Chariots of Fire

Nice job, Brandon. I like the combination of the standard cab and pumper body. Great color scheme also!

Hey Chris! Will we see you at NNL in two weeks? Bring it along! Nice work!

That's neat! I never would have thought of using the Titan cab but it's right out of the 60's and 70's! Good job!

One of the biggest issues with this kit is getting the mounting points for the cab right. And unless the frame is straight it only compounds the problem. Try straightening the frame pieces before assembly by running them under hot water and applying a bit of pressure. The weight of the cab once it's built just isn't enough to overcome the warping.

The completed model is now under glass in this forum.

The cab is an old Ron Cash casting as I remember. I've had it for a number of years. Just never had a purpose for it until now.

Now that the '38 Ford brush truck is done it is time to begin its companion piece. This time it is a smaller rig that represents one of thirteen such trucks that were purchased by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation after the no-name hurricane of 1938. In 1961 I worked that summer at Shawme Crowell State Forest in Sandwich, MA. There were still two of these rigs there. I actually got to drive one to a fire off Cape. Now both rigs are relics of history and a few random photos. This is a photo of one that is similar to the ones originally purchased. They were virtually identical except for perhaps the year of the cab. The frame is done in strip brass, soldered together at each flange. The springs are strip brass also with just the ends soldered together. The cab is resin as are the tires and wheels, similar to the previous build. The grill was so bad however, I had to make up a new one in brass. Much better fit and will look good with the openings between the horizontal bars. The engine is from the Yat Ming open cab Ford of the same year. It has nice detail so it might as well be used. The cab has opening doors. I temporarily taped them in place but they will need to be hinged.

Nice looking old Chevy! Great job!

That's going to be nice, Aaron. Does the truck have aa automatic gravity dump in the rear? A portable tank?

If you decide to go with the white over red paint scheme let me offer some warning. I did that recently with one of my builds and found that the red bled through the primer. Check it out first say on the inside of the body or cab where you can shoot a test shot of primer and white. If the red doesn't bleed through you are in good shape. If it does you need to add a barrier to the red surface first before you apply the paint. Here are a couple of snap kit rigs I did.

Here is a photo of the real truck taking down a 6" pine. This was obviously a demonstration run as there is no fire as you can see.

Thanks for the kind remarks, Guys. The engine at the rear of the rig is a '32 Ford Model B. I added some things to it but most is out of the box. The head and manifold were missing so I had to scratch build those. There will be a companion piece coming soon. The State of Massachusetts purchased 13 identical '38 Ford COE's after the 1938 hurricane that left so much debris throughout the state. I have a resin cab and will begin collecting data once I find one of the rigs to measure and photograph. There is one still around that I will seek out. Will be posting as I go on this one as well.

Hi, Steve. It will be there. Got another one that will be a first show at NNL also.

This rig has been in the building stages since last October. It is finally finished and ready to go!

I found some nice substitutes for rivet detail. Archer makes a sheet with rivet detail in decal form. There are a number of different patterns on the sheet. I bought an O-scale sheet (railroad) to use on my military R-2 rescue. The rivets are small enough that they don't overpower the surface but still show through the paint. I waited to prime the piece before laying on the decals. The decal edge disappeared nicely leaving only the raised rivets showng through.

It won't matter what color you end up with unless you strip and start over. New paint will never hide what appear to be some real flaws in the surface. I don't think sanding is an option either. The paint appears thick and would take forever to get smooth. Hopefully you can pop the glass out and start over. What are you using for paint?

We are almost there! Got a lot paint of laid down and have begun of the detailing. Still plenty to do to get it ready for "delivery" but it won't take long now.

The cab is a combination of the Yat Ming '38 Ford open cab fire truck and a resin '38 Ford COE. I had the Yat Ming portion cast so that I could make the closed cab version. The COE cab had to be narrowed up slightly to match the windshield lines. Doors came from the COE but were altered to fit the new cab.

Like your scratch building! Very nice work!

Got a bit more done on the rig. Chassis and cab now in paint. Still working on the body and some of the detail. But it's getting there!

I'm not sure they were powered while in transit. The routes were quite short from the batch plant to the dam site. I think they simply added power at each end of the run. Not all mixers had electric motors. Some were gasolene driven so they could have kept the drums turning as they traveled.

Hi, Juergen: There have been a couple of articles in Model Cars Magazine, the most recent a couple of issues ago on working with brass. There was also an article in the IPMS Journal on construction of a 1937 Seagrave tractor drawn aerial ladder. Most of what I do is by the seat of my pants, so to speak. My modeling now spans decades but most of it in a serious nature over the last 25 years or so. Experimentation with materials that seem to work best makes sense to me so I'm not trapped in a plastic cage. I do some simple resin casting, basic turnings on a lathe and a lot of hand fabrication. Most of the kits I now have stored are incomplete as I tend to scavenge parts when I need them for scratch projects. There have been books written about various subjects in modeling so I'm not sure how much more I could add. The work I do is not on par with a Gerald Wingrove but that kind of quality is something I aspire to. His work as well as that of other builders is the work of real craftsmen. Me? I'm just a plodder and duffer compared to them. In the meantime I'll continue to post things as they take place. I also do a fair amount of posting on the Scale Firehouse site in case anyone is interested. There is a tutorial page where a lot of ideas and methods get posted by a lot of modelers. Worth looking at. Thanks for all of your kind comments. Charlie

Here are some photos of Jeff's Mack AP as a mixer. When Boulder Dam was built and after the dump versions were generally finished hauling dirt many of them were converted to concrete haulers. The truck that Jeff built shows two mixer units that are lifted off the chassis at the construction site and taken to the lower portions of the dam that needed the concrete. Each mixer unit has an electric motor on top that could be plugged in either where the concrete was loaded or where an overhead crane would lift the units off one by one for discharge of the mix. Jeff is a former associate of mine when I was owner of an engineering and land surveying company and we have spent many great hours building these rigs. You will note many similar parts as we shared the building of the various components as we went along. Here is the beginning of Jeff's build. Jeff's truck under construction with my dump version side of it. The body is now well under construction. Jeff used plastic baby feeding spoons for the beginning of the concrete shute that is under the discharge. The right side of the mixer drums. Here is the finished truck with all of the wonderful detail showing. The two figures next to the truck are Walt and Zeb. Walter was my father's name and also my grandfather's name. My father grew up during the depression and worked in the Civilian Conservation Corps about the time that Boulder Dam was being built. Through home study and an International Correspondence Course he became a civil engineer and land surveyor. Not sure where Jeff came up with the name of Zeb. Just fit I guess.

Hi, Juergen: I will post some photos of the AP Mack as a cement mixer. I have some as it is being built as well as the finished model. Will need to get them uploaded in Photobucket first. Charlie

That's some nice work. I like the old Dodge as well. Tractor and trailer look great together!