Custom Pierce Enforcer 1750 pumper

[Chariots of Fire]

I'll see you there.  We can talk model building!?

[Chariots of Fire]

Been working on the interior panels for the sides of the cab.  Pierce MFG has some great photos of the interiors of their apparatus.  And you can do a virtual walk around of the entire inside with just a move of the mouse.  It's been a blessing to pick up on some of the details that will go into the model.  Using that information here is where we are with the interior panels.  I used some brushed aluminum for the lower panels, painted the rest with a gray primer and then used a black felt marker to darken in the edges of window openings.  The same will be done with the exterior window openings on the cab.  Clear sheet stock will be locked in place between the sides of the cab and the interior panels. 

The Trumpeter kit has door latches that were meant for the outside but they nearly are the exact match for the ones that are used on the inside of the Pierce.  The outside ones will have to be made special as they are a unique feature not like any other door handles.  The aluminum panels are held in place with CA behind but to be sure they don't come apart (aluminum does not really like CA for the long haul) they have been pinned at each corner.  Pins were glued from the back, cut off and the ends sanded smooth with the back of the plastic panel.

Still to be made in the two panels are holes for the door latches and some window cranks.  The yellow bands represent the reflective safety striping for visibility when the doors are open.  The pull handles are made from the same soft bright aluminum wire as the window cranks.  They are bent "z" shaped and then the ends are squeezed to flatten them out.  Holes are drilled in each end and through the aluminum panels and plastic backing sheet.  As with the other parts,, they are pinned and glued in from behind and then filed smooth.

 

[Brizio]

Great project and well executed on this classic truck! Love it!

[DRIPTROIT 71]

Your work is a joy to watch!!

[Chariots of Fire]

Got a little painting done on the cab.  Duplicolor #398 bright red.  Since the photo was taken the windshield has been outlined in black.  Working on the headlight bezels now.  Got to get the compressor out to do them in Alclad II.

[kilrathy10]

That is looking killer, Bro... Just an amazing build...

[Chariots of Fire]

More work completed.  If you look at the photo above the windshield is trimmed in bright work.  The real truck has a black trim along with the edge of the glass being black as well.  I used a sharpie to make the transition.  Just holding it steady around the perimeter of the trim gave me the look I was hoping for.  Nice and smooth along the windshield and the red paint.

Next up is work on the front bumper.  It has a center depressed box for a front attack line, air horns and speakers in the front and warning lights on the sides and at the corners.  I used some 0.030" sheet stock, Don Mills Models treadplate and some brass strip stock to complete the construction.  In the photo below is a mockup of one of the decals that will go on the sides of the rig.  The Jacksonville seal is for the center of the door.  The part to the left wraps around the front and the other end goes to the wheel well trim.  The black headlight bezels will be given a coat of Alclad II the same as the grill.  The Federal Q2B siren came from the Trumpeter kit but it has no front detail.  That is taken care of with a piece of bright aluminum and a Federal decal to imitate the Federal symbol and the mesh with round holes.

Here's how I made the curved bezels for the headlights.

Using a section of PVC pipe that was used to form the cab corners, I wrapped a piece of 0.030" sheet stock around it and clamped it tight.  This gives the sheet stock the same inside radius as the outside radius as the PVC and in turn the same radius as the cab corners.  The whole assembly was dropped in boiling water for a few minutes to soften the sheet stock.  The heat does not affect the PVC so it maintains its shape but softens the sheet enough that it takes the shape of the PVC.  When cooled it stays curved and can be cut to form the base of the headlight bezels like the ones in the photo.  Once they are ready they will be attached to the cab with 5 minute epoxy.  Placement is critical so as to keep the alignment straight from side to side and up and down.  CA would not allow me to do the adjustment at all.

Edited October 28, 2020 by Chariots of Fire

[Danno]

Awesome, Charlie! 

? 

[Fanman]

Really took me back when you mentioned Don Mills, haven’t heard that name in years. How do you make your decals?

[Chariots of Fire]

46 minutes ago, Fanman said:

Really took me back when you mentioned Don Mills, haven’t heard that name in years. How do you make your decals?

HI, Ed.  Don still does business out of East Boston.   I'm still able to get the square and round door latches and some nozzles from him.   I imported the city seal from images on line and then incorporated it into my graphics programs to develop the striping.  ALPS does the printing.

[DRIPTROIT 71]

Looks Amazing!

[kilrathy10]

Always with the most incredibly useful tutorials... Amazing.... I may have to use that one... I can think of quite a few applications it would prove most helpful....

[Chariots of Fire]

It's been a while since I used that last technique but it did come in handy.  Years ago I used it to form some fenders for a 1955 Maxim aerial.  Wrapped the plastic fore and aft and to the side.  That left holes in the corners but they were easy to fill in with some sheet stock and then sand them round.  Today I'd opt for the Renshape but 30 years ago who ever heard of Renshape!  Here's the '55 Maxim that was done back in 1985 using the boiling water technique for the fenders.  Remembering back I did it with the grill also on this piece.  That is a former KW grill that I wrapped around a broom handle to soften it. 

[kilrathy10]

Now, that is a killer looking engine... Nice work... Very nice work...

[Chariots of Fire]

They say that necessity is the mother of invention.  In my case necessity is the mother of make your own.  This rig has 18 LED marker or warning lights and the Trumpeter kit has only 10.  Five on each side and eight in the rear.  That doesn't include the warning lights on the front of the cab or the light bar on top!  I took 3 of the Trumpeter light bezels and made a mold from them.  (I could have used more to cut down on the number of times I had to cast them but three it was).  Some two part resin did the rest.  

In my stash of molds from a long time ago I dug out one for folding steps.  The Jacksonville rig has four; three on one side and one on the other.  I had done the master for it when I was working on a previous IH/Pierce rig back around 1996.  The mold is still good so resin copies were made.  They can be folded using a common pin as the hinge.

Engine 27 also has a different kind of door latch on the outside.  A vertical pull handle surrounded by a chrome enclosure.  I made the base of the enclosure from brass and then a mold of it for casting four like pieces.  After casting, the bottom and top sections were drilled out so that a piece of plastic rod could be inserted for the pull handle.   

Now I have plenty of LED bases  and door latch enclosures to paint with Alclad II.  The steps will be given a coat of bright aluminum.  

 

[hct728(Bob)]

Hey, that blueprint is cheating! LOL! Nice work on the castings, very clean, no cleanup required, though drilling the holes straight would challenge me! Thanks for showing us what can be done to add detail, very inspiring!

[Chariots of Fire]

This was our side yard about 4:30 this afternoon.  And it's not even November yet!!?  But it gave me a good excuse to get some more work done on E-27.  The front bumper is permanently mounted to the frame.  I used some bright yellow tape instead of trying to mask off and paint the stripes.  Still to go are the air horns, LED's and two speakers for the front.  The light bar came from the Trumpeter ALF.  Again they missed the boat.  No insides to it at all.  Just the two mounting brackets.  I may end up casting a clear one of my own.

  

Edited November 1, 2020 by Chariots of Fire

[mikemodeler]

Very impressive work as always! Your sharing of tips is quite generous and could fill a book! Looking forward to seeing this done.

[David G.]

Amazing work on this one! I'm well beyond impressed.

David G.

[Chariots of Fire]

More progress.  made up the  windshield wipers, set the grill in place and did a light above the windshield.  Also laid in the "chrome" piece around the center side windows.  

[kilrathy10]

Too cool... This is one excellent piece of work, Man... Awesome... Very impressive...

[Chariots of Fire]

Had to do some decaling in order to get the headlight buckets in place rather than cut around them which would have been a pain.  There are also some small round amber turn signal lights at the corners of the cab that are right in the middle of the striping.  The Jacksonville emblem came directly from an image found on line and it copied nicely into the graphics program for sizing.  The vertical bar on the back of the cab is an LED water glass to show how full the tank is.  They've got everything on this rig.

[kilrathy10]

Beautiful, Bro... Just beautiful...

[Danno]

Ever better!

[Mopar - D]

Awesome work!  Your outside picture looks nice.