The Siren Board

For anyone out there that is into H.O scale model railroading or collecting 1/87 scale (H.O.) model vehicles, you'll want to see the 1/87 scale Thunderbolt kit that is now available. And yes, it's painted in glorious Civil Defense Yellow!

This is a non-operating model and only costs $10.00 and is made of resin. Go to www.ralphratcliffemodels.com and click on "Catalog" and you'll see the T-Bolt right away. Ralph also has Federal Models 2 and 5 siren kits and a Federal STH-10 kit as well. I have these and they are very well detailed. They also come with wooden telephone poles to mount your sirens on, as well as the control boxes, and the screen, standpipe and blower box for the T-Bolt.

If you do buy one of these kits, I recommend that you use super glue to adhese the parts together, because regular model glue for plastic kits won't work on these resin kits. Assemble the model first and then paint it. That's what I did with my other siren kits and this worked extremely well.

So if you've ever wanted to own a T-Bolt but can't afford one, here's your chance! I know I plan on buying one of these kits.

the detail on that (and all of his kits, for that matter) is amazing. I might buy a couple just to give the guy money...

I forgot to add that Ralph is a volunteer firefighter in Pennsylvania and an avid siren enthusiast who owns a couple of air raid sirens as well.

My 2 Thunderbolt kits arrived this morning.

I had already purchased a couple of his Model 2 - 5 - STH-10 kits along with a Ward LaFrance P80 fire engine cab years ago.

The Thunderbolt kit is very well done and much easier to lift and move around than a real one.

Even if you are not a model railroader, the kit would be nice to have.

woodyrr, I'm guessing that you're a model railroader, with your avatar. If so, do you plan on placing both T-Bolts on your layout? And I'm guessing your other sirens are on your layout as well? If so, you've got a town that has excellent siren coverage!

Are your sirens all painted CD Yelow??? My Model 5 from Ralph has a CD decal on it that I got with a firehouse built-up kit a few years ago. I'm no longer into model railroading, but I did keep my sirens!

I now have a T-Bolt kit on order as well!

FedTB,

I am a model railroader and railfan photographer. As one might surmise from my avatar, I model the Rock Island. I only have a diorama rather than a full model railroad layout so I only have one of the sirens actually installed in my tiny little town. I have a model 5 (red) on top of the firehouse on a tall four legged stand that I threw together with some plastic strips. The other 5 (red) and one of 2s (yellow) are assembled and on poles, but not installed. I have figured that more than one siren was overkill. I drilled out the horn ends on the two STH10s and assembled them but haven't installed them anywhere.

I am going to assemble one of the Thunderbolts (yellow) and install it like they are typically installed here in Oklahoma: with the blower box on the ground and the siren at the top of a utility pole. I hadn't thought about decals. I'll see about printing some tiny decals for it.

I bought one just because

Might get the 2, 5, and STH-10 too

Woodyrr, if you're looking for CD decals for your sirens, go to InQuarters.com. The guy who runs that website, Rich Krom, has several different sheets of decals for fire apparatus and police car modelers, and there is a sheet that includes Civil Defense decals, but I'm not sure how big they are; possibly too big to place on the blower box of the T-Bolt, but it's worth looking into at least.

You can send Rich a message through that website and ask him how big the CD decals are.

That is a good idea for the decals.

You can see the model 5 in this picture of my diorama in progress.


Town by woodyrr, on Flickr