Chariots of Fire

Is the tank elliptical? If so I have seen a solution for it. Take a piece of thin wall pvc pipe slightly smaller than the largest width. Inside it insert a piece of wood that is slightly larger than the diameter of the pipe. This will push the round shape into an oval. Secure the ends with some sheet stock and you have an elliptical tank. All the other stuff is essentially window dressing. Another option is to modify the tank that is in the Monogram AC Mack kit. The tank is old fashioned but it can be modified with a bit of TLC and some scratch building.

That is some nice work, Ray. It's obvious that you know a lot about the truck and where things are supposed to go. All that detailing sure looks nice.

Got into the details a bit. A snow plow frame was built up of 1/8" angle stock, sheet stock and some tubing. A hydraulic "pump" and belt were added in the engine compartment and a tow plate with pintle hook were made up for the back. Will concentrate now on the lift mechanism for the body, the tailgate and the lever that unlocks it. The rear view mirrors also got changed.

That's pretty nice! Is that a photoetched IH emblem on the front?

Thanks, Tom! I guarantee you the next one you see will be red!! Town of Marion has one that was built by Maxim as a brushbreaker. It has been refurbed with new bodywork and an up-to-date paint scheme. That is what is on the project table after the dump truck is finished. After that.... there will be something that is completely different but as for now it is under wraps with very tight security!

SUPER CLEAN build!! Awesome work. Neat as a pin! Love it!

I guess it did turn out ok!! The color scheme and graphics are just great!

The problem is that the front springs in most kits are way too long. That puts the axle in the wrong place for such a short hood. The grill sits right at the end of the frame and that is where the front spring bracket is also.

Check out the AITM home page. Look under "Shop" then "Conversion Kits" then "Internationals". You will find a built up Loadstar as a single axle tractor. Pretty cool.

SBIF!!!

Thanks, Bob. Marion still has one that Maxim built into a brushbreaker. It has since been updated but the IH is still there. That is the one I will be building when I go back to red!

They probably have a family resemblance but I don't think it is exactly the same cab. Got me guessing though so I should check it out! So I did! The mid '60's IH pickups had a similar windshield and the bulge in the door is similar but the roof is not. So I'd say that they were two different trucks and did not support the same cabs. If anyone has more particular info I'd be interested in hearing about it.

Got an update for the Loadstar. I decided to go with a medium duty municipal highway dept. truck with a dump body. Eventually it will have a snow plow frame attached. Still plenty to do to get it to a finished state but we are making progress. Still to go are the dump body hydraulics, mud flaps, rear tail lights, tail gate and some detailing. Just a fun build for a change. We will get back to a Loadstar fire apparatus later!

Don't forget that there would be a timber rail between the frame and the bottom of the dump body. That would make the body sit at about the right height.

I started with the Louisville chassis but it has issues fitting with the IH cab. The front springs on the Louisville are way too long so that the cab will not sit over the tires. So I made the frame from Evergreen strip stock and used a set of shortened up front springs from an Ertl ALF kit. The rear springs did come from the Louisville since they come with helpers that I have seen on many of the IH chassis photos I checked out. The frame is a bit long for a wrecker body but that is easily cured by cutting out a section, bringing the rear axle closer to the front and then splicing the frame back together again. The tires are resin castings that I made from a tire that I mastered a few years back. The wheels are also resin castings that were slightly modified from a set that came with a Modelhaus '66 Chevy C60. Right now I'm awaiting news from a 3D guy telling me that the road tread tires I asked him to do are ready at Shapeways.

The first go around with this resin piece was not too bad. It painted up well with just a cleaning with some detergent and warm water. Getting the windshield to fit after painting was a bit troublesome and trying to keep in place with some two part epoxy was only partially successful. I'll know better next time to be more patient on fitting the windshield so that I won't have to secure it at all. It was intended to pop in place by itself.

I'm working on one using the green painted cab that is posted above. Some sort of rack body perhaps, maybe a wrecker. I have some photos of Holmes 600 wrecker bodies that I might just incorporate. Was working on the engine last nite. Ground off the automatic transmission from the IH Scout engine and substituted a 5 speed standard. Have some detailing to do on it. Will post some up to date photos in a bit. For a second build it will definitely be a brush rig modeled after one that is in the next town over from me.

I think you will have to provide your own engine. The IH Scout has the IH 345 engine that was used quite a bit. I do have some castings of it but they are not the best. Needs some cleaning up.

We're ready now. AITM has said it is ready for ordering! Just go to their website. The kit number is KC-94. It includes what you see here along with headlights, decals and templates for windshield and rear window.

AITM is ready for orders on International Loadstar kits. The kit will sell for $80 and includes what you see in the photo. Just got the info from Dave Natale today. If you are interested in ordering you can reach AITM at: orders@aitruckmodels.com Here is the ordering info. CK-94 International Loadstar conversion kit includes cab fenders ,separate hood, complete interior with door panels, bumper, cab steps, mirrors ,turn signals, airhorn, clear headlite lenses, wipers, grab handles, decals, detail sheet with glass patterns and clear window material.

Since there are 25.4 millimeters in one inch that comes very close to being 1/25 scale. So of you use a metric ruler and you want 312 inches in 1/25 scale just measure off 312 millimeters and there you have it. The error is not really noticeable unless you are an exactness fanatic. For example: 312 inches divided by 25.4 millimeters is 12.283 inches. 312 inches divided by 25 is 12.48 inches. So the overall difference in a long length like that is only 0.2 inches. Most 1/25 scale stuff is a lot shorter than 312 inches so the difference gets even less. Example: Most trucks have a maximum width of 102 inches. Divide that by 25 and you get 4.08 inches. Divide 102 by 25.4 and you get 4.01 inches. so the difference is only 7 one hundredths of an inch. Can't measure off much closer than that! That is why I use a metric ruler so there is really no conversion necessary at that scale. Remember: It only works for 1/25 scale.

That is awesome work! About how thick were the hull planks? What was the glue you used to secure them? At an IPMS show a year ago May I found an old Bluenose kit and Only paid $10 for it. But I have a full set of plans that I picked up from Model Shipways. Looking forward to starting the work. Planks and bulkhead design. I may have to ask you some questions on tapering the planking toward the bow and stern! Although I have built a couple of ship models in the past it's not my forte so there is a learning curve or two on the horizon!

I built up an engine from the castings of the 345. It barely fits between the modified firewall and the grill. Waiting for the rest of the castings to be done of the firewall and floorboard so I can put it all together.

Just for kicks I laid on some nice dark green paint to the Loadstar mainly to see how good the casting was. It showed up a couple of small places where some touchup would be in order but all and all I think the result is ok. The International in the hood sides is a decal that was made from an image scanned into my graphics program and printed on the ALPS printer. The hood ornament was coated with Molotow chrome and then painted with black and red for the IH symbol. Molotow chrome was used on the headlight trim rings with regular Testors silver in the center portion. A clear lens will be added later. Never fails! I thought I got all of the dust off before taking the photos!!

Bill Geary's solution looks pretty realistic. I just might look for some of that paint. The alternative, of course is to drill the headlights out and put in some clear lenses. The only kicker is that you will have to figure out a way to back the lenses up with other stock so that they look right. The stock can be painted with silver paint. After the paint is dry use clear epoxy to set the lens. That way the silver paint will not soften and run.