Disney/Pixar Meets the Chicago Fire Department. At the Airport. (Sounds like a rumble...but it's all in good fun.)
The Disney/Pixar bit is 'Ryker,' a character from the Planes animated films:
The Chicago FD contribution is the piece of equipment Ryker wishes he could be...the mighty Oshkosh Striker 3000 ARFF (Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighting) vehicle, a beast specifically engineered for handling the unique demands of aircraft and airport fire situations:
As an occasional builder of fire apparatus, the ARFFs are my 'Holy Grail' of probably never-to-be-kitted machines. However...the Russian model company Zvezda some years ago produced a series of 'snap' kits from the Disney films...among which was our pal 'Ryker':
So for Gamera's current 'Silly Egg' GB...I decided to build the Zvezda kit (which is listed as 1/100 scale) as the 'little brother' to the CFD's Unit 658:
Meet 'Junior'
Markings are a combination of home-made decals and CFD insignia from old Chimneyville sheets. The kit's cab section was puttied and slightly recontoured to more closely resemble the real thing, with decal 'windows' added to mimic those on the prototype.
Equipment modifications were limited. I repositioned one of the kit's side-mounted nozzles to the nose, and added an extension arm to the kit's already-pivoting boom mount with a section of square-section styrene tubing. The access ladder on the back end was made from paper-clip frames, with styrene rod rungs. Last added touch were the so-called 'gumdrop arrays,' the strips of multi-colored lights mounted on the roof rails on both sides; these were made up from styrene scrap. (On the 'real thing,' these are quick-refrence visual indicators to crews, showing how much of the various suppressant chemicals are left in the unit's on-board storage tanks.)
Enjoy
