Chariots of Fire

Could it be they are saying cut out the rubber sprues 4X? But I agree. If you don't know that only 1 will fit on each front rim something is definitely wrong!

Couple of updates on construction progress. Finished making a siren last nite and worked on the pump cans today. Siren is made of turned and polished aluminum with a photoetch strip around the middle. Pump cans were made from a master of plastic tubing, thin sheet stock and brass wire for the can itself. Details were added after the cans were cast with two part resin. The cans were covered in Bare Metal Foil and "Smith Indian Pump" decals were made on the computer and printed on an ALPS.

Cliff: I don't have to repeat what everyone else has said here. But welcome. You will find a lot of great ideas and will "meet" people from all over the globe. Lots of times a simple request for a part or an idea will cause a flood of "got that--and coming your way" just as a gesture of comradery and good will. Charlie

As promised yesterday more work has been done to get a little closer to completion. Outlets have been added to each side, the cab interior is complete and the hard suction tray is done. The small red light on top of the cab is oval. It was made by compressing a section of brass tubing to the oval shape, soldering on a couple of thicker brass sheets to one side and then grinding and filing it to shape. Once completed, it was polished and nickel plated. Also completed is a tool basket topside but it has not been installed permanently.The bed under it needs hose and it will be much easier to get it into place without the basket. Not many trucks carry their spare tire on the outside these days but these rigs did! We are getting close to the time when a call will have to be made to the fire department that has a restored Fitzhenry pump so that I can measure it and get some photos for building.

Got a bit more work done. Will post pics soon!

Glad I wasn't on the truck committee Dave! So many changes!! I think it was a wise choice for the eliptical tank. It looks more like it belongs there. Can I make a suggestion for your pump panel? Try cutting a section of aluminum tubing and fit it into a hole that is sized for it on the panel. Let it stick out just a bit. It will look like a gage bezel. If you have some of those hot rod gage clusters cut one out and insert it into the aluminum tubing. Coat it will a bit of Clear and you have a neat gage. I've also taken photos of actual pump panels, printed out the photos and then punched out the gage face to put inside a bezel. Looks realistic. Naturally you have to size the photo so that the gage face is the right size.

A couple of nice warm dry days allowed me to get the body painted. Two small compartment doors were made for the rear. The hinges are made of 0.030" brass tubing with a stainless steel wire insert. The tubing was superglued to the edges of the doors. Small pieces of similar tubing were installed in notches above and below the door hinge. Once superglued in place the notches were filled in and sanded smooth. The only thing visible now is a tiny hole top and bottom to insert the steel wire in. A shot with the doors open. The middle compartment will stay open and will be the location of the Fitzhenry-Guptil pump. The rear grab bars are made using stanchions from the Yat Ming diecast. The bars themselves are polished aluminum tubing. The stanchions for the long side railings are made from soldered brass tubing and brass craft beads. After soldering and bending was done the stanchions were nickel plated. The railings are also polished aluminum tubing. The door handles are also nickel plated brass that was filed to shape. Pump cans and extinguishers will be mounted on the running boards. The spare tire is mounted on the right side of the body and 3 lengths of hard suction hose will be mounted on the driver's side. Long coils of forestry hose will be placed in the two topside compartments.

A man after my own heart! He works with metal! Nice job. Like the tie rod. Lots of detail, too. That's what sets a great model apart from all the rest.

Enough of this primer stuff! It's time for a bi of color! Got the frame, tires and wheels painted. The primer is Duplicolor sandable gray and the red is also Duplicolor #398(old number). It goes on nicely, dries quickly and can be polished out. Just a shot of the frame with the engine in place. Those two braces will have to be snipped off. The cab in place. The headlights came from the Yat Ming '38 Ford diecast. The grill is soldered brass as well as the chromed ring around it. A piece of brass rod was formed to the shape of the opening and then nickel plated. Door handles will have to be fashioned from brass and plated also. Body still in primer as I have some additional work to do on the back. The rear step is done but will be installed after the body is painted.

Hey, Gordon! Nice to hear from you. It will be done by then.

HAH! He better not have after all that work!

Got a bit more done on the model with the basic construction to the point where it can be primed. Doing so brings out all the flaws that can't be seen in either the plastic or the resin. A bit of sanding, some fillng and repriming will get it more in shape for paint. The railings on the body are only on for location. The uprights will be cut off after the body is painted and the railings are installed. There are small "chrome" base plates that will attach to the base of the uprights. Outside of the doors have been primed. The trim on the right door had to be sanded off and relocated. One side did not line up with the relief on the cab side. The insides will have panels something like the paper printouts. Once the interior of the door is painted I can add the line work on a decal. The grill will be painted red along with the cab. There will be a chrome trim ring around it to separate the color.

Just a couple of new photos of the work in progress. Running boards are now set for shape and size and the rear step is done using scribed sheet stock and strip stock for the edge. The spotlights are from the Yat Ming 38 Ford but I'm not sold on them yet. Grab handles in back of the cab doors are doll house features. The rear fenders were lengthened a bit to conform to the running boards and rear step. Lots of little things like this but in the end it pays of in the look of the model.

Thanks, guys, for the kind comments. They are appreciated. Thanks also to Jairus! Now you are pushing me to extreme detail! Looks quite possible. BTW here are a couple of pix of the reversed differential and the running board. I found some thin sheet stock with a raised diamond pattern. I ran a soft pencil over a portion of it so you can see what it looks like. The pattern continues over the rolled edge.

Well, a bit of slicing and dicing and the pumpkin is back in place. Now it looks like the one Jairus showed us! I even added some bolt heads and got it back on the axle. Will post a pic when I get a bit more time.

Best to keep such things light hearted I always say. Never take yourself too seriously!

Ok. Ya got me. I will have to sever the pumpkin and turn it over as the axles are permanently in place.

That looks like it is pretty close to the same thing only the larger portion is on the right rather than on the left.

Here are some photos of the frame showing the resin cast pumpkin from the Yat Ming '38 Ford. A main brass axle housing is run through the center with the next size tubing used as the axle.

I used the pumpkin out of the Yat Ming '38 Ford, drilled out the center and slid in a section of brass tubing. Will take a photo of it for you.

Got a few more items figured out and built. The body is coming along after much debating on whether I should cut down the wheel base to 134". Glad I didn't because now that the body has some shape to it the proportions seem to be coming out ok. I'm using 0.030" sheet stock for most construction. Keeping it relatively thin achieved a more in scale look.

Here's a shot of a similar rig. I think it might be a '39 Ford, not a '38, but the layout and body style is the same.

I've been in a modeling slump for the last two months. After completing the 1938 Ford Brushbreaker I took a break and it just got extended. Happens every once in a while. Anyway here are some shots of the followup with some of the work that has been done in the last couple of days. The doors are now hinged and are in pretty good shape with the door openings adjusted and shimmed with strip stock. Some of the blemishes in the resin have been smoothed over and the truck frame has some running board supports added. The Yat Ming '38 Ford supplied the front bumper. It fits nicely to the end of the brass frame with some brass pins. The Ford emblem and V-8 emblem have been covered with BMF. I'm going to try and prime and then paint over the BMF and before the paint sets hard will remove it from the BMF. It should reveal a nice clean edge and good "chrome" look.

The hose is made of sewing elastic. You can find it in most places like Walmart, Target or fabric stores. Comes in 1/8" and 1/4" widths and is white. I stained the soft suction with some Floquil earth color that was thinned out. You have to do it before installing it however as it tends to stretch the material. Let it dry then install and it works great. Couplings are either brass tubing or aluminum tubing depending on the age of the hose.

I built this rig a few years ago using a Modelhaus resin casting for the cab. The front mounted pump represents a Darley 750 gpm unit. The portable tank is removable and folds out. Body uses a Monogram AC Mack tank that was cut short.