Revell Simba 8x8 Airport Fire Truck with lights

[ukmodeller]

It has been a while since I last posted on here, but as well as decorating the whole house, landscaping the garden, working and all manner of family things, I have only managed to build 2 galleons and this Simba 8x8 Airport Fire Truck.

I have not had time to photograph the galleons yet, but have managed to do the Simba and have shown a few pictures of the finished item below.

Those of you who have seen my work before will remember that I tend to illuminate my models when possible. Though this shows in the pictures below, I have produced a video on Youtube to show the lights and rear fan working.

More pictures and the video can be found by clicking on the links below.

To a certain degree I had used poetic justice with the colour scheme and warning panels, but I think that it would be allowed to operate on any airport. As always, I look forward to your comments (good or bad) and hope it can inspire others to go that extra mile and make their own kit unique to them.

 

For pictures of the WIP, finished model and video please click HERE.

 

Now I am off to the forums to see what I have been missing and to get some inspiration for future kits to build......

Regards

Kevin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 21, 2019 by ukmodeller
Renew pictures

[Stu_davros]

Very nice, the lights really add atmosphere. I love the Simba, it looks like it could cope with anything.

Cheers,

Stuart

[ukmodeller]

Very nice, the lights really add atmosphere. I love the Simba, it looks like it could cope with anything.

Cheers,

Stuart

Thanks Stuart.

I don't know about you, but those flashing blue lights tend to hypnotise me. Every now and then I have to keep watching the video to get my fix.....

Kevin

[richellis]

Cool, I have this in the stash, needs working lights on it!

[ukmodeller]

Cool, I have this in the stash, needs working lights on it!

It was just begging for lights to be added and looks amazing in the dark when all the blues are on (which can be seen by clicking on the video link at the top.

Getting the fan at the rear spinning was a challenge though.

Good luck with your build.

[Hockeyboy76]

Love it. Have one in the stash. I plan to light mine as well. Any tips?

[ukmodeller]

Love it. Have one in the stash. I plan to light mine as well. Any tips?

Thanks for your comment, it's always encouraging when someone posts a message after viewing my kits.

If you click on the Pictures link at the top I have included some photo's of some of the alterations that I made to fit the wiring and lights.

The best tip I can give is to be patient and really think about what lights to add and where to mount them.

For the main flashing blues on the roof I used 5mm LED's and used mainly 3mm for all the rest. For the front indicators and side lights I used 2mm tower LED's.

All of these can be found on Ebay where they have a wide choice of flashing blue lights of all shapes and sizes. The best wire to use is Kinar wire as it is so thin and can be routed almost anywhere.

Most of the resistors, etc, are stored in the main body of the fire truck as there is so much space avaialble. The miniture motor for the fan was purchased from China, so it took a while to arrive.

Good luck with the build and hope to see pictures of it on here when you have finished.

Regards

[wimbledon99]

Wow - Looks great - Even better with the lights on!! Lovely job

[Herk]

Kevin - Fantastic build.  As a former firefighter, this is a wonderful example of airfield CFR vehicles. As you did yours in the Gatwick livery, I am interested in how you did the yellow & red side stripe.  Is this a transfer or are those individual segments cut and placed on the vehicle?

For your followers that are also looking to light their vehicle, you might want to consider the 025000 LIGHT GENIE TRANSMITTER & RECEIVER SYSTEM  (for model RR layouts) https://www.modelrectifier.com/product-p/025000.htm.  This is offered on the MRC website for $60.00 USD.

Regards,

Steve

IPMS 47035

 

[ukmodeller]

On 3/24/2020 at 1:38 PM, Herk said:

Kevin - Fantastic build.  As a former firefighter, this is a wonderful example of airfield CFR vehicles. As you did yours in the Gatwick livery, I am interested in how you did the yellow & red side stripe.  Is this a transfer or are those individual segments cut and placed on the vehicle?

For your followers that are also looking to light their vehicle, you might want to consider the 025000 LIGHT GENIE TRANSMITTER & RECEIVER SYSTEM  (for model RR layouts) https://www.modelrectifier.com/product-p/025000.htm.  This is offered on the MRC website for $60.00 USD.

Regards,

Steve

IPMS 47035

 

Thanks, Steve. I really appreciate your kind comments, especially as an ex fire fighter. I really wish these kit makers would bring out some of the British fire trucks from the past and present.
This build is among the first that I added lighting to and also the first where I attempted to create my own decals. Basically I used an inkjet printer to print out the decals on decal paper, sprayed it and hey presto I had decals. The door badges were a little awkward to cut around but I made sure to print plenty of spares. I had a problem with the squares along the side as the yellow came our transparent as I had used transparent decal paper instead of white backed decal paper. So those squares are actually just printed out on normal paper (fine) and stuck on. 
I looked at that light genie and it is just amazing. I could have done with that on my builds of vehicles and trucks. No messy wires all over the place. I will keep an eye on that for future builds so thanks for sharing.