Firebuilder

Wow Charlie! I thought the first cab looked amazing and can only hope mine comes out half as good as that. I see what you mean about the bucks, so next trip to the hobby shop I will pick up some thin brass. I do see the differences though and I am even more amazed. I hope you find another project for the first cab, it would be a shame to waste it after all the work and craftsmanship that went into it. I can’t thank you enough for the guidance you are giving me on my build. Dom

Thank you Gary , I will check it out, for this build a cab won’t help, but for future projects it may. I also keep a look out, and when I see one at a fair price I pick them up. But most on EBay that I find are older cabs, nothing 2010 or later. SSB resin shows up once in awhile with a more modern rig , but those are full kits, and hard to buy multiples. Dom

I have no idea yet on the windshield, I read your build thread and see you made a buck , and then vacu formed. I can make the buck, but not sure if I should do it in a one piece or two piece windshield. I don’t’ have anything to vacu form with, and I still have to research how to do that at home if possible and what would be needed. I did see a vacu forming machine on micro mark, but it’s a big investment for maybe just a few windshields, and I am not sure that is what would work for this . If I make the buck out of a block of wood, would it be to much grain? I found some Ren on a website and was thinking of ordering it and using that if it would be smoother. I also saw how you used that to make your grill, which is something else I have to tackle. I did make the mold for the trumpeter grill and lights, just waiting for the hobby shop to get in the resin. Once that is cast, i will cut the bezels free from the grill. I hope mold I made came out ok, it’s the first attempt at making a mold and casting a part. For now I am going to wet sand the cab, ending up with 3000 grit and then Get a coat of primer on and see what needs touch up. Dom

Charlie , Thank you again for the great advice. My dashboard stash is limited, but I will see what I have . As for the rest of the dash, I am not looking to make it exact, I just want the proportions to look right. There are a lot of compound angles and curves from what I can see in the photos . So far what I have built either looks to big, or just does not look right. The angles seem off. I agree with you ,once enclosed, Not much will be seen, so I won’t go to far with details. Lol, and no, I am definitely not having opening cab doors. Maybe on future cabs once my cab building skills have improved! It sure would be nice if a new kit, maybe with an aerial device was produced, there is only so many models you can build with the amt and trumpeter kits before getting bored with them. The few resin kits out there are expensive, and trying to find just a resin fire cab is nearly impossible. I have seen some 1/25 scale 3D printed cabs, but the cost of the cab at $400.00 plus, is what led me down this road trying to scratch build my own. Dom

I have seen AITM on eBay a few times, unfortunately the bidding got out of hand and the price wound up being much higher than you could have bought them from AITM originally. I have won some bids on Fred’s Custom Model cabs and body for a decent price, but dropped out of others after the price would double or triple the normal cost. The times I got the best price on that site for resin fire cabs and related items, is when there is a buy it now option by the seller , as long as the price in not excessive. There is a decent resin Mack CF cab in 1/32 scale on there right now with a buy it now price of $50.00, I got one and the guy was great to deal with. I hope this information is a help to you. Dom

Nice details, garage door looks great , the conduit on walls really adds a lot.

Nice Build!

Very nice!

Very nice! I miss seeing Hess trucks on Jersey highways.

Good morning Charlie, I am working off photos only, no actual measurements. The interior is completely different than the Trumpeter interior. The other problem with that is , I didn’t even think of using that as a base until you suggested it and I looked at your photos of modifying it. The cab was already built and is about 1/4 inch narrower in width than the Trumpeter and the wheel well openings are also off. I found some better photos last night and see a few other spots I need to correct on the floor and dash area. How do you make all of the light switches and other detail items in the Control panels? Thank you for your help. It is greatly appreciated!

Thank you everyone for all the comments , they are much appreciated

Progress continues, very slowly. A lot of trial and error, mostly error on the cab interior. I am Trying to figure out a dashboard , but so far I have scrapped most of what I have come up with. It’s More complicated than I thought it would be.

I took Charlie’s advice and replaced the front cab corners with the 3/4 pvc pipe. The corners are much cleaner now, just slight sanding and filling. The Top of the cab at roof line also worked out much better. Just a little more filing to refine the curves. I am thinking of attempting to resin cast the trumpeter grill, so I can make multiple headlight bezels and won’t ruin the grill to the kit, which I can still use on that cab. Trying the resin casting will be another first for me.

Wow what an amazing build, the details are excellent !

Although I am new here, welcome back Daniel

Thank you Charlie , I pulled out one of my trumpeter kits and will start working on the cutting the headlight bezels off and trying to figure out a grill. Work on the cab has been slow, did not get much done this weekend, except for sanding off the excess putty on the seams and cutting off the corners. Have to cut the PVC pipe today and rebuild the front. Will post pictures when I get all the completed

Looks great, paint looks really good

Looks very nice, a lot of work going into that trailer

Thanks for the input, in all of my internet searches for model paint I never found MCW, I checked out their site and will be placing an order, my current build will be sprayed with their paint and my airbrush, no rattle cans again hopefully!

The hoses and couplings were cast resin which came with the kit. The only credit I can take for them is painting the parts.

This was completed this past summer. The paint was done with rust oleum spray paint. Not thrilled with the paint finish though. I usually used model masters paint and an air brush, but finding it since they ceased production has been difficult.

This is an SSB Resin Pierce that was completed about a year ago. It took awhile to prep the parts , lots of sanding and some minor filling, putty in some spots. Still need to add a department name at some point!

This is the cab which I am trying to copy as. Lose as I can get it . Still a long way to go, picked up the 3/4 pvc pipe, and will also be using a few other ideas from Charlie. Never thought to use solder for window trim. Thank you all for the positive comments and suggestions.

“Amazing details! The cab corners look great. Gives me a lot ideas

Thank you for the advice, I am going to try the pvc pipe out. I was not satisfied with the curve of the cab corners. Hopefully the 3/4 pipe will give me more of what I am looking for. I am also wondering if I can modify the trumpeter eagle grill and headlight assembly to fit this cab, any thoughts on that would be appreciated.