Chariots of Fire

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.

Very nicely done! It sits right and looks right. Great job!

Very well done! Great graphics and an ecceptionally clean build! I like it a lot!

Very nicely done! Clean, clean building!

Just a question on the crane. How far back will you have to move the body to get the crane in so it can pivot as well? Just fitting it in the space might not allow you to work from both sides. ???

I found a source for brass piano hinges that I have used successfully for a long time. Phoenix Models Development is a British company that has all sorts of good stuff. Their hinge is about 1/8" across and better than 6" long. The two parts are held together with a piece of brass wire. It can be cut to any desired length for a door such as what you are working with. Here's a look at a section of it as I soldered it to a brass hood. If you look closely at the raised section you can see the continuous hinge. And on the inside of the opposite hinge you can see the parts that were soldered to the top of the hood and the hood sides. Hope this helps.

I've used the HO scale rivet decals for my 1/25 scale trucks. They may seem small but on railroad equipment they are larger anyway. If you put them on try and limit the primer or put them on the primer then the color coat. Enough of the raised detail shows through to make it look pretty nice. The decal strips "melt" right into the paint so you don't see the edges; only the raised rivet detail.

Who made the Federal resin casting? Looks pretty nice!