Hi everyone!
I would like to model a firetruck but I don’t know where to find one. Any ideas?
Thanks for your help!
Most obvious to start would be Trumpeter’s 2002 ALF Eagle
Older options include a 1/32 ‘Backdraft’ Mack pumper snaptite from Monogram/Revell (which has been re-released in a number of versions). AMT also did an older style ALF pumper in 1/25, which is probably somewhere on Ebay. A quick Google may turn up some others.
I’ll second Greg’s choice of the Trumpeter kit. It’s very well done. Here’s a link to the truck section at Scalehobbyist. They show numerous fire trucks including the Trumpeter kit and their price is significantly cheaper than Amazon.
There are various military and civilian fire trucks in 1/35 as well: https://www.ebay.ca/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1313&_nkw=1%2F35+firetruck&_sacat=0
Hasegawa makes a Rosenbauer airport crash truck. Check HLJ or eBay
…just to name a few!
I really like the looks of that Simba, and a big one at 19"
ICM Chernobyl kit No. 2 is a 6x6 firetruck. Trumpeter makes a Soviet AA-60 8x8 airport fire truck. both are 1/35
The Trumpy AmLaFrance kit is about the only kit of modern US fire engine out there.
There is a Kenworth kit which is a decent kit of the sort of thing many Volunteer Departments (term-of-art is “non custom,” e.g. using a stack cab and chassis).
The one issue a person runs into is in filling the back of US style engines with hoses. The hoses flatten out in their canvas sleeves and get stacked in the back neat piles.
Like this:
And, colored hoses have become more of a norm:
But, there’s one great thing for modelers–there are plenty or reference photos around.
Next time you’re in a good shoe store, check sport shoe laces. They’re a good match shape-wise, and dense-weave versions can be tinted or painted to any required shade. Set with a mix of white glue and water, they can be ‘rassled’ into very convincing hose runs.
A lot of rual depts, USFS and state forestry depts use 1 and 1 1/2 ton cab/chassis rigs with a sort of service body bed. Hose reels and a water tank on the bed as brush rigs. Colors can vary from red for fire depts, to Forest Service Green for USFS to white for Oregon forestry dept. Most will have reflective tape on the length of the rig. Oregon for instance is green, with a border of gold on each side.
Hello!
The ones from AMT (American LaFrance) need a lot of love and attention to look right when done, the molds are very old.
Revell makes a lot of fire trucks, I believe the european ones are more recent and so tend to be easier to build right.
This ZiL from ICM is a very nice model with detailed undercarriage, engine and interior. It’s so soviet it’s almost American again - we’re talking V8 engine here!
Good luck with your builds and have a nice day
Paweł
Oooooh I like that one Pawel.
I did the Revell SnapTite Mack Fire Pumper some time ago - it’s 1/32 scale which is a bit odd.
And I have the Trumpeter kit in the stash - looks really nice. I have seen the shoelace trick for the hoses and it looks great.
That’s gorgeous! [Y]
Thanks Greg. It was a quick and fun project, but I did use glue 
This is a nice looking. kit. I have had one for a while in my stash, but haven’t built it yet, but it’s fun to rummage through all the parts periodically and just browse at all the nice-looking parts.
I saw a build of this kit online a few years ago where the builder had removed the cab roof in some sort of conversion to the 1965 Crown Firecoach as used in the first season or two of the Jack Webb-produced series Emergency! on NBC. As a big fan of that show, it’s a project I always meant to get around to trying…but haven’t gotten there yet. [:D]
Hello!
Here’s a deteiled WIP of that pumper (albeit in Polish - but look at the pictures!):
https://modelwork.pl/topic/34912-american-lafrance-pumper-zestaw-amt-125/
That kit is a lot of work - but if you have the time, the skills and the will to succeed it can look very nice, as with most AMT kits.
Hope this helps, have a nice day
Paweł
I have the Pumper kit 1/32, still in the box brand new, purchased about 30 years ago.
oop 1:25 scale