explorer2770

Greg, Here you go. Had to search a couple of hard drives, but I found these pictures that I download from the net a few years ago. More at the link: http://smg.photobucket.com/user/explorer2770/library/Dakota wildland

Greg. That Dakota looks great. I've picked up a few since they hit the selves again. You should try a utility bed, while they weren't very common for this pickup, it is a way to change up the kit. I have pictures somewhere of a 2004 Dodge Dakota with a utility bed, 150 GPM pump, 350 gallon water tank, and other brush truck gear but of course, I can't find them right now.

Aaron, That is a nice collection of reference shots. Thank you for taking the time to collect them and share them with us. I did a double take when I saw the ATWC tanker 8893, 8892 is right down the road from me in Farmers, KY. Quick question, how many rolls of hose are typically loaded on a pallet? I've had an idea for a support truck for a few years and adding a hose pallet could be an interesting load for the truck to haul. Thanks! Brandon

Glad I can help. Squad 51 and Engine 51 are my holy grail builds since I enjoy building emergency vehicles. I have done a lot of research on the two trucks, even have the Code 3 Squad 51, but I have yet to pull the trigger on those two builds since I know I can't do them justice yet. If you need a Ward Cab, contact Cargostar Dave, he sells them.

There is one major reasons why I will never purchase from a foreign country again. I had my identity stolen a few years ago from a foreign purchase. While the purchase was through a reputable company, their employee that was processing the credit card account information was part of a identity theft ring that was duplicating credit cards and making unauthorized purchases. That was a nightmare to get resolved and I'm still in the hole because of the foreign transaction fees that my bank wouldn't wave on the fraudulent purchases (this was in the early 2000s, before credit fraud policies started to better protect the consumer). I've decided to never put myself in that position again by purchasing from foreign companies, I only buy within the US via credit or internationally with cash when I travel. And I'm not about to hop a flight to Japan for a scale model, even if it is duty free. While that may sound like a silly reason to not purchase from a foreign country, I would rather put money into a domestic store's pocket for my hobby needs.

I have found that Krylon Banner Red (I know, not a Testor color) is a good match when used with a light gray primer for the LACoFD rigs. One thing you have to consider is that while Squad 51 was built to LACoFD specs, neither Squad 51 nor Engine 51's Ward were built for LACoFD, so their paint might not match LACoFD specs for that era. Universal Studios built Squad 51's rescue body and mounted it to a 1972 Dodge D30 for use in the show because they couldn't borrow LACoFD Squad 8 (1970 Dodge D30) past the pilot episode, LACoFD's squads were in too much demand for them to be constantly used in filming. LACoFD never owned a 1972 Dodge squad until Universal Studios gave Squad 51 to the county, it was restored in 1999 and repainted to LACoFD specs at that time. And in 1975, LACoFD went to GM products for their squads until Ford in the early 90's. The Ward LaFrance P80 was built and donated by Ward LaFrance to Universal Studios as a marketing tool since LACoFD had purchased 50 P80s starting in 1971 and Emergency! was a popular television series. The Engine 51 received by Universal Studios was actually ordered by the Lake Park, FL, Fire Department and was rushed to Universal Studios when it became apparent that the LACoFD spec pumper would not finish the production line soon enough for filming. Because this P80 was built to Ward "stock" pumper specs, it was not considered to be built to LACoFD specs. Engine 51 should have had a 1500 gpm Hale pump with a Cummins Diesel NHTF-295 and NTF-365 HP turbo charger, but was actually built with a 1000 gpm Hale pump and Cummins NHF-265 HP diesel engine. Engine 51's paint color was Dupont Dulex #936744, a Chrysler red enamel, and didn't match county specs but was not repainted when it arrived at Universal Studios. Hope that helps.

The Sambar Fire truck is 1/24 scale and is due to be released in December. The dump trailer is 1/32 scale and is due to be released in November. I definitely want the Sambar kit so I'm hoping someone will import it to the US.

David, I saw the kit in the Lexington, KY Hobby Lobby on Friday. I skipped it because I'm looking for the re-issue Ford Ranger. I've noticed that Lexington gets new releases sooner than others, so it should just be a matter of time before it shows up in your area. If you need it sooner, send me a PM. Brandon

So, the Rough Country straight bar comes in a 50" length by 3.45" depth by 3" height, which would be 2.08" by 1.44" by 1.25" in 1/24 scale. An easy way to make this would be to cut a strip of 0.125" square strip styrene (or .125" by .158") to 5.3 cm. Paint the bar black, then print this image on glossy paper (height should be 0.125"). http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v285/explorer2770/bar1_zps5omekjfb.png Cut out bar face image and glue to the styrene. Then, either cut a strip of clear acetate, mylar, or Dura-Lar to cover the face or use a clear epoxy to give the smooth glass look to the face of the bar. Then, use some aluminum or sheet styrene to make the mounting brackets. A curved bar can be made in the same way, just heat the strip styrene in hot water and bend it to the shape you want.

Fuel tanks on fire trucks (custom and Ford C series) are usually mounted between the frame rails behind the rear axle(s).

Lots of fire apparatus manufacturers used the Ford C cab chassis, the only way to tell which one made your truck would be to find the manufacturer plate in the photos. It could be an American LaFrance, Pierce, Sutphen, E-One, Grumman, Oren, Hahn, or any number of local/smaller fire truck builders. Do you know if the Ford C was sold to Dixie FD? Then it could be a Fire Boss. http://yngfire.com/index.php/topic,9557.msg59410.html#msg59410 The Century Series AeroChief (snorkel) is most likely a 1977 with serial number CE 145165. http://yngfire.com/index.php/topic,9890.msg61689.html#msg61689 Many have made the conversion to the twin drive for the AeroChief and Ladder Chief over at the ScaleFirehouse.com Check them out. Other Tyler TX fire trucks that might interest you: http://yngfire.com/index.php/topic,1307.msg46011.html#msg46011 http://yngfire.com/index.php/topic,1303.msg41419.html#msg41419 http://yngfire.com/index.php/topic,2013.msg75008.html#msg75008 http://yngfire.com/index.php/topic,7250.msg35642.html#msg35642 http://yngfire.com/index.php/topic,9935.msg61907.html#msg61907

That is a very interesting fire truck. Are these types common in Australia?

This is a nice kit. I have one and plan to make it a fire chief's ride, something similar to San Diego County FD's 2010 Ford Raptor... I'm glad that they included the chrome pieces for the side mirrors (something missing from many of the older snap kits, especially the Ford Expedition kits). Now I just need a decent truck cap...

I always go directly to the manufacturer for drawings. Dodge offers their 2004 - 2015 Body Builder guides electronically in pdf form http://www.rambodybuilder.com This will load a pdf that is not navigable in Chrome or Firefox, so you'll have to use IE or another web browser. To help speed things up: http://www.rambodybuilder.com/2006/intro.pdf 2006 1500 120.5" wb 4x2 : http://www.rambodybuilder.com/2006/dr/drreg/drreg1500120.54x2.pdf BTW, Ford and Chevy/GMC offer their own body builder guides online too for most trucks. Ford's go back to 1997, while GM's go back to 1999. https://www.fleet.ford.com/truckbbas/topics/bodybuild.html http://www.gmupfitter.com/pdflists/view/6 Here's the gist of what is in the Dodge Ram 3500 snapper: This is one of my bench warmer projects, so the rest of the interior (seats, steering wheel, and dashboard) is still in the box. I saw a guy at the 2014 Cincinnati Auto Replicas show turn a toy Dodge Ram Raminator into a decent scale model. I've only been able to find the Road Rippers Dodge Ram 1500, but more exist.

Two options to lengthen the drive shaft: cut the u-joints off of the original drive shaft and use tube styrene (or K&S aluminum tubing) to reconnect them to fit the new length. Option 2, use the round spruce in your kit that you no longer need after cutting the parts off, cut a piece to length, cut the u-joints off of the original drive shaft and sand them to a smaller diameter, then drill a hole in each end of the spruce to accept the u-joints. Either option works, just depends on what you have on hand. I typically use 3/32 to 1/8 inch tubing when I make adjustments for fire trucks, just depends on the original kit drive shaft diameter.

Last weekend, a colleague gave me his stash of kits that he was never going to build and one of them was a 1941 Chevy pickup kit. Instead of building it as a pickup, I decided to do something different and make it a war years light rescue. I figured that a cash strapped municipality needing something to haul rescue tools after the start of the war would have gone to the local car dealerships to find something, anything, to haul their gear and they found this half ton truck. Instead of just throwing everything in the bed, they had a couple of handymen on the department make a simple box to carry the equipment. And voila, a light rescue was born. I used the old Bell telephone boxes as a guide for this rescue box. Once painted, I will have silver straight pin heads to act as exterior bolts on the hinges. I plan to add a ladder rack and might throw some tool boxes on top to carry more gear. If I get really ambitious, I'm thinking about making a trailer pump for this to pull. Now to decide upon the color combination: Maroon red over black like the box art Beige over black or Tan over maroon red. Recommendations welcome.

I know this is a long-dead thread, but I had a question about the Modelhaus utility bed. What are the utility body's actual measurements? I know it will fit and replace a 1/25 scale 8 ft bed, but is it 8 ft long or 9 ft long in scale? I have need of a 9' long utility bed for a project and want to know if this will work or if I need to scratch something myself. Thanks

Greg. Great job on the model and congrats for meeting Randy and having him sign your models. Randy is an awesome guy, a true TV legend, and a great spokesman for the fire service. I've always wanted to build the Squad, but I've never been able to get the body dimensions right. I seem to always make the aft wheel compartments too big. Would you mind sharing your measurements to help us all build better squads? Brandon

Beautiful. I love the attention to detail and all of your hard work that you put into making this functional. I might have to try my hand at one of these roll back wreckers eventually.

Dave, I concur with Charlie, remove the radiator guard and railing on top of the bumper, they just don't look good with the Mack's front end. I have always been a fan of front suctions, and 4Guys does a great job of adding those to pumpers. My personal favorite setup is Cobleskill NY's front mounted suction. http://i.imgur.com/NPhS0.jpg You can always add a rotoray to the grille if you want to add some bling that way.

Sorry Dave, I haven't made much progress on this for a few months. I used black jump rings from the craft store for the gauges, I had a bag of 3, 5, and 7 mm rings and picked the best ones. I did make a first attempt at working ladder rack, but I have had this and all my other models in a box since September, just haven't had the time to work on things. I'll have to dig out the ladder rack this weekend and take some pictures.

You can probably get away with slapping NYPD logos on any car/SUV/truck body type because NYPD has probably purchased one or tried one out sometime in the department's history. If you want a specific unit, try the MSTF Truck Enforcement units. http://www.policecarwebsite.net/fc/ny/nypd/nypd532.html Most of the older Truck Enforcement vehicles are Dark Blue, but newer units are white. There are some ways to improve the police kit body, and here is what I have tried in the past. I stole the wheels and tires from an AMT F-150 XLT snap kit wheels since these are the correct version for most police packages. I have taken the interior and body from the custom kit to cut down on body fillings, but used the 4x4 chassis from the police kit to give it a different stance. I have pondered turning the police kit wheels into 4x4 wheels, but nothing quite looks right. The Revell Impala wheel's center cap might work if you have that in your stash, but I have tried to resin copy some hubs from the Revell Dodge SVT but those just aren't right either. Good luck on your build.

The method Roger and Miles described works best for the air dam section, sand from behind to get them open. The drill bits will tear up the sides if it slips and that kit part doesn't exactly sit flat on the table when working on it. Of course, if you have yourself a cut-resistant pair of gloves, you could use a sharp No. 11 blade and scrape the plastic off from the back. Just remember, if the blade slips it will go through flesh like a hot knife through butter, something I can confirm after a very expensive hospital visit. I still don't have all the feeling back in the tip of my thumb when I nearly cut the tip off two years ago.

Jimmy Flintstone offers a resin Task Force (1955-57) Chevy Suburban, which isn't going to work for your needs for an Advance Design Suburban. There is a KINSMART 1:36 SCALE diecast which you might be able to pick up on the net.

Answer for question 2: http://www.lov2xlr8.no/brochures/ford/97fp/97fp.html or, more specifically, http://www.lov2xlr8.no/brochures/ford/97fp/bilder/6.jpg