Chariots of Fire

We're back at square one and where I left off with the first cab. The second cab is nearly done. The interior bucket is installed but without the seats. All except the driver's seat need the SCBA bottles attached and then the seat belts installed. The steps are also yet to be done but progress has been made. The cab needs to sit lower on the frame so some adjustments will need to be made. For one thing the batteries are too wide where they are under the interior bucket. Some trimming with a dremel should take care of it. They won't be seen at all on the finished build. The front will be appropriately shimmed to be sure it is level. The turn signals also need to be filled and colored at the corners. Steps from the former cab were removed and will be rebuilt.

Nice work here. Looking forward to more pix!

I've used Molotow for small things with reasonable results but it can be tricky. Recently went back to Alclad over gloss black for a grill and it came out nice.

If one is careful you can heat the rod and bend it by using a butane torch but too much heat will burn it or catch it on fire. Just soften it a bit and it will take a reasonable bend. You can also try Plastruct in various sizes. They make tubing and elbows and tees that fit into the tubing.

Great color on the window version. Looks really nice!

That's a lot of truck to put on the shelf, Steve! Nicely done!

Just an old builder at heart, Tom. Then again I've seen some of your work too! You "ain't" no slouch when it comes to scratch building!

That's a nice rig! Love the old stuff. It's fun cobbling together parts from different sources to come up with what you want. Thanks for sharing!!

Check out Amazon for a number of RTV suppliers. Look for the 1:1 ratio mixes. I saw some that are less cost than M-M anyway. Might be worth a try.

Been working on additional headlight and warning light bezels. The first cab did not have the amber turn signal lights outside the headlights so I added them and recast all. I used Molotow 1 and 2 chrome pens to coat them. The rods are glued to the back side so when I mount them on the face of the cab I don't have to touch the chrome. The rod can be snipped off from the inside after the bezel is glued down with epoxy.

I finished up casting the bezels. On two of them I cut off the turn signal lights. They are the red flashers that go above the headlight bezels. I used Molotow pens 1 and 2 to finish them off in chrome. The lenses have been cast for the light portion. For the turn signals I'll mix up some two-part epoxy and drop some into the bezel, letting it build up a small amount in the center. Then the epoxy will be painted with clear amber.

If you can grind off the 5 lugs, you can replace them by drilling out holes in whatever pattern you need common pin size, inserting a piece of brass craft wire and then following up with a #15 fusion hex bead. They look just like lug nuts.

The mold for the headlight bezels has been completed and below is a follow up with the first couple of castings done. The first photo shows the mold with the upper half removed and with the original bottom half still in place. By gluing just the corners of the upper box it was easy to remove. And here is the completed mold with the lower box removed as well. The separation is obvious. With the mold release keeping the two halfs separate, they came apart easily. In the photo below the master is still in the lower half but can be taken out. The master is now out of the mold and casting can begin. As with the mold making part of the process, two part casting resin was mixed in small cups with a mark on each one where Parts A and B will be filled to. Below is the mold that has been filled with the mixed resin. It turns white upon curing. It is important to clear any bubbles from the mixture when it gets poured or they will show up in the final casting. That is what happened to the first one I did. But the nice thing is another one can be made. Here's the second pour. The cup to the rear had part B . The cup in the foreground has parts A and B mixed together. The fill lines are visible on each cup. The two parts need to be thoroughly mixed until the apparent streaking clears up. Then it can be poured into the mold as was done here. The resin has not yet begun to cure in the mold. Below is the second casting as it came out of the mold. The tiny amount of flash is easily scraped away with an Xacto knife and fine sandpaper. The one in the clamp is the first casting that I painted up with some Molotow chrome just to see how it will look. Thus, endeth the lesson!?

I agree with Miatatom. If you need to polish the body do it after the clear is on.

Looks like real progress, Dom. Here is a How To on making a mold for your headlights. I'm doing one for the Pierce but the same procedure will work for you with one exception which I will explain. HOW TO FOR MAKING A TWO PIECE MOLD Begin by mounting the piece to be cast on a mound of clay. In this case the headlight bezel includes a marker light that wraps around the curve of of the cab so it cannot be just mounted on a base. Doing so would lock it into the mold. Trim the clay so that it fits around the master. In the case of the headlight bezel for the Ferrara you have to do one thing first. Cut some masking tape and place the pieces over the back side of each lens opening. Trim the tape so that it is at least flush with the sides with no overlap. You want to be able to remove it later in the process. AFTER the tape is in place mount the headlight master similar to what I have done here. Here's another look at the bezel I'm doing. You don't have to glue the clay down. Just make sure there are no gaps between it and the base and that there are no gaps around the master. Build the mold sides. To do this I use foam board and a glue gun. In my case as well as yours only tack the sides at the corners. The reason for this will come later on. A little mold material leaking out around the joints of the box is ok. Mix up your mold material and prepare to pour it into the mold box. Fill the box right to the top. If you make the box higher, use your judgement as to how much to pour in. No sense in wasting costly material but you want enough to be sure that the mold will not distort when you begin doing the actual casting. After the mold sets (24 hours is a good time) use your Xacto knife and cut away the BOTTOM of the mold box. This is why you need to tack glue the corners only. It makes it easier to get the bottom away from the rest of the box. In the photo below the bottom has been removed showing the bottom of the clay base that the headlight bezel is mounted on. This clay needs to be removed now. In your case after the clay is removed, remove the masking tape from the master. Now comes the rest of the process. In the photo above the clay has been removed and additional foam board has been cut into pieces and glued to the sides of the box. If you look at the end of the mold box you will see a notch cut in the rubber that is already set. There is a similar notch on the other end. These notches will align the top and bottom sections of the finished mold so that the casting will be not be off center. Remember that the box is still upside down. And here is the next very important step. SPRAY OR PAINT THE ENTIRE INTERIOR OF THE BOX INCLUDING THE MASTER WITH MOLD RELEASE AGENT. DO IT ONCE, LET IT SET FOR A WHILE AND THEN DO IT AGAIN. BE SURE IT COVERS ALL EXPOSED SURFACES INSIDE THE BOX. Mix up another batch of mold material and pour it into the box. Make sure that the first material fills in every little area of the master. The mold release will keep the new rubber from attaching to the older part of the mold. Use a spatula or other implement to make sure the mold rubber fills all of the spaces including the notches. Pour the rest of the mold rubber into the mold and let it sit for another 24 hours. Next? Pulling the mold apart and making the first casting.

For those of you who might be interested, I have the master of the Loadstar. Agreement with another good caster is in the works for getting the Loadstar cast again. Here's the way the hood can be cut into three pieces and made to open butterfly style. The hood is actually a separate piece from the rest of the cab.

Hey, Dom. I'll do a little study of the bezels and see what I can come up with for a solution.

In reply to your question about the second half of the mold. Don't forget to coat the entire first part of the mold and master with mold release or you won't be able to separate the two parts. You will have to build a dam around the first part also to contain the second part of the mold rubber. You might want to wait until you get your new materials for the mold and casting resin.

Hi, Dom. The buck needs to be as smooth as possible. I had difficulties getting the windshield pleces to stay clear until I glued on a piece of brass sheet and then polished it. That seemed to do the trick for the clear stock. The plastic to use is called PETG and is 0.020" thick.

Glad you are here to show us your work. Have you checked out the NRG Nautical Research Guild forum? They have all kinds of information on model ship building.

The front of the Ferarra is coming right along. A word of caution, however. Be sure and sand down the face of the cab and fill in all of the little crevasses in the corners before you install the light bezels. The same with the grill. I'm assuming you will do the latter after the painting is done. Be sure to clean up the primer, patch any areas that are not smooth and if there is any glue spillover, get rid of it now. The finish will be so much better if you do. (talking from experience!?) Be sure and refine the grill as well. Sand smooth, prime, sand again, fill in little areas, sand and prime again to see how it looks. The light bezels are just right! Lookin' good!

This project has been slow in making progress. I have not been satisfied with the cab build. Too many little things that have cropped up to continue with it so I began again. This time where I moved too quickly, I'm taking more time and being a little more careful in the way things are going together. Sloppy is the only way to describe what I did the first time. Sometimes that is the way things go and we need a little comeuppance to get our mind moving in the right direction. The first cab was a learning experience; the second a better result. It might look ok from a distance but the first cab (left) is not right. The door line, which I thought could be offset resulted in the accent strip looking like it jogs up and down. It really doesn't but with the doors protruding that is the look you get. Not good! The cab on the right is the second version and I think will be much better and closer to what it should look like. The brass covered renshape pieces are the bucks I made to vacu-form the windshield sections. The pieces to the right are the interior panels for the center part of the cab where the fixed side windows are. I also fixed the area around the doors where there will be entry steps. In the first instance I should have paid closer attention to those details and did not. That meant making some adjustments that were not good. In the second cab the interior fits much closer to the cab sides and it will be easier to get the steps to where they need to be. The square raised portion inside will become the AC unit. The bumper is made of Evergreen sheet stock and a section of treadplate. Next up is to cut the rear doors free and get the hinges made.

The secret with making a buck for vacu-forming is that it has to be super smooth for it not to pick up the image of the buck. The only thing that worked for me was to glue down a piece of thin brass sheet over the buck and then polish it out really smooth. That kept the clear plastic smooth and clear after forming. After the grill mold has cured well take some photos of it so we can see how it came out. Charlie

I know of no one who is making modern fire engine cabs. Not a lot of call for them. I've built two custom cabs from scratch, both Pierces but other builders cabs are quite similar. Not sure if manufacturers are still putting out line drawings on their calendars or not. They used to do one for every photo that put on the calendar face. Great information there. The cost of 3D printed cabs would be a lot and I'm not convinced the quality is there yet. Surfaces of most 3D printing still is rough and it takes a lot to smooth them out. The amount of effort to do that on top of the initial cost makes me lean to the scratch built option. Keep doing what you are doing. I think you will be surprised at the final results. The one thing you have not commented on yet is how you are going to do the windshield pieces. Any thoughts?

Look in your stash for old truck dashboards that might have some butterfly switches. I also use common pins for push/pull switches. I drill holes for them wherever they are to go, paint the panel and then insert the pins. The monogram 1/32 scale CF Mack dashboard has a line of switches. They are small but if put in the right place would be ok. The speedometer and tach dials along with oil, temp, fuel, water, etc I do with decals and then surround them with photoetch bezels. Use clear lacquer to secure the bezels. The clear will look like a glass face. A lot of it is getting it to look right and not necessarily with every switch and dial there is. Once you enclose the interior bucket there are only so many things you can see, unless you intend to open the doors. That's another story.