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Mark, Does your company do any work with styrene?

Hi Gang, I was wondering if any such services exist here in the US? I know that I have several project ideas that would benefit from the consistency and ability of these technologies. I have heard of folks who "know someone" or have access to such equipment through work. Any assistance would be appreciated. Thanks! David

So, it's been over three years since the last post. Any updates? For those who have purchased the 1/48 scale louvers, can anyone tell me what the width of the louvers is in millimeters? I have the project featured in my avatar which features louvers on the generators compartment. It will be 1/25 scale. Thanks! David

I would use a polishing kit after removing the mold lines and sink marks. You could apply the Future before or after the decals, depending on what your preference is. Following the 12000 grit, the body should be smooth. Check out the posts that are pinned about Future and you decide. David

Hessel, Amazing as usual! Where would a modeler in the US begin to find someone in the US who would do CNC milling? Any ideas? David

The Beall Tanker! Even though I have two in my stash, I could use a few more. Okay, who else has one in their stash, but hasn't gotten around to building it? Mine with become fire service tractor drawn tankers. They are(were) used frequently in the Northeasern US.

Hessel, Looking good! I will be watching this one for sure! David

Although I have never tried it, I know a lot of the guys who do diecast kitbashes and conversions use "JB Weld" with no problems. HTH. David

Tom, Super job! I am sure that I have the "taxi" accessories from the '92 Chevy Caprice fire chief/taxi cab kit in storage. If you need any of those items let me know. David

I vote for the ALF 700 and Workstar : ) David

Has anyone ordered from this company before? I am curious as they have a number of interesting items that I have not seen elsewhere. http://www.liaznavzdy.cz/nedtrans/pdf/kat_ctm_01.pdf Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks! David

Dave, The Prostar daycab looks GREAT! David

Does anyone offer the the tires from the Trumpeter American LaFrance kit in soft rubber? They are great tires and I need a set for a project that I am working on. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks! David

Dave at MCW offers his own clear IIRC. Always good to deal with. David

I got one of the white ones.. Removed the rollback body as it will become some type of ambulance or rescue truck in the future. Only complaint I have is the large gap at the leading edge of the cab door/hood. Not a big fix though... David

The clapboard siding arrived yesterday! Three of the four sides are cut and glued in place. Hope to have time to place the final piece today. Sprayed a test scrap of the siding with Krylon Hunter Green. As the photos are black and white, and no one is still alive who can tell us what the original color was, I will take some "artistic license... I also sprayed the test brick/block pattern above with some light colored Rustoleum texture paint. I am pleased with the results. Sorry no pictures yet. Will post some ASAP. Thanks. David

Kyle, Interesting thread! A year ago, I moved my family from a large home in the Northeast to a 2 bedroom apartment in Central Florida. Prior to the move, I had begun construction of a downdraft booth with a Grainger sourced Dayton fan. It is a down draft booth, designed after reading Klaus's articles. The booth is made of plywood, and has an open plastic grid from a fluorescent light fixture that allows a large amount of air to from down to the filter. I like your idea of a carbon filter, as venting the booth to the outside can be a challenge in the small apartment. I will look into the filters as an alternative! David

No Tom, You are correct! With the site back up, I was anxious to get some "In Progress" photos taken. This meant re-arranging a few areas so that I could set up my "photo area"... Thanks for your attention to detail. That's what makes your builds so great! Guys, Thank you for your comments as well! I am trying to balance searching for a job, shopping, cooking, and taxiing my boys around, with finding time to build. Can't wait for the clapboard siding to arrive, so that I came mock it up and proceed with the Magic Brik block work.

For the exterior, I chose to go with Gator board. I went to a local art supply store, and was disappointed to find that they had no smaller sheets in stock... I explained what I needed the Gaotor board for. A helpful staff member replied that her Dad was a firefighter, and that she would check in their framing dept. to see if they had any scraps. SCORE! She came out with a piece that must have been 16"x 48"! And, no charge! That's what I call service! I had done a lot of reading on cutting Gator board - most recommended against hand cutting it. As I don't currently have access to any machinery, I went at it with gusto! I was pleased to find that a sharp utility knife, spare blades and a drywall T-square made quick work of it. Caution is needed, as the outer skins are made of a melamine type fiber, while the inside foam is much softer. Once door and window shapes were cut out, the actual door and windows were test rit. rough openings were fine tuned. I had purchased some thin wood siding from the miniature shop that I got the Grandt Line pieces from. I carefully cut and fit them to the roofline and windows. After doing so, I just wasn't happy with the look, as the clapboards were too large and out of scale. I again searched local sources for proper scale siding. I was frustrated to find that Evergreen's largest clapboard siding was still too small... I ended up ordering some Plastruct patterned clapboard on-line. That should arrive next week. The masonry blocks will be replicated with a product called Magic Brik. It features a cut adhesive backed vinyl mask over which you apply a course masonry textured paste. You remove the mask before the paste fully sets up. This leaves a 3D "brick or block" appearance. I am experimenting with different techniques to more closely replicate the block on the original structure. One such experiment involved using artist’s acrylic gesso medium to vary the texture of the blocks. As the blocks are larger than standard bricks, I chose to use their 1/24 scale brick pattern. Sadly, the fire company's 100th Anniversary celebration was last night. Due to circumstances beyond my control, I was unable to attend. Obviously, the diorama is not finished yet... But, I will endeavor to do the build justice. I have been watching many videos on diorama making, ground cover, pink/blue insulation foam, tall grass, and tree making. As can be seen in the two photos at the beginning of this thread, it is all there... If you made it through my rambling – Thank you. Stay tuned - Film at 11:00… Thanks for looking! David

UPDATE!!! Hi Guys, While the forum was down, I finally began to make some drawings and get this party started! As the forum was not accessible, I did not have the discussion of measurements to refer to. Sooooo, I kind of guesstimated using the Grandt Line 1/48 scale 5 panel door as a base. I looked around and could only find one local shop that had any O scale Grandt Line items in stock. I picked up a bag of small windows just for grins, but they were "double hung" with the sash raised open about three inches. It looked too small, and I couldn't figure out how to get the long window into the frame. There were no directions with the windows, so I just ended up ordering directly from Grandt Line. After the order came I realized that both the depot AND factory style windows that I ordered were too big. So, what's a guy to do - cut the down! Another BIG mistake... The structure of O scale window frames is very fine. I ruined about 8 before deciding on a different approach. I looked over the original windows that I had purchased on the other side of town. I realized with " a little modification", they would work just fine.

Hi Guys, So glad that the forum is back up! This is a model of a Horton LPR 145 built to resemble the rig on the cover of a Horton brochure from that period. It began life as an AMT Ford pickup kit whose frame was lengthened. Evergreen strip was added to fill in the ribs on the chassis. The ride height was raised to represent a 4x4. The rescue body was scratchbuilt utilizing a subframe structure, similar to stick building a house. The photo above shows the detail on the door logo and the helmets mounted in the cab ala "Squad 51". The idea for the project came about when my medic partner(also a volunteer firefighter) and I would discuss what type of vehicle we would rather run in than the Ford Explorer that we were assigned... All graphics were designed by me and printed on an ALPS printer. In this photo, you can see the Star of Life that wraps around the rear and sides of the vehicle. The lights were Fashion Drops as Zoli has shared in the past. In looking at the newly taken photos, I see that it may be time for some updates. Rubber pads added to the rear bumper, and clearance lights would be appropriate additions to the rear. A little wash applied to the insides of the slam locks would also tone them down a little and bring out the detail a bit. The front fenders and grille could probably benefit from the addition of some strobes and perhaps audible warning devices. Diamond plate cab steps and replacing the BMF front bumper with an Alclad treated one would also be a good update. This model was built several years ago. I am just now getting around to taking some decent pictures of it. Let me know what you think! Thanks for looking. David

Very cool build! Lots of possibilities with this combo. David

JT, Super impressive tractor/trailer combo! Great job on the striping - very clean! You have a great fleet going there. For a little change of pace, you might consider doing a fleet service repair truck (hint,hint...) David

JT, Amazing fabrication! I also like the paint fade on the sides. Do you plan any graphics or lettering on the sides, or keep it "inconspicuous"? Great work! David

Alain, They just keep getting better! You are very talented. Your eye for detail and your preparation of reference materials really shows! Another series of great photos depicting fantastic weathering in a realistic setting! David