Chariots of Fire

And the work continues. Body is painted, hose reels mounted. Worked on the ladder brackets, suction hose brackets and made up the 20' extension ladder and roof ladder. We are getting closer to the end of the build.

That's cool! Never saw something like that before. A first for a model for sure!

I'm glad to see you kept the chrome free of rust. Just the way it ought to be! Nice job.

Got more done in the last 24 hours. Added two gages for the pump; one for the discharge and one for the intake. Booster reels have been added to the body and detailing of the latches for the three compartment doors is done (though not in these photos). Next up is to prime the body as it is now. There is a hose bed to add and some brackets to make for the ladders and hard suction but that comes later. The hose reels are removable for now so that will make painted behind them much easier. It's beginning to come together now.

More progress on the Class 325. Cab and chassis are nearly complete. Blackout lights still needed. Got started on the body tonite. Still have the bottom half to do. Compartments in the rear and two hose reels under the upper body just behind the cab. Engine bay is complete as well.

Got some paint on! Decals are special to the unit that Jim Davis was in when he served in WW II. Just a few more details like windshield wipers, blackout lights and spotlights and the cab and chassis are done. Next up will be the fire body.

I know what you mean about the tires. The fronts have no backing. I used to take extras and cut off a sidewall and glue it onto the back of the tires to fill them in. Took just a bit of sanding at the corner of the sidewall and tread to make it look right. Other than that the rig looks pretty nice.

Well here is the pump nearly complete. I'm waiting on an order of HO scale freight car brake wheels that I can use in making a few valves to add. Other than that the pump portion is about done. Just a bit of touchup also with the OD paint.

And here it is in primer. Got a few more widgets on it. But I may do some adjusting. The top of the pump sits just a little high so it may come off so I can file down the discharge volute that sends water to it. That should help.

Working on the pump for the front end. I turned the blank out of aluminum and then made a mold for casting.

I'm with you guys on the Travelall! Dave: Put me down for one! I can see that added to the Department fleet!

Modelhaus made a C60 Chevy truck kit in resin a few years ago. You would have to check on e-bay or post a request here to get one as Modelhaus is no longer in business. Here is a tanker I made from the casting. Scale is 1/25

No doubt about it. A fine piece of work! The "on the beach" scene is great!

Just some more work done. The bumper and frame extensions are brass strip stock soldered together. I drilled out the ends of the extensions and the main frame. The holes in the main frame were tapped for 00-90 screws to secure the extensions. Biggest problem was getting the bumper to sit at the right height and to be straight and square. It took a little adjustment but it's there. Hood hinges were made from strip brass, brass tubing and common pins. Headlight buckets are resin castings from a turned aluminum master. Molotow chrome paint was used for the interior. Lenses still need to be installed. Running Boards are made from 0040 sheet stock. Ribs are 0.020 x 0.030 strip stock. After gluing them in place they were sanded and rounded off. A master was made and resin castings were used on the model. 0.040 x 0.060 strip stock was used for the edges.

Truck is now in primer. Much of the cab work is now done. The primer does bring out some flaws that have to be cleaned up. Just a few pin holes in some of the resin casting but they are minimal. Much of the work today was in making up some details. Running boards were made and cast. Hood latches were made from brass strip and small brass tubing. Headlight buckets are done and ready for installation. Cab interior will be next.

When I first looked I thought it was the real thing that you were showing as an example of the model. That is about as real looking as it gets! Fine work!

If you are still concerned about tires check out Shapeways. There are several tire options there. I have actually had some designed for specific projects and got them printed. I buy a couple, one for use as a master and the other as a backup. Then I make a mold and cast up as many as I need. Less expensive that way.

With the doors scribed and removed the hinges were set in place. Positioning was marked on the cab prior to scribing so that the brass hinges could be set correctly. They were glued and pinned in place on the cab side and the door jam. The hood was similarly hinged but it needs to be altered slightly after doing some study of photos of the real thing. Only one place on the right door had to be built up with some 0.010 strip stock to close up the door openings. Scribing with a sharp Xacto knife did a good job of keeping the opening closed up nicely. The hinge pins are long for now as the doors and hood will have to be removed for painting and other detailing. When they are ready for final assembly the pins can be cut off. Next up is to establish the headlight location and get them prepped for installation after painting is done.

I like your work! Nice color combination. Engine and stack is really neat! Looking forward to seeing this one completed!

Using the two part resin from Micro Mark. They make a 300 series and a 600 series. This happens to be the 600 series that takes a bit longer to set up. It is mixed 50:50 unlike the alumilite that is mixed in a 10:1 ratio (I think).

Here are the results of casting the front fenders. The two originals are in the mold box ready for pouring the mold rubber. And here is the first pop from the mold. They are a bit sticky which makes me think the mixing of the two part resin was not up to par. So I will mix up another batch and try again. I'll leave them in the mold overnight to be sure they have fully set and cured before pulling them out again.

I got started on the fenders for the rig last night. That is a block of Renshape on the right in the photo. Beside it is a fender blank cut out using a paper template that was created from photos of the real fender profile. It was trimmed to rough shape on a disc sander. The finished right fender is to the left. Now the challenge is to make the left fender from the blank look like the right one!

And here is what it looks like in paint. Frame was coated with etching primer and then sprayed with Model Master Olive Drab. Tires and wheels are now mounted on the hubs but both can still be removed by backing out the screws at the hub centers. Eventually hub caps will hide them. The engine is also mounted and a gas tank is in place. Fuel filler will be added after the cab is located.

The frame is now finished and has been primed with etching primer. Will photograph it when the paint dries. In the meantime here is the frame with all of the details. Gas tank is also done and has been primed. Still have the mounting straps to make. The driveshaft hanging in mid air will go to the transmission when the engine gets mounted. Since these photos were taken I relocated the front of the rear driveshaft to a slightly lower position so I could get the gas tank in place. It looks better also not being on quite an angle. The Universal joints are from Shapeways and are 3D printed. They will show up better in the photo of the primed frame.