La fire dept red?

[towman1271]

  Any suggestions on what Testors color would best fit the red used on La county fire equipment in the 70's era.. Namely Squad 51 & Engine 51..Thanks for your thoughts

Edited October 9, 2015 by towman1271

[SfanGoch]

LACFD equipment is painted reddish orange. Testors Italian Red is a good match. The LA City Fire Department paints its apparatuses in......what else.....fire engine red.

[explorer2770]

I have found that Krylon Banner Red (I know, not a Testor color) is a good match when used with a light gray primer for the LACoFD rigs. 

One thing you have to consider is that while Squad 51 was built to LACoFD specs, neither Squad 51 nor Engine 51's Ward were built for LACoFD, so their paint might not match LACoFD specs for that era.  Universal Studios built Squad 51's rescue body and mounted it to a 1972 Dodge D30 for use in the show because they couldn't borrow LACoFD Squad 8 (1970 Dodge D30) past the pilot episode, LACoFD's squads were in too much demand for them to be constantly used in filming.  LACoFD never owned a 1972 Dodge squad until Universal Studios gave Squad 51 to the county, it was restored in 1999 and repainted to LACoFD specs at that time.  And in 1975, LACoFD went to GM products for their squads until Ford in the early 90's. 

The Ward LaFrance P80 was built and donated by Ward LaFrance to Universal Studios as a marketing tool since LACoFD had purchased 50 P80s starting in 1971 and Emergency! was a popular television series.  The Engine 51 received by Universal Studios was actually ordered by the Lake Park, FL, Fire Department and was rushed to Universal Studios when it became apparent that the LACoFD spec pumper would not finish the production line soon enough for filming.  Because this P80 was built to Ward "stock" pumper specs, it was not considered to be built to LACoFD specs.  Engine 51 should have had a 1500 gpm Hale pump with a Cummins Diesel NHTF-295 and NTF-365 HP turbo charger, but was actually built with a 1000 gpm Hale pump and Cummins NHF-265 HP diesel engine.  Engine 51's paint color was Dupont Dulex #936744, a Chrysler red enamel, and didn't match county specs but was not repainted when it arrived at Universal Studios. 

Hope that helps.

[towman1271]

  Thanks Brandon.. You have done some homework on the subjects! Helps a lot

[explorer2770]

  Thanks Brandon.. You have done some homework on the subjects! Helps a lot

Glad I can help.  Squad 51 and Engine 51 are my holy grail builds since I enjoy building emergency vehicles.  I have done a lot of research on the two trucks, even have the Code 3 Squad 51, but I have yet to pull the trigger on those two builds since I know I can't do them justice yet.  If you need a Ward Cab, contact Cargostar Dave, he sells them. 

[towman1271]

Glad I can help.  Squad 51 and Engine 51 are my holy grail builds since I enjoy building emergency vehicles.  I have done a lot of research on the two trucks, even have the Code 3 Squad 51, but I have yet to pull the trigger on those two builds since I know I can't do them justice yet.  If you need a Ward Cab, contact Cargostar Dave, he sells them. 

Working on the squad now..I have the conversion from 3 inches under.. I do plan on contacting Dave when its time to start the Ward..I picked up the Krylon Banner red today. I won't get much done for a while due to my son is getting married next Saturday, so gonna be busy!  Thanks again