1947 Ford Fire engine (volunteer style) in 1/24

[traditional]

This 1/24 model of a post-war Ford two ton fire pumper was built by my brother, Larry, a few years ago by stripping and modifying a YatMing '38 Ford diecast pumper and adapting a stripped and modified Danbury mint '42 Ford pick-up cab. The damaged pick-up model came very cheaply on Ebay and the YatMing pumper was bought inexpensively at WalMart.

The pumper body was disassembled, stripped, shortened considerably, brass rear fenders added, and new step-plate running boards fabricated in styrene, the hoses are made from shoelace with modified aluminum tubing hose connections.

The cab was disassembled and stripped, the front fenders expanded, and holes drilled for the addition of lights and siren etc.

The flathead V8 engine was also detailed with wiring and appropriate plumbing etc. and parallel semi eliptic front leaf springs were added to the chassis.

We did the basecoat/clearcoat red paint in my spray-booth, and the details use Tamiya and Humbrol paints.

Volunteer fire department lettering was done in gold 'model railroad' serif style Letraset

Rural, volunteer fire trucks in the early post war period often used relatively basic civilian chassis cabs and seldom had all the chrome, gold-leaf striping, and fillagree that was typically seen on the specialized trucks used in corporate or city sponsored fire departments.

We both thought that this combination reflected quite accurately a typical volunteer pumper.

.

Edited January 7, 2012 by traditional

[jeffs396]

The Read brothers produce another hit!

Beautiful!!!

[traditional]

The Read brothers produce another hit!

Beautiful!!!

Hi Jeff,

I always appreciate your comments. That one was really fast,...... you must have seen the fire truck within the first minute or two after I posted it.

Cheers,

Cliff

[Danno]

_{Oustanding!!!!!}

_{Beautifully done.}

[scale trucker]

awesome...;

[Bartster]

I build hot rods. Big trucks or commercial is not my bag. The '42-47 Fords have always been a favorite of mine so I had to stop by & have a look. Its beautiful! Very nice build. I'm impressed by the patience & skill it must've taken to build. I will definitely stop by more often. GREAT job.

[Chuck Most]

Nice!

I have that Danbury pickup model, but it's in mint condition and I don't dare tear into it. Might have to look for a blemished or damaged one and give a go at modifying one.

[pete3522]

definatily cool and authenic

[pete3522]

we had one like that in our fire dept but i think it was newer 1955 big job i think it was flathead v-8 5-2 speed we used that truck for battle of the barrel would draft and pump all day without a issue

[chrismooney]

^{WOW... great use of Diecast.... the Pumper look perfect for the time period}

[farmer1]

Great work on this one, very authentic, it looks almost exactly like one our local volunteer fire department has restored for parades

[hooknladderno1]

Excellent conversion! As others have shared, This is a great combination that produces a "spot on" replica of what you could find in any volunteer fire station of the period. These trucks can still be found in service in some of the more rural or financially challenged volunteer departments. Nice details as well. There are many options with die-cast subjects, especially those not available in plastic or resin .

[Chad]

My grandfather used to be on a vfd that used one identical to this! Beautifully done.

Chad