Return to the BUILD

“You’ll now start to build the main cab body, adding external details, fitting doors and windows, finishing the exterior cab roof, and finally fitting the interior roof.“

This stage is going to be quite a bit more involved than most stages of this build. Take your time, be patient, and it will be worth it!

Contents

Parts

Materials: The Cab Main Body is metal and the rest of these parts are plastic.

NOTE: Save any spare screws left over at the end of each stage of this build. They may be needed in later stages!

Build

Main Cab Body & Details, Installing the Rear Cab Doors and Interior Cab Roof

Attaching Details to the Cab Exterior

Firmly press the two different-sized pins of the Rear Cab Vent into the matching holes in the rear of the Main Cab Body, as shown:

If needed, use a small amount of super glue to secure the various panels and other details of this stage into place:

Firmly press the two different-sized pins of one of the narrower Rear Cab Panels into the matching holes at the left rear of the Main Cab Body, as shown:

Next, firmly press the two different-sized pins of one of the wider Rear Cab Side Panels into the matching holes at the left rear of the Main Cab Body, as shown:

Repeating this on the other side, firmly press the two different-sized pins of the other Rear Cab Panel into the matching holes at the right rear of the Main Cab Body, as shown:

Finally, firmly press the two different-sized pins of the other Rear Cab Side Panel into the matching holes at the right rear of the Main Cab Body, as shown:

Firmly press the D-shaped pin of a Folding Step into the matching hole at this location on the left rear of the Main Cab Body:

In the same way, firmly press the D-shaped pin of the other Folding Step into the matching hole at this opposite location on the rear of the Main Cab Body:

NOTE: At this point, I deviated a bit from order of the digital instructions for this stage to make things a little easier to follow.

Firmly press the pin of an amber Side Reflector into the matching hole and recess at this location on the left side of the Main Cab Body:

Repeat this process, pressing the other amber Side Reflector into the matching hole on the right side of the Main Cab Body:

Firmly press the D-shaped pin of a Side Marker into the matching hole at this location on the left side of the Main Cab Body:

In the same way, firmly press the D-shaped pin of the other Side Marker into the matching hole on the right side of the Main Cab Body:

Firmly press the D-shaped pins of the two External Power Plugs into the matching holes at this location on the left side of the Main Cab Body:

Attaching the Handles

Carefully cut the six Handles from the sprues, making sure not to cut off the mounting pins, as shown.

I recommend removing the Handles with sprue cutters or sharp hobby knife:

Gently press the pins of two Handles into the matching holes at these locations on the left side of the Main Cab Body, as shown:

Gently press the pins of two more Handles into the matching holes at these locations on the right side of the Main Cab Body, as shown:

Gently press the pins of the last two Handles into the matching holes at these locations on the rear side of the Main Cab Body, as shown:

Attaching the Cab Side Windows

Turn the Main Cab Body upside down. Align one of the Cab Side Windows to one of the matching side window openings, as shown.

The raised side of the Cab Side Window should fit into the window opening and this tab of the Main Cab Body should fit into the notch of the window:

Gently, but firmly, press the edges of the Cab Side Window to ‘snap’ the window into place.

I found that starting to push the Cab Side Window in at one corner and working my around the edge worked best. Once installed, this is what the window looks like from the outside:

Repeat this process with the remaining Cab Side Window on the other side of the Main Cab Body:

Attaching the Rear Cab Windows

Note that the two Rear Cab Windows are different. They each have a small rounded notch along one edge that marks which side is which:

From inside the Main Body Cab, gently press the raised ‘window’ of the right-side Rear Cab Window into the matching window opening until it clicks into place, as shown. Note how the rounded notches fits around the holes in the Main Body Cab (arrow below).

On my model, these Rear Cab Windows did not snap into place so I needed to use glue. However, I did not use super glue as it can fog or ‘craze’ clear plastics. Instead, I used Elmer’s Clear School Glue. This is a very light bonding, gentle glue that will not damage clear plastics:

Repeat this process to install the left-side Rear Cab Window into the Main Body Cab (again from the inside):

Installing the Front Windshield

Carefully slide the upper tabs of the Front Windshield into the top of the windshield opening on the Main Cab Body, as shown:

Then, gently press the lower tabs of the Front Windshield into the opening so they engage on the Main Cab Body, as shown:

Make sure the holes in the upper tabs of the Front Windshield fit down onto these small interior posts of the Main Cab Body:

Attaching the Front Grille

Retrieve your Front Grille assembly from Stage 03. Fit the larger left-side tab of this Front Grille assembly into the matching opening at the front of the Main Cab Body, as shown:

Then, gently press the smaller right-side tab of the Front Grille assembly into the opening, snapping the entire assembly into place:

Attaching the Rear Cab Doors

NOTE: This is the point in my FDNY Tower Ladder 9 build where I started modifying it by adding custom lighting. These light mods need to be installed before the doors are attached, so I am mentioning it now. From this point on in my build, you may notice extra tiny twisted wires and extra circuit boards in my pictures. Please be aware that these are not part of the normal build. Check out my Custom Lighting page for more information.

Retrieve your Rear Left Cab Door assembly from Stage 03. Slide the Inner Cab Panel of the Rear Left Cab Door assembly into the rear left door opening, as shown:

Turn your Main Cab Body assembly upside down and slide the tab of the Inner Cab Panel behind this ledge of the Main Cab Body, as shown:

Then, press the ‘upper’ edge of the Inner Cab Panel against the wall of the Main Cab Body:

This is a good time to make sure the door closes correctly. Note that it may not stay closed until the Cab Floor assembly is installed later on:

Secure the Inner Door Panel to the Main Cab Body from the outside with one (1) Type C screw:

Retrieve your Rear Right Cab Door assembly from Stage 14.  In the same way, slide the Inner Cab Panel of the Rear Right Cab Door assembly into the rear right door opening, as shown:

As before, turn your Main Cab Body assembly upside down and slide the tab of the Inner Cab Panel behind this ledge of the Main Cab Body:

Again, make sure the door closes correctly:

Secure this Inner Door Panel to the Main Cab Body from the outside with one (1) Type C screw:

Attaching the Cab Roof

Retrieve your Cab Roof assembly from Stage 19. Slide the two tabs at the front of the Cab Roof into these matching slots at the front top of the Main Cab Body:

While making sure the Lightbar wiring of the Cab Roof is tucked inside the Main Cab Body, press these two tabs firmly into place:

On my model, there was a bit of extra white paint at the front edge of these slots. This kept the Cab Roof from seating fully and aligning the screw holes. I used a flat needle file to gently remove some of the paint from these edges:

Firmly press the edges of the Cab Roof assembly down onto the Main Cab Body. Then, secure the Cab Roof into place with four (4) Type D screws as shown.

This is your friendly reminder to try using 3-in-One Oil on all screws going into metal:

Retrieve your two Roof Component C parts (the small silver boxes from Stage 05 and Stage 19). Press the pins of these components into the matching holes in front of the Condensers on each side of the Cab Roof, as shown.

These parts cover up the forward cab screw holes:

Retrieve your two Roof Component D parts (the curved white boxes from Stage 05 and Stage 19). Press the pins of these components into the matching holes at the rear edge of the Cab Roof, as shown.

These parts cover up the rear cab screw holes:

Attaching the Cab Inside Roof

With the Main Cab Body assembly upside down, lay the cables from the three Lightbars towards the rear of the Cab Roof as shown.

There are small tabs on the inside of the Cab Roof that appear to exist for routing these cables, however the wiring is a little too thick to fit between them. To give you a better idea of how to route the cables, I used small pieces of grey electrical tape to hold them in place for this picture:.

Retrieve your Cab Inside Roof assembly from Stage 16. With the Dome Lights of the Cab Inside Roof facing us and towards the front of the Main Cab Body, angle the Cab Inside Roof down inside the Main Cab Body as shown.

If you open both of the Rear Cab Doors, this step will be easier to complete:

Gently pull the three Lightbar cables taut so they lay flat and press the Cab Inside Roof down into place. The three sets of Lightbar cables should feed out the two slots rear of the Cab Inside Roof, as shown.

As I mentioned earlier, the two small twisted wires you see here are part of my Custom Lighting mod:

Secure the Cab Inside Roof into place with two (2) Type I screws (from Stage 16):

Assembling the Emergency Lights

Firmly press the two pins of an Emergency Light Lens into the matching holes of an Emergency Light Frame, as shown.

Repeat this process for the five remaining Emergency Light assemblies:

Press the pins of one Emergency Light assembly into the matching holes on either side of the Rear Left Cab Door screw, as shown.

The Emergency Light Frames have a thicker pin on one side, so they may need to be fitted to the Main Cab Body accordingly:

Press the pins of one Emergency Light assembly into the matching holes on either side of the Rear Right Cab Door screw, as shown:

Press the pins of one Emergency Light assembly into the matching holes at this front left location of the Main Cab Body, as shown:

Press the pins of one Emergency Light assembly into the matching holes at this front right location of the Main Cab Body, as shown.

With this Emergency Light installed, you should have two of them left over. These extra lights will be installed in Stage 23:

Assembling the Spotlight

Press the pin of the Spotlight Lens into matching hole of the Spotlight Frame, as shown:

Thoughts

Holy moly, that was a crazy stage! We have brought many of our random parts out of storage and constructed the bulk of the Main Cab Body. Our little fire truck is looking really good so far – I am especially impressed with all of the pre-installed decals painted on to the cab! These little touches really add to the quality of the model. Keep the two remaining Emergency Lights nearby for Stage 23. As for the unused Spotlight assembly, it will be installed in a later stage so keep it safe for now.

Next Up

 Stage 22 – Front Left Tire/Wheel