Dodge WC57 staff car converted to brush fire truck--pics

Modeling Subjects Autos
1

This is the Italeri 1/35 WC56 Staff car kit. I wanted to do something different with it, and I also wanted to practice my diorama/ base making skills. I decided to make it a civilian brush truck. The truck itself is pretty much OOB. I added small diameter nylon cord around the winch for a winch cable, and fabricated a hook for it. I ground out some material from the rear compartment to assure it would be flat, and then I built a water tank from scratch out of plastic sheet. The small gas engine and the pump are bits from another kit, and I plumbed it with rubber hose. I opted to simulate the fire hose as a low pressure heavy duty garden hose, and made it out of small diameter rubber hose as well. The project was based on a rural Wyoming fire truck I saw as a kid, but unfortunately I have no pictures of it. I need to get license plates on it, though. Also, it’s amazing the flaw that photography will pick up. Those tire seams look terrible. Ugh! Anyway, here are the pics.

. by theirishavenger, on Flickr

. by theirishavenger, on Flickr

. by theirishavenger, on Flickr

IMG_2712 by theirishavenger, on Flickr

. by theirishavenger, on Flickr

. by theirishavenger, on Flickr

. by theirishavenger, on Flickr

2

The model is excellent, with some nice subtle weathering, but the base looks too small for it.

3

That is cool!

4

Hello!

A very nice, creative idea! Looks like it went into action straight from a car wash - which, in this case is quite possible! What’s next? Good luck with your builds and have a nice day

Paweł

5

Really interesting idea for a little model and done well too. What overall color did you paint it with?

6

Beautiful job!

7

Thanks, guys. The model was painted using a custom mix of insignia yellow and bright green. I was going for the lime green color you see on some fire trucks. Unfortunately, while it looks greenish under fluorescent lights, in natural sunlight it looks more yellow. I had planned on taking it to a model show in June where the theme is going to be ‘50 Shades Of Green’, but I don’t know if it will qualify now. Oh well. I opted to leave it relatively unweathered as most fire trucks are fairly well taken care of. I did some mud spatters on the undercarriage and dusted it with the airbrush. That’s about it.

Thanks again for the comments.

Chris