Chariots of Fire

The cab finally got some paint and the dashboard is in place. Still work to do on the inside of the cab with seats, pedals, levers and steering wheel. The louvers on the hood sides are done and the hood is now set for latches that will hold it down in final position. Progress is slow but progressing. Windshield glass is in place but the right side piece needs to be removed and reset. Photos really reveal flaws that are not apparent to the eye!!

The ALPS works pretty good as well. Have made dozens of plates for several of my builds. Fire and police plates are sometimes different and neat to do.

I'm not doing the windshield swingarm bracket. But I did do the cowl vent and will do the wipers.

Will be interesting to see the printout.

I love a play on words! One of those things which tickles my sense of humor!

Work continues. The side vents for the cab were finished and installed. Hinges are soldered to the inside so that they can be opened or closed. It seems strange to see the direction that they open in but that is what was done. I would have thought they would open from the back so fresh air would get to the cab as the truck moved along. No so according to the publications I have. The drip edge on the cab was done as were two grab handles. The dashboard was painted and the gage cluster was done on a decal. Common pins used as knobs and switches. Headlight buckets were cast and pinned for mounting. Little things have been adjusted as the build goes along. I found out that the hood only is hinged at the top and not at the sides, even though every photo shows a clear line of separation. So I have to put in some interior braces to keep the sides from folding. (wasted some small hinges making them fold!). Every time there is a new learing curve!!?

I have the dash gage layout done in decals. The instruction plates will be separate. Knobs and switches will be made from common pins. Almost ready for installation but right now I'm working on the side cab vents. One is done and opens and closes. Other side tomorrow (maybe). Cowl vent also opens and closes.

Very nicely done! Does the Ford emblem on the hood sides get BMF? Great wheels, stance and color choice.

That last photo is quite like the dash that is in the military version except for the windshield cranks. The way the military opened the windshield was by the use of knobs and slotted bars that were attached to the cab A posts and the center windshield post. The other difference is in the gage layout and the number of switches used on the M-20. Thanks for posting the pics. They help clear up what is not mentioned in the publication.

Same comment from someone on the other board about the wide fenders. Specs say 100 inches overall width. From all I can tell it was straight from front to rear and it's good to remember that this is a 45,000 lb vehicle without a load! It's big!

It's a real treat to see the work you are putting into this. Nice and neat, clean and smooth! It's a tribute to good preparation!

Fenders are mounted temporarily. A piece of brass strip stock was used for a bracket that bolts to the frame to hold up the top rear of the fender. The front sits on a thin shelf glued to the underside of the bumper. I need to add a stiffener to the bracket to keep it nice and square.

Hi, Randy. Thanks for the compliment. Renshape is wonderful stuff to work with as well. Easy to carve, easy to sand, it's strong, glues up well with CA and takes paint very well after primer.

Work commenced on the fenders today. To start a fender outline was prepared and glued to the face of a block of Renshape. One for left and one for right. A bandsaw was used to get close to the top line of each fender and to rough cut the material from the bottom. Then a disk sander was used to smooth out the top surface. Next was to scribe a line front to back for the two sections of the fender. I used a sanding drum in my Dremel to sand away the rough underside and to create a lip at the edge. With this done the edge was sanded round by hand. The right fender is done. The left one needs the edges rounded off. I had to trim the curve of the hood side some to better fit the fender contour. Little things like this are almost a given in scratch building.

Got some real work done for a change. The radiator, hood and cab are now where they need to be. The 4 hood pieces and the center section are all hinged to open. Pins at the front and rear of the center section connect the radiator and cab. Tires and wheels are now painted and installed. Beginning to look a bit like a heavy duty truck now.

A quick update on the M-20. Finally the radiator, hood and cab have come together. I can now locate the cab precisely on the frame with the two screws that mate the frame and cab floor. Still some tweaking to do on the hood sections and the hinges need to be added so it can be opened. The doors are now fully hinged for opening and the cowl vent opens with a lever in the cab. Radiator side pieces can now also be installed in line with the hood sides.

Amen to that, Bob!! 30 louvers to each side of the hood! There are some adjustments to make ahead of that but they will come in time.

HAH! Not so much sometimes!!?

Progress has been slooooowwww! So many little wrinkles to work out. Some things have just been done over and over. Finally making some progress. Front and rear suspension is done and work has proceeded with the radiator, hood and cab. Adjustments are in the works to make sure all of it fits where it is supposed to. I had to shorten the cab some, adjust the hood length and make a small change in radiator location but we are getting there. Lots of different materials at play here. Evergreen stock of all kinds, sheet and strip brass, Renshape, resin castings just to get where we are at. Craft wire and #15 hex beads dress up the wheels as lug nuts. Paint is Testors OD and Tamiya rubber black so far.

Ah, bad camera angle. Got it!?

Hey, Brian. The rear of the top looks like it needs to be raised up some. Does it in fact slope backward a bit? I have one of those CF Mack cabs that is very thick as well and would really need some TLC to get it to look right.

I see you like trains too! ☺️

Nice clean work, Brian! Bet the case is BIG!!

That last one is your tunnel rescue, right?

Got one more, Danno. This one is 1/32 scale and was done for a guy who loves the Nashville, TN FD. They had a tillered aerial drawn by an Anniversary Series Seagrave. He had a Franklin Mint Seagrave tiller that was drawn by a cab forward J series. I scratch built the '62 using the tires and wheels from an Aurora kit. The rest is plastic stock. The top was formed from the Aurora ALF top and cut open for the green vision panels. I had the nose and front bumper chrome plated by Chrome Tech back in the day. The same guy wanted me to build a Nashville Seagrave that had a Pitman Snorkel on it but I never was able to get enough good information to do it.