California Highway Patrol 1990's Dodge Ram

[espo]

Great attention to the fine details on the equipment. 

[av405]

On 8/25/2022 at 6:39 AM, Just Jim said:

Looks great! Interior turned out fantastic.

On 8/25/2022 at 7:12 AM, espo said:

Great attention to the fine details on the equipment. 

Thank you both!

I've been working a lot these past few days, so I only had time to work on the 3D-printed topper. As I said, I was very happy with how it printed, though I know that these aftermarket pieces require work. I've gone through two stages of sanding down the piece with 600-grit sandpaper and using Duplicolor Filler Primer. Overall I have been pleased with the results, but noticed that the highlighted marks won't go away. I initially thought they were ridges that had to be sanded down to smooth the piece over, but have since discovered that they are more like sink lines. I don't think I will be able to completely get rid of them. I will give the piece another round of sanding, filler primer, smooth sanding, and then regular primer. I am open to any advice on dealing with these sink lines.

 

Edited August 27, 2022 by av405

[martinfan5]

On 8/24/2022 at 7:39 PM, av405 said:

The light bar is done.

Working on this light bar required some real patience and work. In real life the CHP used custom-ordered Vision light bars. Unlike a regular Vision where each pod is its own color, CHP's pods were multi-color. This necessitated some careful taping and painting. Tamiya's clear red and blue were used for this. It's not perfect, but close enough.

And in case anybody is wondering where the rear traffic arrow stick is, the CHP has always mounted those separately at the rear of the topper on their trucks. 

The light bar appears to sit too high compared to the real truck, so I may have to trim the mounts up at a later time.

On top of that, my understanding from doing research on the CV I built a few years ago, the software they used was created solely for the CHP bar as they wanted functions that were not standard. 

Anyways, good work thus far.

Edited August 27, 2022 by martinfan5

[gator52]

Looking great Alberto!

 

Chris

[av405]

3 hours ago, martinfan5 said:

On top of that, my understanding from doing research on the CV I built a few years ago, the software they used was created solely for the CHP bar as they wanted functions that were not standard. 

Anyways, good work thus far.

Correct, the whole thing was pretty much custom. I had already built a CHP-spec Vision light bar for a previous build and I went through a lot of trial and error on that one. That's the build where I learned it was best to go for a "close enough" look as far as this specific light bar went.

 

1 hour ago, gator52 said:

Looking great Alberto!

 

Chris

Thanks Chris!

Edited August 28, 2022 by av405

[GLMFAA1]

Looking at your original photos it looks like there is some type of line above the bottom of the cap that might help you with the problem you have.

greg

[av405]

On 8/27/2022 at 8:39 PM, GLMFAA1 said:

Looking at your original photos it looks like there is some type of line above the bottom of the cap that might help you with the problem you have.

greg

Hi Greg. Yes, there is indeed a line that I will add with evergreen styrene. It will cover up some of the issues but not most of it. 

[av405]

I've been working a lot this past week but I finally got some bench time in. I can finally call the bed done (minus decals). I tried a new method for polishing and I got the best results I've ever had. First I wet sanded with 4000, 6000, 8000 and 1000. Then I used a microfiber cloth towel and rubbed the whole thing out with Meguiar's Scratch X. Finally I used a similar cloth towel with Meguiar's ultimate polish. I had previously used a different Meguiar's polish and a chamois cloth. I have to say, the microfiber towels are a much better rubbing tool and more forgiving. I like how the result is perfect but not too perfect, just like on a real truck (much more so, a police truck). I masked off the appropriate portions of the tailgate and tail lights with Tamiya tape and sprayed them over with Tamiya TS-63 NATO Black. This was perfect for simulating the non-metal flat black portions of the real truck. I wasn't too happy with the grey paint job I did to simulate the clear mid portions of the rear lenses, but I went with what I had. The bed is now mounted on the chassis. 

Finally, I laid down some Mr. Hobby 1500 White Primer on the topper. The sink lines (first photo below) are still an obvious issue for me, so I will sleep on some possible solutions. Next up I will paint the black portions of the cab and continue working on the topper. 

Edited September 1, 2022 by av405

[slusher]

Fantastic paint on your truck bed !

[av405]

6 hours ago, slusher said:

Fantastic paint on your truck bed !

Thank you Carl. Speaking of which, the cab has been painted and clear coated. All with Tamiya spray cans. 

I'll give it a week or so to dry before I wet sand and polish it out. After that I'll hand paint the rubber molding/trim and door handles. In the meantime, I will continue working on the topper. Even though I gave it what I thought would be a final coat of fine primer, I've gone back to sanding and working on slight alignment issues. I knew I wouldn't be happy with it if I had left it as is. 

[stavanzer]

I see no lines or sink marks on the Camper Shell.

(but then, I'm famous around here, for not seeing what everybody else see's, so there is that)

I like your work so far. It is just outstanding! Do you work with the CHP? Seems you have fair bit of detailed knowledge of their equipment.

[av405]

20 minutes ago, stavanzer said:

I see no lines or sink marks on the Camper Shell.

(but then, I'm famous around here, for not seeing what everybody else see's, so there is that)

I like your work so far. It is just outstanding! Do you work with the CHP? Seems you have fair bit of detailed knowledge of their equipment.

Ha! Well I'll take it as a good sign that you can't see them.

Thank you. I do not work for CHP but I am in law enforcement. Building CHP cars in scale is enticing since given the agency's iconic status, there are various aftermarket decal providers, photos, and references for interior equipment. Even references dating back decades. My goal is to build many of their vehicles from the 90s - Caprice, Crown Vic, Expedition, etc. The availability of the relevant kits and aftermarket items certainly helps. 

[stavanzer]

Revell May help you out next year if you want to Build a 1978/9 Z-28. The Revell Snap Kit is a close match IIRC to the actual cars used back then.

There is a lot on line about them, but oddly enough they were production line cars, built in Fremont (I think). NOthing special but the beefed up brakes.

[av405]

22 hours ago, stavanzer said:

Revell May help you out next year if you want to Build a 1978/9 Z-28. The Revell Snap Kit is a close match IIRC to the actual cars used back then.

There is a lot on line about them, but oddly enough they were production line cars, built in Fremont (I think). NOthing special but the beefed up brakes.

I'm not really interested in doing a 1979 CHP Camaro, but I'll have to check the kit out to see what's possible. I shouldn't say never.

So I had an accident with the topper. I was laying down some Duplicolor White Filler Primer and it did not lay down well at all. Not sure why since the grey version went down just fine. Well, I took the chance to strip it and fix some alignment issues with the piece. I heated it in near boiling water and have braced it to be a bit straighter:

While the cab dries and the topper falls into shape, I worked on some other details for the topper. I finished the rear directional bar/arrow stick. The piece was spray painted with Tamiya TS-73 Clear Orange and then hand painted with Vallejo Black.

I then used clear Evergreen styrene to cut out windows for the topper. The topper was designed and printed in such a way that I can drop these pieces into inserts from the interior. Since the windows will be tinted, I wasn't too concerned about the edges being 100% straight since they will not be visible:

[stavanzer]

Looking Great, Sir.

The '79 CHP Camaros are a very Niche interest. The stories surrounding them, are of more interest to me, than the cars themselves.

[av405]

14 hours ago, stavanzer said:

Looking Great, Sir.

The '79 CHP Camaros are a very Niche interest. The stories surrounding them, are of more interest to me, than the cars themselves.

Thank you. Agreed on the '79s.

[av405]

The entire body has been polished out (since I'm going for a brand new look). I've put the main truck together as well. Of course it's not until I've put everything together that I noticed a slight warp in the bed. Pre-build checks are very important folks!

[slusher]

Coming along so nicely!

[av405]

15 hours ago, slusher said:

Coming along so nicely!

Thanks! I attached the grill and headlights and completed the most satisfying part - the decals. License plates will come later.  Thankfully the kit's door decals were still good, if not a bit yellow. I'm sure with time that'll correct itself. The real CHP Rams had a V8 engine, but since the kit comes with V10 decals, that's what I went with.

I want to give a shout out to inquarters decals for the sheet. This is a comprehensive sheet made through commercial printing, not homemade. I cannot be clearer when I say that these are the best CHP decals currently available for scale models: 

https://inquarters.com/Large_Scale_Law_Enforcement.html

[av405]

I've been doing work on the topper. First I added evergreen styrene strips along the bottom of the topper to match the strips on the real piece:

I then worked on the whip antenna. I started with a piece from policecarmodels.com: 

I attached a satin pin to the piece to simulate the antenna and have started some detail painting. I need to paint the pin black:

I used a pin vise to create a hole on the topper. I'm going to secure the whip antenna with a satin pin to the topper.

I painted the topper with Tamiya Pure White. Just waiting for it to dry:

[kymdlr]

Great detailing on this one. This is the first of the CHP Ram I’ve seen in scale. I had a plan to make one a while back , would not have ended up this good!

[av405]

12 hours ago, kymdlr said:

Great detailing on this one. This is the first of the CHP Ram I’ve seen in scale. I had a plan to make one a while back , would not have ended up this good!

Thank you. It's never too late to dust off old plans 😉

[slusher]

Truck looks fantastic and your camper looks great !  Nice work on your antenna!

[gator52]

Looking great Alberto!

 

Chris

[av405]

On 9/20/2022 at 10:21 PM, slusher said:

Truck looks fantastic and your camper looks great !  Nice work on your antenna!

 

On 9/22/2022 at 5:06 PM, gator52 said:

Looking great Alberto!

 

Chris

 

Thanks for the continued encouragement fellas!