82 replies to this topic

[Dave Van]

Model King will be issuing a special edition of the new Revell 1957 Ford kit. The kit will be a slightly modified version of the current Revell 57 Ford. The kit will contain new vintage police car parts and a large decal sheet with lots of Police, Fire and other markings that will allow the builder to create a number of different vehicles. Sean S. will be doing the box art and I the decals. We will post these as soon as they are finalized and approved. Below is a photo of the prototype car used to tool the extra parts.

Stay tuned.....this will be cool.....

[niteowl7710]

If the plan is to make real police department decals with real period correct equipment (like the correct fender spotlights pictured above and not the J.C. Whitney tear drop non-functional parts pictured above) I'm very interested. If the plan is to make a kit of that whackerific Mayberry...thing...I'll pass.

Edited by niteowl7710, 16 November 2012 - 09:52 AM.

[Agent G]

Drooldrooldrool..........

Can you say Chicago PD? St. Louis PD? Mass Trooper? FHP? I knew you could.

G

[SoCalCarCulture]

Lets hope they're not really producing that fake in the top photo!

An authentic version with correct period pieces would be nice.

[Fat Brian]

It says the car in the first photo was used as the protoype so if it's wrong then the very astute police guys may not be happy with this one.

[Dave Van]

Revell used a Motorola 1956 Police radio for the radio and obtained a siren and gumball (not sure the model numbers used) from a vintage police car collector.
My fault if I made it sound like it was an EXACT copy of car in photo. But it sounds like some may not like it at any rate. Only 3000 being run so if you do want them get your order in early.
Thanks

[kataranga]

Cool! Any chance of there being RCMP decals in there?

[niteowl7710]

Revell used a Motorola 1956 Police radio for the radio and obtained a siren and gumball (not sure the model numbers used) from a vintage police car collector.
My fault if I made it sound like it was an EXACT copy of car in photo. But it sounds like some may not like it at any rate. Only 3000 being run so if you do want them get your order in early.
Thanks

Thanks for clearing that up Dave. Consider me thoroughly relieved and standing in line then.

[martinfan5]

Thanks for clearing that up Dave. Consider me thoroughly relieved and standing in line then.

I might just been seen getting one of these as well, gasp, I know right

Dave- maybe I missed it, but is there a tentative released date for it yet?

Edited by martinfan5, 16 November 2012 - 03:46 PM.

[tomsheehy]

The 57 Custom 2 door was widely used by many state police agencies across the country, as well as some major cities, including NYC. During the 50s, most state agencies actually did use the 2 door sedan for most duties.

Dave, I have an extensive collection of accurate police historical information regarding this time period; as to who used the 57, accurate markings for that time and equipment. I'd be happy to devote some time to insure this replica is authentic.

If Revell took the extra step to find the radio and gumball light, that's a good thing. Let's hope they don't stop there, there are many options for the cop car goodies, even back then.

EDIT: Just did a quick count...At least 25 states used the 57 Custom in the 2 door version for State Police/Highway Patrol duties, and a few more used the 4 door version. At least 8 to 10 of them have the decals readily available from the aftermarket or other kits. Another 6 to 8 have been done but are OOP and hard to come by.

Virginia SP:

Edited by tomsheehy, 16 November 2012 - 04:15 PM.

[Austin T]

Will this be out in time to slide under the tree?

Edited by Austin T, 16 November 2012 - 05:40 PM.

[Luc Janssens]

Will this be out in time to slide under the tree?

Don't think so, I assume box-art, decals have to be approved, same for the newly tooled parts (if they're already tooled up) then one has to have a few pre-production kits made to check conformity, scheduling production time, then shipping, clearing customs, etc....

Model King will be issuing a special edition of the new Revell 1957 Ford kit. The kit will be a slightly modified version of the current Revell 57 Ford. The kit will contain new vintage police car parts and a large decal sheet with lots of Police, Fire and other markings that will allow the builder to create a number of different vehicles. Sean S. will be doing the box art and I the decals. We will post these as soon as they are finalized and approved..

BTW Dave, any plans to do the same with the Revell '57 Chevy 150, to get the most bang for the buck tooling wise?
Now we only need a '50s Ambulance and wrecker...

Edited by Luc Janssens, 17 November 2012 - 12:00 AM.

[Danno]

If the plan is to make real police department decals with real period correct equipment (like the correct fender spotlights pictured above and not the J.C. Whitney tear drop non-functional parts pictured above) I'm very interested. If the plan is to make a kit of that whackerific Mayberry...thing...I'll pass.

AMEN.

Dave, fer gawd's sake don't let them tool up those phoney bozo spotlights as shown on that "prototype" car. Those are unfunctional, inoperative fakes ... that car appears to be a cobbled up passenger car. Not unlike gluing a wing on a Dart and calling it an original Road Runner. Fender skirts on a police car? NOT. There are PLENTY of real '57 police car examples to emulate. And, there are many true experts available for consultation. Please relay to Dave ... don't get misled or the kit won't have credibility.

Thanks!! Done correctly, this is fabulous news.

The examples shown by James Duff (above) and Tom Sheehy are appropriate (in fact, the siren-light on the roof of Tom's pic is more period-correct for most agencies than the newly-emerging rotating beacons). The '57 Ford, like many '50s cars, had its spotlights routed through the fender and dashboard rather than the windshield pillar.

(And, on that note, please make sure they include the interior portion of the spotlight shaft and the handle!)

Done wrong ... oh, well. It can join the Barnabas Van in the annals of ... so what?

Edited by Danno, 17 November 2012 - 02:11 AM.

[niteowl7710]

*whistles innocently*

[tomsheehy]

The Napa, CA car above is a beautiful car, and accurate, too. It was restored and owned by a Napa officer. It is the Custom 300 trim level and is a 4 door, but that was correct for this agency. Also has the correct spotlights.

A couple more...



NYPD...

Edited by tomsheehy, 17 November 2012 - 04:37 AM.

[SteveG]

Revell used a Motorola 1956 Police radio for the radio and obtained a siren and gumball (not sure the model numbers used) from a vintage police car collector.
My fault if I made it sound like it was an EXACT copy of car in photo. But it sounds like some may not like it at any rate. Only 3000 being run so if you do want them get your order in early.
Thanks

The most correct radio would probably be the Motorola Twin-V which I think came out in 1956. The Motrac came out in 1958 which could have been retro-fitted to older units still in use. Tom would know for sure. A correct roof flasher like the Federal Becon Ray 17 or it's variations 173, 174 etc would be a nice period piece. The OSHP unit in Tom's photo above has one example. Regardless I'm looking forward to getting the kit especially if it has period police parts and decals not available before. If the recently annouced Mustang notchback kit is any indication I think it will be fine.

Steve

[Jantrix]

Anyone know if a police car like this was ever used in a film? Movie replicas would interest me more than just an ordinary police car from Anywhere USA.

[tomsheehy]

You are correct Steve, the correct period Motorola would be the Twin-V. The name referred to the fact that it could run on 6 or 12 volt. The predessor, the Research Line, was also still in service during this time period. The Motorola T-Power (also a 'twin power') came out around 1958 or 9. It began the transition to solid state components. The Motrac/Motran line came out around 1960-1, and were the first full solid state radios made by Motorola.

There is a terrific website that has a ton of 2 way radio history, including info on the above:

http://www.wb6nvh.co...2/M42Page2.htm

The above link is to the Motorolas referenced above. Go to the main page for all the other stuff.

Other than Motorola, GE and RCA were also big around this time. The GE Progress Line and RCA Carfone would be time correct for the 57s.

[Dave Van]

Anyone know if a police car like this was ever used in a film? Movie replicas would interest me more than just an ordinary police car from Anywhere USA.

Google 1957 police car and a few movie cars will come up. I did this during research and IIRC and number of 50's B movies had them as well as mainstream films.

[charlie8575]

*whistles innocently*

That cinches it. I'll order one of these, too.

Any feel for price?

Charlie Larkin