Us forestry service f150.

[DCLVXI]

I recently picked up a f150 model that was already built off of eBay. My plans are to make it into a us forestry fire truck. I bought a light bar and police push bumper off eBay for it already. There's still a few resin parts Iv got to get still, plus Iv gotta find a green paint that matches the forestry service green. So here's the starting point.

[martinfan5]

Looks like we are real close to each other, I am in El Mirage, Dysart and Waddel, what part of Surprise are you in?

[DCLVXI]

Off of cotton lane and greenway.

[Aaronw]

The best off the shelf match I've found for the current USFS green is Krylon Jade or Rustolium Seafoam. Rustolium Sage Green works well for an older faded truck.

There is some variation is shade between batches and manufacturer, although quality control has greatly improved on modern vehicles. Over my career I have seen vehicles with a much stronger yellow or blue tint to the green.

[DCLVXI]

Awesome. Thank you. That just saved me $$ on trial and error. ?

[DCLVXI]

Got the body painted and the push bar mounted. Not happy with the light bar, it's too small so I ordered a different one.

[mk11]

Did they always use that pale green? Anybody have a link to pics of '60s era forest service trucks?

mike

[Aaronw]

Its coming along. I agree the light bar looks a bit small. For the year of that truck you are pretty safe going with either a strobe or rotating light style light bar. The Federal Streethawk was a very popular lightbar with the USFS (I think they were fairly cheap), but you really could find just about anything on a USFS truck in the 90s, Aerodynics and Jetsonics were common as well. They often would recycle lightbars from one truck to the next so you could find a somewhat antiquated light on a new truck.

Did they always use that pale green? Anybody have a link to pics of '60s era forest service trucks?

mike

Until the mid 1950s the USFS mostly used dark green. The USFS adopted the light green in 1956 or 57, but it included a grey top. In the mid 70s (probably 1975 or 76) they switched to the current all green.

[DCLVXI]

Got to do a little work today. Painted windshield wipers, cowl vent, door and tailgate handles, back window trim, front window/door weatherstripping, rear bumper, and emblem on the grill. Made some red lights for the grill and fenders from the scrap box. And I got my new light bar in the mail and got it painted and mounted.

[FIREMODELMAN]

YES. That light bar looks WAY BETTER. Good choice, nice looking truck.

[DCLVXI]

Built a center consol and cb, and a siren out of the scrap pile.

[DCLVXI]

Gave it a little bit of a lift. Put different wheels on it. Now I just gotta find someone that can make me some water slide decals for it and its done.

[Fabrux]

JBOT Decals makes a set: http://www.jbot.ca/cars/us/usfr.shtml

I put them on a '78 Dodge

...not knowing the truck was supposed to be green.

[DCLVXI]

Thank you for the link. Got the us forestry seal, and the government plates.

[mk11]

Thanks for the info. Those decals look like the set I picked up at a hobby shop in Great Falls a few years ago. If memory serves, they were combined with a border patrol set. Have to go dig them out now. I've also found an HO decal set of CPR's commemoration of Smokey the bear's 50th anniversary. When I build my ranger truck, you can bet that Smokey decal will find a place on it.

mike

[Aaronw]

Depending on how detailed you want to get, those Jbot decals are for a 2001 or later USFS truck. After the introduction of the white paint scheme in 2000-2001 the seal was enlarged from a 7-8" seal to the larger 12-14" seal.

Here is a 1997 Model 62 with the older markings

http://modelfireapparatus.com/apparatus/USFS/Engines5/USFSU5.JPG

and a 2001 Model 62 with the current style markings

http://modelfireapparatus.com/apparatus/USFS/Engines5/USFSV5.JPG

It will take a few days for me to locate them, but I can help you with decals for the basic markings. You are on your own for striping.

[DCLVXI]

Thanks for the info Aaron. I think it would look better with the bigger logo. I'm not going 100% era specific on this truck. And Iv looked around online and Iv seen trucks without the stripe. I'm kinda thinking about not doing a stripe on it. Unless I can find a roll of white pinstripe that would be close enough scale wise. Painting is still not a strong point for me.

[Aaronw]

I think the model kit is a 1997, but the Ford F150 didn't change noticably in body style until just a few years ago. The striping started in California and took quite a few years to get to the other states, so you wouldn't be grossly off with the larger decals or leaving off the stripes. My boss in 1998 had almost exactly the truck you are building, except he only had grill lights. Call it a 2002 and you are good.

Where did the wheels come from? They look good on that truck.

Edited May 19, 2013 by Aaronw

[DCLVXI]

I picked them up at a r/c shop. They were like $10. I think they are team losi. I'll call it an 02. Lol.

[Fabrux]

The F-150 was the same for 1997-98, which is what this kid depicts. The grille was changed in 1999 and stayed the same until 2003/4.

[DCLVXI]

bumper changed too

[FIREMODELMAN]

Thanks for the info Aaron. I think it would look better with the bigger logo. I'm not going 100% era specific on this truck. And Iv looked around online and Iv seen trucks without the stripe. I'm kinda thinking about not doing a stripe on it. Unless I can find a roll of white pinstripe that would be close enough scale wise. Painting is still not a strong point for me.

Yep, that pin stripe works great on models. I use the Gold, Black and White on my builds. Hope you can find some as that would look great on this build. Again, very nice.

[heepey]

That's a great start on the F150.

For the white stripe on my FS builds I used my wife's scrapbooking photo trimmer and cut strips off some scrap white ink jet decal paper, instant stripes any width.

Edited May 20, 2013 by heepey

[DCLVXI]

That's a great idea. But I don't have a wife, or scrap booking stuff. Lol

[explorer2770]

You can do the same cutting technique on decal sheets with a new Xacto blade and a straight-edge ruler, although it might take a few attempts to keep the size right. You can then shoot some Rustoleum reflective paint on the decal paper before you apply it to give it the reflective look.

You should be able to find 1/4" white pinstripe in Advanced Auto Parts, AutoZone, and Napa auto parts stores. This will give you a 6" scale stripe. If you want a 4", you could use 3/16" pinstripe (would be 4.6" in scale, Napa BK 7354655) or cut 5/16" stripe in half (Napa BK 7354612). I know that NAPA sells 5/16" stripe kits, but you should check a local store for availability or order online.