Revell 1993 Chevy Camaro B4C New York State Police

[polybius]

This build started as a kit that was missing its box.  I suspect it was water damaged since the parts arrived in a plastic bag with a wrinkled instruction sheet.  What was worse, it was the Revell Snap-Tite 1/25 scale '93 Camaro Z-28.  It's a simplified version of Monogram's full glue kit of the '93 Camaro, but I remembered from building one when they were released in the 90s that it was still a decent kit.  With that in mind, and since SSP Mustangs seem to be far more common than B4C Camaros, I set about cobbling together some bits and bobs to come up with a livery for it.  After digging through paint, decals, and lightbars I had in spares bins, the easiest way forward was a New York State Police scheme.  

The decals were modified from the 90s AMT Taurus Police Car, but the AMT set didn't have the small font State Police decal for the front bumper so I chose to forgo it.  The Whelen Edge lightbar was an aftermarket piece from who-knows-where painted with Tamiya clear red and amber.  The siren is a Whelen Lo-Pro scratchbuilt from scrap styrene to match a source photo of the NYSP Camaro.  That takes us to the color selection.  It seems around 1992-93 New York State switched from a somewhat medium blue shade to a dark blue shade.  Most photos I found of their B4C Camaros were dark blue, and some even looked black.  I found one photo, however, in medium blue that closely matched some jars of Mr. Color Metallic Blue that I had laying around waiting to be airbrushed.  The Z-28 badging was removed to match the B4C police package.

The interior was slated to get an array of radios, radar gun, and other equipment until I ran into one of the quirks of this kit.  The dashboard attaches to the cowl rather than to the interior tub.  When sizing up the radio equipment it was a challenge to match the dashboard clearances with the interior tub.  Since this wasn't meant to be a stressful build, I decided to forgo the interior equipment and keep it all stock.  While the decal scheme isn't entirely accurate and the hue of blue might be a bit too dark, it was close enough for me and a close enough match for the single photo I was able to find of the real one.  

[MyBradKeselowski]

Outstanding !  That is a perfect B4C ! I love the 4th gen Camaro's.  I remember when Dallas police department had about 2 or 3 of these B4C interceptor Camaros.  They were bad ass and fast. You could not out run them for sure.?

 

Edited March 29, 2020 by MyBradKeselowski

[slusher]

Beautiful!

[av405]

Outstanding build! I'm actually working on a 1993 B4C using the same kit as well. It's going to be a Colorado State Patrol car. One question though: How did you get the wheels to look the way they do now?

 

[polybius]

Thanks everyone,  I appreciate it!  The wheels were one of the more nerve-racking parts of the build.  Using an original wheel as the guide, it looked like the center cap and outer lip were machined while the spokes were silver.  After floating a few ideas it came down to laying down the machined color followed by the silver color.  The kit's chrome was stripped in Purple Power down to the bare black plastic and Vallejo Metal Colors Duraluminum was airbrushed as the basecoat.  I've found it to be a tolerable match for machined aluminum and works well for some wheels.  The spokes were hand painted with Vallejo Model Air Silver and the center caps got a touch of black in the recess.  Some tiny slivers of foil were an attempt at the tiny Camaro script in the center caps.  Hand painting the spokes became an exercise in deep breathing and stepping away from time to time, but the molded in detail makes a good guide for the exercise.  The alternative was going to be laying down the Duraluminum then cutting circular masks for the outer lip and center cap.  That seemed like as much work as hand painting them, but maybe that's an easier way.  It's great to see another B4C in the works, and good luck with your build!  

[ChrisR]

Very nice!

[G. Chapuis]

Nice realisation!!!

 

Gérard

[PappyD340]

Looks fantastic!

[espo]

Great looking build. I appreciate the wheel treatment information. They look great and sometimes you just don't always realize what all the builder did to present the appearance like these. 

[peekay]

Excellent!

[Funkychiken]

A beautiful Blue! great build!

[57peppershaker]

Very nice build. I used to own a 95 Z28 Camaro. Very fast car. Only car Ive ever bought twice !

[jefropas]

Very nice!! Some of the NYSP Camaros back in the mid 90's were black. I wanna say they were mostly on the thruway. I want to do the same project, just in the prior gen's Camaro....

Jeff

[iamsuperdan]

Looks really good! WOuld never have guessed it was a snappr originally.

 

And your wheel research was correct. As a previous owner of a 1995 Z28 convertible, you got it right.

 

[polybius]

Thanks again!  In comparing the glue kit with the snap kit, it looked like most of the parts were identical.  In fact, I found assembly of some parts to be easier by cutting off any snap-tabs and simply gluing the parts normally. 

After finishing up this build I saw an AMT '92 Camaro in my stash and thought it might be fun to do it as a companion build.  It'll have to be de-Z28'd and turned into an RS, and I'm trying to figure out how to convert the basket-handle spoiler back to the traditional decklid lip. The hood bulges will have to be sanded smooth, but otherwise it should be a straight-forward conversion. 

Nearly all of the photos I came across for 4th gen NYSP Camaros were in the later dark blue or black except for one.  The medium blue seemed to be a short carry-over from the 3rd gen NYSP Camaros.  I guess the main driver for the livery and color of this build was simply having the supplies at hand to give it a try and see how it turned out.  I think the '92 will look good next to it on the shelf.   

 

[RAMBENNA]

great looking build , very nice work

[christian-w]

This Color is awesome! Great finish. I have Always Trouble with the front Right Wheel of the AMT/ERTL 4th gen Camaro and Firebird/Trans Am. Your kit is Looking great! That fits perfect all around.