Chariots of Fire

The last couple of days have been intense making small brass hinges for the doors so that they could open. 0.018" brass tubing and stainless steel wire that fits neatly inside was used along with some C section brass. Now the doors open and close pretty well. I opened the doors by scribing the outline with the back of an Xacto knife. The engine is now installed on the painted chassis. The photo of the real truck shows how far there is still to go on the model. One thing at a time...

Hi, Frank. I did answer your post. But to reiterate it came from Ken Kitchen of Colorado Springs, CO. He does resin castings under the name of Kitchen Table Resins. I did not see your pm. Sorry.

If it's a raised mark, sand or grind it away. If it is depressed, use some filler like Squadron or Tamiya and then sand it smooth.

work continues on the F-7. Tonite the headlight trim rings were turned on my lathe and some lenses were taken from the parts box. The front bumper is set where it should be but it will need some additional work on the ends. The body has 3 compartments; one on each side and one in the rear. The doors have hinges of brass tubing and stainless steel. The door cutouts will have some of Don Mills slam locks. The lone bumper in front of the truck is the beginning of the top brush bar that wraps around the front and sides. The drive shafts have been finished and painted for installation once the frame is done. I set some double sided tape on the hood sides to temporarily see where the hood trim will sit.

A bit more done on the F-7. The plastic driveshafts in most truck kits just don't look right so I tend to make my own. Using some brass square stock, brass tubing and the the brass rod X's that I showed previously, the driveshafts were made up. They are done in sections that slip together so it's easy to install the ends into the axle pumkins and transfer case.

Did this one a while ago. A replica of my father's first truck in his land surveying business.

Got some more work out of the shop elves this week. RTV mold material arrived so I was able to make up a set of new tires for the rig. I used a plastic master from an old Ertl IH logging truck kit. The tires were a soft plastic in two pieces but they were not well mated so it took some work to get that right. Once the mold was made it was easy to make duplicate copies in two part resin. The two white copies in the background were first pops and didn't turn out very well. The rest are fine and have been painted with Floquil weathered black. Here's a shot of the parts so far. Plenty to go yet. The engine is nearly complete and will have to be finished when it is installed permanently on the chassis and after the cab is on. "Wiring" to the battery and coil, etc. can only be completed then.

The pulley belts came from a local source. A brown paper bag. I just cut strips, wrapped them around the appropriate pulleys and superglued them in place. Then a little weathered black paint and there you are! The engine was obtained from Ken Kitchen who lives in Colorado Springs. I did a small amount of re-working but the bulk of it is his resin casting.

There have been some changes made since the last post. I found after working up a part of the body that the tires and wheels are just too small. Some RTV is on order so I can cast up some new ones like what I have in these photos. I also changed the engine to one that is more like the one in the truck. The cab was raised to match the lines of the body. Sometimes things don't go exactly according to plan. Adapt and overcome, eh?

Cab and frame got a coat of primer. That sure does bring out the flaws! Got a bit of sanding to do. I did get the two hood side trim pieces plated yesterday and added some epoxy and a daub of red paint to the circle. Now for some F-7 and BIG JOB badges for each one and they will be ready to attach once the hood is painted.

With all of the snow on the ground there isn't much to be done outside (except shovel snow) so it has been a good time to get some more work done on the F7. Tires and wheels have been painted. The hood side trim has been made up from brass strip stock and some tubing. I'm hoping to nickel plate them and then finish off the circle part with some resin and an F7 decal. "BIG JOB" will also be on the center piece. The four brass crosses are the beginning of the universal joints for the driveshafts.

The 4 WD was added by Marmon Herrington when the chassis was delivered to Maxim for the fire body and bar work. The wheel base was short (147") so it made it easy to maneuver in a wooded envirionment. Will post some more pics in a little bit. The chassis is about done, tires and wheels have been painted. Been doing some tedious work to create the F7 badge and trim for the hood sides. One is complete and is made of 3 pieces of brass. Now the fun begins to try and make another one for the other side of the hood!

I DOUBT IT TOM BUT I WILL HAVE IT WITH ME ON THE PRIMER TABLE.

HI, TOM. THE TIRES ARE RESIN CASTINGS FROM A DIECAST DODGE POWER WAGON. THE WHEELS CAME FROM THE AMT AMERICAN LA FRANCE KIT BUT WERE MODIFIED FOR THE CORRECT NUMBER OF LUG NUTS.

Got a bit of modeling done on the Ford. The frame is from an AMT ALF kit; shortened and modified some. The light blue parts and engine are from the 1950 Ford F-1 kit. Wheels are from the same AMT kit but changed to 8 lugs. The front wheels can be posed now that I have made up some brass knuckles for the axle. Still some tweaking to go on that aspect of things but it's coming along.

Resin grill was with a resin Ford COE. It was a separate casting. Don't know about the frame yet. I may use one from the Ford LN kit. Right now my goal is to see if I can reproduce the tires with the tread pattern that is on the actual truck. Need a blank casing to start with.

After two false starts on projects I finally have settled on one that I have been wanting to do for some time. The truck in the photo is a 1952 Ford F-7 that was built into a brush truck by the Maxim Motor Company. The local fire department actually had two of these rigs; the other one having been built by the Farrar Company. The cab on the right was the same as the white 1950 F-1 on the left. With some plastic strips and a resin grill the cab on the right is the result. Wheel wells were also opened up for larger tires.

Will be interested in seeing how you do the grill

You been holdin' out! All I've ever seen from you is fire apparatus! Nice job, Greg!

Very interesting work on the front axle. What did you use for the round ball part of the steering knuckle?

Thanks also for this information! I have a cab of a 1952 F-700 that I want to build into a brush truck. We had two of them in our department and I have photos of them. For the first time I now have an idea of how to widen out the fenders!

Hessel that is wonderful work! What program are you using to produce the 3-D drawings? Wheels and tires are awesome!

What they all said! Nice clean work!

What they said! Very nicely done!

Here are just a few of the things I have been able to accomplish. Right now I'm waiting for some mold release to come in so I can prepare the new molds for the door and fender piece that you see set up on clay. In the back are the completed door and fender piece for the other side. The cab will be a challenge because the door and windshield openings are so big. We'll see how that goes!