Chariots of Fire

Judging from the size of the Xacto blade that siren would be about 12 scale inches long. About right, I guess. Wonder how it will polish up!

Is Plaskit still in business? Need his contact info if anyone had it.

Great build, Gary! I do agree with you that the vertical bars on the grill would finish it off a bit. A fine piece of work. Clean, everything where it should be. Thanks for posting!

So ?where's the squirrel???

WELL DONE, Sir!! Very nice indeed!! It has enough patina to show that it has been around while at the same time being cared for. Outstanding work.

Let's see the results when you have a minute.

Got your work cut out for you Gary. Will be watching!?

That would work for sure. It's really a shame that Trumpeter did not include interior side panels for the cab. But I'm opening the doors on this one so the panels will be done. Doors will be brass on the outside with inside plastic sheet.

Brass and CA get along quite nicely. While I haven't tried giving them a rough surface it certainly makes sense to do so in critical situations. I use 24-gauge craft wire from most pinning operations.

HI Vince. I don't think so. There is enough to do without getting into that. To do so would mean having the cab tilt just to see the engine. One of the few models I have built outside of the 1/32 scale Monogram Macks that don't have engines.

Yep!☺️

If you have an extra set of kit tires, cut off a sidewall and glue it to the inner portion of the tire and sand smooth. ?

Done that a lot, Jeff. It works well.

First posting of the work in progress. This is a big model by model standards but is to scale in 1/25. Wheel base is 268" which is 10.5 inches. The majority of the frame is from the Trumpeter ALF kit with the back portion coming from an Ertl International kit. Some liberties have been taken with the tandem axles to make them movable. The IH kit parts when glued together don't move at all. By drilling out the trunnion portion and the ends of the connecting rods to each axle they were pinned with brass tubing and rod sections. They are kept in alignment using the torsion rods at the top of each axle and connecting them to the frame cross member. The tires and wheels are resin castings from the Trumpeter ALF as well. Why not use the soft rubber tires and chrome wheels? Well, that's just me. I'll use Alclad on the wheels and Tamiya TS-82 rubber black on the tires. In the background is a drawing of the cab at 1/25 scale from the truck plan. Evergreen sheet stock and PVC tubing will be used to form the basic shape. The grill I have already made from the Jacksonville model of a couple of years ago so it's a matter of casting another one and then doing the Alclad thing on it. Each axle has a brass tube to hold the wheels. Inside each wheel is another brass tube that acts as a bushing to allow the wheels to rotate and without wobble. The tubing also increases the strength to support the final weight which will likely be a lot given the size of the aerial device. The axle tubing will be filled with plastic rod, which will be drilled out for screws and washers to hold the wheels and tires in place. Each screw will be covered as part of the final build. The rear portion of the frame will likely be made longer once I know where the body will sit. But that is a way down the building road. Cab will come before that. In the meantime there is some detailing to be done on the frame and get the wheels and tires mounted with the screws and washers. More to come.

I'll be posting progress shortly. A couple more things regarding the front axle to get solved and then the pics will come.

Ant thoughts on what you will do for the open Monogram tires?

Well I just made my first mistake with it. It does not have a 280" wheel base, only 268"! So I had to cut 12 scale inches out of the frame. Got it back together ok. Need to pay closer attention!!!?

I've accomplished what I wanted to do with the military models and am returning to fire apparatus modeling. This one is going to take some time and it will be BIG! Still at 1/25 scale but the real rig is huge. There will be a lot to do but there is no hurry. I've started on the frame and wheels and will show some pics soon. The wheelbase is 280" (280 mm in 1/25 scale). The Trumpeter ALF kit will a donor for some parts but much will be scratch built.

I've used two-part epoxy successfully by first coating the surface that the glass sits on and in modest amounts. Let it sit until it gets tacky and then press the glass in place. I've also used Gorilla clear in some cases. It takes a while to set up but it does not affect the glass and dries perfectly clear. In any case, whatever glue you end up with use it sparingly and only in sufficient quantity to hold the glass in position.

You don't say whether the chassis and body are diecast but if they are, try a tiny bit of WD-40 to each screw. If the chassis and body are plastic I'd just try backing the screws out carefully.

Not sure if Chart Pak is still in business but they had all sorts of colors in widths down to 1/64. Check also for model aircraft striping tape. I got a package of variable stripe widths in green and gold. Went around pretty sharp corners with no problem. I used it on this model of a Seagrave aerial.

Does the kit call for one or two sheets of material to cover the front or are there a bunch of strips that would be laid side by side?

Now that you have sanded through the color and primer you will have a rough time trying to correct the paint. Your only choice now is to strip the body and repaint. That spot will be very difficult, if not impossible, to blend in.

Either your sanding material has grit on it that is cutting into the paint as you sand or the paint is simply too soft to polish out. If you have done a good prep job prior to sanding I would try not sanding the finish but just using a polishing kit or compound and then a polish but only after the paint has had plenty of time to gas out and get hard.