Welly 1/24 Unimog Conversion

[hooknladderno1]

Proof that diecast can be used as the basis for a unique conversion yet again... Here's another project that has been "on the drawing board" for some time. Back when American La France was owned by Damier-Chrysler, they offered an Urban Wildland Interface fire vehicle. The apparatus in the brochure looked kinda neat. Don't know how many, if any were ever sold. I do know of some Unimog based apparatus, such as Miami-Dade, and Kennet or Longwood PA. Here are some shots from the brochure:

Welly and Schuco offer this style Unimog in a diecast in 1/24 scale. Getting my hands on one was a challenge 5 years ago. With the help of a friend in Germany, I was able to purchase 2.

One of the units was disassembled and stripped. Duplicolor self etching primer was applied to the cabs metal parts. The chassis was cut and lengthened. A simple mock-up was made with cardboard to see if the proportions were close.

I know, the rear body needs to come down a few inches to fall between the bottom and second cab step and the top of the cab and rear body should be level... Anyone with knowledge of the type of plow on the front of the rig, please share with me. I'm not familiar with this, and want to accurately replicate it on my model. Thanks for looking! Let me know what you think.
David

[disabled modeler]

Cool project. I have the snow plow kit by Revell shame it is missing the wheels and tires...bummer I am wanting to build it.

[AzTom]

Great start. Going to follow this one for sure.

[Foxer]

This something different .. always attracts me.