explorer2770

I just picked one of these up yesterday. First time ever buying this kit, I skipped over the Model King release, so I'll have to wait and get this one built before I decide to buy more. Two questions: Has anyone ever opened up the grill on this kit? I've tried this in the past with the '99 Silverado and was wondering if that has been tried successfully with this grill. Second, does anyone have any recommendations for parts to use to turn this into a DRW 4x4 configuration? I'm thinking of turning this into another flatbed brush truck once I get the Silverados finished and would rather have a DRW configuration over the SRW that it currently has so the boys can carry more water to the fire.

Thanks guys. This is slowly progressing along. I was able to pick some stuff up 2 weekends ago and have been busy ever since, mainly working on copying and improving the front suspension for future builds. As far as judging goes, two years ago they picked up the models to check the chassis detail. I about fainted because I had a pickup bed full of semi-loose equipment. That's what I get for the "I just threw it in there" look.

Nicely done sir. Make sure to let us know how you do at the contest.

Aaron, If you have the Revell Escalade, that would be the easiest to add. Just cut off the Silverado's mounting brackets and add a strip of 0.040 thick styrene to the bottom of the chassis to raise the suspension up to the correct ride height. The picture below shows what I have been looking at to use in my builds. Bottom left: AMT Escalade EXT mounting bracket is a little wider than the Silverado's frame. Top left: Die-Cast Promotions' Chevrolet Express van mounting bracket, is not as wide as the Silverado's frame. Top Right: Matchbox 1/24 scale 1999 Silverado 2500 front suspension, definitely larger than the Silverado's kit. Bottom Right: Revell Escalade front mounting bracket, fits just about right. I'm experimenting with modifications to the Silverado front suspension for future builds and have begun modifying that kit suspension parts to save on chassis modifications. I plan to swap in the Revell Escalade front axle on the 3500's I'm building since it will accept the metal axle tires from the AMT Chevrolet 3500 snap kit. As a side note, the transfer cases are molded to the chassis for both Escalade kits, as well as the Express and Suburban. If you don't have any spares, shoot me a pm and I might have an extra or two laying around after this weekend.

Rick, Your conversion looks good. I picked up a ALF pumper kit last weekend that a guy had bought to do the same conversion that you are doing, he just never started it. What is your plan for the jump seat area that was on the ALF pumper kit?

You are tackling a skill level 3 kit, and from what I see you have done a very nice job with it thus far. I have found it best to take a step back or go for a walk when I hit a road block on a build. I know that it is frustrating when you are days away from a show and you've put so much time into a build that it starts to feel like quick sand when things don't go right.

Larry, I have used the box body from the Trumpeter ALF on a Revell Snap Peterbilt chassis with a custom made pump panel and it looks pretty good paired that way as a commercial pumper, so that is one option that you could go with what remains of your kit. If you want to build yours up as close to box-stock as possible, I might have the parts that you need. I parted out a kit for a friend that needed the body and pump panel a couple of years ago with plans to turn the remains into a heavy rescue...so I might still have the PE and tires. Heck, I just picked up a casting kit from HL myself today and will probably dabble in making copies of the wheels and tires from that kit for some other projects I have in mind. Send me a pm with all of the parts that you are missing and I'll check my stash when I get back to my place.

I did get some progress done on the chassis for both trucks this week. The frame rails were not that difficult to make, what took forever was the mounting brackets and rear leaf springs. The rear suspension will not be 100% prototypical since I'm not adding the helper leafs above the main leaf springs and will pin the rear mounts to the frame rails once I get the ride height correct. The front suspension on the extended cab is from the Revell Escalade kit and I'm currently waiting on the two part mold to cure to get it back. I will be using the solid metal axle wheels and tires from the AMT Silverado 3500 kit, so that part works just fine for me. Wish I could get my hands on a few more of these suspension parts as I hate parting out the Escalade kit just for that part. A closer look at the bottom of the chassis shows how I adapted my scratch built parts to the kit part chassis. Not pretty or prototypical, but the bonds better hold the weight of the model otherwise I'm up a creek without a paddle. My check list is slowly getting smaller. Need to make a trip to Columbus this weekend to get more resin, styrene, and sanity.

Brian, your pumper looks really good. The Trumpeter body makes for a decent short body pumper on any commercial chassis, that's why I used it with my Peterbilt pumper build. If you still need help with the hose load, my I suggest bias tape. You can get a lot for a little price at places like Walmart, plus they are pre-colored. Of course, I'm still laying in a load of folded electrical tape for LDH on my build and using dyed sewing elastic for the smaller diameter hose.

Finally got these back out and started working on them. While I wait for some plastruct parts to arrive so I can start the plumbing work, I decided to cut one of the cabs down to a regular. Not perfect, and it still needs some work after the milliput sets up (not shown in these photos). I used some tape to trace the door curve, then carefully cut out the center section. Once that was done, I measured the cab and then cut down the interior to fit (yes, it still needs more work and some putty). Things to do yet, way too many. Now to work on the chassis and get both set up for a makeshift stock 4x4 wth dual rear wheels. Time to get a jig ready for leaf springs, then wait for Spring to arrive so I can start painting these trucks and maybe get them done by April.

I might just have to wait on my brush trucks now that I know this kit is coming along. I really hope someone can get Meng to make a F-350 regular cab 165" wheelbase DRW chassis with ambulance package...oh wait, never mind, I'll have to do that conversion myself. I'm going to hate taking a razor saw to that cab since I've been want a crew cab kit for 15 years. Better start playing the lotto so I can afford these kits when they come out.

Well, here's some more progress. I'm making more progress on the flatbeds so I have to start working on the chassis.

Well, I wasn't happy with the engines for the pump. While the MPC kit is a nice engine, it doesn't represent a V-twin engine like the newer B&S Vanguard engines used by Hale for their pumps. Therefore, I took a couple of already cast pieces and an old motorbike engine and made something that looks like a 18 hp V-twin engine. I haven't found a decent way to make the overhead valve covers, but I sort of like this look without them. The exhaust system needs to be rigged, but I figure that will happen after I run all of the pump plumbing. Now to get some more castings done to make a couple more engines and pumps...then get back to the flatbeds.

David, your parts look very nice. I have been looking at the AMT ALF kit for some more parts, just have to get the hang of resin casting first. While I would never let a contest's rules stand in my way of building a model, I don't have any more Maisto F series trucks but I do have a few of the Silverado kits in my stash...just makes sense to use what I have. I found something this weekend that will help make better hose reels, a "My Jewelry Shop" 1 inch circle lever punch. It can take up to 0.020 thick styrene and punches a perfect circle. Will take some experiments to make see how well a hose reel with sides made from the lever punch will turn out, but that's for a future build. After a few tries with the Alumilite kit last week, here's where the portable pump engine progress stands: Not bad for a first timer once I figured out how to weigh the resin and get a good thorough mix (far right never quite set up). Now I just need to figure out the extra parts to make it look more like a modern Briggs and Stratton engine for the Hale HP200 series pumps I'm trying to simulate. At least the impeller turned out okay. Oh, that's the second body I've been working on, it still needs a lot more work which will have to wait for this weekend. I did spend some time this weekend looking for some chicken wire mesh for the top portion of the headache rack and ended up with Activa Activ-Wire mesh which might work. Can't wait for this coming weekend to get more work done on these utility beds.

@ mnwildpunk: Thanks. I'll keep looking, all I've found is the SSB resin's Ford F-350 quad cab for $100 and that's too much for a cab I'd have to chop in half. Thanks. The "plates with the tears" are the Plastruct 91687 HO scale (1:100) diamond plate sheets. At least that's what I hope you are talking about. If not, send me a PM and we'll figure it out. Thanks. The other bed looks better, closer to the 1:1, just needs to get the headache rack finished. I don't see why AMT or Revell can't buy the Matchbox F-350 molds and release it in plastic, similar to how the recent Revell Jeep Rubicon was redone. Of course, I'd take any new pickup truck kit, even an extended cab, as long as I can make it a 1 ton or cab chassis. I do have some more progress but it is going to take a few days to show up. Last year I had purchased an MPC Lotus turbine car with lawn tractor last year and started looking at the engine parts. I had made a copy out of styrene, but I just didn't like the way it turned out. Then I saw my Alumilite resin starter kit. Now I'm waiting for the RTV mold of the original parts (and some other things) to cure, fingers crossed that I did it correctly, then I'll be able to make a couple of resin copies of that engine and go from there. I know, I could have ordered a few from SEL, but I went this way to prove to myself that I can make a mold. Once I have that figured out, I might consider making a newer engine and pump to use on these and future rigs.

Thanks guys. I finished up the storage boxes last night. I'm leaving the doors off right now until I get around to painting the cabs, that way they match the cab. Each box is 30 mm tall, and 24 mm deep, the officer side is the same length as the tank, which is 62 mm, while driver's side is 76 mm long. Since I made 2 of each box at once, it was a good thing I had my NWSL duplicutter. On the 1:1 rigs, the diamond plate is going around the box and is flush with the edges of the doors, so that meant I had to adjust the measurements for the thickness of the Plastruct diamond plate, another good reason to use the duplicutter. Once the boxes were done, I moved onto the Hannay hose reels. I could have used the hose reel from the AMT ALF pumper, but I only have one set and need to make at least 2, so I had to cut some more out of sheet styrene. The hose reel mounts face plates were cut from 1 mm thick styrene sheet, then, doubled up with carpet tape so that a 1/16 mounting hole would line up correctly. The sides of the hose reels mount feature 2 holes, so I decided to indicate this by using a hole punch to knock out 1/4 in holes. On the first one shown below, I didn't get the holes on center and had to adjust them a few times. I also used a hole punch to punch out 3 1/4" circles which I drilled a 1/16" hole through, these will act as the spacer. Once the crossmembers were cut to length, the reels were made by using 1/8" tube and 5/16" tube. Still have to work on those a little to make them not wobble when they rotate. As you can see, the overall effect is fairly decent. If I can find my sheet of Archer bolt heads, I'll add those to help raise the level of detail for these parts. Still need to make the electric rewind motor, but that's just finding a 1/4" rod and cutting a hole in it. Then come the guide arms, that will be some more engineering to figure out. I also need to remember to buy some 1/16" rod the next time I'm at the LHS, the metal tube just looks weird. Overall, the rigs are coming along nicely. There is some serious sanding that needs to get done, but this is a good start.

I am building two 2 Weis Fire Safety Quick Attack 300 flatbed brush trucks in 1/25 scale. For more information about these types of brush trucks, please feel free to go to http://www.weisfiresafety.com and check them out, quite informative although technical specifications have been removed from their website in the last update. Anyway, I'm originally from Sandusky County Ohio and Helena Community VFD, Lindsey VFD, and Ballville Township VFD have have taken delivery of Weis brush trucks within the last 4 years, so that's where my inspiration for these builds comes from. I have finished one flatbed assembly (11.0 cm long by 9.8 cm wide) while the other flatbed is halfway done (11.0 cm long and 9.7 cm wide), both are designed for a 60" CA chassis. Each flatbed features a firefighter walkway between the cab and the tank body so that firefighters can stand and use the 2 tank mounted hand lines to fight the fires. Progress so far:  The underside of the bed shows how I assembled it, not the best, but it works. The Dodge Ram 3500 is for mock up purposes only as I haven't decided on the chassis I want to use yet. Wish I could find a Ford F-350 in plastic, but I might consider modifying the '99 Revell Silverado into a Silverado 3500 4wd chassis since I have a handful of the Revell kits. There are some decent diecast F-350s near 1/25 scale, but there is a contest I'd like to enter these in which does not permit diecast cars or trucks, even if I do all of this scratchbuilding. I'm working on 300 gallon water tanks, side compartments, and hose reels this weekend. I have to decide how I'm going to make the pumps, but those shouldn't be to difficult. I know, it sounds weird to build the flatbed first, and then the pickup truck chassis, but that's how I'm going with these builds right now. I'll keep you guys posted on this and hope to inspire you to tackle a truck like this. Brandon V.

Beautiful. Out of curiosity, just how long is this?

Nice looking Ford. I've been tempted to do the same for a fire engine...I better finish some others first. Did you widen the fender's from the F-100 kit or just open up the wheel well?

Some more progess. Last night I started adding markings, mounted the air cleaner and luberfiner, the modified exhaust stack, and the front bumper. The grab handle still needs to be added to the driver's side, but that will come in final assembly. he pump panel is loose since I plan to mount it to the pumper body before I mount it to the chassis. Enjoy.

JT, thanks. I'm trying not to rush this one but I want it done so I can start another with a top mount pump. Dave, I'm at a rental...I don't cut no stinking grass.

Well, here's some progress on the pump panel. Black gauges and pull handles have been added as well as BMF and alumnium foil to the diamond plate. Still working on the crosslay loads. All of the handles work, they still need "labels". The 45 degree discharge fittings need some BMF then those can be added.

Guys, thanks for the comments. This build has been a labor of love, in and out of boxes for quite some time. I've been making some more progess, I have the pump panel in the paint shop and filled some holes in the pumper body, plus added the hose bed dividers and started working on the hose loads. Since this isn't going to be an ALF any more, and a slightly older vehicle, I opted to remove some of the strobe lights. Found some imperfections in the pump panel and still need to finish wet sanding the body before I shoot some primer. I'm just glad that I changed to red over white paint scheme instead of the previous green over tan. The white and red looks much better. I know I'm going to have to redo the Silverado brush truck to match the new scheme...or make a new one.

A long time ago I started to combine a Revell Snap Peterbilt 359 kit with the rear body of a Trumpeter American LaFrance pumper. My goal was to make a "short" conventional pumper using the forward rear suspension location on the Peterbilt and mock up a new, smaller pump panel. This is how the idea looked when I mocked it up a few years ago. After a few moves and some more thought, I started to get this one going again. The rear of the cab wall was fixed, the passenger side battery box was removed and a fuel tank from the AMT Peterbilt 359 wrecker was mounted there instead. The chassis was modified simply to remove the driver side stack, which required filling of those mounting holes on the cab. Then came the paint, white with red accents. Of course, after I painted the chassis and began assembly, I realized that I wanted to add a pseudo pump, and had to add that before installing the drive train. Don't look too closely, you wont see u-bolts where the pump connects to the shafts...I forgot about that. The front bumper was modified to store rolled hose, but a front mounted intake just doesn't work with this particular cab design. I'll have to convert it to a small trash line. And here's the mock up with the pumper body and pump panel. Both side intakes will have rolled hose, the officer's side will be connect, but the driver's side will not be. I did open up the grill on the snap kit, but I cheated and cut off the vertical supports. I used half round to put them back in and give the black mesh ribbon something to mount to. The bumper currently isn't attached, I had to make additional arms so that it would mount to the frame properly. I also drilled out the lights in the bumper and added sirens from the 1/32 Mack pumper kit. Regular strobe lights will be added later on in assembly. I did modify the pumper body slightly. I’m building this truck for a volunteer fire department, so water quantity is a strong requirement. The College Park ALF pumper is only designed to carry 500 gallons, I wanted 1000 gallons, but I settled for 750 gallons by raising the hose bed and replacing the back panel with diamond plate, a couple of steps, and two non-functional doors. I could have gone for more water storage, but I would have just built a new, longer body instead of recycling this one. Hopefully tomorrow I can get the body and pump panel into some primer, this humidity isn't real nice for painting this rig right now. Once everything is painted, I'll start placing the decals, make the hose load, then add all of the other little details to finish this one out. I do apologize in advance for the poor picture quality. Let me know what you think.

Charlie, I'm thinking about using an H2 bench seat in an upcoming build. That might work if you modify it slightly. Back to the current project. Finally got around to getting some updated photos today, in this wonderful 90 degree heat. I fixed the front fender decals and the hood decal, now I just need to decide on a light bar and get license plates on it. Let me know which bar looks better. Option A Option B