Gern's 1/72 PST PMZ-2 Fire Engine

[Gern]

Hi guys, Ian's asked me to kick this one off with my proposed build so here goes:



This is what I'm hoping to do. It's an old kit and apart from one build of a truck towing an AA gun I saw Ron do some years ago, I know nothing about the manufacturer. He had no major issues so fingers crossed.



The instruction sheet seems clear enough.



Sprues are in three colours for some unknown reason, but I really like the separate tyres as that's going to save me a lot of painting heartache. It is 1/72 so I might be struggling with some of the smaller assemblies - we'll see. I have a 1/35 kit as back-up which I'll only post if this one goes all pear-shaped.

You might spot that this is based on the same half-track chassis that Dave (Ward) is going to build, even though his is in 1/35. Apparently the fire engine section was mounted on a variety of different chassis. Looking at the sprues, there seem to be parts for some sort of hose reel trailer. This isn't shown on the box art or in the instructions, but I'll include it if I can. I've got the all-wheel version of this fire engine in the stash. I'll have a look and see if the trailer & instructions are included there.

Ian's also asked me to keep an eye on the GB and try to keep some sort of control. Bearing in mind we have "Probably the best rabble in the world" among us, that's going to be like herding cats, but I'll do my best.

Good luck with your builds guys, but remember, no starting until Sep 1.

 

[Mickc1440]

Now that's a bit different good luck when the time comes

 

[Jim R]

Now that's a bit different

Oh yes - very different, both the subject and the kit maker.

 

[papa 695]

Different yes I like that.

 

[stillp]

That's certainly an oddball.
Pete

 

[The Smythe Meister]

Yep,I like that too

 

[Valeron]

Interesting kit. Very different. This will be fun to watch.

 

[Ian M]

Ian's asked me to kick this one off with my proposed build so here goes:

I did? Oh well-
That is something very different Dave.

 

[Gern]

Thanks guys.

 

[Gern]

OK. Up and running.

Minor progress. Got 90% of the chassis done.



You'll notice from the pics that the fire engine part of this truck is supported by a number of struts.


Unfortunately, some of these parts are broken or missing.



I've already had to supply the prop shaft using some brass tube as it isn't included in the kit, so I'm also going to replace both axles and the support struts. That will make the kit stronger. Had a quick look at the link and length tracks and it doesn't look promising, but I'll leave those 'til later.

They also want you to modify some parts - especially the front bumper, mudguards and tool boxes that fit there. That has to be as they're using the same sprues as they use in the all-wheel version, but it doesn't look too difficult.

 

[Jim R]

So often kits look simple, not many tiny parts and only basic detail but they can turn out needing a lot of work. Methinks this is the case here Dave

 

[Gern]

I didn't bother cutting out a recess for the toolbox on the muguards - I'll just cement them in place underneath. Once I've cut them to length, filled the gaps at the end and covered the holes at the back that is! Lots of faffing about but it's all fairly straightforward stuff.

There's some flash which is only to be expected with an old kit, but I'm surprised to find a lot of it is too thick to be simply scraped away and has to be cut off. Still, if I can't deal with a bit of flash here and there, I've picked the wrong hobby!

 

[Gern]

There's quite a few guys in this GB doing amazing stuff with research and adaptations/scratching on their kits. Sorry to say, I gotta do all sorts of stuff just to get mine built.



I cut that bit of brass rod for the front axle the same length as the plastic bit supplied. You can see it's not long enough to fit in the holes in the back of the wheels. But if I make it long enough for the wheels to clear that cross member - whatever it's supposed to be - it doesn't look like the wheels will fit under the front mudguards!

I'm gonna need some of this



to replace the two hoses you can see here:



I was hoping for a better pic to show the nearly 1/2mm step along both sides of these parts caused by mould misalignment. I did manage to get a little bit done though:



but even that needed some fettling to fit properly. I'm supposed to cut off that lip that runs across the top of the windscreen but it fits snugly under the cab overhang so I'm gonna leave it alone. Being a clumsy ham-fisted oaf means I'd probably break the windscreen top.

Speaking of windscreens, there's no clear plastic supplied so if I want to fit windows, I gotta make them myself. We'll see.

I've had no joy finding instructions or even a picture of the hose reel trailer so those bits look destined for the spares box.

I gotta say my back-up plan (a Tamiya kit) is looking better all the time, but I'll persevere with this for a while longer.

 

[scottie3158]

Now this is something different. Nice work so far I will follow along.

 

[Mini Me]

Don't give up on it Dave.........you have all the ingredients to make a really good looking model.

 

[Gern]

Made a little more progress on this.





I was originally going to use brass tube for the support posts. I'm not a massive fan of CA so I tried two-part Gorilla epoxy to fix them. I think the attachment points are too small as they fell off when I picked them up after leaving them overnight to set.
Then I tried CA. All I managed to do was to stick my finger and thumb to the the rod and two fingers of my other hand together.

After a dash of acetone and lots of warm soapy water, I resorted to using plastic rod. Now I'm ready for a little paint.

 

[Mini Me]

That turned out nice Dave........I really like where you are going with this build.

 

[Gern]

I mentioned there was some sort of trailer with a hose reel included in the kit. Turns out it's not a separate trailer but attached to the rear of the truck:



This kit shows it attached to a normal truck with a double cab, but according to the blurb on the box, the same set up was installed on the half track so it wouldn't be unreasonable for me to use it.

I've got the complete hose reel but I can't find any parts for what looks like a pump attachment on the truck chassis (the silver bit). Maybe I can cobble something together. If I can I'll add the extras.

I've also noticed that the frame above the water tank which holds the ladders and a couple of hoses is different in every picture I have for the PMZ-2 which is the fire fighting bit. Even the pictures in the instructions are different to the box art on my kit so I'm not going to worry about how accurate it might be!

 

[Gern]

'ey up young Ron! You been at the Boddies again? I got four copies of your 'Like' in my inbox!!

 

[JR]

Looks a bit of a beast Dave, good for you in continuing to battle it .
Think we've all been there with the CA trick of sticking the fingers together and not the part to the kit ! I'm good at sticking parts to the tweezers