Custom Pierce Enforcer 1750 pumper

[gotnitro?]

Fantastic work 

[DRIPTROIT 71]

The decals really set it off!!

[Chariots of Fire]

Well, here we are after a few hours of work.  There has been a ton of stuff to add to just the cab.  And there is more yet to do including the headlights, two grab bars for the right side of the cab, tow hooks, "chrome" bolt heads for the front bumper, step lights.  The list just goes on and on.  In the meantime this is where things stopped as of this afternoon.

Pierce has used a Great Seal of the United States on its apparatus for a long time.  Each piece gets one.  This rig has one too.?

[Danno]

Whoa!  That's nice.

?

[kilrathy10]

This rig is just amazing... Having just done a, well, rudimentary fire truck build, in my opinion, I can certainly appreciate all the little bits having to go on one of these things... I thought I was going to lose my mind on some of the assemblies... Nothing compared to this baby, though... With this being, almost, a total scratch build, never ceases to amaze... Beautiful work, Man... Just beautiful...

Edited November 9, 2020 by kilrathy10

[Chariots of Fire]

It can see where it's going now.  Headlights are finally on after much fiddling and adjustment.  I used Alclad over gloss black and then used 5 minute epoxy to set the lenses.  Epoxy was also used to attach them to the cab.  CA would not have allowed any adjustment and that was critical because of the two sets of lights.  I took the rear view mirrors from the Trumpeter ALF but they are not ready for installation yet.  The kit has nice chrome mirror backs but they included a piece of clear plastic for the mirror part.  BAD idea.  I have some polished heavy aluminum foil that has a sticky backing.  So the clear plastic was replaced with a strip of Evergeen with the aluminum stuck to the front face.  BIG difference!  The Federal Q2B siren was mounted on the bumper.  Trumpeter again only went half way so I made a "F" face for it as a decal and put it on an aluminum backing.

 

[Hermann Kersten]

And another great project!

Love the details.

 

Hermann

[Chariots of Fire]

Got the mirrors on using the Trumpeter kit pieces.  Getting closer to making up the pump panel unit now.  Just a few more little things to add to the cab such as the front discharge plumbing, tow hooks and some lights to go under the steps.

[Fanman]

You do phenomenal work Charles. A true craftsman.

[DRIPTROIT 71]

WOW!!

[GLMFAA1]

Just to bring the great seal story to light: The late Doug Ogilvie who was president of Pierce in the 1980's. He saw a large order of mini pumpers going to Saudi Arabia and they had nothing on them denoting that they were made in the USA. At that time even Rosenbaur of Germany was using American chassis for fire apparatus. Doug had them place the great seal on the apparatus being exported and since then it has been on all Pierce apparatus. He even had a 30's Ford chief's car for publicity

Photo from internet:

Great job Charlie.

 

greg

[kilrathy10]

This is impressive... Most impressive... Everything is expertly done... Awesome... The details just keep coming...

[gotnitro?]

Impeccable craftsmanship 

Every little detail is captured 

[Chariots of Fire]

It's got a body!  Sort of like Frankenstein's monster.  It's alive!  It's alive!  Well, not quite.  The basics of the body are done.  The next step is to cut out the sides along the lines that have been marked.  The scribed siding representing the roll up doors will then be put inside.  Trim on the outside and the lift bars will be done after painting.  Lots of small stuff again required but it's getting there.

I went to the local hardware store and found a hub end for PVC pipe that had the right outside diameter for the rear wheel well openings.  I cut the hub in half and then sliced it across to get the width I needed.  It's a bit on the thick side so I'll sand some away with the dremel and a sanding drum.

I also need to check the height just a little.  It should set level with the cab so it needs to come down just slightly.

The rear view.  There is a roll up door there also behind the opening that is cut into the back.  That's a piece of aluminum foil on the back of the cab.  I embossed the diamond plate pattern in it with a pencil eraser over a piece of plastic treadplate.  Most of it will be hidden by the pump panel unit once that is done.  The lines on the side of the body indicate where the cuts will be made.  Between each one will be a section of the outside sheet left in place.  On top will be another piece of treadplate.  

I checked the measurements of the model now that the body is set in place and it is just over 15 inches from front bumper to rear step.  It's off a couple of millimeters from the actual truck length so don't tell anybody!?

[kilrathy10]

This is looking too smooth... Beautiful work... Beautiful work...

[Danno]

Most excellent!  It is beginning to look a lot like . . . a Pierce!

Great work, Charlie.  I love the repurposing of PVC for wheel wells/fenders.  Good score.  Always vigilant!

(I'm struggling a bit with rear "fenders" for a Crown Firecoach.)

?

[David G.]

You've done an impressive amount of work on this! All of it done exceedingly well too.

Thanks for taking the time to share it with us.

David G.

[Mopar - D]

Awesome details Charles!! As stated above thanks for sharing how you go about making your builds. 

[Chariots of Fire]

10 hours ago, Danno said:

Most excellent!  It is beginning to look a lot like . . . a Pierce!

Great work, Charlie.  I love the repurposing of PVC for wheel wells/fenders.  Good score.  Always vigilant!

(I'm struggling a bit with rear "fenders" for a Crown Firecoach.)

?

Got some extra front fenders from an ALF 900 series hanging around?  I think they would work.

[Danno]

That thought occurred to me, also.  Along with your Pierce solution.

I'm doing some studying of the photos I have to see which might work best.

Thanks for suggesting it, Charlie.

Stunning Pierce!! I'm looking forward to your pump panel.

?

[Chariots of Fire]

The way I am making this truck body is similar to what I did a number of years ago when I made a City of Miami Haz-Mat rig.

This rig has roll up doors on each side a bit like E-27.  In this case I made a body inside a body.  The inside body was the scribed sheet painted separately with silver with the striping and decals added.  The outside body is the red part with certain accommodations made to keep everything alignment.  It was painted red.  Once all of the external work was done on the red body, the striped inner body was inserted giving it a solid unit look.

The Pierce will be the same in that there are inner scribed pieces that will fit behind solid exterior panels.  Only this time I made the outer body rigid and will use only individual scribed sheets for the doors.

Here the body has been opened up along pre-determined lines.  In the photo you can see the vertical sections that hold the body rigid on each side of the wheel well.  The corners take care of themselves.  In front are each of the scribed panels of 0.020" sheet stock.  They fit inside and are snug enough that I can show them in place.  Before they are installed permanently, I will add sheet stock to the back side to stiffen them up a bit and keep them flat.

Even now they look like they should.  Think they will work out just about right.

[redneckrigger]

Just got caught up with your build here, Charlie...............as always, totally amazing. Haven't had time to do anything on my bench, but am completely enjoying what you are doing on yours, and am learning yet more tips to help when I get the time, someday, to drag myself back to the bench. Keep it going Charlie.......................priceless!

[kilrathy10]

Every time I check, there's significant progress... Man, you are a machine... Awesome work...

[hct728(Bob)]

Nice progress! Inspiring to see how you are making up the body, what can be done with plain sheet plastic. Nice to see the Miami unit too, beautiful stripes and finish on it!

Edited November 17, 2020 by hct728(Bob)

[Chariots of Fire]

Just a couple of photos to show what it will look like with a pump panel in the middle.  This came directly from the Trumpeter ALF so it is not the one that ultimately will be there but it gives the idea.  I put a coat of primer on the body and it has had a first sanding.  Another coat of primer and it may be ready for paint.  The roll up doors will be done separately.  

Before I did the primer I took the time to thin down the rear wheel well surrounds.  They were just too thick.  I used a cutter in my Dremel and took better than 1/16" of thickness out of it.  What a mess doing so!  I never realized PVC was so fibrous on the inside.  It is solid as a rock but the stuff went everywhere and stuck like glue!  I had to get out the shop vac just to get it off my hands.  Second time around I covered myself with plastic trash bags with holes cut out for my hands to stick through.  When I finished the bags just went in the trash.?

The Trumpeter kit has some nice detailing materials.  That large diameter valve on the intake is direct from the kit.  Nicely done.  I did make the aluminum face plates for the two discharges above it and the one to the left.  Otherwise it is the same as what came in the kit.  The bright work is just BMF and a touch of a Molotow pen here and there.  No two pump panels are the same so there are loads of possibilities to choose from.