Fire Apparatus Model Forums

One of my favorite Matchbox from days past. I wanted to do something different with a couple of them I have laying around. If you did not know, Matchbox made three versions of the Snow-Trac. There was a version with raised Snow-Trac lettering on the body sides, one without, and one with Snow-Trac printed in white. I have all three. The non raised letters would have been better, but this one was already painted. I drilled out the mushroom fastener, and cut the axles off. I set that stuff aside and put the body and chassis in the stripper. When it was stripped, I washed it off, and then put it in the blast cabinet and blasted it with 80 grit glass bead medium. That gets all the stuff the stripper misses, and roughs up the body a bit so the primer sticks better. Its hard to find a cheap Snow-Trac with a good body. Most have been well played with. I painted it with automotive primer and paint, with a clear coat. Its close to the green Miami Dade uses. I painted the front grille flat black, and painted some details on the chassis with flat black and clear. I also polished out the glass which was in very good shape on this one. Some scratches and such from years of play, it polished up very well. More to come, showing some work on the chassis.

I like where this is going. Always good stuff when you play in the sandbox.

I knew that I would not be using new aftermarket rubber band like tracks. I wanted to get the bulge and raised ridge off of the wheels. The best way to get all six the same, was to turn them on my lathe. I put a long hobby bolt through the axle hole, and secured with a nut. I chucked this in to my lathe, and turned them slow until the ridge disappeared, and I got a flat surface on the wheel. I set the depth on my gauge, so all six were turned to the same diameter. Sorry for the blurry photo. I replaced the solid metal axles with K & S brass tubing, 1/16 X .014.

I have a box of model tank flexible plastic and rubber tracks from various fire dozer builds over the years. I finally found a set that would not break apart when stretched, and modified them for use on the Snow Trac. They all seem to have a set of guides in the center for lining up on tank models. I cut the guides out that I did not need, and glued them to the rear wheels towards the back first. After an hour or so of drying, I stretched them around the front and back to the rear, where they meet up with the first glued section. I cut it there, and glued them to the lower part of the rear wheel. This takes away the rolling feature, but I dont roll them anyway. An easy way to cover the holes in the brass tubing that I replaced the axles with, was a simple one. Just cut off the shaft a bit from ordinary sewing pins. With the chassis done, except for touch up, I am starting to finish the body. First up, a set of headlights. Most Snow Trac's that I see, have black headlights. Easy enough, a set of FRR 1:43 scale spotlights with the shafts cut down. I drilled a hole in each fender, and mounted them with super glue.

I finished up the Snow Trac today. I had made up some decals a few years back, so I put one on the hood. I added various rescue and Star or Life decals from various sheets. It got a large red cross on the roof. The roof light is a clear insert from a Lindberg 1:24 scale MX7000 lightbar, painted with Tamiya clear red. The base is turned aluminum rod. I painted the rear door handle and the tail lights chrome silver. When dry, the tail lights also got Tamiya clear red. Some green touch up here and there, and its done.

What a transformation! Something really different from what we usually see. Rich, you did a super job. Thanks for sharing your methods and progress.

Rich that turned out awesome!

That's pretty cool! I like doing things like that as well. Lots of fun rebuilding a toy into something that is more realistic. Great job!

I gotta say, you knocked it out of the park making this one more realistic! I never would have dreamed that could even be done!

Nice transformation - great looking winter rescue unit ready to see duty in the Cascade Mountains of Washington State!