Aaronw

Eduard has reboxed a few kits from others, but the bulk of their models are original to Eduard and they tend to be very high quality, particularly those from the past decade. I've not seen anyone refer to an Eduard kit as "sub par".

WM300 were quite rare which is odd they seem quite appropriate for the work. Most of the Dodges I've seen were the W series although cant say for sure what was under the hood. These trucks did have to be highway capable as well as roaming forest roads. Even back then it was not unusual for a truck to go to a fire at the other end of the state every year. I like I-6s (have a '52 GMC and '69 Land Cruiser) but they are not the happiest freeway cruisers. Or maybe just a general attitude of mo cylinders, mo betta regardless of actual numbers. All I know is most of the older US Forest Service Trucks I've seen have a V-8. Even now they tend to opt for the bigger engine option even in basic vehicles. All the Ford Rangers I've driven had the V-6 which is in my opinion way over powered for those little trucks, I actually find them a bit dangerous for the roads we drive. The USFS used to be a very decentralized organization, so the people on the ground had a lot more input than in most government organizations. If the user "needed" a V-8 they only had to convince their boss, a guy they actually saw on a regular basis, not some bean counter in DC. So for modeling a '56 use a '57 with a '55 hood and '57 emblem, or is it more complicated than that?

Eduard offers a lot of their aircraft kits in three levels: Weekend builds - plastic parts, no aftermarket, one decal option. Profi pack - includes the most popular aftermarket items made by Eduard for the kit (generally some PE parts and a few bits of resin) to add detail beyond the basic plastic kit level, plus 3 to 5 decal options. Royale - Pretty much all the aftermarket items made by Eduard for the kit and a load of decal options Royale kits are limited, not something offered for every kit they sell, most of their kits are available in either weekend or Profi packs. No reason this couldn't work with model cars, although the cheap skate reputation is a legitimate issue. Aircraft and armor builders seem to be much more willing to part with their money, and it shows in the kits offered to them.

That one is a '59. The hood emblem and what you can see of the fender badge is the giveaway. I don't think they are the same truck. The one you posted is not a Napco, but a standard 4000/6000 truck. The badge on this one that is below the model emblem is a V8 badge. Somewhat odd for a government vehicle. Why is that odd, was the V-8 a large expense for the time? These trucks carried 300 gallons of water and a crew of 5, plus a couple hundred pounds of tools. I would think weight was probably getting to be a bit of a load for the I-6 if you were in any kind of hurry to get somewhere. Fords were much more quite commonly used in the 40s than Chevys and they had V-8s. The later 1950s and 60s are much more evenly divided between Ford, Dodge and Chevy who all offered a V-8 by that point. Oddly GMCs are quite rare, maybe GM prefers to bid Chevrolet on government contracts? Also I was wrong, it is the 4400, in one photo it looked like it said NAPCO, but other photos it is clear that it is just the 4400 at the end of the side spear.

Those are neat, but I'd hate to try and back one. I have enough trouble with just one trailer. What is the point of the mud flaps in front of the tires? I notice they all have them.

I agree with Brandon, if you look closely you will find most Ford C fire engines have a fuel fill (or small door covering the fuel fill) right behind the rear wheel. This is a 1963 or 64 Ford C950 / Seagrave pumper You can see the fuel cap behind the rear wheel

Thanks, so '56. I did find a photo that claims to be a '56 IH in the dark green, and another photo of a Chevy 4400 flatbed in the light green that appears to be a 1956 based on the hood and side emblems (also a NAPCO badge), although possibly the same truck with the pumper unit removed. They were designed to allow relatively easy conversion between a flatbed truck and fire engine as needed. I think it is fairly safe to say the change in paint happened at some point in 1956.

I'm thinking small, I'd be happy to see them keep going with the new Ford trucks, 67-68, 70, 72, a flare side bed, 4x4 etc. I'm not really big on 1950s cars but I'd get one of these.

I've seen similar threads on other modeling sites as well. Seems to be little interest this year.

I had not seen that one, but it actually does help with another detail, the door markings which I believe changed in 1959. Even if it is a '59 instead of a '58 it would still show that they were in transition since other '59s show the later markings. These smaller changes were usually not immediate as the stock of old material was often used up. Thanks

It is weird I have a couple hundred vintage photos of USFS vehicles including dozens on either side of these three years, but I only have two period photos of vehicles from 1955-57, this one, and a Chevy flatbed (a side view so less helpful than the one I posted). Based on photos I know the change occurred after 1954 and no later than 1957, just looking for that elusive photo of a 1955 or 56 to find the exact year. I don't trust restorations for stuff like this, there are a few that have been really well done but most have minor to major accuracy issues. I'm pretty sure I know the '55 Panel truck you mentioned, not the most accurate restoration / clone out there... Thanks

I forgot about the grill. To further complicate things, I'm actually looking at a photo of a larger Chevy truck, a 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 ton which has an entirely different grill... Maybe this will be easier, can anyone identify the year of this truck? The US Forest Service switched from dark green to light green in the late 1950s. This is the oldest original truck (I'm not trusting modern restorations) that I've been able to find in the light green paint scheme. I have photos of 1954 / 1st series 55 Chevrolet trucks in the dark green paint scheme. Clearly the switch was made between 1955 and 1957, just trying to nail down the year. The photo says it was taken July 4th 1959 at a parade, so the truck is quite new in the photo and most likely delivered in that color. Photo is from USFS achieves, edited to better view the truck.

Are there any readily identifiable features that would allow one to identify the specific year of a 1955-57 Chevrolet truck from a photo? If so what are they? Thanks

Don't forget about the Audi based, Brazilian built VW Gol better known in the US as the VW Fox (for a few short years in the late 1980s).

Ford Country Squires, Volvo 145 / 245 wagons and a Type 2 VW bus would let me build all the usual vehicles we rode in on school field trips as a child (I grew up in the pre-minivan world).

Very cool, I think scratch building the bed sides is a good choice after trying to do the same with the kit sides. I do have one bit of possibly bad news for you though, I don't think the bed sides are actually taller, at least they don't appear to be on the 1948-52 trucks. I was under the same impression but found the bed height appears to be the same as the 1/2 ton. The whole bed sits about 2" higher due to the trucks ride height which makes it appear in many drawings to be taller if because they measure from the ground to bed rail. Looking closer I found the bed floor was also higher by the same amount.

Ok so it has been a while since I've been able to get at this one. Not happy with how the bed was coming along, there is just too much difference between the 6.5foot 1/2 ton bed and the 8 foot 3/4 ton bed. I'll try that one again, when I can plan it out from the start. Several western fire apparatus builders offered tool bins on their vehicles, like on this 1946 Dodge Van Pelt. I decided to go that route instead. I trimmed off the bed sides and built a couple of bins from sheet and strip styrene. I also extended the running boards to match the longer bed.

I don't really know, but if I sold everything on ebay and got average fair prices for it all, I could probably buy a decent used car.

Cozad has drawings on their site. Go to the specific trailer and they have photos, 3 view drawings and a list of specifications / dimensions. http://www.cozadtrailers.com/en/trailers/

We have a room we just use for storage, my wife refers to it as "The hobby shop". It does have full length shelves filled with kits on either side but it is far from a room filled with models... so obviously I need to get more.

Pretty much anybody that built fire apparatus between 1957 and 1990 built at least one on the Ford C. Ford Cs were used for everything, crash trucks, pumpers, rescues, ladders, snorkels yada yada yada.

Well that is a legitimate complaint for IH in general, they tend to be basic working trucks. I don't even recall seeing factory chrome on an IH before the 2002 models came out with their chrome grills. As I like working trucks, no chrome means less parts I have to soak in the purple stuff.

I'd love to see these again. I was able to get one of each several years ago for $75 each which at the time was a decent price, they typically sell for much more than that when you can even find them. Not sure why they wouldn't have sold well, the 1-1 were very common trucks, and they work well for medium or heavy duty truck projects. Models by Dave offers a hood to convert the S-2575 into one of the lighter weight S-1600 to S-1900 trucks. One thing for sure the molds sitting in a warehouse isn't going to make Round 2 any money.

I could be happy with this

Also the Russian UAZ. In the late 90s there was an attempt to import these to the US, but they never made it. They were only going to cost around $10,000 when a base model 2wd Toyota Tacoma was starting at $15,000.