![](https://www.truckin24.de/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/10.-DankoLogoPSDWhiteLetters.jpg)
Danko is a medium-sized company in the USA and is based in the small town of Snyder in the state of Nebraska. The family business has existed since 1974 and builds high-quality fire-fighting vehicles such as tankers, tankers/pumpers, rapid attack and rescue vehicles, skid units, wildland vehicles and vehicles for airports. And the group of rapid attack and rescue vehicles includes models based on pickups.
![](http://www.truckin24.de/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/2.-Ford-F-550-Wabash-HP-1024x486.jpg)
And exactly this vehicle will be one of my next models. In the 1980’s I had already built a Mini Pumper based on a pickup truck and wrote a report about it for Modell Magazin. When I was looking for a nice and attractive model, I came across this vehicle. The Meng company had brought the Ford F-350 onto the market as a 1:24 scale kit, which I unfortunately missed. But I was able to get two kits and they serve me for my conversion.
![](http://www.truckin24.de/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/IMG_0366ueb-1-1024x766.jpg)
This is what the kit looks like and is converted from a pickup with loading area to a mini pumper as shown above. There is just one small catch here. The vehicle pictured above is a Ford F-550 and not an F-350, I have to make a compromise here. The differences can hardly be seen in the model and refer to the engine performance of the original. The cabin is a few centimeters shorter on the F-350, but this only accounts for a few millimeters on the model. And when the time comes, I will show the construction of this model in the Wettringer Forum and describe it in detail.
![](http://www.truckin24.de/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Decals-Mini-Pumper-1024x689.jpg)
![](https://www.truckin24.de/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Danko-Ford-Mini-Pumper.jpg)
And what do you need to build such a model? An exact drawing, of course, which I have had sent to me in the meantime. The President of the company Danko Mark Kreikemeier personally sent them to me, along with some photos that I need for the production of the decals.
![](http://www.truckin24.de/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/sign-36070__340.png)
Under this link you will find the conversion report in the Wettringer Modellbauforum, also in English:
https://www.wettringer-modellbauforum.de/forum/index.php?page=Thread&threadID=73752
![](http://www.truckin24.de/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/DSC_0257-1024x683.jpg)
![](http://www.truckin24.de/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/DSC_0270-1024x683.jpg)
![](http://www.truckin24.de/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/DSC_0271-1024x683.jpg)
This type of fire apparatus would be ideal for some fire departments in Germany, which have to go out particularly often to fight forest fires. The Ford F-550 is powerful, has all-wheel drive and can carry 4-5 people. It has a rapid attack facility, a fire monitor and a 1200 liter water tank, making it ideal for rapid deployment when a fire breaks out and not just for forest or other wildfires. Smaller fires, such as a car fire on the motorway, could be reached quickly with this vehicle. At least in Germany, pick-up trucks as the basis for fire-fighting vehicles are still rarely used, since there is not a large selection of this type of vehicle that would be suitable for this. The American Ford F-series pickups are larger than the Mercedes X-series, VW Amarok, Nissan Navarra, Mitsubishi L200, Ford Ranger, Toyota Hilux or Isuzu D-Max.
The Wabash Twp. Fire Department bought the Mini Pumper in 2018 for 239.000 US. dollars.
Finished! I worked on this model from June 2022 to mid-April 2023. The Ford chassis was lengthened and then the fire-fighting structure was placed on top of it.