Chariots of Fire

David that is some super work! Hope you are up and running soon!

Progress has been made on the frame, rear axle assembly and the front axle assembly. The cab now sits where it should. Next to do is to fit the 85 horse V-8 in place along with the driveshafts and transfer case. These are the parts that make up most of the front and rear axle assemblies. The rear axles and top and bottom torque rods in place. Here's the front axle and the assembly that allows the front tires to be posed in a turning position. The little bolt and washer hold the front wheel on the axle.

Myles Standish State Forest is only a few miles away from here and back in the late 30's and into the 50's this rig served for forest fire protection. Thanks to Brian Austin I have the patent drawings for this rig as well as some other photos. A lot of scratch building here but the Yat Ming '38 Ford was a good starting place. Tom Coolidge cast the front fenders, hood and windshield. I had a Ford COE of the same vintage and I was able to graft in the back of the COE cab. The frame has just been started and the tires and wheels are done.

Phil: It is a combination of things. I mentioned most of the details of the build above. Cab is resin, body from an ALF kit and sheet plastic.

Couple of questions above. The color is Rustoleum red and the hose is sewing elastic. It comes on two sizes; 1/8" and 1/4" flat width. I stain it will a wash of thinner and Floquil "earth". The older cotton jacket hose even when new was this color. Now most is white if it is not synthetic single jacket which you can get in just about any color of the rainbow.

LA County got it back and is either still under restoration or the restoration is complete. Been a while since I checked.

Made them up on my computer and ALPS printer.

After a brief hiatus away from this build I was able to get over the hurdle of having to rebuild the air intakes located on top of the engine cover. The first ones were about twice as big as they should have been. With that done the shops could finish the work and get the rig ready for assignment. "Rampart! This is Engine 51. Do you read, over?"

If I scull them up the paint will come off. Those are resin tires with Floquil flat black paint. I suppose I could use a weathered black or some weathering powders to make them look older. Thank you Dan! Been a long time since we've talked!

Yes. Sheet brass was used for the front fenders and hood. The grill is brass strip stock. Fender edges are brass strip also soldered to the fender edge. So are the springs and front bumper. Nice stuff to work with but soldering is not the same as glueing!!

Nice looking work, Brandon! BTW Please! Don't change the Chevy's color scheme! I like!!

My most recent build, a US Navy FFN-3 fire apparatus. The real truck was constructed by International with firefighting equipment supplied by a number of small companies including the Gorham Fire Equipment Company of Boston, Mass. who supplied the equipment to a real rig on display at Bangor's Maine Air Museum. Model is 1/25 scale.

Hi, Gordon! Jeff is working hard to finish his build in time.

Yes. I'd use it again. Great stuff. Brass screen from K-S. Just some small photoetch with round holes. Most hobby shops carry it but I've noticed that it is becoming scarce.

Last October I mentioned that JeffH was working on his version of the Boulder Dam AP. Well here are some pix of his work. A lot of progress in a relatively short time. He's shooting for NNL East to display it. We expect to prepare a backdrop of the dam construction site to go along with both trucks. Here is the beginning of the two mixers that will be on the back of Jeff's rig. And a bit more progress on the drums. Here's what the truck looks like with the mixers mounted. Jeff borrowed my truck to take off some of the detailing. When Boulder Dam was built some of the dumps were converted to haulers for the mixers.

Actually I did just that. I cut out the grill area and installed some brass photoetched mesh. I did paint it black, however.

The newer release is a problem child. The biggest challenge is to get the cab to sit properly on the frame. The two mounting points have to be glued on and if they are not perfectly alligned the cab won't be either. Also there have been problems with the frame not being straight even after it is put together. Look these pieces over carefully before you begin construction in case you have to do any adjustments to the frame rails. Here is a photo of one that I build last year after extending the frame for the rescue style body.

Fender flairs, maybe!?!

That looks nice. What is the scale? But why the mudflaps in the front?

I've done a few decals myself. In order to save expensive decal paper I first print out the image on a piece of white paper. Then I cut a piece of decal paper large enough to cover the image along with enough to tape it down on the white paper with cellophane tape. Then the whole thing goes back into the printer to be printed again on the decal sheet. You just have to make sure the edge of the tape is far enough away from where the image is so that the printing doesn't end up on the tape itself.

If it's a day cab it won't have a sleeper will it?

Thank you, Bill. It's given me a whole new prospective on the ingenuity and drive of all of the people that built the dam. Inspiration, really. Not only did I learn something about the truck but a lot more about the project as a whole. I visited it as well a few years ago when my daughter was living in Henderson, NV.

Nice job! Like the paint scheme!