Chariots of Fire

I think he scooted! That is a well executed and clean build! Great weathering and highlighting!

Just an update on progress so far. It's not quite finished but it's close. The driver's crow's nest has been added and the Winslow air cleaner is now on the right side. The seat and dash are now glued in place. Still to add are some mud guards and fender braces and a brace for the crow's nest underneath. Once the construction is finished it will be slightly weathered with pastels to show the reddish rock dust of the Boulder Dam area.

Now why didn't I think of that! Nicely done! Is that a livery that would be typical in your part of the world?

I could tell you how I did the cab and all and give you some basic drawings. That's about it. (What sort of parts?) Here is a pic of the whole thing in paint. Plenty of detailing yet to go.

Glad that you chose this option to narrow the axle. I assume you still had room enough to get the springs to set correctly once you narrowed it up. Did you pin the axle halfs?

Front tires are resin castings also. When I did the 1928 Pierce Arrow I made a master of the diamond tread tires for the rears. They seemed appropriate for the fronts on the AP since their tires were a similar diamond pattern. Tom Coolidge of Denver, CO cast them for me.

Just a couple of pics since the truck was painted. Better shots to come!

I used clay I purchased at Michaels when I cast the fenders and headlight pods for my Mack AP. It comes in a block and has to be kneaded to soften it a bit. Once that is done I used it to set up the masters and then poured the outside half of the mold. When that was done I turned the mold block upside down and pulled out the clay from the inside. It came out very clean unlike the cheap stuff they sell for kids ot play with. Then I was able to apply mold release and pour the second half of the mold. No problems at all.

We got the information we were looking for from the Mack Museum today and it looks like we are going to have to repaint the wheels. Documentary evidence says they were dark green. Anyway, here is a breakdown of the parts so far for the AP dump truck. There are plenty of "widgets" to be added once the painting is done for what you see here. The entire frame, cab and hood are to be Mack dark green. Accents will be included but will be mostly subtle like drybrushing to bring out highlights and the use of powders. We'll also show some caked on red dirt in the tire treads.

James II: Believe it to be 1/32 scale if it was a snap kit. That is a super clean build. Very nice work, Jay!

Here's a bit more progress. First pic shows an actual Boulder Dam being loaded with rock. Second pic shows the hoisting mechanism that was used on the first series of AP.s They underwent some changes during the time they were at Boulder and later on at two other dam projects. Third pic shows how beefy the undercarriage and body are.

That's some extraordinary work, Tony. Your brass work is as neat as a pin. I've done a bit and can appreciate the results you got. Fantastic!

Not lookin' to show anybody up. I just like old trucks. There is something about their openness that shows all of that beefy working iron that I like. When they don't make them in kit form what's a guy to do?? 8^))

Here are a couple of shots of the AP Engine. It's made from two blocks of the Monogram AC with a bit of detailing including wire, aluminum tubing, solder wire, and parts from the parts box.

The delrin chain and sprockets are easy to come by. They are a bit large for most uses but fit right in here because the trucks were so beefy. The chain can be made any length just by adding or taking out links.

Just so that you know that there are actually two AP's being built, here is Jeff Harper's version that he will turn into the cement mixer. The second pic obviously is of the two of them together.

I've been to Hoover Dam as well and had the tour down iside. It's quite an experience. The two 30' diameter overflw drops on each side are really something. I's hate to ever fall in one! We got to walk inside the original diversion tunels that were dug out of the canyon walls to get the Colorado River water way from the actual dam area so that they could do the base excavation. In the meantime work continues on this build. The side screens for the hood were finally fit in place, the steering column and box are set and the drag link and steering arm are now connected. There is a small protective shield over the radiator cap also. Next is to detail the fishplate with some bolt heads. Then probably the engine will get some detailing.

The front tires are from a previous scratch project, Aaron. I made up a master and then had Tom Coolidge of Denver, CO cast them for me. The wheels are straight from the Mack R kit.

Thanks for all of the kind comments, guys. I'll be posting as we make more progress on the builds.

Just another shot of the body with a bit more detail added. It's now pinned to the frame.

Here are some pics of the Mack AP chassis with the body in place. These trucks worked in a pretty hot environment so they did not use sides to the hood. Instead they used a heavy duty wire mesh just to keep debris away from the engine and to allow for additional cooling. Next thing is the protective shield for the upper front of the body that kept rocks from falling on the driver's head!

It could be but the supplier we got it from just has it to sell. Where he acquired it from I am not sure. It could be the same as what Micro-mark has in its catalog.

While Jeff is using the chassis i'm working on to duplicate some details I've been working on the rock dump body. It's amazing how some flimsy plastic can become so strong when you follow the way they built the body from steel. IT IS SOLID! Will have some pics shortly.

Getting away from the fire apparatus for a bit. Jeff Harper and I are doing a "consulting joint project" to model two Mack AP's that were used in the constsruction of Boulder Dam in the early 1930's. The AP rock dumps were the beginning of off road heavy haulers. Later in the construction process the dump bodies were removed from some and were refitted with cement mixers. We are making the same chassis for both rigs starting with the Monogram Mack AC kit for frame, axles and rear wheels. From there in it's a lot of scratch building. Certain parts are being duplicated by molding and casting such as the front fenders, rear tires and headlights. The chain drives of the AC have been exchanged for delrin operating chain and sprockets. Front wheels are from the Ertl R Model Mack. Here is the progress so far. Jeff informs me that his rig is coming along with much the same work having been accomplished.

This is a scratch built piece with a brass frame, brass fenders and hood, resin cast tires and wheels and a sheet plastic body. The engine reworked from an Ertl diecast. All of the details in the back are scratch built as well. Decals are printed by ALPS. Headlights are turned aluminum. There are some in progress photos on my photobucket page. Firemodeler is the name you need to look for.