Trumpeter 1/25 American LaFrance
Eagle Pumper
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History
 The
history of American LaFrance, as one of the best known builders of fire
fighting apparatus, dates back to the 1870s. Of course the modern fire
engine, as we now know it today, really didn’t come about until
the early part of the twentieth century. It was the internal combustion
engine that changed both the world of general transportation as well as
that of emergency vehicles. American LaFrance entered the new era of gas
powered fire engines slowly. The change from steam was not easy for them.
But once they made the transition they went on to become a leader of fire
fighting technology. Their equipment over the last nine decades is known
for both excellent performance and style.
It was American LaFrance that first marketed the now standard cab forward
design with its 1940 model JOX. This was followed, soon after WWII, by
the well know 700 series, as well as the 900 (the old AMT kit) and 1000
series. Today we have the Eagle series which appeared in the 1990s.
The Kit
 Kits
of fire engines are not common to say the least, especially in 1/25th
scale. As a matter of fact the last 1/25th scale plastic and I believe
only kit of a fire engine was originally released over 20 years ago. It
too was an American LaFrance. So I believe that saying the new Trumpeter
American LaFrance Eagle kit is extremely welcomed is an understatement.
The kit includes 10 individual injection molded trees, two of which
are clear parts and one of chrome, plus the cab and the frame. Also included
is a sheet of photo etched steel, six vinyl tires, as well as a large
decal sheet. Assembly is very straight forward starting with the frame
assembly, the pump, the suspension and the  wheels
and tires. Once this is completed, including painting, the next assembly
is the pumper housing (also called the pumper case). There are a lot of
details here, with many small parts and subassemblies to be built and
pre-paint. I probably spent at least 12 hours on this section including
the application of numerous small decals which require some very accurate
placement.
I should note here that I made one small modification to the right side
of the casing. A line that looks like an electrical cable runs from the
top of the casing to a box about half way down. Actually this line is
the hose that is coming of the reel that is located inside the top of
the casing. I simply smoothed it off and replaced it with a fine piece
of wire that I tied into the hose reel.
 The
next assembly is the main hose bed and gear storage assembly. Again there
are a lots of parts, but not as many as the pump case assembly. The final
assembly is the drive and crew cab. The cab assembly is similar to the
pumper case assembly in that there are a lot of parts to be pre-painted
prior to assembly including the interior.
Summing it up this kit is actually four smaller kits making up one big
one. As a matter of fact the construction is very modular. All in all
it is not a hard build just not a fast one. The only advice I have is
that the builder should not over handle any of the chrome parts because
the plating is very thin and wears off easily.
Marking
 The
kit comes with a beautiful set of high quality decals for a colorful Eagle
Pumper that is used by the College Park Fire department. The decals are
very well done and of good registration. I should note that the scheme
I used on the sample I built will eventually be finished as a Seattle
Fire Department pumper. But the SFD custom decals I was having done were
not finished in time to make this month's issue. When finish it will be
revisited by this publication.
Conclusion
Many of us have been waiting for a modern day fire engine for a long
time and I for one am very happy with this kit and would highly recommend
it. This kit is very well done with very few problems. Also, judging from
the models modular construction other versions could be fairly easily
done.
My thanks to Stevens International
and Trumpeter for the sample copy.
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