Another 1938 Ford is on the bench

[DumpyDan]

That is awesome, I am so impressed, This is so well done. Nice work!

[Chariots of Fire]

nice work charlie hope to see it at classic plastic show..

Hey, Gordon! Nice to hear from you. It will be done by then.

[kgvarrato]

Great build so far, love your attention to details. Can't wait to see it completed

[Chariots of Fire]

Enough of this primer stuff! It's time for a bi of color! Got the frame, tires and wheels painted. The primer is Duplicolor sandable gray and the red is also Duplicolor #398(old number). It goes on nicely, dries quickly and can be polished out.

Just a shot of the frame with the engine in place. Those two braces will have to be snipped off.

The cab in place. The headlights came from the Yat Ming '38 Ford diecast. The grill is soldered brass as well as the chromed ring around it. A piece of brass rod was formed to the shape of the opening and then nickel plated. Door handles will have to be fashioned from brass and plated also.

Body still in primer as I have some additional work to do on the back. The rear step is done but will be installed after the body is painted.

[Danno]

Wow!

[Petetrucker07]

The reds fits that truck perfect. Lookin good

[Chariots of Fire]

A couple of nice warm dry days allowed me to get the body painted. Two small compartment doors were made for the rear. The hinges are made of 0.030" brass tubing with a stainless steel wire insert. The tubing was superglued to the edges of the doors. Small pieces of similar tubing were installed in notches above and below the door hinge. Once superglued in place the notches were filled in and sanded smooth. The only thing visible now is a tiny hole top and bottom to insert the steel wire in.

A shot with the doors open. The middle compartment will stay open and will be the location of the Fitzhenry-Guptil pump. The rear grab bars are made using stanchions from the Yat Ming diecast. The bars themselves are polished aluminum tubing. The stanchions for the long side railings are made from soldered brass tubing and brass craft beads. After soldering and bending was done the stanchions were nickel plated. The railings are also polished aluminum tubing. The door handles are also nickel plated brass that was filed to shape.

Pump cans and extinguishers will be mounted on the running boards. The spare tire is mounted on the right side of the body and 3 lengths of hard suction hose will be mounted on the driver's side. Long coils of forestry hose will be placed in the two topside compartments.

[Danno]

Superb.

[MikeBoyle]

Thanks for the update. Truck is coming along excellent.

[Jim B]

Looking great.

[Tesla]

Very very nice...superb building skills!

[Superpeterbilt]

Great work

[AzTom]

Awesome build.

[Chariots of Fire]

Got a bit more work done. Will post pics soon!

[Chariots of Fire]

As promised yesterday more work has been done to get a little closer to completion. Outlets have been added to each side, the cab interior is complete and the hard suction tray is done. The small red light on top of the cab is oval. It was made by compressing a section of brass tubing to the oval shape, soldering on a couple of thicker brass sheets to one side and then grinding and filing it to shape. Once completed, it was polished and nickel plated.

Also completed is a tool basket topside but it has not been installed permanently.The bed under it needs hose and it will be much easier to get it into place without the basket.

Not many trucks carry their spare tire on the outside these days but these rigs did! We are getting close to the time when a call will have to be made to the fire department that has a restored Fitzhenry pump so that I can measure it and get some photos for building.

[Petetrucker07]

That is lookin really good. Very nice work

[Chariots of Fire]

Couple of updates on construction progress. Finished making a siren last nite and worked on the pump cans today.

Siren is made of turned and polished aluminum with a photoetch strip around the middle.

Pump cans were made from a master of plastic tubing, thin sheet stock and brass wire for the can itself. Details were added after the cans were cast with two part resin. The cans were covered in Bare Metal Foil and "Smith Indian Pump" decals were made on the computer and printed on an ALPS.

Edited August 2, 2014 by Chariots of Fire

[Petetrucker07]

Lookin really good. Gettin real close. Well done

[Ace-Garageguy]

Man, this is some serious model building. Don't know how I missed it, but sure am glad I found it. Beautiful, beautiful.

[Turbo590]

Charlie....WOW

What a big difference since the NNL East.....the attention to detail is always amazing....always enjoy talking to you...take care, Kurt

[mackd]

Beautiful work should be a beautiful model.

[Tesla]

Looking good!

Edited August 10, 2014 by Tesla

[Chariots of Fire]

Here are just a couple more shots of the truck with a bit more detail added. I'll be making a short trip later this coming week to get photos and dimensions of the pump that will fill the opening in the back. Then I can complete the hose load in the top. After that, DONE!!

[Chariots of Fire]

I was able to make arrangements for a visit to see the real restored pump that will be modeled for the back of the truck. And I got a personal invitation to visit the person who did the restoration. He had several photos of the pump as he had disassembled it for cleaning and rebuilding. They are a treasure trove of detail that I otherwise could not see. The actual pump is behind glass and only two sides are really accessible. So here is the real Fitzhenry-Guptil 3 piston pump that will be modeled to go in the open rear compartment of the truck. I got started this evening turning the flywheel on the lathe. It is only 13mm in diameter, a little smaller than a dime.

[Chariots of Fire]

With all of the information now available I started work on the pump. The flywheel was turned on my lathe using aluminum stock. The 3 piston pump is all soldered brass. The base is various pieces of plastic sheet and strip stock. Eventually it will be painted aluminum. And yes, the pistons do go up and down when the crank is turned.

An 8x10 photo of a working pump with the model pump pieces in the foreground.

The dime gives you a sense of the size of the pump. A few soldering bumps along the way but all in all it when pretty smoothly. There is only one little hitch when the crank is turned but with some oil on all the moving parts, it is beginning to loosen up. Once it is finished it won't be turning that much anyway.