Fire Apparatus Model Forums

Re: Mack Snorkel

2023-11-27T09:56:36

Amazing work.

Statistics: Posted by Dfdeng44 — Mon Nov 27, 2023 9:56 am

Re: Mack Snorkel

2021-06-14T14:44:57

GREAT work! I can't wait to see more!

Statistics: Posted by CCFR-45 — Mon Jun 14, 2021 2:44 pm

Re: Mack Snorkel

2021-06-14T10:22:09

What a piece of art, fantastic

Statistics: Posted by Hazmat — Mon Jun 14, 2021 10:22 am

Re: Mack Snorkel

2021-06-14T01:25:21

Yesterday I met with the builder of this rig to make some repairs to the donor Springfield Mack that he had purchased. It supposedly was mint in the box but when it was opened the front bumper was crushed into several pieces. No real explanation for it. So I was asked to rebuild a bumper which I did using brass sheet stock and some stainless treadplate given to me by a great friend and fellow modeler. I added strips of brass wire to the front face of the bumper by soldering them on. I gave the bumper a coat of etching primer and then foiled the bumper face. Once the foil was trimmed I painted the entire face red. After the paint was dry I used a paper towel dampened with paint thinner to gently wipe across the wire portion of the bumper. The thinner took the red paint off the wire exposing the Bare Metal Foil underneath.
Once that was finished holes were drilled in the top of the bumper treadplate for the tow hooks. A piece of aluminum rod was turned into a mini Federal Q2B siren. Some decals were printed up to represent the slots and face of the siren front section. A small beacon still has to be made for the top of the windshield. Then it will be returned for further work.
With that completed, coverings were made for the sides of the platform with 3M white tape. I hope it doesn't dry out too much and fall off. There is no good way to really represent these insulating covers but the tape looks good and shows off the tubing behind it.

Statistics: Posted by Chariots of Fire — Mon Jun 14, 2021 1:25 am

Re: Mack Snorkel

2021-05-28T23:03:38

Final details for the project have been completed. Two Crouse-Hind spotlights needed to be built and one more Deitz light for the platform was needed. The spotlight was turned from aluminum rod and polished up. A mold was made of RTV so that two lights could be made. Then the bases were made of brass. Common pins attach the lights to the brackets. Before mounting each light lens was covered with bare metal foil and trimmed. Then the light was assembled and given a coat of primer. The final coat is silver with a piece of thread out the back to simulate the electric cord. After the paint dried the BMF was peeled off leaving a translucent white lens (casting resin) for the light. The Deitz light was turned from 1/8" diameter brass; both the light itself and the bracket. Then they were soldered together. A small piece of wire was used for the handle. The entire light was painted aluminum and the lens was painted with flat white.

Statistics: Posted by Chariots of Fire — Fri May 28, 2021 11:03 pm

Re: Mack Snorkel

2021-05-23T18:34:00

The work is done and the project has been delivered. It will eventually be mounted on a new Mack L body. One Deitz light has to be made like the one on the corner of the platform but that's all that's left to finish it off. Decals were done on an ALPS printer. Paint is Krylon semi-gloss white and Duplicolor Victory Red.

Statistics: Posted by Chariots of Fire — Sun May 23, 2021 6:34 pm

Re: Mack Snorkel

2021-05-17T23:44:36

This is coming a long very nicely.

Thanks for sharing

Statistics: Posted by CCFR-45 — Mon May 17, 2021 11:44 pm

Re: Mack Snorkel

2021-05-16T23:56:52

more work has been completed on the snorkel base. The hose bed has a new section and the area around the base has been filled. At the back are the siamese, and locations for some small lights. The waterway riser has been extended and is ready for the deluge gun. It's nearly ready for paint. The base will be red along with the hose bed. The boom, turntable and platform will be white.

Statistics: Posted by Chariots of Fire — Sun May 16, 2021 11:56 pm

Re: Mack Snorkel

2021-05-15T11:54:24

This is outstanding Thanks for taking the time to post your progress on this project!

Statistics: Posted by Hazmat — Sat May 15, 2021 11:54 am

Re: Mack Snorkel

2021-05-13T03:23:13

The waterway is done. Deciding what to permanently solder in place and what not to permanently set has been fun. It all has to come apart for painting. A way was found to install the waterway so that the basket will continue to remain horizontal when the boom is raised. The base has been mounted in the back of the new body by adding a plate to the bottom of the base and screwing it on from the underside of the body.

Just to get a general idea of what the final rig will look like I set the new body on some sheet stock to raise it up to the level of the body of the Springfield Mack. Then I took a photo at eye level. It looks like it will be ok. In the photo it looks like the boom will hit the beacon on the top of the windshield but I think it is just the perspective of the boom being behind the Springfield piece.

Statistics: Posted by Chariots of Fire — Thu May 13, 2021 3:23 am

Re: Mack Snorkel

2021-05-12T00:25:45

Outstanding! Wow!

Thanks for sharing

Statistics: Posted by CCFR-45 — Wed May 12, 2021 12:25 am

Re: Mack Snorkel

2021-05-10T21:38:55

Progress in the making. That's my most important product! Where've I heard that before? Anyway here are some photos of work to date.

The waterway is done on the left side. The right side is completely different, having swivels that allow the waterway to drop down under the basket and then emerge out in front of it where a monitor could be mounted. The swivel part will be a challenge.

Statistics: Posted by Chariots of Fire — Mon May 10, 2021 9:38 pm

Re: Mack Snorkel

2021-05-10T01:16:45

1/4” too long? Thought that kinda stuff only happened to me! Oh wait, in my case woulda been 1/4” too short, and even then only after painting it, LOL. Nice progress so far, looks like quality!

Statistics: Posted by hct728 — Mon May 10, 2021 1:16 am

Re: Mack Snorkel

2021-05-07T01:37:53

More progress on the basket. Still some work to be done but it is getting there. I can now lay the boom and basket up against the photo that is at 1:50 scale. The boom is about 1/4 inch too long in both sections. So I'll cut it in the middle, take out the 1/4" and put it back together with another piece of square tubing inside to line it up for soldering. Then it's back to the base and getting it built up to connect the bottom section of the boom.

Statistics: Posted by Chariots of Fire — Fri May 07, 2021 1:37 am

Re: Mack Snorkel

2021-05-06T22:07:43

Oh god is this going to be good.

Statistics: Posted by Sirentoys — Thu May 06, 2021 10:07 pm