1/43rd Dennis F8 Pump Tender

[Heather Kay]

The Dennis Brothers set up the UK's first car factory in Guildford, Surrey, towards the end of the 19th Century. The company eventually became renowned for building service vehicles of all kinds. You can still see the Dennis name on buses and refuse lorries (I still call the latter "dustcarts", because I am old), though the company as such no longer exists.

One of a long line of fire appliances, built to meet post-War British Home Office specifications as well as the specific requirements of various fire services, the Dennis F8 was introduced in 1952. It was a big hit, being a relatively small vehicle which meant it was able to work in narrow streets that larger appliances couldn't necessarily fit into. It was also widely exported, regularly turning up in Australia and New Zealand, as well as Hong Kong. The pump tender, essentially what most fire appliances are to this day, could be referred to as a "first responder". It carried water in a tank, hoses and rescue equipment in the various lockers along the sides, a 35ft extendable ladder, and a powerful pump, as well as up to five or six firefighters, and was powered by a 4.2 litre 6-cylinder Rolls-Royce diesel engine.

The Model Company kit was made in the early 2000s, and marketed as part of Bob Barlow's Classic Commercials range. It has a one-piece resin body and cab interior, cast whitemetal chassis and running gear, cast brass detail parts, and etched brass brightwork and ladder. I have made a generic model of an F8, based on various preserved vehicles. I added some extra details to the cabin, as well as scratch building some parts like the windscreen wipers, spot lamp and the door mirrors. I'm really happy how this model turned out, though there are parts I could have done better. The fire station branding is completely fictitious, as is the number plate, but you might like to know Stoughton is the district in Guildford where the Dennis factory was situated, and the registration is a mangled version of my first car, which had a Surrey registration plate.

 

[oldravendale]

Magnificent, Heather, and brings back many happy memories.

Brian

 

[Allen M]

Hi Heather
That look like it could have been one of the engines my late farther drove. When I was but a kid he was in the brigade in Kidderminster.

Regards
Allen Morgan

 

[LarryG]

Looks the part with very tidy paintwork, but weren't they ugly, as Dennis's usually were. Abergele used a 1930's fully open Leyland Cub with the bell rung enthusiastically all the way to the door! My son Dennis drove modern Dennis's.

 

[Ressaldar]

The Bee's knees yet again Heather, well done. My son's father-in-law was a lifelong Dennis employee working in the finishing department and he would have loved to have seen this beauty.

kind regards

Mike

 

[DavidB]

Bob Barlow's Classic Commercial range went to Adrian Swain. I know several ranges that Adrian acquired have been sold on since he died, but does anyone know if the Classic Commercial range is amongst them? I bought several for my father who enjoyed making them. Lovely models.

 

[john lewsey]

Very nice indeed Heather

 

[oldravendale]

Looks the part with very tidy paintwork, but weren't they ugly, as Dennis's usually were. Abergele used a 1930's fully open Leyland Cub with the bell rung enthusiastically all the way to the door! My son Dennis drove modern Dennis's.

Obviously in the eye of the beholder, Larry. I'm probably influenced by a visit made to Rickmansworth with my family in nineteen hundred and frozen to death when we were spied by a fireman as we passed the station. He invited me in to the cab to ring the bell (no sirens then) and talked me through the fittings, none of which I remember. But to be talked to as a grown up!

Later I met up with one when I was working.

I think they are lovely machines, and always will.

B

 

[S7BcSR]

In the early 50s our next door neighbour was a senior member of Nottinghamshire Fire Service and used to regularly go down to Dennis to collect new vehicles. Inevitably he parked them outside our houses for a while before delivering them on to their eventual service stations. Usually I got to have a look all over them inside and out but it didn't encourage me to a career in the Fire Service. They were lovely machines and I do seem to remember one of these being delivered.

Lovely model Heather, well done.

Rob

 

[Giles]

That really is 'right up there...'

 

[Heather Kay]

That really is 'right up there...'

Red and shiny, just like a fire engine ought to be!

I have thought there’s plenty of room in the body shell for battery, motor, gearbox and RC gear. A sound chip and speaker to replicate the roar of the engine and the bell clanging…

I won’t be doing that. I’m afraid I’ve stuck the chassis in rather too well. The body may well break if I try to remove it.

 

[John Ross]

Red and shiny, just like a fire engine ought to be!

I have thought there’s plenty of room in the body shell for battery, motor, gearbox and RC gear. A sound chip and speaker to replicate the roar of the engine and the bell clanging…

I won’t be doing that. I’m afraid I’ve stuck the chassis in rather too well. The body may well break if I try to remove it.

No need for technology quality of built model does it all.

My local Retained Fire Service had one of these units that used make appearances in our street attending to chimney fires. The works houses that I lived in were built in the late 19 century and the had weird flues that were impossible to clean properly hence the fire problem. Excitement of the engine's arrival was only added to by being named after one of the Beano's favourite characters .

Hopefully Bob Barlow's range of models will reappear.

 

[Tim Watson]

Gorgeous little model.
Tim

 

[Martin Shaw]

I echo all the thoughts, indeed a lovely model. A reminder of my grandfather who started his apprenticeship with Dennis Brothers in 1912, just in time along with a lot of his compatriots to get dragged into the Anglo/Germanic/Tsarist royal family squabble.
Martin