hooknladderno1 Posted March 2, 2015 Posted March 2, 2015 (edited) As an ongoing project of trying to reproduce my hometown's fire apparatus in miniature, I wanted to do our 1927 American LaFrance pumper. Only a few photographs exist of the original truck I began with a Yat Ming 1/24 diecast. I began by removing the tampo printed "gold leaf" lettering that the vehicle came with. This was replaced with more appropriate custom designed "gold leaf lettering and numbers... Chromed fittings and nozzles were repainted a more realistic brass color. Hose was washed with a brownish/yellow. The technique was applied a little too heavily and will be removed and re-applied more subtly... The fill tube just behind the tank will also be removed, as well as some of the "gold leaf" embellishment on the rig, as it did not exist on the 1:1 truck. I may also paint the rims to more closely resemble the real truck. Still lots more work to do! Thanks for looking! David Edited March 2, 2015 by hooknladderno1
GLMFAA1 Posted March 3, 2015 Posted March 3, 2015 Very nice project, Maybe a joint on how you got the lettering off? greg
hooknladderno1 Posted March 5, 2015 Author Posted March 5, 2015 (edited) Very nice project, Maybe a joint on how you got the lettering off? greg Thanks for the kind words! Greg, I used non-acetone nail polish remover on a Q-tip. Work slowly and patiently and it usually works well. Interesting note, the wheels are plastic. I tried several substances including the nail polish remover, and non was able to remove the tampo printing on the wheels. We had both a 1922 and 1927 American LaFrances. Both were delivered with very plain wheels. Later photos of the '27 show it with silver painted rims. As I was unable to remove the wheels, I mixed up a color as close to the body color and just painted over the"gold leaf" on the wheels. Here are a few updated photos after removing the fill pipe, rear angle irons, and painting the wheels... *Note - the top hard suction hose will be glued down, as well as having leather straps fabricated to resemble the original truck. Let me know what you think. Thanks for looking! David Edited March 5, 2015 by hooknladderno1
Agent G Posted March 9, 2015 Posted March 9, 2015 That is very very nice. Before you go to a lot of trouble stripping the hose, why don't you just drybrush with a lighter sand color? I think you'll get more depth that way. G
hooknladderno1 Posted March 19, 2015 Author Posted March 19, 2015 That is very very nice. Before you go to a lot of trouble stripping the hose, why don't you just drybrush with a lighter sand color? I think you'll get more depth that way. G Wayne, Great suggestion! I'll have to give that a try! Thanks! David
AzTom Posted April 13, 2015 Posted April 13, 2015 Very Nice! Those are nice trucks to start with and the added details really brings it out.
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