Step one: Tracing the outline (of my fire engine)

This June 2020 onwards, I’m constructing a model DENNIS fire engine from plywood, it’s my little project to keep lockdown boredom at bay, now in order to follow the construction I’m afraid the reader really will have to read (if you’re interested 🙂 ) my previous 2 posting because it’ll save me repeating the content once again, for the first real occasion in over 2 year my WordPress has a theme.

So hopefully you’ve returned interested as to what happened next, btw I’m not showing off, I’m enjoying seeing my mini project on the internet.

1. I’d previously googled DENNIS F8 fire engine then copied 120 found photographs, then saved onto my PC (inside a folder).

2. Pictured below you’ll see a side-on outline of one fire engine side panel, on tracing paper again purchased from good old Amazon.

3. Taking a sheet of tracing paper, I attached said paper to the PC screen and traced the outline, then using scissors cut out the fire engine profile a technique well known to all you dress makers…….. exactly the same except I cannot sew lol!

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  Tracing paper sketch directly copied from the PC screen below……….

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  My dell widescreen showing…..….

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  ….…. photographs of a ‘Dennis’ fire engine

Below you see a model DENNIS purchased from Amazon for £10, this toy’s only purpose to give me an reminder/prompt as to what the engine actually looks like as I construct the model……… it’s all a question of scale.

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  The model is actually very realistic, compare to photos in the previous postings and you’ll see the resemblance is quite striking

😀 I hope you’re keeping up!

4. Taking the fire engine profile paper tracing, I then attached to a piece of birch tree sourced plywood and proceeded to cut out one side panel using my scroll-saw, follow the pencil line with the saw blade carefully and scroll-sawing really is very easy.

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  The picture above shows a sheet of birch plywood, the tracing on top, and my scroll-saw blade cutting out one side panel………. with my assistance, like I said NO different to cutting out fabric panels when dress making

Repeated the tracing/sawing procedure on a new sheet of plywood so as to manufacture a second side to my DENNIS F8 fire engine………. for those unaware of this beautiful magnificent vehicle, the fire tender was built in the 1950’s and below shows the actual image I used to trace around.

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  The advantage of having a wide screen monitor meant I could construct a large model… incidentally the monitor is borrowed from work so I can WORK from home

…….…. and here’s my model (below) partly constructed by gluing the plywood profiles to one another, using wood glue!

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  Wooden DENNIS F8 with chassis and sides partly constructed…… I’m happy with my DENNIS so far

To be continued………….. (any questions in comments please)

A. Shepherdson 2020