Chariots of Fire

Can you edit the color on the computer by darkening it up?

Nice job, Warren! No dust to water down now tho'! Just snow.

No me! Complete waste of time!

High, Kurt. The cab came from the Revell 1941 Chevy pickup kit. It is identical to the cab that Chevy used to make up the 4x4 rigs used by the US Army in WWII. The Dodge cab has similar lines but the kit cab is spot on.

What are you using for the hex nuts on the ends of the hoses? Fusion beads?

Can I make a suggestion? I like what is coming together but I think the front of the hood needs to be rounded out more. I found this photo on line that shows how the 1:1 rig looks. If you thinned out the inside of the hood at the front it might mean pouring some casting resin in the nose when you round it out. Just sayin'.

There is another option for the wheels as well. Yat Ming (Signature) made a 1/24 scale 1923 Maxim pumper with spoke wheels. They are not wood, however. By that time even the heavy spoke wheels were made of steel. You may be able to pick one of the Maxim's on e-bay for a reasonable price.

I have heard from friend Jim Davis many times, as recent as yesterday. He has the model and is attempting to replace the right hand spotlight on the cab. Not an easy task for someone not familiar with modeling. A bit hard to make a day trip to help him out! I'll see if his daughter can take a photo of him with the model when he gets the light put back. When he called yesterday he said that they (Oahu) recently recorded winds at 180 mph on top of the volcanos and that about 10 miles away they were recording waves hitting the beach that were 60 feet high! Good surfing weather, I guess!

I think only the real early AC's in the teens had the wood spoke wheels. The wheels in the kit are definitely steel, both front and rear. Below is a 1917 American LaFrance rig I built years ago using the Stutz Bearcat kit as a basis. It has these wheels (wood?) in the kit. The rear ones have a bit more beef to them than the front ones do. Jeff Harper recently did a 1907 Mack that has the wheels you are looking for as well. Here is a photo of his work. He will have it with him at NNL East in April.

Thanks, Hermann. When it is finished it will be going to its owner in Belgium! The body got painted last nite. I also worked on making a long handle pointed shovel out of brass. After a couple of tries it came out pretty nice. Will take some pics shortly.

That's pretty nice work! Details are great! Keep going!!!

If you do the red color scheme for the IH and trailer, I might be able to come up with some LA County decals for the doors. I have the info. Give me a shout, Scott.

That is correct.

I glued a small strip of plastic to the hood side of the original master for the cab. The strip essentially "raised" the photoetch above the sides of the hood just a little. Then I glued the photoetch directly to the plastic strip permanently. Here is a photo that shows it a little better. This is on the 1966 W300 casting with the raised letters on the strip. I covered it with BMF before painting. Then rubbed off the red paint leaving the raised lettering.

Aaron: Isn't the middle truck in your first photo a '59? Just checking out some images suggest it is. The resin casting you have is the same as what I had and it says it is a '58. A tip on adding the raised "POWER WAGON" lettering on the sides of the fenders. Glue on a small piece of strip plastic the length and height of the photoetch letters that you have. Don't worry about trying to follow the letters but only keep the strip stock real close. After painting use some two part epoxy to secure the photo etch letters in position.

That should be a nice build. I used one of those kits a while back also with this result. Not the 500 and a 1959 version of the smaller rig.

Nice work!

Thanks, Bob. The stacked pails are really once resin casting that I added some wire to for the top of each one plus the handles. The pump can is also a resin casting. Have to cast one more.

To the best of my knowledge, Jim they used heavy weight oil. I don't remember the AC in particular but the AP's had a small round oil reservoir mounted on the frame just above the small sprocket. The reservoir had a cap on top and a small drip line coming from the end that was curved downward toward the sprocket. The oil dripped one drop at a time onto the chain as it went around and kept it lubricated. Here's a photo of the AP that I did showing what I mean. In the photo the long tanks to the right are air brake tanks. The small tank to the left of them is the oil reservoir.

With severe cold weather my work area has been somewhat on the chilly side. But lately I got back into things a bit with some additional details. The cab interior is done, windshield wipers and hinges added and the pump is complete with the priming valve in place in front of the grill guard. Work has also started on the body. One of two hose reels are ready for installation once the body is painted. Still plenty to go before we can call it done.

That's a good color for the chassis, Jim. Here's another thought for the chain drive. Dry brush the chain with a bit of metallic silver, especially on the sides just to highlight it. Then cover that with a dry brush of gloss black to give it an oily look. NO rust! They oiled these chains on a regular basis so it would not be rusty by any means unless it had been sitting for a very long time. JMHO!

That answers my question! Thanks, Warren.

In your photo of the tank and cab on the chassis it looks like the tank could slide forward just a tiny bit. What do you think?

Nice work, Tom! Will you be showing this anywhere?