticky uncured resin that spilled and the MEK cleaned everything off it, silicone blobs, old resin etc, it looks brand new. So at the least your tip saved me 2 brand new never before used molds, 1 little used mold and now I have a really clean working surface. Thanks

So the MEK will cause the rest of resin to solidify? Two of the molds are pretty open so I can get alot out, the other two are closed molds which will be a pain. I realize what I did now that I look at the bottles, I couldn't get the part B open so I used a new bottle of part B (figured I'd plan a big casting session and break the lid off the other part B later). Now looking at the label it says Now new tan color, the old part B was white resin, they must have changed their formula and I used the old part A (white) with the new part B (tan) and I guess they don't work together. Oh, well I guess its just one more thing to learn, don't mix resin batches. :roll: Thanks

I've been casting for a couple of years but just ran into a problem I haven't had before. I poured the resin into the molds and it won't cure. How do I get this sticky mess out of the molds?

Well finally got some progress on the stakeside at least I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the wheels yet, I had a set of resin duals I had planned to use but they are too wide. I noticed some of the trucks in the photo I am using for reference have single rear wheels so I ma stick with the kit wheels, I also have a set of single truck wheels for a 1930's International heavy truck which I may end up using since they are a bit beefier looking.

I haven't seen his work in person but he is on another site I belong too and seems to be a pretty nice guy, he really helped me alot with tips and techniques when I started my dabbling in resin casting. He seems to have a decent selection of stuff to offer but I can't help with the actual quality.

You could, Opel and Chevrolet basically have the same chassis, but there are also a number of sources for resin frame and chassis parts (springs etc) which miht end up being cheaper since the Italeri Opel kits are getting kind of hard to find. Spalding Trading and Shipping and American Industrial Truck Models would be good places to find quality resin parts you might find helpful in the conversion. The LRDG used the Canadian built Chevrolet 15cwt 1311X3 (3/4 ton) trucks and Ford 01 V8 (1940 Ford 1/2 ton truck) as pilot cars (scout vehicles) until replaced by the Jeep. The Chevrolet was 2wd the Ford was a 4x4. The Canadian built Chevrolet 30 cwt 1533X2 (1.5 ton) truck was the primary patrol vehicle (the 30cwt is the one the Tamiya kit represents). You could modify the Revell kit to make a 1311X3 pilot truck pretty easily, or with more work (kit bashing, resin parts or scratchbuilding) could make it into a 1533X2 Patrol truck. You could also use one of the variations of the Monogram 1940 Ford pickup to build a Ford 01 pilot truck too if you wanted some variety. The AMT, Hasegawa and Italeri make 1/25 jeeps which might be helpful for 1/25 guns. You might have some luck on the wheels from a desert racing aftermarket company. I don't think the Blitz wheels would be right, too narrow and the LRDG didn't mount dual wheels on the pilot cars or patrol trucks but I don't know of any sites to recommend. There are several good websites on the LRDG that might be helpful. http://www.lrdg.de/main.htm http://www.lrdg.org/ http://blindkat.hegewisch.net/lrdg/lrdg.html http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/j...man/sasjeep.htm Osprey has a good book on the LRDG as well in their New vanguard series. Neat project, I hope to see some pics when you get started. I'm currently working on a 1/35 Panzer Models Resin Ford 01 V8 LRDG pilot car and have the Tamiya kit waiting to go.

The water truck looks good, I prefer plastic but when the only way I can get something is diecast then metal is just fine. What did you use for the tank?

The DD Alpine green is kind of a bluish green anyway, yours is a bit bluer but its not too bad, those Oshkosh trucks take a beating, the owner probably touched up the engine with some Ford blue paint How are you liking the kit, I have seen a couple of interesting contract water tenders built on that chassis and think about getting one every time I go to the STS site.

I hadn't thought about a diorama. Normally firefighter figures are hard to come by but in the 30's pretty much any "labor" type figure could potentially work, protective gear back then for wildland firefighters was jeans, boots, long sleeve shirt and a hard hat, G scale railroad stuff might work for some people. Good idea, I might not do anything with it, but thanks.

I haven't had much time to build lately but I finally got a little building started. I've decided to do a two part build as I find I do better with more than 1 build at a time. I am building a pair of US Forest Service fire vehicles, a 1937 Ford Stakeside crew truck and a 1934 Ford forestry pumper. This is my inspiration I am using Revell's '37 Ford and Lindberg's '34 Ford. The stakebed is modified from the Ford C600 kit, I shortend and narrowed it for the smaller truck. The photo is a little dark but I'm using Krylon Fusion's Hunters green, it is not black like it looks. The white sheet plastic on the side of the stake truck will be a sign for the forest / crew identification.

I think MTFAco used to have one so you might check AITM http://www.aitruckmodels.com/ It is not currently listed but if you email him, he can tell you if it will be available. He has been re-doing the old MTFAco molds and many are not ready yet but will be eventually. MTFAco also had alot of good fire apparatus detail parts which I understand are available just not listed on the website.

That motor is looking good, this is a good kit to spend time on the motor too, the tilt cab actually goes up enough to show off the detail. I started one of these 2 years ago but stalled at the motor, I'm using the CAT diesel from the Ford Louisville which proved more of a difficulty than I expected. The Ford C was one of the most popular commercial cabs used to build fire apparatus for almost 40 years, pumpers, ladder trucks, rescues etc. It would have been easy to do a Mack version (N?) of the kit too. Guess I better stock up on a few more while they are still available, I'm getting a number of ideas.

A fire engine Oh, well one can always dream, this should have been a no brainer for them since AMT makes both the Ford C and ALF kits. Note this was not my build, it was built by a friend of mine using parts from the ALF pumper and Ford C kits.