Chariots of Fire

Well, never go after a part you just dropped while holding a running dremel with a carbide disk in it. Did a number on my leg. Needed 4 stiches to close it up! Calmly shut the dremel off and set it down first!?

Ah! Wrong kind of tow hooks!! My bad!? I like the PE ones. Just might have to get some.

Yeah! That is a great piece of work. Hope you continue to do some fire stuff. It's a topic that is as wide as it is long. Check out sewing elastic next time you have to do hose. It comes in 1/8" and 1/4" widths and is much finer than shoelaces. It can be stained to resemble the older style cotton jacket hose of the 70's and 80's and before. Check out 3M yellow tape also for large diameter supply hoses. The 3/4" size, if folded in thirds, looks pretty authentic. Glad you did the interior on this model. So disappointed that Trumpeter did not include detailed interior panels for the doors. Would rather have had them instead of stainless steel hose bed dividers! Your attention to detail on the frame and pump panels is great! Thanks for sharing.

The old Monogram AC Mack has great towhooks. But they can be made of brass rod and strip stock. Here's a look at some that I did for my Diamond T wrecker. The rod is first heated to soften it for bending. After it is bent you can file or grind away the end to a soft point and flatten the bottom to fit on a strip of either brass or plastic. Give each one a slight twist so that the points of the hook are outward. Add some bolt heads to the top surface and there you are.

The black foil is absolutely no good. Has absolutely no elasticity like regular BMF. The aircraft guys sometimes use a paper glue like stuff that they paint on glass to paint canopy frames. You might look into that or make a mask of masking tape to cover the windshield. Look into a translucent type paint also for the tinting.

Ah. Well. what you did looks pretty good. 5th wheels are pretty messy once put to use.

Yes, that and the oil and grease mixture. I have no clue so was just asking.

Hey, Steven: That's a real oddball. Not one that has been made for models that I know of. Looks like it would have to be a kitbash project.

Question: Will it eventually attack the plastic?

Got a question. Does the center seat fold to allow entry to the back seat?

YUP! Done the tap thing a number of times. It does work! ? Also cleaning the edge of the bottle after it is open helps to keep the dried paint to a minimum.

Michaels had some nice craft paints. Small cans but decent cover. It looks like you might be painting too far away from your subject to get the rough surface that you are showing. Been having good results with some of the Tamiya colors in spray cans.

Go to Fire Mountain Gems. Click on the heading for beads. Then scroll down on the left for size and shape. You should find some #15 under Miyuki.

You have to look carefully but there are separate hex shaped pieces and they come in a variety of colors. Can't be filed as they are ceramic. They crush very easily with a pair of pliers. The small ones are about 1mm across and 1mm high. Very consistent in size and shape. The larger ones are much the same but more like 1.5mm in dimension.

Got the numbers mixed up. The 15 size is smaller, about 1mm across. 11's are larger.

Try Fire Mountain Gems. They have all kinds of beads and stuff. They have #15 and #11 hex beads. Latter are good for bolts. Former size is great for spark plugs.

The tanker project is now complete. Finished up supplying the tools, pump and hose to the back and are ready to start delivering gas to General Patton's tanks.

I agree. Nice color combo and the engine compartment is the beez neez!

Been using those #15 hex beads for a while now. They are actually ceramic. I found some #11 hex beads that are chrome. They make beautiful spark plug bases. The smaller ones are good for lug nuts, all kinds of bolt ends, etc. The long links look interesting too! Thanks for sharing!

Got some outside detailing done today. Gas cans and C02 extinguisher mounted on the top of the hose tubes. Now to fill up the inside of the compartment space at the rear and we are done.

Ah, second aisle on the right all the way down on the left.?

Here's where we are as of tonite. Most of the real work is now done with only a few details left. Compare the photo above with what we now have below and you can see there's been some real progress. In addition to the actual construction the decals are now done and some weathering has been completed. Several details added to the back of the tank including lights, handrails, steps, bumper, pintle hook and a set of small doors at the corners. Acrylic black and water was used to create a dirty look to the top. Weathering powders of black and brown were used on the sides. Tail lights are made from plastic tubing. The face of each was first painted with Molotow chrome, then Tamiya clear red. Then a decal was put over the top revealing just the lens area in red with the rest OD color. After the door decals were set, a new single edge razor blade was used to cut the decal at the folds. Setting solution was added to seal the cuts. The small doors open up long tube areas where the suction hoses are stored.

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WOW! Such a neat and clean area! Wish mine looked like that!

Couple more pix. Got the dome covers done and some louvers at the rear. About it for tonite. More a bit later.