DEENFR

US fire apparatus

American LaFrance Models

How a film made me an American LaFrance fan, and the models I have built since the 1980s and presented in Modell Magazin.

How did I come to American LaFrance? It was the film The Towering Inferno, which I saw at the cinema in 1974. For as long as I can remember I have been an America fan, and later more and more so when it came to the fire engines over there. They look magnificent, are powerful and one of a kind, typically American and found only in America. And when I saw the American LaFrance rigs in the film driving to the scene, I was hooked. Ever since, I have been a fan of the American LaFrance brand, which sadly has not existed since 2007.

In the 1970s and 1980s there were American LaFrance kits from AMT/Matchbox, and I bought a few of them. The vehicles were the 1000 series and Century, officially introduced in 1970 and built until 1979. The predecessor was the 900 series. They were exactly the models seen in the film. At that time American LaFrance also built these vehicles as open-top convertibles. The photo shows my first models, which I displayed at a model-building exhibition in Dorsten in 1983. I left the aerial ladder unchanged, built the pumper the way I had seen the vehicle in the film, open at the top, and the TDA (Tractor Drawn Aerial) was my first big conversion. I wrote articles about all of these models, which were published in Modell Magazin.
In the 1970s and 1980s there were American LaFrance kits from AMT/Matchbox, and I bought a few of them. The vehicles were the 1000 series and Century, officially introduced in 1970 and built until 1979. The predecessor was the 900 series. They were exactly the models seen in the film. At that time American LaFrance also built these vehicles as open-top convertibles. The photo shows my first models, which I displayed at a model-building exhibition in Dorsten in 1983. I left the aerial ladder unchanged, built the pumper the way I had seen the vehicle in the film, open at the top, and the TDA (Tractor Drawn Aerial) was my first big conversion. I wrote articles about all of these models, which were published in Modell Magazin.
Over time there were more and more of them. A tanker followed, a mid-mount aerial ladder, a mini pumper (the small yellow one at the top), and I even dared to tackle an Oshkosh airport crash tender.
Over time there were more and more of them. A tanker followed, a mid-mount aerial ladder, a mini pumper (the small yellow one at the top), and I even dared to tackle an Oshkosh airport crash tender.
This is what the American LaFrance fire engines of the San Francisco Fire Department looked like back then. This photo dates from 1975, still showing the 900 series.
This is what the American LaFrance fire engines of the San Francisco Fire Department looked like back then. This photo dates from 1975, still showing the 900 series.
An acquaintance of mine took these pictures in colour and in black and white in 1982. He had bought an expensive Canon camera but had no idea how to photograph models, and neither did I, by the way. That is how these not exactly brilliant pictures came about.
An acquaintance of mine took these pictures in colour and in black and white in 1982. He had bought an expensive Canon camera but had no idea how to photograph models, and neither did I, by the way. That is how these not exactly brilliant pictures came about.
This is what the kits looked like in the 1970s and 1980s. The packaging was changed several times over the years.
This is what the kits looked like in the 1970s and 1980s. The packaging was changed several times over the years.

Later there was also the American LaFrance Aero Chief, but before this kit reached the shops I had already built a snorkel articulated boom on the aerial ladder chassis myself.

Represented by this cover from 1982, you can look at some articles about the models I built in the archive. This issue carried my first article about American LaFrance.

Back then I painted all my models by hand: no spray cans, no airbrush, and chrome-plating parts was out of the question. Of course, we all started small and kept developing, most of us at least. Here is the archive: Modell Magazin

And I will show you how to make hoses yourself here.