Gmatta691

My dad rode around on one of these in the 90s and early 00s as the departments spare. I would spend plenty of time riding around in it getting gas or playing fireman while it sat in the bay. It was a turd, rusty, worn out, mismatched eras of equipment etc. When I started this project he said I should add rust in certain spots Mack’s were prone to rust out in, chipped paint, the whole 9 yards. I guess you could call my inexperience some unintentional weathering. There are 3 things I wish I did differently. First I should’ve gone with aluminum tubing for the couplings, or those brass coupling sections should be beat up. I also found a smaller plastic tubing to fit the attack lines, but only after one very large coupling was glued in. I probably could’ve given staining the hose another shot. The rig looks like it’s been through hell, but the hose looks pristine. It takes a little bit away from the build in my opinion.

Crosslays and rear attack lines are in, just waiting on the nozzles to glue down the last sections. The scratch built nozzle for the booster has been painted, I’m pretty happy with it. I’m sure there will be a serious margin in quality once it’s sitting next to the donmillsmodels pieces, but not too bad for a first try. Once the nozzles are added this thing is about done. I’ve learned a lot from this and I’m excited to do it all again soon. I’m getting ready to make a 5 hr move, so who knows when I’ll actually get back to it. Huge thanks to @Chariots of Fire for all the help with this build. Can’t wait to give painting another shot with his tips in mind. edit- Checked the mail and found the nozzles, so this rig is done.

Got most of the hose put in today. I didn’t stain it this time, I tried with the paint I had on hand and it was terrible. I need to find some smaller tubing for the attack line couplings before I can finish the rear load and crosslays. Overall I’m pretty happy with it for a first attempt. I would lower the box I made for the bed and add less hose in the supply line section next time. I decided to fill the driver side small section of bed with some plastic tubing. These will hold some hooks/pike poles. This gives a make it work with what you got kinda feel which I love about fire trucks. I filled up some empty space near the booster with some pony lines. If I find some other cool detail pieces I’ll take em out, but for now that fills the space. I also tried my hand at a scratch built nozzle for the booster line. I think it’ll look better once I paint it some time this week. I also have plenty of nozzles coming from donmillsmodels for the attack lines etc.

I ran to Lowe’s and picked up some red wire for the booster line. I had already glued the booster so the line doesn’t sit as flat as I’d like, but there’s a lot about this model I could and will do better next time. Still waiting on the elastic but I plan on building some boxes to cheat the load once it gets here. @Chariots of Fire do you have any tips or progress pics of scratch built nozzles? I’m gonna give one a shot today, but it helps to see what you’re trying to replicate.

I tried my best with the paint, but I do think I was a little heavy handed each time. I’ll blame some of that on my makeshift shop while I’m up in college, and the windy parking lot I attempted to paint in. After talking to a buddy he said the same thing. Each time I tried to go thinner but this paint seemed heavy. Like no matter how quick or light or far away I was, it landed hard each time. This was a learning experience for sure. I might buy an airbrush in the near future so I’ll be learning all over again.

It’s done for now til I get the elastic delivered. The paint job is pretty rough, but I cannot strip and paint again.

Testors spray enamel. Gotta say, I’m open to trying anything else. I’ve stripped the cab for a 3rd time now so it’s gonna stay solid red. Not sure if the paint isn’t beginner friendly or if I’m really this bad at painting.

Well I knew I’d hit a wall eventually. My lack of experience with painting caught me. Primer went on nicely, the red was not as smooth but it looked ok after it dried. I wanted to do white over red, but ended up going with black since I didn’t want a pink roof. It was all set up for failure though as my masking tape job wasn’t good enough. I decided to paint some more silver on while I waited for the roof to dry which nearly ended in disaster. I was able to retouch those areas where the paint got smudged so the bulk of the body is ok. I anticipated this step to be a challenge, but man not like this. I have slowly been chipping away at removing the paint from the cab, and I’ll give this another shot over the weekend. I’ll check back in once it’s done barring any more disasters. Hindsight is 20/20 I would’ve been satisfied with a red cab. This is a trial though, so time to step out of the comfort zone I guess.

After hijacking another thread for the last week or so I’ve decided to start my own. To catch you guys up: I saw what @Chariots of Fire had done with some of the monogram kits and thought I’d give it a shot. I ran down to a hobby shop and picked up a Revell kit, later finding 2 monogram kits at home. I have never worked in this scale, mostly just kitbashing 1/64 with limited success. I’ve probably asked about 100 boneheaded questions, all of which chariots answered. So far I have painted a lot of diamond plate and lights, cut the body to my liking, and most recently started filling the voids I had created. I filled the hole from the beacon with scraps from the tree, and tried my best to remove deep cuts from my dremel work. I had built some legs for the booster line, but unfortunately it wouldn’t fit so those were quickly removed. I also picked up a 1/25 scale light bar, which is a little big for my liking. If anyone knows where I can find some 1/32 light bars let me know. I plan to prime the body tomorrow, and hopefully paint Thursday. I have some sewing elastic coming in early next week so hopefully I’ll get the cross-lays and hose bed done soon too.

Spent the last couple days cleaning up cuts and filling the voids I’ve made. I used a part of the tree to fill the hole where the beacon was. I made the booster reel, originally making some legs out of the tree but having to cut them off so it still fits. I found a string off some paintbrush packaging and made myself a halyard. Just got the plastic sheeting glued in. I plan to prime it tomorrow, paint on Thursday. After that I can start making some serious progress and hopefully wrap up by next week.

Ran to the store and grabbed a cutting wheel. I wouldn’t say I butchered it but I’m certainly not a surgeon with the dremel yet. I jumped the gun a little with the chrome as well. I poured too much of the paint to justify wasting most of it. I’m hoping some masking tape will save it when I throw some red on the body. The hollow plastic color really isn’t doing it for me. Gonna have to run to the store again tomorrow for a file and some of that sewing elastic. I ordered some plastic sheeting as well. I also attached some pics of the lights, let me know if they look as good as I think they do.

@Chariots of Fire I was concerned with the headlights, but I put a drop or 2 of testors glue and let it dry. I used some testors paint for the turn signals and warning lights, placing just enough paint to not break surface tension. I’m pretty happy with the results, both look like lenses now instead of the stickers the kit provided. I’ll have to go get a cutting wheel for my dremel, my starter set didn’t come with one unfortunately. I assume you did something similar to remove the rotator beacon and siren mounts on the roof. Needless to say I’m most nervous about that. How did you go about filling the unused holes in the mold? Or how would I go about filling holes I will almost certainly make in the cab with my dremel? Thanks again.

I bought one of the revel kits of the same model. I was digging around at home today and found 2 of the monogram kits! Man, there is some disparity in quality with the newer mold. The only clear pieces are the windows and the rotator cover. Looking at the monogram I have a lot more to play with. Have you ever simulated a lense before and how would you go about doing that? I couldn’t agree with you more about the crosslay situation. It’s odd they decided to mold hose there but not in the rear, thought I am glad they didn’t. How did you go about cutting the crosslay and boosters out? Then, how did you fill that void? Forgive me for all the questions. I’m going to screw around with the revel kit and make my mistakes there before transitioning to the better monogram kits. Thanks again

@Chariots of Fire do you have any progress pics of that mostly out of box Mack? I’m starting my own soon. How durable is that body and chassis? As this is my first time modeling in 1/32 I’m sure I’ll screw it up a dozen times. Also how did you fill the headlight and turn signals to make it look as though there are lenses? Thanks in advance.