ALF Industrial Pumper

[Firebuilder]

I am back at the bench, this will mostly be a kit bash, with a few scratch built parts. I started by combining 2 of the  trumpeter ALF eagle kits.  The cabinets  and hose bed were  sectioned and  glued together to make a tandem  wheel opening. There will be both pump panels used.  The chassis has been stretched by cutting and combining  the frames  from both kits and the tandem rear axles installed.  Have a basic idea  of what I am going for after  seeing a few pictures of industrial rigs. Need to figure out a  color combination for this also.  These kits only come with a  partial transmission and no motor. Not sure what to do about that, or what would even fit the frame and floor pan height.

[Pete68]

Very nice looking build so far and is that a tractor drawn tiller in the background? Your builds are always nice. 

[Scott Eriksen]

2 hours ago, Firebuilder said:

I am back at the bench, this will mostly be a kit bash, with a few scratch built parts. I started by combining 2 of the  trumpeter ALF eagle kits.  The cabinets  and hose bed were  sectioned and  glued together to make a tandem  wheel opening. There will be both pump panels used.  The chassis has been stretched by cutting and combining  the frames  from both kits and the tandem rear axles installed.  Have a basic idea  of what I am going for after  seeing a few pictures of industrial rigs. Need to figure out a  color combination for this also.  These kits only come with a  partial transmission and no motor. Not sure what to do about that, or what would even fit the frame and floor pan height.

Nice Dom!,,,,,, that's gotta get a Detroit in it fer sure!

[BK9300]

Wow - going to be an impressive looking truck!

[blackbeard]

Very impressive fire truck 

[gotnitro?]

Awesome looking build ! I'm planning a Quint using the ALF after the rescue truck. I'm definitely watching 

[Firebuilder]

21 hours ago, Pete68 said:

Very nice looking build so far and is that a tractor drawn tiller in the background? Your builds are always nice. 

Thank you Lee, I appreciate that! And yes that is a tractor drawn tiller. It’s  been on the bench for a few years. It’s a resin casting. The aerial ladder took a long time to  clean up, fill voids and sand. Then for some reason the paint crackled in spots. So  there it sits until I get the ambition  to strip it and redo the paint.

[Firebuilder]

19 hours ago, Scott Eriksen said:

Nice Dom!,,,,,, that's gotta get a Detroit in it fer sure!

Thanks Scott. The only Detroit I have is from the  amt pumper kits.. they are very old style compared to a modern engine! But at least it would be something .

 

[Pete68]

53 minutes ago, Firebuilder said:

to strip it and redo the paint

Thanks for in lighting me on that tiller. The cracking could be anything maybe it was some mold release that was tucked in a corner. I hate stripping resin that’s why I scrub it as clean as I can before I give it a light coat of primer and let it sit for a couple days. Some of these guys use cheap resin that sets up but the oils still comes out. That’s why I give it a very light coat of primer and let it sit. When I had my little Resin casting company (Tired Iron Replicas) in the mid 1990s I always used high quality Resin and Rubber. 

[Firebuilder]

19 hours ago, blackbeard said:

Very impressive fire truck 

Thank you  Henry 

[Firebuilder]

21 hours ago, BK9300 said:

Wow - going to be an impressive looking truck!

Thank you Brian 

[Firebuilder]

15 hours ago, gotnitro? said:

Awesome looking build ! I'm planning a Quint using the ALF after the rescue truck. I'm definitely watching 

Jeff, here is a pic without the double pump, my first idea was to make  this  into a pumper/tanker. All you would have to do is add a place  for the out riggers/ stabilizer’s

[Firebuilder]

1 hour ago, Pete68 said:

Thanks for in lighting me on that tiller. The cracking could be anything maybe it was some mold release that was tucked in a corner. I hate stripping resin that’s why I scrub it as clean as I can before I give it a light coat of primer and let it sit for a couple days. Some of these guys use cheap resin that sets up but the oils still comes out. That’s why I give it a very light coat of primer and let it sit. When I had my little Resin casting company (Tired Iron Replicas) in the mid 1990s I always used high quality Resin and Rubber. 

This is an SSB resin casting. I have built several  of his kits and never had the cracking problem. It was all of the red only, the  silver  chrome did not crackle. I did clean it  with soft scrub and  rinse thoroughly and let dry a few days ,then primed it and let it sit for a week or so. I used model masters primer and red paint. Maybe the paint was bad…….

 

[Scott Eriksen]

3 hours ago, Firebuilder said:

Thanks Scott. The only Detroit I have is from the  amt pumper kits.. they are very old style compared to a modern engine! But at least it would be something .

 

Auslowe makes a nice 8V-92

[gotnitro?]

That looks so good as a tandem!  Entire truck balances visually better 

[Pete68]

2 hours ago, Firebuilder said:

Maybe the paint was bad…….

Was the humidity high just wondering it’s happened to me before even when I think it’s safe 

 

Edited January 11 by Pete68

[Chariots of Fire]

I was going to ask about the double pump panels.  Just MHO but I think the single one looks better and is more prototypical.  Nice job putting the two bodies together to form the tandem axle version.  Most difficult part of that is hiding the joint between the two pieces!

[Gary Chastain]

What a great start, will be watching. Nice fabrication work. 

[Firebuilder]

On 1/11/2025 at 5:50 PM, Pete68 said:

Was the humidity high just wondering it’s happened to me before even when I think it’s safe 

 

That’s a good possibility,

[Firebuilder]

On 1/11/2025 at 4:52 PM, gotnitro? said:

That looks so good as a tandem!  Entire truck balances visually better 

Agreed , it adds a lot to the overall kit, and it opens up a lot of possibilities for other apparatus.

[Firebuilder]

4 hours ago, Chariots of Fire said:

I was going to ask about the double pump panels.  Just MHO but I think the single one looks better and is more prototypical.  Nice job putting the two bodies together to form the tandem axle version.  Most difficult part of that is hiding the joint between the two pieces!

Charles,

thank you, I was pleased with how the body came out.  I cut as carefully as I could and the seams were very close. Once the putty is sanded they should be mostly invisible. The reason for the dual panels is that most of today’s industrial pumpers can pump 5,000 + gpm at draft, and over 10,000+ gpm from a pressurized source. Here are some of the pictures I based the pump panel off of, they are  way oversized . A lot are top mounts panels also.  I went with the kit pump panels being I don’t think I have the patience, or the skill to make my own pump panel from scratch.

Dom

[Firebuilder]

I did a mock up of the pump panel and deluge, deck guns. I think the one above the pump may to to large. So I may go with a smaller one that I have. I also made the piping for it  from Plastruct elbows and some tubing. The pump panel area will have three 2 1/2 inch hand lines. I  made a mold to cast some of the parts I will need multiples of. Will see how they come out once cured.

Dom

[Chariots of Fire]

That is BIG water for sure!  They will need industrial size mains and in line pumpers to supply those behemoths!😵

[Firebuilder]

Some work has been started on the pump panel. Still need to make the intake and discharge fittings. Also made a mold for the rear  axles  housing from and old axle half I had in my parts bin. It fit perfectly over the kit axle and allowed me to add the drive shaft for the tandems. Have to do some sanding and clean  on the frame. Then on to paint.

Edited January 19 by Firebuilder

[BK9300]

Incredible detail work on your pump panel!  A standout look compared to the mostly chrome look of the panels in your pictures of real trucks - looks very good.