Chariots of Fire

Still working on the windshield. I raised the top portion 1/16" and it looks a bit taller which I think is more correct. Going to let it sit for a while and see if I feel the same about it in a couple of days. Still some cleanup to do. It's amazing what shows up when you take photos! Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki

Been making some minor adjustments to the top of the cab and I think now it is there! Study of the photos of the real thing from various points of view gave me a better feel for what it should look like. The hood also has been shortened a bit to draw it back. The separation line between the center piece of the hood and the butterfly sections has been cut in. A third try at a buck for vacu-forming the windshield finally gave satisfactory results. It was carved from Renshape and coated with Aero-Glos dope to really smooth it out. The windshield fits nicely behind the brass molding without any glue. And finally some interior door panels have been made and the dashboard basics are done. The dash will fit inside up against the bottom of the brass molding. Next are some interior fender pieces.

Looking at the photo of the cab that is upside down it looks like one fender is not aligned with the other and that warps the grill. Can one fender be moved either forward or back to square it up? Major adjustment for sure but it would take the warp out of it. It would take a razor saw to remove one fender and then re-position it.

Can't see photos from Photobucket.

Thank you, Chris.

I'm still working on how to perfect the top of the cab. It has been a project to fill, sand, fill some more and work at the shape. I think it is almost there. Any advice you can give to improve it would be appreciated. I have the cab sitting on a 4x4 chassis just to see how it looks. The front springs are too long and the tires are only temporary but the height above the ground is as it should be, or at least that is how one truck sits that I was able to measure. Tires on it were 7:50 x 20's and the top of the fenders was 53" above the ground. Both are just about right in scale.

Been reworking the top of the cab. Still not quite the right shape. So it has been raised a little and re-sculptured. Did some work on the dashboard and it is coming along nicely. Will post some pics soon.

Just my 2 cents but I think the tires are too big for that era. Even if updated a bit.

I like the look.

Yup! What they all said! Lookin' good!

Thanks, Chris. I'm pretty sure the Renshape will work. It is so easy to carve. I can use the wood one as a pattern since the fit is pretty good. The only bad part of using Renshape is the amount of dust it creates when it is sanded. I use a sanding disk in my Dremel and it is like a mini dust storm. A mask is a good investment. I hope I can get it cast. The cab is nearing completion and I still have the dash, floor board and interior door panels to do. The caster I have been talking with wants to do it with the hood secured in place. I would rather it was done as a separate piece so that it could be shown with one of the sides of the hood open. We will see what develops.

You don't think the second pull with adhere to the first one?

Unless the filler primer is heat resistent it would have a tendancy to soften and adhere to the clear plastic. I think my best bet is the Renshape. The Aero Gloss is a sealer of sorts and it felt really smooth but the alternating soft and hard growth rings in the wood still showed through.

Tried a wood buck to redo the windshield. Even after several coats of dope the wood grain still came out in the final piece. So will have to do the buck over again, this time using some Renshape that has no grain. It will be well sealed before trying to pull another one. Here's the results so far using the wood. I did polish out the clear plastic and it looks ok but the new one should be even better.

Lee: Have you had experience with vacuum forming the 0.010 stock over the buck? If you form plastic over it will the 0.010 stock bubble or buckle with the addition of the heated plastic over it? I just bought a new VF machine and am experimenting with the best way to do this.

Tried my first vacuum formed windshield tonite. The machine is very quick and easy to use. However it became quite obvious right away that the buck has to be perfectly smooth in order for the plastic to retain its nice clean surface. The material I used is quite porous and although I sealed and sanded it, the texture still showed through and the plastic that came out was not smooth either. Next time a little less heat and a nice smooth polished surface on the buck will give me a better result. Making the formed plastic fit was real easy after it was trimmed away from the buck. It popped right into position in the windshield frame which is what I was looking for. More to come!

Take two steps forward and one back! That seems to be what's happening with this project. The windshield area has been giving me fits. That and the part of the cab that is just above it. Studying the photos showed that the shape was wrong so little by little I've been adding filler putty to above the windshield to build it up.. I also had to redo the brass trim to bring the top out more. In the process of doing all that I wrecked the grill with so much handling. Good thing I had a mold of it so I could cast a replacement! This time I backed it up with some stiffeners that should keep it from getting damaged again. I did the same for the hood. With a separate mold, If the truck gets cast with the hood in place I can cut it away to make the hood open butterfly style. Now I'm working on a buck for doing the windshield by vacuum forming one. That's the buck in the foreground of the picture.

I don't often like to see fire apparatus used this way but this one is good! (Not saying I'd build a model of it though)

Terry! That is nice work! The heavy duty look is outstanding! How was the fit between rims and tires? Did you have to shim the rims to get them snug?

Just a thought. A 30's vintage dump body would be pretty basic and might not even have the protective shield over the cab. You should be able to find some examples on line that would help. I found this ad on line.

That's some really nice detailing, Tom. I do a bit of brass work myself when it calls for it. It's a good medium for lots of things that need strength and good looks. Thanks for sharing!

Today I got the brass angle stock windshield surround installed. It was a blessing in disguise as I noticed previously that the top front of the cab just did not look right. Studying the photos showed that the front was much more square than what I had sanded out. The brass sits out just a but from the top of the cab and it gave me a ledge to put in some Squadron putty to reshape the cab. Now the problem is going to be finding some clear stock that I can heat up just a bit and bend and the edges so it will form to the shape of the windshield trim. Some sheet stock has a tendency to craze when it is bent even a little bit. All in all, though it was a good choice to go with the brass angle. It is strong and hopefully will allow the windshield to pop in without gluing. We'll see. One of the local repair garages had several wreckers using Loadstar chassis. I had a diecast wrecker body sitting around so I put the two together just to see what they might look like. (Kinda like the look) But we are a long way away from deciding to do any kind of a finished truck model. Just getting the cab right is enough for now. The headlight bezels are now turned out of aluminum stock. I drilled out the center of each one and milled out a ledge around the inside for a lens to sit on. I used some lenses from the AMT Ford LN kit. Just about the right size. I don't have the lenses in the bezels in the photo but they look good when installed. I can remove the bezels and cast them as well. That way they can be painted. A couple of swipes with a Molotow pen around the inside would restore the bright area behind the lens.

Struggling with the windshield. Today I put a small piece of strip stock around the perimeter of the windshield to act as a trim piece and as something to force the clear plastic against to hold it in place. After much frustration I was able to get it in except for small pieces near the lower corners where the plastic has to bend. Curving the clear stock is not easy. Real hot water is best as it does not distort the plastic but it takes a while to do. Got all of this done only to find out that the top of the windshield is too low! So the trim has to come off and the top of the cab has to be modified some. As I'm sitting here the idea came to me to make the trim piece of out of small brass angle stock. It can be bent if softened by heating (annealing) to fit the contours of the windshield opening. Why didn't I think of that earlier! (*&)*^*$^$#^%#(?!!!!!!

That is going to be a bear trying to drill out all of those holes in the grill and have them all be evenly spaced. How about cutting them all out and replacing them with a piece of photoetch. I know I have seen some by Model Car Garage that would be just what you need.

Ok. Rampart, we are in service.