PlaymoFriends
Creative => Customs Gallery => Ships & Vehicles => Topic started by: Tim_w on April 18, 2006, 16:14:18
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Hello All
It has been a while since i contributed to the board but i am back now and plan on starting things off with my latest conversion. As you have probably guessed it is related to the Rescue theme. This particular vehicle was one of the main pieces to the jigsaw puzzle which is my Playmobil Fire Service and i have to say it presented me with some big problems. Finally after several days of work and a couple of months thinking here it is, my own custom Playmobil Rescue Tender.
Here is a basic explanation of what a real RT is and what it does. This may sound familiar to some members because it was first written here http://www.playmofriends.com/forum/index.php?topic=451.0 (http://www.playmofriends.com/forum/index.php?topic=451.0)
Most fire brigades across the country have several RT's although they can have various designations. Some brigades call them Major Rescue Units and others call them Emergency Tenders. As with the regular fire engine’s different brigades choose different vehicle layouts and manufacturers so there is a lot of variety.
An RT has several different roles and uses but the main one is to support fire engines at serious crashes involving cars, heavy goods vehicles, planes and trains. This type of work usually involves large or heavy vehicles so the RT carry’s amongst other things a heavier version of the regular cutting equipment found on a normal fire appliance. As well as cutting equipment they also carry a large selection of tool’s, jacks, props, lifting equipment, ropes, lights etc. They also carry duplicates of the basic equipment found on standard fire engines.
Additionally as well as attending vehicle accidents RT's can be used to rescue people trapped in trenches, machinery, collapsed buildings and so on.
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Here are two pictures showing the scratch built interior. I have used the slide out tool trays from the Playmobil equipment trailer because of their ability to hold a wide selection of tools. As you can see from the second picture every inch of space has been used as efficiently as possible. The vehicle itself holds more equipment than my last vehicle, which had to pull the equipment trailer.
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This picture shows the heavy winch that has been fitted to the front of the appliance. It has various different uses and adds more flexibility to the vehicles role. Towing eyes have also been incorporated to the front bumper to allow ropes or cables to be anchored securely.
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Hello All :)9
Thank you for taking the time to look at my pictures, its good to be back amongst my friends :wave:
Kindest Regards Tim :)
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Hi Tim! :wave: That's one devil of a custom you've done there. And excellently thought through, as always. :)
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WOW! :o
No wonder you've been a bit quiet lately... it must have taken a very long time to put this amazing vehicle together! 8-)
The standard of this conversion is just as impressive as all the past ones you've produced. I like the way everything inside is so neatly stowed - just as it should be. :)
Yet another customising triumph, Tim! Thanks for sharing the pics with us! :)9
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Hello Gordon, Sylvia :wave:
Thank you both very much for taking the time to leave your kind feedback. This vehicle has certainly caused me its fair share of problems and has been quite frustrating to say the least. I think one of the main problems was the large ammount of parts that needed painting seperatley and this persistent wind we have been having for what seems like months 8}. All in all though i am quite pleased with the final results allthough i still need more equipment space ;D
Kindest Regards Tim :)9
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Another excellent custom.
You do a great job.
Have you ever thought about doing a major fire/accident with Gordon?
M
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nice custom job.
how many trucks did it take to make it?
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Hello Meg
Thank you very much indeed for the kind feedback. It would certainly be a great idea to do a join incident with Gordon in the future as he has a very nice collection of vehicles and is a good friend of mine. However you might be suprised that we have not actually met yet :-[. I think this is something i will have to look into organising in the near future.
Kindest regards Tim
Hello Farmboy
Thank you very much for your kind feedback. You have certainly raised a very interesting question indeed. Allthough the main conversion is only made from one vehicle i have used lots of parts from several different set's. I also had to do a lot of scratch building which is basically making your own parts from plastic sheet. I hope this answers your question. If you have anything else you want to know please feel free to ask as i am only to glad to help.
Kindest Regards Tim
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Hello Meg
Thank you very much indeed for the kind feedback. It would certainly be a great idea to do a join incident with Gordon in the future as he has a very nice collection of vehicles and is a good friend of mine. However you might be suprised that we have not actually met yet :-[. I think this is something i will have to look into organising in the near future.
Kindest regards Tim
Something I've been thinking about. June is a possibility as I am down in Birmingham for a day working, but travel down the day before.
I'll be in touch soon on this.
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Hey Tim - what a way to come back with a bang! That rescue tender is beautiful. I am amazed at how much equipment it holds, and all of it stowed neatly - which I am sure is a necessity as during a crisis there is no time to be looking around... "I know I left that clamp around here somewhere...." ;)
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Hey Tim,
That's a really cool rescue truck, I especially like the front of it. It looks like you have used every inch of space on it for something. Do you have a unit that holds a cascade system for filling airbottles? Thanks for sharing.
Ben
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Hello CH
Thank you for your very kind feedback. As you quite rightly say that with so much equipment it is important that everything has its place. However in klickie form it gets quite frustrating when you unpack everything and forget where it all goes or it does not fit the same way as before :lol: ;D. I spent about 5 minutes trying to get one piece equipment out of the back without either breaking something, getting my finger stuck or worse tipping everything out :lol: ;D
Hello Ben
Thank you very much for your kind feedback. The one problem i allways had was lack of space on the current Playmobil vehicles for all the equipment i needed to carry. So when i decided to make the Rescue Tender (my favorite type of appliance or rig) the priority was its ability to carry a lot of gear. However it is still not quite up to carrying everything so i am sure there are a lot more different version's to come !!.
Now on to the air bottles or BA (Breathing Apparatus) as they are referred here in the UK. At the moment i don't have a vehicle with the ability to fill BA cylinders allthough this is something i plan on making in the future. Here in the UK they are usually referred to as BA Tenders or BA Support Units (BAT's or BASU's). The main role as i am sure is the case in the USA is to supply spare cylinders and re-charge, clean and service the empty set's. This particular type of vehicle is usually employed at protracted fires or chemical incidents again probably the same as your Air Truck's. Sometimes Chemical Incident Units here in the UK have an area for filling and servicing BA allthough our CIU's are by no means as big as some of your impressive semi trailer units !!.
Kindest Regards Tim
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Great truck, Tim :D I like the way you use every single centimeter of room ;D
One question. On the fourth and fifth pictures, there are some sort of shelf on the inside of the door. It's where the window would normally be. What is that? Looks like some kind of cabin or closet, but it is empty.
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Hello Kristian :wave:
Thank you very much indeed for the kind feedback. Now to answer your question about the shelf in the rear door :).
To use every little bit of space i decided to use the window covers off the race service truck which the vehicle is based on. I was lucky enough to have two sets of each cover and with some sawing and sanding i cut 3 sets of the covers with shelves in to fill in the small windows as you spotted in the pictures. There are also the same shelves opposite the window in the fourth picture but these are actually full (you can just see the grey boxes above the blue cylinder). On the rear doors i could only have the one side fitted out with shelves because the door would not shut properly due to the slide out tool tray's. The shelves are empty at the moment because i need to decide what is going to be stored in them but i think there will be torches in the rear door and some more grey boxes in the side door. As soon as they are sorted out i will take a couple of close up's for you so you can see the finished result.
Kindest Regards Tim :)9