1988 - 1991 Ford LTD Crown Victoria Scratchbuild

[charlie8575]

SUPERB work!

I would reocommend photo-etch for the scriptis. Real cars are out there, so the photos of the scripts are easy to get.

Count me in for at least a few. I build mostly civilian cars, but all of these would be great grocery-getter subjects. 

Charlie Larkin

[john sharisky]

 

For me scripts are pretty important... 

It's a really important part in my book...

I purchase a lot of resin. Scripts and emblems are usually the final deciding factor if I purchase or not. Decals (such as those from Keith Marks) are cool too. Photo-etch attached to the master would probably be the preferred way to go for us blind old coots. I'm sure that there are people that can obtain artwork and take it to finished product for you. That'll be one less learning curve for you to climb.

Maybe Art Anderson will see this and offer his always valued opinion.

I like your Polara!

John

 

[DEL]

John,  Thank you and the others since I last chimed in for the good words again.  The encouragement helps when you're sitting there at 1:30 AM and wondering if it's worth it all. It's supposed to be relaxing, right?

It is good to have the model you would not otherwise have if not for resin.  But a lot of resin models have no scripts or maker's marks. I always marveled at how they could do that on the styrene kits.  So tiny.

Still I try to do SOMETHING if I can't get the exact lettering on there.  More than a few have offered some places to look for potential photo-etching some for the cars I do.  The big blank 75 Custom 500 just wouldn't look right without that script in the lower rh of quarter panel.  It's the only nice detail on it. So I will be trying to adress that issue. A lot of things like that have gotten a lot better over the past several years.

Thank you all again..

D

 

[av405]

Any news or pictures? Sorry, I'm impatient!

[Againmikewins]

Like a lot of people on this forum, I'd buy a few for sure. 

 

 

[Bob Ellis]

GM quit the big cop cars when they converted the  Arlington, TX Plant to SUburbans . More money.

[1972coronet]

GM quit the big cop cars when they converted the  Arlington, TX Plant to SUburbans . More money.

The ghost of Roger Smith still haunts G.M. to an extent . Wasn't the 1990 model year the last for the Texas plant facilitating the B-bodies (e.g. , the 1990 & earlier Caprice) ? Or , did it last through the "bitter end" with the 1996 Caprice ? One of G.M.'s biggest mistakes ever was dropping the Caprice ! those 9C1's sold like crazy !  I'm yet to see a full-fleet of the new Holden-based 9C1 Caprice  ... I've only seen 2 in-service ( one CHP "test vehicle" and one Riverside County Sheriff's Dept "test vehicle" ) , but have seen a grip of 8 2014 9C1's on the lot at the local Chevy dealer (ostensibly , around 2-3 years ago) in Riverside County paint schemes .

[DEL]

Av405 & others:  So sorry to leave you all hanging.

I was about to take new pics of the more refined version of the 91 (as I told Greg in an email today) over the past weekend when a pretty big styling mistake I made up front jumped out and slapped me in the face. That's another reason why I take breaks, looking at it every day I tend to get to a frame of mind that it's just taking too long... DO SOMETHING and finish it.   So I go back to it and I'm outside comparing it with my 1:1 version and I see I goofed up the leading edge of the header panel to grille... sooo  I got to fix that.  To that end I was up all night Sunday, and till 2AM tues & weds night.  The car other than this is pretty much ready for the casting process and I want to get it off to Greg and see what he can do with it & then turn my focus to one of the other four I have in various steps of progress.

I will try to have pics for the kindly patient on Monday or Tuesday.  Meantime for fun here are two pics that show how it started and where it was a while back after about three winters of work.  Know what the donor base was? A Revell 69 Roadrunner. It had to be big and square-ish and that was as close as I could get. Enjoy!

 

[DEL]

Oh, and John: They did continue to build the B-Body Caprices in Irving (I think) right to the bitter end in 1996.  Texas HP used a lot of them as the state of Texas gave precedence to Texas based companies. I used to attend their state used police car auctions and every one had a sticker in the window that said "Make in Texas by Texans"  We brought back a couple hundred over the years and loosed them around Baton Rouge. Along with a lotta CVPI's, Mustangs and Camaro's as well. :-)  The 'good 'ol days'.

But you are right on the truck/suv score as well. At the time GM couldn't build those trucks and sell them fast enough They were far more lucrative for them than stodgy 4dr RWD sedan tech that was on it's way out anyway.

Edited March 31, 2016 by DEL

[av405]

Great update, thanks. Are you talking about Greg Wann?

[Agent G]

The ghost of Roger Smith still haunts G.M. to an extent . Wasn't the 1990 model year the last for the Texas plant facilitating the B-bodies (e.g. , the 1990 & earlier Caprice) ? Or , did it last through the "bitter end" with the 1996 Caprice ? One of G.M.'s biggest mistakes ever was dropping the Caprice ! those 9C1's sold like crazy !  I'm yet to see a full-fleet of the new Holden-based 9C1 Caprice  ... I've only seen 2 in-service ( one CHP "test vehicle" and one Riverside County Sheriff's Dept "test vehicle" ) , but have seen a grip of 8 2014 9C1's on the lot at the local Chevy dealer (ostensibly , around 2-3 years ago) in Riverside County paint schemes .

I have seen exactly three of the new Chevrolets in service in Clark County. NHP has one, Henderson PD has one in the Traffic Division and the Clark County marshals have one. Three cars. 

G

[charlie8575]

The ghost of Roger Smith still haunts G.M. to an extent . Wasn't the 1990 model year the last for the Texas plant facilitating the B-bodies (e.g. , the 1990 & earlier Caprice) ? Or , did it last through the "bitter end" with the 1996 Caprice ? One of G.M.'s biggest mistakes ever was dropping the Caprice ! those 9C1's sold like crazy !  I'm yet to see a full-fleet of the new Holden-based 9C1 Caprice  ... I've only seen 2 in-service ( one CHP "test vehicle" and one Riverside County Sheriff's Dept "test vehicle" ) , but have seen a grip of 8 2014 9C1's on the lot at the local Chevy dealer (ostensibly , around 2-3 years ago) in Riverside County paint schemes .

Arlington was the last B/D-body plant after Ypsilianti was shuttered or converted in late 1993/early 1994. The wagons were all built there and it caused the wagons to be late intro for '94. 

Regarding fleets, around here, this is what I've seen:

Lowell has a whole fleet, plus Tahoes. Went all GM this time. 

Clinton has two Caprices, plus a Crown Vic and two Explorers. They still have a bunch of unmarked P71s and have no intention of losing them. 

Boston has a bunch of Caprices, at least 25 or 30. They still run a ton of Vics and started getting Explorers when the PI package was introduced for them. I know they really like the Explorers. 

Haverhill had 18; 9 of them broke camshafts, and the other 9 had suspension trouble. They got traded on Explorers and Chargers.

Lancaster has two, plus a Crown Vic and Expedition. 

I think the State Police has a few unmarked for prowl units and low-profile highway patrol, but I'm not sure.

I know at least one or two other cities/towns have some, but I'm not sure where or who.

Charlie Larkin

[sfhess]

Washougal, WA PD has at least one of the new Caprices in service.  I saw it last week.

[DEL]

Great update, thanks. Are you talking about Greg Wann?

Sorry, I missed that, AV.  Yes, Greg Wann.  Been conversing with him on the back channels about our various projects.  Soon as I get this finally done I'll move it out to him for replicating, and it is getting closer.  Like I told Greg in one of the emails when I see a thing I want to correct I go even slower as I try to fix that error without making a larger boo-boo that needs even further attention.  Hard for me to tear into something so tediously done.  A lot of people would just say oh, heck, rip it up and start again. Not if I can finesse it.

As to the conversations concerning the Chevy Holden 9C1 Caprice, I have seen them used by a few places here but only minimally. I thought I saw an article where the Kentucky State Police or Kansas bought a big batch of them last year.  I also noticed in the idiot riots in places last summer like Baltimore and Ferguson or Kansas City a couple of burned out 9c1's, I'm pretty sure.

Also I happened by one of our local State Police troops here a while and saw one of the 2013's out back all decked out and I couldn't restrain myself so I went in and took a bunch of pics. Turns out it was one of maybe a dozen they had being rotated from troop to troop for R&D.  Then they also had a Ford Interceptor later in 2015, I got a few pics of and I SAW an Explorer Int. in LSP livery going down the road but never managed to catch up with that one with a camera.

They will stick here with the Tahoes mainly as they have since 2008 or so. Big, comfortable, easily repaired and when auctioned bring a pretty nice return on the investment.  Far better than the CVPI's. So sad.  If you'd have told me 25 years ago big RWD 4dr sedans would die and we would be using trucks in police work I'd have hoped not, but I also knew the EPA was squeezing out the tradional large American RWD sedan so I could see it on it's way, I guess.

So here are a couple of pics of that subject matter.

 

Edited April 5, 2016 by DEL

[av405]

Sorry, I missed that, AV.  Yes, Greg Wann.  Been conversing with him on the back channels about our various projects.  Soon as I get this finally done I'll move it out to him for replicating, and it is getting closer.  Like I told Greg in one of the emails when I see a thing I want to correct I go even slower as I try to fix that error without making a larger boo-boo that needs even further attention.  Hard for me to tear into something so tediously done.  A lot of people would just say oh, heck, rip it up and start again. Not if I can finesse it

Hearing this makes me even more excited since Greg Wann does excellent work. I already have a few of his Mustang LX bodies and they are superb.

As for the talk of the Caprice: A few weeks ago I was talking to one of my agency's EVOC instructors/testers and he stated that finding out that the Caprice would be discontinued in a few years factored into the decision to not invest in a Caprice fleet. We only have one for PR purposes. 

[gator52]

I'd be in for copies of several of the kits you mentioned!

 

Jonah

[DEL]

Thanks Jonah!

I am burning the midnight candles to finish this ASAP.   And it's the same on the Caprices here AV.  If it's not going to be around long enough to get the fleet standardized a bit they aren't going to bother. Tahoes are big, easy to work on and have a lot of plusses going for them all the way down the item sheet. They few I have seen around here have been one-offs or other anomalies. They do make somewhat use of the Charger a bit but mostly it's the Tay-HO!!

Oh, and still plenty of CVPI's (many bought extra the last couple of years, doubling and in a few cases tripling their yearly orders) the Ford Explorers and the new Taurus Interceptor. Both of which are unibodys and pretty much totalled by even a minor accident. Unless you want to spend over half it's original cost cutting out all the wrinkled metal and welding in new.  Some do, some don't.

 

 

Edited April 7, 2016 by DEL

[DEL]

Ok, guys.  It's done.  Psych!  No, I'm just employing strained humor based on a bit less sleep than normal. Do not adjust your set. The revolution will not be televised.  Or finally, "Where's the BEEF?"

Enough.  In all sincerity it is not totally done, I just have a few more tightening up things to do but I wanted to share newer pics of the progress as previously requested to prove the work does continue. The earlier pics I originally posted were somewhat dated and a lot of refinements have been made since those were taken.  Some were the things mentioned by others, and a few more things stuff I saw that jumped out at me after a fairly long hiatus from modeling.

One of the main things mentioned by someone was that the roof line was too low. It does appear that way and still does a bit despite my having raised it up a tad. I may tweak it one more time but to the one that pointed it out I have just a few things to remember when looking at the overall scale model vs the 1:1 version as follows; I made an architectural drawing of the vehicle (I do this for every one I do) and on it I measured each and every statistic you can see. Door height-rocker to window, door top weatherstrip line to top of window frame, rocker height, roof height from door frame top to top surface, then overall height bottom of rocker/frame to roof surface complete. Door widths. Fender length from door edge to end of fender/start of header, then header length. Etc, etc etc.  All measurements were reduced to 1 2/4, and the Lindbergh 97 CV chassis was used as a baseline since the panther platform wheelbase length as instituted from 1979-2012 has remained right at 114 inches. So since the 97 chassis is the same, this 91's new body can make use of that. It gives you the pointers as to where wheel well openings start and end, shows you your measurements are right or wrong, and you extrapolate up and out from there. It keeps you 'honest' as it were.

Changes were made to header length/height along with the hood.  The hood itself was opened up and is separate so an engine can be added if so desired. the bumpers were separated from the fascia/wraps so they can be chromed along with the H/L & grille assy. It still assembles using the same four screw points promo style that the LB 97 CV has.  Steel wheels and the button hubcaps (chicken-feeders, dog dish, poverty caps. Whatever nomenclature preferred) will be supplied as base, or I suppose an option will be offered to allow the end builder to supply their own chassis/wheels/tires from the LB 97 CV with the full covers that kit provides. Those are accurate back to 1988.  There are two different dash choices as well, both the 79-88 version as well as the 90-91 two year only version would be chosen by asking for the 88-89 or 90-91 version. The master was built with the 90-91 C-pillar chrome pillar to QP separator that did not appear on the 88-89, but that is easily sanded off to make the 88-89 version.

Well, that is it. I hope those of you that have been looking for this like what has been done thus far, but as always, I'm open to suggestions if you believe you see a major mistake or another issue.  Enjoy the pics!

 

[DEL]

And a couple more..  Oh, and the last pic shows my assistant without whose invaluable guidance and confidence I'd...probably have finished a year ago.

[Greg Wann]

WOW! Dwayne.  That looks really good to me.  You should take your assistants lead and go take a nap and relax after all that tedious work.

[DEL]

WOW! Dwayne.  That looks really good to me.  You should take your assistants lead and go take a nap and relax after all that tedious work.

Oh, like Garfield he has been the cause of many a nap attack on my part. Nothing like staying in on a rainy afternoon and letting a cat point the way. Except models don't get done.  

Thank you Greg.  I truly hope to finish it off this weekend and then we will talk about getting it out your way and getting all this started up!

I will take a bit of an informal poll of other members: of the following projects I list next which is the one you would mostly like to see done next?  Bear in mind I will list them top to bottom as to where they stand in the process, first is closer to done, last is closer to having just having been started.  So as Sgt. Angle would say; "Fire up the roof!!"

1976-77 Pontiac LeMans "Smokey & the Bandit" Enforcer, (80% done)

1971 Dodge "Walking Tall" Polara, (65% done)

1986-1990 Chevy Impala, (60% done)

1980 Plymouth Gran Fury./ 79 Dodge St. Regis (40-50% done)

All are started and in various levels of completion.  Thanks to all and have a safe weekend!

Edited April 8, 2016 by DEL

[RomanII]

The Crown Vic looks great. I look forward to kit availability.

My vote for your next masterpiece is the 1976 - 1977 Pontiac LeMans.  After that I would like to see the 1979 Dodge St. Regis / 1980 Plymouth Gran Fury.  

Edited April 8, 2016 by RomanII
.

[Agent G]

Superb!

G

[louie]

DEL, I have to apologize as I cannot make a decision on what I would like to see next because I am stuck on ALL of them. I'll take a few of each, hahaha, actually I'm serious. DEL, thanks for keeping us updated on your progress .   Jeff 

[av405]

Outstanding! And I would vote for the 86-90 Caprice next. The Impala name was only attached to the pre-1986 models.