Chariots of Fire Posted March 7, 2020 Author Posted March 7, 2020 Got some additional work done on the body. Lots of fiddly fitting and sanding for parts to fit right. The running boards are basically done as far as the cab. Two small cabinets were closed in on each side. The small rectangles are for Don Mills Models square latches. Windshield wipers on the cab are made from common pins soldered together and bent to shape. Small hex nuts raise the wiper arms above where they enter the cowl. The back side of each door handle was cut out. They were painted with Molotow chrome. The rear of the body has been worked on as well with two compartments built up as a separate piece. It will be kept separate for painting as it is much easier to reach recesses while the pieces are apart. The side compartment on this side is slightly smaller than on the drivers side. An opening is left for the exhaust pipe.
DRIPTROIT 71 Posted March 7, 2020 Posted March 7, 2020 Looking good!! A lot of work being invested here for sure! Craftsmanship at its finest!
Chariots of Fire Posted March 8, 2020 Author Posted March 8, 2020 Work began on the brush bars use on this rig. They are made of 3/16" wide channel backed up by small gussets and pieces of sheet stock at the joints. It's pretty flimsy at this point but once all of the bracing gets put in place it will be much stiffer. The smaller bars that go over the top of the cab will be made of brass rod soldered together. They in turn will be joined at the top brush bar. Below the top brush bar will be the extended front bumper. There will be braces between them as well. A front mounted winch will go in between the frame rails so the front bumper treadplate will have to be cut away for it to fit in. I also made up the tread plate pieces that go under the cab and between the front fenders and the body. They form a step for getting in and out of the truck.
hct728(Bob) Posted March 9, 2020 Posted March 9, 2020 Wow, such neat, crisp bodywork! Love the use of tread plate on the sides and especially under the doors, a nice detail! Lots more to come too, awesome
Chariots of Fire Posted March 9, 2020 Author Posted March 9, 2020 Painting it the right colors will be a challenge. Red here, silver there, everywhere a bit of it. Glad it's still in pieces!
GLMFAA1 Posted March 9, 2020 Posted March 9, 2020 Quote Just another jewel from a great friend. Can't find words to describe his craftmanship greg
Hermann Kersten Posted March 11, 2020 Posted March 11, 2020 Very nice and clean build, look already exact like the reference pictures. Hermann.
Chariots of Fire Posted March 16, 2020 Author Posted March 16, 2020 Here are a couple of update photos. Got started on the supports for the front brush bars and finished up the front mounted winch.
gotnitro? Posted March 16, 2020 Posted March 16, 2020 Fabulous scratchbuilding! These trucks really come to life with the bars added
Tesla Posted March 16, 2020 Posted March 16, 2020 Excellent craftsmanship on the hood and doors!! I wish you recorded a video making the hood...
Chariots of Fire Posted March 16, 2020 Author Posted March 16, 2020 (edited) 2 hours ago, Tesla said: Excellent craftsmanship on the hood and doors!! I wish you recorded a video making the hood... No I didn't but it was not difficult. The hood is made of 4 pieces of brass. In the photo above you will note a solder line at the break in contour. For the bottom section, I placed a piece of the brass in a small brake to put a sharp bend in it. I then cut the brass close to the sharp bend side. I did this for each side of the hood. Then I laid this curved piece down with the sharp bend edge just touching another flat piece of brass that I annealed to soften it. The two pieces were then soldered together. In the photo above you can see where the curved bottom section overlaps the other piece. Then I used a piece of brass tubing as a form and bent the top piece of each side of the hood to finish the curve at the sides. I did this repeatedly until I had each side close to the bends I needed. Then and only then did I cut the two hood sides to fit the opening. Once this was done I soldered each half of the center hinge in place. The brass pin that holds the hinge together was replaced with a piece of stainless steel rod of the same size. The steel is stiffer and allowed the two hood sides to be taken apart repeatedly until the fit was as close as I could get it. Filing the edges took some time. I drilled small holes in the cowl and radiator shell for two small slivers of brass sheet that had holes drilled in them to accept the steel rod. After the hood was put in place and the slivers dropped in each hole I put a small amount of superglue in the hole to secure them. Final fitting took place after this was done because now I had a secure way to align the hood each time. The louvers on the hood sides are pieces of quarter round plastic rod. Latches are pieces of brass rod with an inside catch. Edited March 16, 2020 by Chariots of Fire add material
Tesla Posted March 17, 2020 Posted March 17, 2020 Thank you for posting this info...I really appreciate it!
Chariots of Fire Posted March 22, 2020 Author Posted March 22, 2020 Work continues with some painting completed. Doing pieces separately on this model seems to be working best as I don't have too much paint in some places and not enough in others. Also got started on the Wisconsin V-4 powered Hale pump for the rear. Lots more to go.
Hermann Kersten Posted March 22, 2020 Posted March 22, 2020 Beautiful! The details like the fire hose reel and pump are looking great, and they are the icing on the cake. Hermann
Chariots of Fire Posted March 23, 2020 Author Posted March 23, 2020 The hose is sewing elastic that I stained. The reel is from one of the AMT American LaFrance kits. I thinned down the reel sides considerably before assembly. It still needs supports, the supply line and the small electric motor for rewinding the hose.
DRIPTROIT 71 Posted March 25, 2020 Posted March 25, 2020 I never get tired of watching your creations come to life!! Top notch work!!
Chariots of Fire Posted March 26, 2020 Author Posted March 26, 2020 The body got a coat of paint today but it needs one more. It is a shade darker than the cab and that is just a case of not as much paint on the body as on the cab. A light sanding and then a final coat should do it.
redneckrigger Posted March 26, 2020 Posted March 26, 2020 This is literally like having a ringside seat at the factory where the real one was made.............................absolutely incredible! Where did you get the hood hinge? VERY tiny hinge!
Chariots of Fire Posted March 26, 2020 Author Posted March 26, 2020 15 hours ago, redneckrigger said: This is literally like having a ringside seat at the factory where the real one was made.............................absolutely incredible! Where did you get the hood hinge? VERY tiny hinge! Got it a long time ago from a UK supplier. Unfortunately he went out of business and they are no longer available. I wish they were as they are real handy for hood and even doors that have the continuous hinge. The small door hinges are readily available from places like Micro-Mark.
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