A Good Start For A Very Custom Build
 
Back between the mid 1970's and early 1980's to help pay for college, I was among some of the first EMT-A's certified in Georgia. I live in what was a rural area and the funeral home's hearse doubled as an ambulance. If someone was seriously injured or very sick, a red light attached to the top of the hearse, the siren was turned on and it would race to the scene. In many cases there was no one to attend to the patient, the driver lust drove like hell and hoped the patient would be alive when they reached the hospital. In 1974 the state of GA decided that every county in the state should have modern, fully dedicated emergency ambulances. In our case it was a small box truck with plenty of rescue and life support equipment in back -- an emergency room on wheels. Since I was working as an EMT out of a hearse initially, the new, dedicated ambulance finally allowed the EMT's to use the training they had received. We also saw a significant decrease in the number of deaths while in transit to hospitals, whether by hearse, private vehicle or in the back seat of a cop car. This model is to be chopped up somewhat, the frame extended and the box portion of the ambulance will be mounted on the back. Fortunately, a modeler on eBay makes and sells the box portion of the ambulance we had originally. Working from pics of that old ambulance, we're going to build the best likeness of that old 1974 Chevy truck with a big ole 454 ci under the hood. The seller of the rear ambulance box suggested the GMC pickup snow plow model as a base kit to build the ambulance. I make my own waterslide decals, so the lettering will be relatively easy and I don't plan to finish out the box or treatment area of this ambulance but may do so at a later date. I've only just begun this project and it will be a challenge, but if it turns out okay I just may build as second model to donate to the local EMS. I'm also looking for a mid-1930's through early 1940's fire truck to customize to make a replica of our first fire truck. My father helped get the used truck into the county, repaired it, painted it and got it into service around 1950. It would be a special item to me if I could get a replica done. If anyone knows of a source for a variety of older fire trucks, then please contact me with details. As far as cons go to this model, there are no more than any other model. Fitment is always something to be on guard for; however, I plan to modify this model so much, will discard the snow plow and the truck bed, I don't plan to add comments later when the build is finished. I'll post pics and discuss the mods used to get the end result.