Chariots of Fire

HI, Warren. I now have a Tankograd book on the CCKW and have ordered another one with different info. If you need any technical info give a shout. I might be able to help in the placement of certain things. Track of the front wheels is 60" if that gives you any help on the axle length up front. The rear track is 67" according to the specs.

That kit and the ladder and Aero Chief kits have been the source of a lot of frame and running gear parts for my builds. All are basically good kits except for some of the details which are a bit on the klunky side. Greg knows this but on the box art, they turned the hard suction ends wrong end in. The Hale pump is great. I have two builds done; one of the pumper and another of the rear mount aerial. They can be kit bashed all kinds of ways.

Using the KS cutter on 1/8" stock is hard because you are near the end of the line for the size. I have had the same difficulty with the cutter but if you go slow and watch the line you may be able to guide it around. It takes some practice. The other way is with a dremel and cutting wheel but be careful not to bind the cutting wheel or it will either shatter or go zipping across the stock. Go slow with it and then use a file to smooth up the cut edge.

Using an Italeri kit to start, this WW II Jeep was made up with a hinged top, radio, GI gas can and a soft top of facial tissue. The top braces are brass. And here it is beside the Diamond T. A wee bit smaller!

If you are doing the hose reel consider using some red or brown small insulated wire for the hose. It would have been either 3/4" or 1" diameter rubber in real life. An alternative would have been cotton jacket forestry hose of 1-1/4" diameter.

That's some nice work. I agree with Greg. Probably a Darley pump. But it could also have been a Barton American. For that scale consider using some 1/4" sewing elastic for the cotton jacket hose. Stain it light tan with a weathering powder to dirty it up a bit and add your nozzles.

Well done for sure. ?

Plain old black Magic Marker. Try darkening it up a second time around, Jim. The purplish color may dissipate.

Amen to that!

When getting ready to create the rubber gasket around windshields try a chisel point black permanent marker instead of trying to paint it. It's almost a guarantee that the lines will be nice and smooth. It also works on windshields on more modern vehicles that have the tinted glass around the edges. Run the marker around the inside of the glass (this takes a bit more practice) but the results again are great. Magic marker was used to create the gasket around the windshield. Note that the whole gasket was not done. Helps to keep things in scale. Magic marker used around the inside of the windshield , rear and side windows on the Crown Vic.

Rustoleum paints are the worst you can use in model painting. It's too thick, doesn't spray finely and takes forever to adequately dry. Try Duplicolor or some of the new Tamiya model paints. Real good success with both.

I agree with Rick L. If you have a desire to do some casting start with something simple that only takes a one part mold. Get the hang of mixing up the mold material first and then move on to making more sophisticated ones. It took me a while but now I can make most anything I need in my projects. Micro-Mark sells good RTV and casting supplies. Just for simplicity sake I use small plastic cups to mix the RTV in 50/50 proportions and small communion cups for the casting resin. I mark one with how much of Part A I want, then drop the cup inside the second cup, taking into account the thickness of the cups and mark the second one for Part B the same way. Results are positive just about every time. Give a shout if you have any questions.

Oh, my! What a flurry of activity this produced!! I have to admit it had me guessing as to what it was all about until I read the actual inquiry!?

WB is the distance from center of front axle to center of pivot point of the rea axle pair. If you need the track for front and rear I can get that for you. Also if you use a metric ruler it would convert exactly from inches full size to 1mm being 1" in 1/24 scale.

Hi, Warren: The wheelbase was either 145" or 164" for the longer version. Found it in TM9-9801 which is the tech manual for the CCKW. As for the decals I made them on my graphics program and then printed them on my ALPS. PM me when you have a minute.

That looks like a long frame truck. What's the wheelbase?

I only did three.

Definitely two part molds will be needed, especially for the part on the left and the combination grill bumper assembly at the top. You would need to plug the opening between the grill and bumper with some soft clay or tape the back with some masking tape to keep the mold separated in two parts. If the part in the lower right is straight and flat on the back side you could glue it to a piece of plastic sheet stock, build the mold box around it and then pour the mold material on top of it directly. If you need to keep it as a usable piece use white glue so that you can remove it from the plastic after the mold is made. You've got some work to do, I'm afraid, but hope this helps.

I've done similar things to make hinges but instead of putting in a pin on one side I leave both parts open and connect them with a pin that runs clear through from one side to another. After everything is done the way I want it I cut the pin off at appropriate lengths to just fit the two hinge halves. Nice job on your work! They look perfect!

You need mold making materials, mold release and casting resin to start. If you can post a photo of what you want to cast perhaps I can offer some suggestions. A two-part mold may be in order.

Jeff: If you are interested, I might be able to find an extra DT 466. Let me look around.

Bead wire works well. 0.015 size works best. Comes in a spool in different colors.

I have two of those and have taken to adding shelves. Will have to add another for this build!

I think if I was to do that I would do so in a diorama setting. But I'm running out of shelf space as it is!☺️

Thanks for all of your kind comments. Much appreciated. No sitting on the laurels, though. On to the next one! A simple kit build this time. Will keep all posted in the WIP section.