Aaronw

You could largely do it with what's included in the kit. There are some period correct lights hidden among the more modern lights. Here is a tutorial for making a Federal Beacon Ray (rotating light) from an automotive bulb. I've seen one of Dave's beacon rays using this technique and they are spectacular, way better than anything I've seen in plastic or resin. http://www.scalefirehouse.com/watercooler/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=178

Is this kit still a possible re-issue or was it ruined along with the panel? There are very few kits of non Ford 1930s cars / trucks, if this Chevy were to turn up again it would at least provide a start for a truck or panel. What the heck is the Vampire van anyway, did it actually feature in the Dark ShadowsTV show or was it just another funky show truck from MPC / AMT?

Very nice, I built the plain stock version a few years ago using the same Tamiya metallic light blue. It is a great kit, and you did a really good job on yours.

I'm really amazed the are no kits with utility bodies, they always seem to generate interest when they turn up. Guess it is just part of that lack of interest in trucks. Ron I do work for the Forest Service, which is what generated the interest. A lot of people seem to think the '60-61 was an ugly design. Personally I like them, not as flashy as the 55-59, but they have a very tough, determined look appropriate for a work truck.

Probably a long shot, but has there ever been a kit of the Alvis TE21Drop Head Coupe? My wife and I have been watching a BBC series Kingdom on Netflix. The main character drives a silver Alvis. It is a nice looking car with rather unique styling, plus it would be kind of fun to do one since we've been watching the show together in my new mancave (its ok, she stays in the tool girl lounge ). Hoping maybe one of our UK members might have a lead on something, Airfix, Heller? Thanks

Wow another blast from the past. Thanks, glad someone liked them enough to dig up the post. Manny, you caught me, I admit I do have a bit of a USFS fetish. I'll actually be posting a few new ones in a few days.

Both Ecto-1 (PL & AMT) kits can be built as a mostly stock 1959 Cadillac ambulance or hearse with minimal extra bits (gurney, period correct lights, some filling etc). I would guess far more have been built this way than as the Ecto-1, at least from what I've seen online.

RMR offers a lot of 1950s cab overs including a 1957 Chevrolet http://www.freewebs.com/rmrresin/nf125.htm

This might work for you http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=35282&view=findpost&p=388775

First roll of 2012 for my crew, 5 acre roadside fire San Jose Fire Department's San Jose Sharks (Hockey team) themed fire engine Skycrane dipping in the Merced river (I took the photo roadside on CA Hwy 140) Mt Shasta A restored Marin County Sheriff's Department cruiser

Future, Elmers glue or Micro Kristal Klear depending on my mood and how the part fits. Future works great for parts that stay put, the Elmers or Kristal Klear are better for parts that need a little stickiness to stay in place while the glue cures, Kristal Klear is the stickiest of the three.

This is coming along very nicely. I prefer using artists oils to blacken the grill, but your method looks good to me. As far as the paint mismatch between the body and cab the old remount excuse always works. It was not at all uncommon for an older body to get mounted on a new chassis. The New Jersey Forest Service has some truck bodys built in the 1930s that saw use on progressively newer trucks for 50 or 60 years. One minor thing on the grill, if you look at 1-1 trucks, the grill has a body color strip between the upper horizontal bars, and lower vertical bars, it is not an opening ( the bit just below the part that says Chevrolet).

This is one of my stalled projects

I've been hoping for this vintage of Dodge, definately going to add it to my to get list.

I did not know the AB medium did that, I thought it was used to extend the volume of the paint making it easier to mix colors without thinning them out to much, kind of like adding linseed oil to artists oils. The stuff I have is made by Golden and just says retarder on the bottle. Good to know, I've seen the AB medium but never tried it.

You can add retarder to acrylics to extend the working time.

Jim coverered the most common uses. The Paystar is a very heavy duty truck, you generally find them in construction, mining, logging, oil exploration etc. The military has also purchased them, the USAF in particular used them as airfield water tenders to support crash trucks, where they also served double duty as large brush trucks.

The kit has the drivers side air intake sideways. This is the about 1/2" 4 bar grill on the side of the hood, it is shown with the bars horizontal, but they should be vertical (up and down). This is an easy fix, just sand off the locating pins and turn it the right way. The grill above the fender is what I'm talking about. I built that kit about 5 years ago and took some photos of a 1-1 Paystar I found. If those would be helpful I can probably dig them up.

The stubby conventional truck style cabovers like those posted start to show up in the mid 30s, but began to lose ground to tilt cab trucks when they started to appear in the late 50s. These also provided very short cab lengths, but with far better access for maintenace since the whole cab tilted out of the way. Cab overs faded in the US due to relaxed overall length regulations. In their heyday cab overs allowed for longer trailers / combinations. They even had short frame mounted boxes on the tractor sort of like a sleeper but for cargo in addition to trailers to maximize allowable cargo space. These days cabovers provide a practical use for congested areas so you still find them in the medium duty delivery truck role, fire trucks etc, but the current laws in the US allow long conventional trucks with monster sleepers, pulling 53 foot trailers. In the past those long trucks would have been illegal in many states. Conventioal trucks also usually ride better than cabovers which makes them more popular with long distance over the road truckers.

You do have to give it credit for looking different. It kind of reminds me of an old SAAB that had a pipe bomb go off inside it, or maybe the child of a SAAB and an AMC Pacer. I wouldn't buy one even if I did have that kind of money to spend, I just couldn't see spending $600,000 on any car no matter how much money I had.

I second the use of Future, I've saved some pretty nasty goofs (like a paint and glue covered thumbprint dead center of the windshield) with a squirt of Windex to strip the Future, so dipping all the clear parts in Future is usually one of my first steps. It also does a great job cleaning up small scratches. Elmers glue also works well for clear parts. It is strong enough to hold parts in place, but will break free before a part breaks in case you need to take it apart. It is white making it easy to see where you are applying it, but dries clear, and can be cleaned up with water if it gets somewhere it doesn't belong.

I've gotten a lot of wierd looks from guys I work with over the years. I started a website for fire apparatus models, so started taking photos of all kinds of equipment we had on the fire engines, hose, ladders, tools etc. Also detailed photos of any fire apparatus I can get to, and have even made up color matching sticks to find the right shade of paint. At large incidents I can often be found shooting photos of the "visiting" fire engines when I can spare a moment. At first I was kind of subtle, doing it at times when not to many people were around, because it does look kind of silly, like a fashion shoot for a chain saw (or what ever). I don't bother with hiding it anymore, just accept the eye rolls and say yep, its for my models. Actually once they see what I am doing most think its pretty neat, not that it stops them from giving me a hard time about it (it is a fire house afterall). Also a lot of the usual stuff, browsing the beauty aisle of the drug store for emery boards, checking out cooking shops and hardware stores for tools I can corrupt etc.

If you put down a coat of Future then thinner based paints should be ok. I use artists oils and Mona Lisa thinner to black out grills, he oils give a good solid black and have a long working time. Without the coat of Future I have had the chrome just wipe off like Jon said. I specifically use the Mona Lisa brand thinner because it is supposed to be very mild as thinners go so less likely to react with underlying paints, chrome etc.

Nice job, I've thought about doing the same thing, but never get around to it.

This is my new workshop, only a month old