ICM 1914 Ford Model T Firetruck

[Jim B]

I was looking around the ICM Website for some WWI figures, and I noticed this:

It looks like a nice kit:
http://www.icm.com.ua/news/457-model-t-1914-firetruck-american-car-100-new-molds.html

But, I'm sure it won't be cheap.  ICM kits seem to be quite expensive, with their Model T passenger cars going for about $50.

[Casey]

White rubber tires!?? Harry, did you catch this news???  

[Harry P.]

White rubber tires!?? Harry, did you catch this news???  

[dannyi]

..happen to spot this thread today and thought I'd post my experiment with white tires. It's not as easy as one might think, add white colorant instead of black. But what I have found with several 2 part urethane rubber compounds is that part B is dark pigmented, and adding the white colorant is tricky. Too little colorant and the tire is gray. Too much colorant the tire will not cure. Each of the compounds I've tried has different colorant ratio. These tires pictured are the beat results I've gotten so far....(didn't have the proper wheel for this tire nor any black paint on hand to show a better contrast, so I improvised)...

Edited November 6, 2016 by dannyi

[Jim B]

Interesting tires, Dannyi.  What would they be used for?

[CometMan]

That looks really nice! It also looks a lot like the one Gabriel did back in the '80's, except Gabriel's was listed as 1/20 on the box and had a lot of metal parts.

[dannyi]

James,

..the tire is from Missing Links 1911 Chevrolet. I tried to cast them in white when Kevin first offered the kit but had little success with it. 

[dannyi]

Thanks Craig...

[Art Anderson]

Actually,  those early tires were NEVER pure white.  Prior to WW-II, virtually all rubber items, including automobile tires, were made from natural latex rubber, as synthetic rubber wasn't developed until the Second World War cut off the supply of natural rubber from the tropics to Europe and North America.

Natural latex rubber isn't at all white, but very slightly creamy in color, and once vulcanized, becomes a buff, or yellowish light tan in color (remember those buff-colored sidewalls on classic early 10-speed bike tires--that was natural rubber).

By late 1913, and into 1914, tire companies hit on the idea of adding carbon black to latex rubber, in the interest of getting more strength into the robber, which turned that buff colored rubber into a charcoal grey color--not pure black, but very dark grey.  On my ICM 1913 T, I used a pair of artist's shading markers to color the starkly white kit tires,,a yellowish tan marker overall, with a dark grey marker for the tread areas--these are translucent, not solid color ink.  Unfortunately, the college bookstore where I got mine a couple of years back no longer carries that line of markers anymore.  I'm not sure what I will try on the tires for the '14 Fire Car when I get it (Squadron lists it as available now), yet, but probably an acrylic paint.

Art

[Dave Van]

Wonder if they will do the Ambulance in 1/24 that they do in 1/35??

[stavanzer]

I hope so. This Fire Truck will be my first ICM Model T kit.

[CometMan]

Wonder if they will do the Ambulance in 1/24 that they do in 1/35??

I would really like to see that one too, Dave! I have a full set of the old Gabriel metal kits that these look VERY similar to, but Gabriel never made anything close to that ambulance! Just a thought, but when ERTL last released the original Hubley metal Duesenbergs, Packards, Chevrolets, and Model As as well as the Gabriel Ts that fire engine was the only one that was not re-issued, now we have this one with an uncanny resemblance to the original! I realize that the Gabriel kit is listed as 1/20, the ICM one as 1/24, but it seems very coincidental.

 

[Art Anderson]

To be a bit more accurate, this T is what was called a "Chemical Car" (it is a Model T Ford car--Ford didn't introduce the TT truck until several years later).  It's just the standard Model T Runabout (or roadster), with the turtle-deck trunk omitted,  and a pair of chemical (as in Soda-Acid) tanks installed, and carrying a small, single story ladder.  Those were pretty much "First Responder" fire apparatus.

Art