With several German wartime fire trucks coming on the market I thought it might be interesting to inspire the idea of modeling some of the US fire fighting vehicles!


Chevy 1 1/2 ton fire fighting vehicle. Taken at Dayton MVPA Convention 2011
(Photo Michael Koenig)

Bumper mounted Darley water pump:


(Mike Koenig Photos 2011)

(Mike Koenig Photos 2011)

(All Photos Mike Koenig)

Need a lot of fire bottles to model these vehicles!


(All photos Mike Koenig)

(Photo Mike Koenig 2011)

A beautiful early model Chevy:

There were CCKW 6x6 variants as well:

Note date on photo above - April 1945!

Very interesting website called "Fire Trucks At War"! You can find it at:

http://www.firetrucks-atwar.com/

Another beauty all spit and polish at Camp Holabird:


If you don't want to take on the challenge of scratch built Darley water pump then go for this mid-ships aircraft crash (foam) truck!

I recently bought a messed up, unfinished Dragon Wagon kit just for spare parts so I have at least one siren from that kit to use on my forthcoming 1/35th scale US fire truck!

These early fire trucks either had a front mounted water pump that was driven off the engine from a short driveshaft attached to the main crank pulley OR they had a water pump installed amidships just behind the cab and driven either off the PTO on the transmission or by having the main rear driveshaft of the vehicle go through the water pump and with a clutch arrangement drive either the pump or the rear wheels at the driver's command.

For the hose reels I plan on using G scale railroad handbrake wheels which are almost a dead-on match for the ornate old style hose reels on the early war fire trucks.

(I will show you a photo of these brake wheels just as soon as I can find them somewhere in among my stash.)

The re-release of the Italeri water tank truck gives you the perfect cab for this little fire engine. Just do not forget (as I sometimes have) to sand off all but the last five louvers on the sides of the engine hood. (A major distinction between the CCKW hood and that of the Chevy.)

When building the Chevy 1 1/2 ton consider replacing the split differentials with the resin aftermarket banjo type which are more typical on the ton and a half but this is not absolutely necessary as the Chevy factory used whatever type was available at the moment so either version is correct.

The pumper came to the scene of the fire with its' own water supply in the form of a rear mounted water tank. (Usually 250 gallon.) However that Darley pump had a max. capacity of 300 G.P.M so that onboard supply was not going to last for long.

This is again where the stock Italeri water truck can come in handy for your fire fighting crew. It was typical that most US Army Air Corps fire fighting units were also equipped with an auxiliary water tender. Their job was to supply additional water at the scene of the fire and if necessary two water tenders might make multiple ferry runs back to a hydrant, taking turns supplying water to the pumper trucks.

Even today fire companies in rural America will have auxiliary water tank trucks in order to fight fires well beyond the reach of rural water supply systems.

So here is my Italeri auxiliary water tender though I will admit, no self respecting fire company would ever let their equipment get this dirty. (I have added the Tamiya open cab to this model to create yet another variation.)

AUXILIARY WATER TANK TRUCKS; US ARMY AIR CORPS

Note water tanker truck at extreme far right: Naples, Italy 1945.


And again this time the water tanker (with open cab) is on the far left: Guadalcanal 1944.

p.s. And you get your choice of paint colors: US Army Olive Drab or Fire Engine Red! Yeah!

Typical modern water tender truck this one with a mid-mount water pump; Ventura County, CA.

Here's even something different for all you big Oshkosh 8x8 modern military truck lovers: A serious water tender and pumper truck.

And how about something different to do with all those White Motors 666 kits coming onto the market in 1/35th scale???

(Model and photography by Charles L. Rowley.)




A Brockway LaFrance airport crash truck.

Great subject material Michael
As a retired firefighter myself, this kind of stuff is always interesting.
Wherever in the world I happen to be, I always check out the local Fire Brigade.
The most unique piece of equipment I ever saw was on Honolulu FD's LaFrance ariel ladder truck. A bright yellow Malibu surf board!
Well we have to be prepared for any eventuality, don't we?

I know it is modern day but how 'bout a HUMMER Fire Truck?

(Photo Joe Usselman)

Roger here is your bright yellow surf board! Thanks for you comment!

(Photo Derek Cutler)

Love to see some more of those jeeps! Esp the red one in the color photo. Great stuff! thanks Mike!
Andy

I will keep my eyes open for more Jeeps, I promise!