9 replies to this topic

[Ralph_S]

A few weeks ago I completed building a Dutch ambulance. Pretty much straight away I also got the idea to build a fire engine to accompany it. It took me a while to gather enough reference images and to find the time to actually build it, but here it is:  

It is a DAF LF with a body built by Ziegler, a fairly typical combination in the Netherlands. It has opening doors in the cab as well as working rolling doors in the back and a working tilting cab.









More pictures of both vehicles are on flickr.

Cheers,
Ralph

Edited by Ralph_S, 29 December 2009 - 09:16 PM.

[Milan]

I will open wave of praises here.

This is almost something different than your ussual style of building, I mean you are using a lots of slopes to create complexs curves, I like that.
Stripes are very nice, I like it, too, some will say it is a bit blocky, but these stripes are very nice and hard to create, while keeping the model stiff.
I like how rounded it looks, edges are greatly done, and every angle is beautiful to watch from.
Tilting the cab is another great part of it, and, from my experience, pretty hard to achieve, keeping cab position when you want, at least on my (bigger) models.

Awesome model, well done!

[Rick]

This is an amazingly detailed and accurate Dutch fire engine (choosing DAF as the brand makes it even more typical Dutch). I really like all the little details you put in and the rolling doors and all the compartments are really well done.

[lightningtiger]

Ah, 'Ralph_S' you are very good !
AWESOME fire truck, love the hose reels and tilt cab also the engine too.
Maxi-figs look good as well.
Keep up the sweet work !

[Sergiu]

Amazing truck with very realistic details. I like very much the front of the cab and the engine.
The firetruck makes a very good pair with the ambulance.
Keep up the great work.

[Ralph_S]

Thanks guys.

Milan, on Dec 29 2009, 09:20 PM, said:

I will open wave of praises here.

This is almost something different than your ussual style of building, I mean you are using a lots of slopes to create complexs curves, I like that.
Stripes are very nice, I like it, too, some will say it is a bit blocky, but these stripes are very nice and hard to create, while keeping the model stiff.
I like how rounded it looks, edges are greatly done, and every angle is beautiful to watch from.
Tilting the cab is another great part of it, and, from my experience, pretty hard to achieve, keeping cab position when you want, at least on my (bigger) models.

Awesome model, well done!

I can understand the difficulties in building a tilting cab on a larger scale than this, because the cab will be heavier and put a lot of strain on the construction My main problem wasn't the weight of the cab (although it is quite big) but lack of space to locate the hinges and to make them strong. It all does work, but only just. I'm not sure this is radically different from the way I normally build things, although I did get creative with the front mudguards. I am glad you like the stripes. They turned building the cab into a big puzzle and cost a lot of small plate.

Rick, on Dec 29 2009, 09:34 PM, said:

This is an amazingly detailed and accurate Dutch fire engine (choosing DAF as the brand makes it even more typical Dutch). I really like all the little details you put in and the rolling doors and all the compartments are really well done.

I felt it just had to be DAF to be properly Dutch. The compartments and getting the doors to work (reasonably) well took a lot of time, so I'm glad you like them.

lightningtiger, on Dec 29 2009, 10:47 PM, said:

Ah, 'Ralph_S' you are very good !
AWESOME fire truck, love the hose reels and tilt cab also the engine too.
Maxi-figs look good as well.
Keep up the sweet work !

I started adding figs to my vehicles about two years ago. They are obviously a bit blocky, but make the whole thing look more lively.

Sergiu, on Dec 29 2009, 11:10 PM, said:

Amazing truck with very realistic details. I like very much the front of the cab and the engine.
The firetruck makes a very good pair with the ambulance.
Keep up the great work.

I intend to build a police car to make the set complete sometime in the non-too-distant future    

Cheers,
Ralph

[Jetro]

it's not fair! You are making me home-sick  

[Mark Bellis]

Very nice Ralph.

I especially like the roller-shutter doors.

How long did it take?

Mark

[Zblj]

Nicely made british square pattern! Other details are great too! You are really talented for thse kind of MOC's!

[Ralph_S]

Jetro, on Dec 30 2009, 04:24 PM, said:

it's not fair! You are making me home-sick  

I know how you feel. I am Dutch but lived in the UK for more than three years.

Mark Bellis, on Dec 30 2009, 06:03 PM, said:

Very nice Ralph.

I especially like the roller-shutter doors.

How long did it take?

Mark

Thanks Mark. The shutter doors were a pain to get working. I'm not really sure how long it took, because I didn't work on it over Christmas, but a quick guess would be 30-40 hours all in all.

Zblj, on Dec 30 2009, 06:32 PM, said:

Nicely made british square pattern! Other details are great too! You are really talented for thse kind of MOC's!

Thanks, except they're supposed to be diagonal stripes rather than British Battenburg markings. The stripes are typical for Dutch fire engines.

Cheers,
Ralph