American LaFrance Eagle Fire Pumper - Trumpeter - 1:25 Scale

[CDW]

A new next project:

The 1:25 scale Trumpeter American LaFrance Eagle Fire Pumper

 

 

 

[Old Collingwood]

I'm in,   used to love these as a kid  the  diecast ones  - Dinky, Corgi  etc.

 

OC.

[Jack12477]

Me too

[Edwardkenway]

Count me in.

[Egilman]

Gimme a few minutes, I have to go back to the replicator for another easy chair.... I'll be here.....

Edited December 20, 2020 by Egilman

[Canute]

Sign me up. I could do up my HO scale version of a 50's pumper - Sylvan Scale Resin. They're going to be flatcar loads.

[CDW]

I looked for some aftermarket decals but did not find any. Would be nice to have some from a well known city or county, but generic may have to do. 

This kit is very well detailed and from photos I have seen, produces a very authentic looking piece of equipment.

[Jack12477]

I thought there was a College Park MD.

 

Edit: There is

 

The City of College Park is in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, and is approximately four miles (6.4 km) from the northeast border of Washington, D.C. The population was 30,413 at the 2010 United States Census. It is best known as the home of the University of Maryland, College Park, and since 1994 the city has also been home to the National Archives at College Park, a facility of the U.S. National Archives, as well as to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Center for Weather and Climate Prediction (NCWCP).         Wiki

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 20, 2020 by Jack12477

[mtaylor]

I'm in and hanging out in the rafters for the aerial view.

[Old Collingwood]

1 hour ago, mtaylor said:

I'm in and hanging out in the rafters for the aerial view.

Instead of popcorn  you could throw down to us in the lower stalls   those  Yellow kidney shaped sweet soft nuts   - What are they called ?

 

OC.

Edited December 20, 2020 by Old Collingwood

[CDW]

1 hour ago, Jack12477 said:

I thought there was a College Park MD.

 

Edit: There is

 

The City of College Park is in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, and is approximately four miles (6.4 km) from the northeast border of Washington, D.C. The population was 30,413 at the 2010 United States Census. It is best known as the home of the University of Maryland, College Park, and since 1994 the city has also been home to the National Archives at College Park, a facility of the U.S. National Archives, as well as to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Center for Weather and Climate Prediction (NCWCP).         Wiki

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh yeah....you're right! Didn't even think about College Park Maryland. 

After the fact, I did find a decal sheet  that has Philadelphia and City of Baltimore on it, on Ebay. Now that I realize College Park is a legitimate fire department, I'll probably just stick to what I've got.

[lmagna]

41 minutes ago, Old Collingwood said:

Yellow kidney shaped sweet soft nuts   - What are they called ?

Cashews. You have expensive tastes in nuts OC.

 

I'll be up here with Mark. Don't turn the hose on us!

[Old Collingwood]

18 minutes ago, lmagna said:

Cashews. You have expensive tastes in nuts OC.

 

I'll be up here with Mark. Don't turn the hose on us!

"Bless  You"

Sorry I'll get my coat🙃

 

OC.

[lmagna]

1 hour ago, Old Collingwood said:

"Bless  You"

Sorry I'll get my coat🙃

 

?????????????????????????????????????

[Old Collingwood]

16 minutes ago, lmagna said:

 

?????????????????????????????????????

Just my humour  Lou    - some  make a joke out of the name cashew  as it can be made to sound like  you are sneezing  hence my reply  - "Bless You"    like  - "Achewwww "     "Cashew"   etc

 

Its ok I'll  double get my coat.

 

OC.

[Jack12477]

It's okay OC, I got the  cashew yoke right away.   

[lmagna]

6 hours ago, Jack12477 said:

I got the  cashew yoke right away. 

Looks like I was the only one baffled. Went right over my head. Probably should be me getting my coat. 

Edited December 21, 2020 by lmagna

[Egilman]

33 minutes ago, lmagna said:

Probably should be me getting my coat.

Why, you already caught the cold, right along with the rest of us my friend..... Besides the guvernuer might send his goons if you go outside, then, give you a ticket for breathing fresh air..... {chuckle}

[CDW]

Assembly begins with sub assemblies of the chassis, drive train, and the massive water pump. No engine detail is given in this kit, but it's just as well as we could not see it even if it was there in magnificent detail as it is housed within the cab.

 

[lmagna]

13 hours ago, Egilman said:

Besides the guvernuer might send his goons if you go outside, then, give you a ticket for breathing fresh air

All too true around here

[CDW]

The entire chassis gets painted black. Boring, I know. I'll go around and add some metallic details here and there just to liven things up.

Here, wanted to dry fit the wheels to the axles. Preparing to add a few more chassis/drive train parts, then paint a little more black before starting on everything above the chassis.

 

 

[CDW]

Caught this photo of the "Bethlehem Star" at dusk this afternoon. The two planets had just come into alignment.

 

[Old Collingwood]

1 hour ago, CDW said:

Caught this photo of the "Bethlehem Star" at dusk this afternoon. The two planets had just come into alignment.

 

First time in 800 years  very special moment.

 

OC.

[Egilman]

31 minutes ago, Old Collingwood said:

First time in 800 years  very special moment.

First time in 400 years brother, 800 years since it's happened at night where people can actually see it.... (and unfortunately it is raining buckets right now, I can't see it)

[kurtvd19]

I am following.  The first truck I ever drove (1965) was a 1956 American LaFrance Suburban Pumper - the Suburban model had the pump panel on the right (curb) side for the protection of the Engineer.  I got on the local volunteer FD the day I tuned 18 and the next Friday night I took part in driver training.  The truck we had was of course much different than this model - more rounded front end and the jump seats behind the driver and officer were single back facing seats w/o doors on the side just open to the rear.  Nice and toasty warm returning from fires in cold weather but pretty darn hot when the seasons were reversed.  The big V12 engine put out a lot of heat.  Dual spark plugs from dual magnetos.  I was told they used a old Packard engine.  The American Lafrance Fire Apparatus Museum is filled with various types and years of American LaFrance apparatus at Charleston, SC.  It was about 1/4 mile from the NRG Conference hotel when we met there in 2013. If you are in the area it's worth seeing.  There is even one truck there I have ridden to fires on - the old Snorkel Squad One from the Chicago FD was built by ALF on a GMC chassis - we used to ride with Chicago for training and SS1 was the busiest CFD unit. http://www.northcharlestonfiremuseum.org/

 

Back in 1956 when they got this pumper American LaFrance presented my Father with a custom built Tonka Toy version of the pumper (made strictly for American LaFrance) that had a plunger type of pump with a coiled Booster Hose that squirted water from a small tank.  I wish I had the foresight to put it on a shelf back then  but what 9 year old kid isn't going to play with it instead?  I used to put on my leather Kairns fire helmet (we each got one when the FD got new helmets) a rain coat and play fireman - I even used the helmet to carry water to the play area in the back yard - at this stage I don't remember what the water was for but I have vivid memories of carrying the water in the helmet and how that eventually ruined the helmet - there are also collector items but not as much as the truck.

 

I have two of the leather helmets that made a comeback (pre-OSHA applying to FDs) exactly as they were originally made that I wore during my career.  One is real nice condition the other has the metal piece that holds the shield with the Dept. Name and ID number on the front smashed down distorting the leather shield a bit - a floor above came down on a couple of us w/o injuries other than minor burns we didn't even notice until later.  Adrenalin is wonderful - at times.

 

The photo shows my helmets from my career.  The leather helmet I got when I first joined the FD where I spent the next 27.5 years - is at the right.  The helmet they issued me when promoted to Engineer (the driver and pump operator though I spent most of my time as an Engineer driving the ladder truck) is at the left.  The white helmet is my last helmet when I was promoted to Division Chief.  Just noticed the cobwebs - this is above the man door in the garage at the bottom of the stairs from my shop.  Will get to them someday....

 

Sorry to have hijacked the thread but get an old fireman feeling nostalgic and I am surprised I didn't go longer.

 

[lmagna]

It's interesting how little the helmets have changed in design over the years.

[CDW]

Great story, Kurt. Thanks for sharing that with us. I never knew the original helmets were made of leather.

When I was growing up, the city Fire Marshall lived across the street from us. He had a personal vehicle that was either a Plymouth or Dodge, can't remember for sure, but it was fire engine red in color. I remember thinking how cool his car looked back then. It had the push button gear shift for the automatic transmission. My dad was a business man, and a local politician. We had a police 2 way radio installed by the city in our family vehicle (a 1955 Oldsmobile). Many times, my dad drove us to the scenes of fires he learned about over the radio and we watched the firefighters put out the fires. Very exciting to see as a kid.  

[kurtvd19]

When I started driving I had to borrow Dad's car for dates - between 16 and 18 mostly only Friday nights because that was when the local FD met and Dad didn't need the car.  The one drawback was the FD radio had to be on at all times - if I was late the radio would come alive with 'Kurt look at the time!" and I better be home very quick after that.  I responded with my Dad from home to the fire scene from about 13 on until I got on the FD at 18 - at which point I drove to the firehouse on my own.  My job at the fire scene initially was to ask a neighbor to use their phone, call the fire house and relay messages between the Chief and the firehouse.  Then we got the first radios and the Chief's "portable" radio required a sling to go on the shoulder - so I got to stand next to him with the radio handy.  Shortly after that we got radios in each piece of apparatus - I was about 14 or 15 then.

[Old Collingwood]

21 minutes ago, kurtvd19 said:

When I started driving I had to borrow Dad's car for dates - between 16 and 18 it mostly only Friday nights because that was when the local FD met and Dad didn't need the car.  The one drawback was the FD radio had to be on at all times - if I was late the radio would come alive with 'Kurt look at the time!" and I better be home very quick after that.  I responded with my Dad from home to the fire scene from about 13 on until I got on the FD at 18 - at which point I drove to the firehouse on my own.  My job at the fire scene initially was to ask a neighbor to use their phone, call the fire house and relay messages between the Chief and the firehouse.  Then we got the first radios and the Chief's "portable" radio required a sling to go on the shoulder - so I got to stand next to him with the radio handy.  Shortly after that we got radios in each piece of apparatus - I was about 14 or 15 then.

Thank you  for your service Kurt,   a friend of mine is a temp fireman  over here over the pond.

 

OC.

[CDW]

Here is the finished chassis, ready for the cab and body additions that ride atop of it.

 

 

Next is the control box that rides midway between the cab and body of the pumper. If my terminology is incorrect for this piece, maybe Kurt will chime in and give me a hand for the proper name of it. It's made up of diamond plate and has lots of instruments and couplings attached. As pictured, you see it in black primer which I use before applying the shiny aluminum diamond plate finish. I like to use a semi gloss black acrylic for this primer as the aluminum plate metallic paint goes down very well on top of it. 

 

 

Last is a hose reel that's part of the control box assembly. Also, this part is primered in semi gloss black acrylic and will be silver metallic with yellow hose.