Firebuilder

Scott and Greg, after doing a little research, this kit is modeled after an approximate 1990 to 1999 wheeled coach ambulance. I did not find any roof pictures for the diamond plate. I do know that SSB was pretty accurate with most of the details though so it may have been there. Through out my career(now retired) in the fire/ems service, I have been in and driven many Horton/ VCI rigs and many other brands as well. Dom

Charlie, I learned that the hard way when I made the first mold and had to cut the bezels out when the mold halves became one solid piece. The second Attempt ,The mold worked but the results are not to promising for the bezels. I don’t know if I need to put less clay , or try to do it in a one piece mold. I am open to suggestions anyone has for molding the bezels. I did make a mold for some seats I will need and was very satisfied with the results. Dom

Nicely done! I like the colors and details

Finally got some primer on the cab, will leave it alone for a few days and then sand it and prime again. Started building the bumper. Work on the chassis needs to get done while waiting for primer to dry.

Charlie, Thank again for your guidance, I have the wood bucks made up, just need to pick up the brass at the hobby shop. I Will let you know how. It comes out once completed.

Steven, Thank you for the information, I will check out eBay and see what I can find. It may be a solution to the windshield problem. Dom

Nice build, great details!

Scott, Looks great! Nice and clean work. Being a NJ native this hits home with me. Dom

Charlie, I do plan on following your advice, the top left corner of the cab curve separated from the front panel when I was cutting the hole for the bezel. So I had to re glue and putty it. While I had the putty out I filled a bunch of the imperfections you are talking about. The grill is filled and being sanded again to. Then a wet sanding and on to primer finally. Then as you said more sanding and priming. Here are pictures at the 2nd attempt making a mold for the bezels. It was easier to make without the grill attached and came out much better than the first total failure. I used a different clay to pack out the back side of the bezel, and not as much clay as I did with the first mold. I have to pour the 2nd part of the mold, any suggestions before I do? The Alumilite instructions are not clear on what to do before pouring the 2nd half. Dom

Very nice, clean and sharp details Dom

Greg, That is a SSB resin E450 ambulance. It was listed as a 2005. It took me about 18 months to find it on eBay. They don’t show up there to often and I lost a few bids, But finally found one with a buy now option . It is a work in progress duplicating a rig for someone I know. The cab is older than what they have now, being it’s a 2019 model, but this was the best I could for an E450 right now , I am contemplating building the box from scratch, originally I was going to modify the resin box that came with the kit, however after roughly marking it out, I have to change just about everything on there, including the roof line to match the existing rig. Dom

Thanks Bob, much appreciated.

The mold for the entire trumpeter eagle grill came out terrible. I am not sure where I went wrong with it, but the modeling clay I used to pack out some areas, stuck to the silicone. So I cut the light bezels free from the grill , and will attempt to make a new mold for just the bezels. Hopefully my second attempt will go better. I cut out the openings for the light assemblies and the grill. After some more research on this cab, I noticed they make several different grills for their apparatus. I went with one that was not to hard to build out of evergreen stock. I just need to find some scale grill mesh now.

Very nice, the attention to detail is amazing. I Will be following this build.

Looks great, really like how you weathered and aged the unit Dom

Awesome build! The shot of the 3 together is cool! Dom

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.