1911 Christie fire engine WIP

[Harry P.]

A few more details added to the pumper... brake bands for the rear wheels, water tank, bell, etc. At this point the pumper part is basically finished (except for the rear wheels and the various hose brackets)... so on to the tractor part now...

[Danno]

Most excellent, Harry. Really looks like the real deal.

[Ramfins59]

outstanding work Harry.

[PappyD340]

Harry's build is head-and-shoulders above Barry's build.

Barry's model is in a museum because of who he was. Harry's model would merit a museum appearance on its quality alone.

I agree 100%, simply SUPERB Harry!!

[Harry P.]

I'm working on the "Christie" part of this monster now... the tractor. It's a pretty odd layout. The engine is mounted crosswise, and the radiator is in the back, below and behind the driver. The wheels are powered by a chain drive, and the cooling fan is driven by a long shaft that's geared off the magneto shaft. That big gear you see is the engine flywheel.

Here's a view of the rear of the tractor. You can see the large radiator that's mounted in back. Oops... looks like I forgot to fix the ejector pin marks on the back side of the grille. Oh well... too late now. The good news is, the hood will cover it.

Since the actual radiator is in the back (I have no idea why), the grille is for looks only...

[PappyD340]

Hey don't worry about it Harry we all slip up once in a while, at least you caught it before someone else did! But the Christie is looking good!!

[David G.]

Excellent Work!

David G.

[Harry P.]

This Christie tractor doesn't have an "interior," the driver sits out there in the elements. Pretty basic stuff here... no climate control, GPS, or rockin' sound system! The dash controls (spark advance, coil switch) weren't exactly "handy" to get to... they were at the driver's feet! Obviously this thing was designed long before the science of ergonomics was ever thought of.

The gas pedal is to the left of the steering column, clutch and brake pedal on the right, so driving this thing would be very different than driving a modern-day car. The steering wheel was huge... it scales out to two feet across. I guess you needed plenty of torque to get those wheels to steer.

[Danno]

Fantastic!

[Ira]

Beautiful Work Harry!

Very Realistic...

[clovis]

Wow, Harry...just wow.

[Harry P.]

Some real progress! A big landmark step... the front and back of this Frankenstein's monster have been attached.

Still loads to do... front fenders, driver's seat, hose brackets, etc... but it's getting there! That pipe you see sticking down in the front is the exhaust pipe (no muffler!), and yes, the opening faced forward for a reason unknown to me.

In the photo below you can see that I had to remove the flywheel. I tend to jump around and not follow the assembly instructions exactly... ... so in order to connect the linkage you see here, I had to remove the flywheel to access the engine. No biggie... I just snapped the flywheel off and will re-glue it. BTW... if you notice, there's a starter crank on the left side of the engine, and an electric starter on the right side. I guess John Christie believed in the "belt and suspenders" approach!

[cobraman]

That was one wild contraption. It is looking teriffic !

[Kennyboy]

Just amazing detail on this Harry! You are doing a wonderful job on it!

[Harry P.]

We celebrated Christmas yesterday (Christmas Eve) because of family scheduling and people having to be in certain places on certain days... it's a long story... so I had today off. A day of quiet time and more progress on the Christie. I got the seat installed. I described how I scratchbuild "diamond-tuft" upholstery in my Dennis fire engine WIP, so no need to go over that in detail again. As usual, I make a wooden base, add foam padding and my vinyl "leather" material. In this case the kit piece had the diamond tufted pattern molded in, so I covered the kit piece with masking tape and used a sharpie to draw the pattern on the tape, then transferred the pattern onto my scratchbuilt seat. The kit piece on the left, mine on the right:

Then a stick a small brass nail (hull planking nails from a wooden ship kit) into the upholstered seat wherever a "button" is supposed to be...

Then I carefully pull away the tape pattern and pull the nails down tight from the back side using small needle-nose pliers. Once all the nails are pulled tight, I add a generous drop of CA to each nail as it sticks out on the back side, and once the glue is dry I use sprue cutters to snip off each nail as close to the surface (of the underside) as possible:

And the finished product, painted with black acrylic craft paint and installed:

[Nacho Z]

I said it before and I'll say it again. This is the number one way I learn modelling tricks - WIPs. I really appreciate the time anyone takes to write up descriptions of what they are doing, take pictures along the way and post all of it on a website. Very cool Harry!!! Thank you for sharing.

[Harry P.]

I also got the front wheels and fender brackets installed. The tires are black molded plastic, so I used some fairly coarse sandpaper to scrub them down and give them more of a used look.

[Bennyg]

Very cool. Love those seats.

Ben

[Danno]

Excellent!

[farmer1]

The seat looks so much better than the kit piece ! nice work

[Harry P.]

The kit-supplied toolbox is molded plastic (obviously)... but I think I can do better. Basswood, stained and varnished. The hardware is all scratchbuilt... sheet aluminum cut from a pie pan for the hasp, the hinge barrel on the hasp is brass rod, and the lock is brass rod and a chunk of styrene, painted Rustoleum Metallic Brass and blackwashed. I carved the keyhole into the styrene with the tip of my X-acto blade. That's a dime in the photo so you can get an idea of the size:

And installed at the back of the pumper, on the right-side frame rail next to the boiler:

[Ramfins59]

Harry, your attention to detail, and your scratchbuilding are phenomenal. I love it.

[uncle potts]

Harry, I love watching your wip's. The quality of your work and the tips we all learn are truly an inspiration. I personally find the models that you choose to build are unique and a joy to watch the quality of your craftsmanship. And I know that it takes time to photograph and prepare the text that goes along with those photos, to make what you are doing and how you did it, so easy to understand. So from myself a big thank you and well done!

Edited December 27, 2013 by uncle potts

[Danno]

More excellenter!

{PS: The toolbox should probably be rotated 180degrees, Harry. Easier to access the tools from the side of the steamer than from within the coal bin. The lock should be on the outside, rather than inside. Just sayin' . . . no sense in getting burned when reaching for a wrench.}

[John Teresi]

WOW……..I have not seen this before……..Incredible detail…….Amazing man,just to cool