Some stuff from my green phase

[aaronw]

One of my major interests is emergency vehicle models, and my favored subjects are US Forest Service vehicles.


1925 Ford Model T 

[aaronw]

1937 Ford tanker truck (fire engine but the USFS called them tanker trucks until the 1980s)

[aaronw]

1950 Chevrolet Fire Control Officers truck (aka Battalion Chief)

[aaronw]

1960 Chevrolet tanker truck

[aaronw]

CAT D8 Dozer, IH transport, Chevrolet support truck and Chevrolet tanker

[aaronw]

Ford Bronco, LEO truck

[aaronw]

Chevy Tahoe LEO truck

[aaronw]

and one not so green. Chevy Tahoe LEO truck in the white scheme. This one is a worked over diecast.

[aaronw]

This is a large scale model of a 1958 Dodge W500 Model 56 US Forest Service tanker truck I'm working on. It is 1-1 scale, my bench is not up to the task, so I'm working in the driveway.  

The plan is to also do it in 1/25 to go with the others in my collection.





Similar trucks when in service with the USFS




The second one back is the actual truck from the first picture back in 1966 with a Chevy tanker truck in the front.

[TJ]

Cool builds. I like the 1:1

[keavdog]

All this stuff is great!  Man I like the '60 tanker truck - would love to see how you did that. I've done a couple cal-fire birds and have the trumpeter lafrance engine in the stash. I sure would like to see a modern brush rig like this:

[Leon]

Those look really good!

[406 Silverado]

WOW!! This is all some good modeling right here aaronw!! What kit is that Chevrolet Tahoe as I don't remember seeing one of those before. 1:1 scale builds are definitely fun and it looks like you've got quite the project sitting in the driveway. Will be interested in following along with that one. Great to have you here and thank you for sharing all of these builds man. Great work on all.

[vw8243]

AAronw
Some realy nice builds well done, Ilove that 37 Ford tanker truck .

[kyledehart5]

This is a really great collection. And I love your 1:1 project as well. Very cool

[handiabled]

Nicely done builds and not a subject seen very often. Your project looks huge but very cool! I hope to see some progress posts down the line

[jeaton01]

Thanks for sharing your great work, Aaron. I do like he dark green variety the best, nice finishes!

[aaronw]

Dec 15, 2023 7:03:35 GMT -5 keavdog said:

All this stuff is great!  Man I like the '60 tanker truck - would love to see how you did that. I've done a couple cal-fire birds and have the trumpeter lafrance engine in the stash. I sure would like to see a modern brush rig like this:

I did that '60 Chevy around 2005, it was one of my early, heavily kit bashed and scratch building efforts. It started as the AMT '60 Chevy truck, I resin cast the wheels, 4x4 running gear, warning lights and west coast mirrors.
The lifted springs were just styrene strip formed into spring packs. The side rails are bent aluminum tubing super glued together. On later models with hand rails I soldered solid brass wire instead of using aluminum. All the pumper equipment in the bed is mostly made from styrene sheet and shapes. I made all the decals with MS paint and an inkjet printer. You may notice an improvement on later license plates, Corel Draw and my laser printer can do much finer resolution allowing very tiny but clear lettering.


I had a lot less info to go on back then so there are some accuracy issues based on what I know now. The biggest being the door markings. That style didn't come into use until 1965, but hey this could just be a 1960 truck in 1966, and somebody sideswiped a tree so they updated the door stickers after the repair.   

It is still one of my favorites despite the inaccuracies. Someday I may take another go at it and do it "the right way".

I just had a short video clip to go on back then, now I've amassed a collection of hundreds of photos and documents, plus a couple decades of working for the agency. I'm a serious nerd about these vehicles, I'm actually working on a modelers guide to USFS vehicles. I do have some plans to do some vehicles from that other agency (Calfire and the USFS have a bit of a friendly rivalry).



This was my last engine. I retired as the captain of this engine at the end of 2017. We are wrapping the Anthony Peak Lookout on the North Pass fire, in Northern CA 2012.

I have plans to build a model of it someday, but that will be a big project. I'm hoping that with 3D printing this model of International cab will eventually be offered. I can manage the boxy stuff, but making a cab from scratch is beyond my abilities. 


 



"Retired" is an increasingly incorrect term, as I have been back working part time as an on call fire dispatcher since 2019. I just got home a few days ago from a 2 week assignment to Pearl, Mississippi working at the dispatch center for the National Forests in Mississippi. As Mr Krabbs says "I like money!" 

Dec 15, 2023 7:15:28 GMT -5 406 Silverado said:

WOW!! This is all some good modeling right here aaronw !! What kit is that Chevrolet Tahoe as I don't remember seeing one of those before. 1:1 scale builds are definitely fun and it looks like you've got quite the project sitting in the driveway. Will be interested in following along with that one. Great to have you here and thank you for sharing all of these builds man. Great work on all.

The green Tahoe was an AMT snap kit. The white Tahoe is a 1/25 diecast.

On the 1-1 I'm not sure what I'm going to do about making it green again. It won't fit in my spray booth. 

[dupes]

That's a lot of green. With zero Shermans or T-34s in the bunch, yet! Hahaha

[keavdog]

I grew up in NE Sacramento (Foothill Farms). My folks retired just south of Ukiah and we camped twice a year growing up in the Trinity mountains - Coffee Creek, near Trinity center. Beautiful country

[Medicman71]

Very nice builds! We desperately need more emergency vehicles of all kind. This is my current rig.

[deafpanzer]

I really enjoyed looking at all of your builds! Thanks for sharing with us

[kyledehart5]

Dec 19, 2023 11:36:46 GMT -5 Medicman71 said:

Very nice builds! We desperately need more emergency vehicles of all kind. This is my current rig.

Thats a nice looking rig for sure.

[aaronw]

Dec 15, 2023 16:59:29 GMT -5 keavdog said:

I grew up in NE Sacramento (Foothill Farms). My folks retired just south of Ukiah and we camped twice a year growing up in the Trinity mountains - Coffee Creek, near Trinity center. Beautiful country

So I'm guessing Hopland, Geyserville or Cloverdale. We've been in Ukiah since 2012, but my parents used to take us camping out by Boonville and Mendocino. I've been through Coffee Creek and Weaverville a number of times.

Dec 19, 2023 11:36:46 GMT -5 Medicman71 said:

Very nice builds! We desperately need more emergency vehicles of all kind. This is my current rig.

There has always been a shortage of emergency vehicle models. I'm trying to do my part.

Those mods give you some nice space to work. My time on an ambulance was mostly spent in Ford vans, the few times I got to ride in a modular I appreciated the extra room. The vans were "cozy", but on the plus side everything was in easy reach from the bench seat.

[dean48ws]

Dec 15, 2023 13:04:11 GMT -5 aaronw said:

Dec 15, 2023 7:03:35 GMT -5 keavdog said:

All this stuff is great!  Man I like the '60 tanker truck - would love to see how you did that. I've done a couple cal-fire birds and have the trumpeter lafrance engine in the stash. I sure would like to see a modern brush rig like this:

I did that '60 Chevy around 2005, it was one of my early, heavily kit bashed and scratch building efforts. It started as the AMT '60 Chevy truck, I resin cast the wheels, 4x4 running gear, warning lights and west coast mirrors.
The lifted springs were just styrene strip formed into spring packs. The side rails are bent aluminum tubing super glued together. On later models with hand rails I soldered solid brass wire instead of using aluminum. All the pumper equipment in the bed is mostly made from styrene sheet and shapes. I made all the decals with MS paint and an inkjet printer. You may notice an improvement on later license plates, Corel Draw and my laser printer can do much finer resolution allowing very tiny but clear lettering.


I had a lot less info to go on back then so there are some accuracy issues based on what I know now. The biggest being the door markings. That style didn't come into use until 1965, but hey this could just be a 1960 truck in 1966, and somebody sideswiped a tree so they updated the door stickers after the repair.   

It is still one of my favorites despite the inaccuracies. Someday I may take another go at it and do it "the right way".

I just had a short video clip to go on back then, now I've amassed a collection of hundreds of photos and documents, plus a couple decades of working for the agency. I'm a serious nerd about these vehicles, I'm actually working on a modelers guide to USFS vehicles. I do have some plans to do some vehicles from that other agency (Calfire and the USFS have a bit of a friendly rivalry).



This was my last engine. I retired as the captain of this engine at the end of 2017. We are wrapping the Anthony Peak Lookout on the North Pass fire, in Northern CA 2012.

I have plans to build a model of it someday, but that will be a big project. I'm hoping that with 3D printing this model of International cab will eventually be offered. I can manage the boxy stuff, but making a cab from scratch is beyond my abilities. 


 



"Retired" is an increasingly incorrect term, as I have been back working part time as an on call fire dispatcher since 2019. I just got home a few days ago from a 2 week assignment to Pearl, Mississippi working at the dispatch center for the National Forests in Mississippi. As Mr Krabbs says "I like money!" 

Dec 15, 2023 7:15:28 GMT -5 406 Silverado said:

WOW!! This is all some good modeling right here aaronw !! What kit is that Chevrolet Tahoe as I don't remember seeing one of those before. 1:1 scale builds are definitely fun and it looks like you've got quite the project sitting in the driveway. Will be interested in following along with that one. Great to have you here and thank you for sharing all of these builds man. Great work on all.

The green Tahoe was an AMT snap kit. The white Tahoe is a 1/25 diecast.

On the 1-1 I'm not sure what I'm going to do about making it green again. It won't fit in my spray booth. 

Please excuse my ignorance here, but why are you wrapping the lookout? I'm guessing to protect it from fire but there doesn't seem to be much scrub around it ? What is it that you wrap it with? Must be good stuff to withstand a bushfire!

[aaronw]

Please excuse my ignorance here, but why are you wrapping the lookout? I'm guessing to protect it from fire but there doesn't seem to be much scrub around it ? What is it that you wrap it with? Must be good stuff to withstand a bushfire!

It is a historic lookout built in the 1930s so very old and dry wood. The top of the peak is clear, but there was a lot of vegetation below and being at the top of the peak, all that heat and embers would have been directed at the lookout. Also no place to go, so nobody was going to be there when the fire came. The lookout had to make it alone, even a small ember getting into a crack and starting a fire could have burned the place down.

The wrap is sort of a tough paper, almost like thin fiberglass, with a foil coating. It wont hold up to direct flame, but reflects radiated heat and it done right will help seal out embers from getting into places you don't want them. We use that foil HVAC tape to close the seams between sheets.

It will burn if you put a flame to it, but it takes a lot of heat. It is one time use only so I've been able to take home left over scraps. I've used pieces of it to protect nearby wood when soldering pipes with a propane torch, and it doesn't even discolor from the heat with the torch just a couple inches away.


I've also used pieces on models, the rolled up fire curtains on the dozer were pieces of fire wrap.

[dean48ws]

Dec 20, 2023 14:00:29 GMT -5 aaronw said:

Please excuse my ignorance here, but why are you wrapping the lookout? I'm guessing to protect it from fire but there doesn't seem to be much scrub around it ? What is it that you wrap it with? Must be good stuff to withstand a bushfire!

It is a historic lookout built in the 1930s so very old and dry wood. The top of the peak is clear, but there was a lot of vegetation below and being at the top of the peak, all that heat and embers would have been directed at the lookout. Also no place to go, so nobody was going to be there when the fire came. The lookout had to make it alone, even a small ember getting into a crack and starting a fire could have burned the place down.

The wrap is sort of a tough paper, almost like thin fiberglass, with a foil coating. It wont hold up to direct flame, but reflects radiated heat and it done right will help seal out embers from getting into places you don't want them. We use that foil HVAC tape to close the seams between sheets.

It will burn if you put a flame to it, but it takes a lot of heat. It is one time use only so I've been able to take home left over scraps. I've used pieces of it to protect nearby wood when soldering pipes with a propane torch, and it doesn't even discolor from the heat with the torch just a couple inches away.


I've also used pieces on models, the rolled up fire curtains on the dozer were pieces of fire wrap.

Thanks for that. I've never seen it used here but it seems worthwhile if it saves historic structures and the like. It's only in the last 12 months here in my area where they have started to put Halo rings and drop down curtains on the Rural Fire Service trucks. So for behind the 8 ball here at times it's staggering!

[aaronw]

Dec 20, 2023 17:27:25 GMT -5 dean48ws said:

Dec 20, 2023 14:00:29 GMT -5 aaronw said:

Thanks for that. I've never seen it used here but it seems worthwhile if it saves historic structures and the like. It's only in the last 12 months here in my area where they have started to put Halo rings and drop down curtains on the Rural Fire Service trucks. So for behind the 8 ball here at times it's staggering!

Australia is actually pretty progressive on this stuff, and has been involved in a lot of the major safety studies with the USA and Canada that has led to our modern protective equipment. Australia has come a long way in the time I've been doing this. There has been a huge increase in aircraft use there over the past 20 years.
Fighting wildfires is an expensive proposition and the US has a wildfire budget that is really unmatched anywhere else in the world, so we take things for granted here that aren't even on the wishlist in other countries. I've met a few FF from New Zealand and Australia on fires in the USA. They all seem to be pretty knowledgeable, but also dazzled by the toys we have to play with.

We also have access to the US Military for support. In 1997 the Forest Service loaded a couple of strike teams of engines (S/T = 5 engines + a leader) into US Air Force C-5 Galaxys and flew them from California to Florida when they were having a particularly bad fire season. The Los Angeles County Fire Department has used US Marine Corps hovercraft to transport equipment and crews to Catalina Island 22 miles off the coast of California when they have had large fires on the island. 

Most years when the fire season gets really busy and firefighting aircraft is all being employed we get help from the National Guard for additional firefighting helicopters and C-130 cargo planes.

I took these photos of an Air National Guard C-130 air tanker the same day we were wrapping the lookout. This also gives you some idea of the fuels below the lookout, that you can't see in the first photo I posted.
These are standard C-130s with a MAFFS (Modular Aerial Fire Fighting System) installed, a roll in unit with pressurized tanks of retardant. They have tubes that extend out the rear ramp to eject the retardant, quickly turning any regular C-130 into an air tanker. Not as good as the dedicated air tankers, but still pretty useful.






An Air National Guard Blackhawk on another fire.

[keavdog]

Up until last year I lived about 4 miles from Ramona Air Attack Base. Cal-Fire birds are beautiful and I saw them up way too often.




So I had to build them

[aaronw]

Great job on the OV10 and S2T.

Did you use the resin conversion from Germany for that S2? Assume Draw Decals for the decals on both.

I'm in the flight path for the Ukiah Tanker base so I see them often during the summer if I'm home.