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Luc Janssens

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  1. 1969 Dodge Polara CHP Cruiser As with big rig builders, police car modelers are rarely blessed with new subjects, and the few released were either simplified designs and retools or marketed towards youth, sometimes including questionable and costly extras. Only one kit sticks out and then it's an old tool whose current existential status is unknown, namely the old Jo-Han Plymouth Fury, which was on the market for decades. I firmly believe that police car modelers will lay the green on the counter for a detailed cruiser because they almost always had to rely on aftermarket companies to make a convincing model. The 1969 Dodge Polara is widely known as one of the all-time favorite cruisers amongst officers who were active during the 60s-70s. It is also listed as the fastest cruiser of the time, even surpassing the 94-96 Caprice LT1s. The 1969 Polara equipped with a 440 4bbl was officially clocked at 147mph in tests. It was basically a 4 door muscle car, which sat on top of the food chain eating GTOs, Chargers, Challengers, 'Cudas, Chevelles, Camaros and Mustangs for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Just the kit we need for keeping the tablecloths of America's contest tables free from tire burns! In fact, anyone who collects and/or builds muscle car kits must have at least one, just to keep his collection intact. Finding a pristine example will not be a problem in this case, because Hemmings "Muscle Car Machines" Magazine recently did a restoration feature on one. Likewise for someone to measure and photograph it, because it's in Tom Montgomery's (Former Amt/Ertl kit designer) back yard! Body: Four-door body of course with fine and sharp engraving (Don't you love the window surrounds on a late 60s Jo-Han annual?) and without heavy molded-in features. For example, a dome light which can lead to a sink mark in the roof, which the modeler has to fill and sand. Small ridges and holes where to drill in the roof for roof mounted emergency lights will do. Because this car has seen service in many agencies, it would be handy to either offer the side moldings as separate metal transfer pieces (like Galaxie LTD's 1948 Chevrolets). This may not be feasible and could be a possible giveback when running into budget issues, but since it's a thin molding to begin with, it probably can be sanded off with relative ease when molded-in. The body closings will only consist of the hood dressed up with a separate lip* and hinges, in case the builder wants to show off the engine. The following items round up the body assembly: firewall, inner fenders (as with Amt '68 RR), radiator brace, side mirror(s)*, door handles*, front bumper* with separate grille* (to ease the detail painting) with clear headlamp lenses, rear bumper*, tail lamp-surrounds* with a perimeter flange to reinforce them and provide a gluing surface to mount them into the body and provide a stop for the rear bumper, and clear tail lamp-lenses of course (* indicates chrome part). Interior: The plain-Jane base level trim all around interior, would be a sort of snap-fit platform style, minimizing the risk of getting glue in unwanted places. Consisting of a floorboard with a two piece dash, steering wheel and column with molded-in selectors, separate pedals, two piece bench seat, separate rear seat with package tray (flashed over holes for mounting the two CHP flashers), separate door panels to allow for easy detailing. Police radio set-up for the transmission hump. It can be similar to the Jo-Han Plymouth set up, as that was very accurate. However, having separate pieces for the radio, siren control and switches would be great so that different set-ups can be configured by the builder. Two detailed microphones are needed; there was only one in the Jo-Han kit which was incorrect for the set-up. Chassis and drivetrain: Breakdown similar to AMT’s 1957 Chrysler 300 or their 1960 Galaxie kit, 440 4bbl (what else!) with Torqueflite 727 Auto Trans. This police engine was rated at 375 HP. Kit should include two air cleaners, one stock and one low restriction. The low restriction is the police unit, and is similar in design to the one in the Lindberg 1964 Dodge 330 kit. It's actually referred to in the Dodge literature as an "unsilenced" air cleaner. Separate chassis, heavy duty rear end, dual exhaust, and front and rear sway bars round out the chassis. Wheels: two sets...one needs to be correct steel wheels with dog dish hub caps of correct vintage. I'd include a base series full hubcap as an option for those doing a standard sedan. Tires need to be a beefy vintage blackwall, Goodyear Polyglas or similar. The ones AMT has been using for years are actually pretty good. Accessories: Here's where it gets tricky. The Jo-Han Plymouth was actually a great kit for the roof lights alone. They were extremely accurate and looked the part. This kit should be done with that in mind, optional roof light set-up* for multiple agencies. Spotlights* for both sides are a must. Two styles of beacon lights, one like the Jo-Han, which is a Federal model 176H and one a flat top 4 beam (Federal 184, Dietz 211 or similar). The roof bar with twin beacons would be nice too. That's a Federal model 11, with optional chromed siren speaker in the center. I'd use the rounded speaker (like the speaker on the Adam-12 car) instead of the flat wide style in the Jo-Han kit. Since electronic sirens were just becoming popular, it would still need an old mechanical siren for under the hood as another option. To round it out, about six flashers of different sizes, 2 small, 2 medium, 2 larger, all single faced. These could be used for rear deck flashers, front grille flashers, optional light bar flashers, etc. Now the most important necessity for all of these lights: MOLD ALL OF THEM IN CLEAR PLASTIC. Not red, not blue, not a mix... CLEAR. This allows the builder to tint them accordingly to the agency that's being represented. The push bar would be a preformed pre-painted metal assembly, to keep it in scale and robust Agency decals: I'm sure licensing and permissions are in order here. But it shouldn't be too bad, considering Hawk/Lindberg is issuing about 6 different state agencies in their reissue of the 1996 Crown Victoria. A CHP version is a must, this would negate the need for roof lights, too, as they ran most of these with no roof lights and dual spotlights, the driver's side being red. The CHP would also have two flashers, one red and one amber, on the back package shelf, both on the left side, facing rear. However, the 1969 Polaras were used all over the country, and offering different versions or including different agencies in the one kit (like the Jo-Han Plymouth) would be great. The tooling could be used for modified reissues of any C-body MoPar from 1969-77 as the chassis were virtually unchanged except for the yearly addition of annual emissions upgrades (or downgrades, if you will). The ultimate choice would be the 74 Monaco for its wide use in movies (Blues Brothers) and its very wide use in police and taxi work. - Box-Art: I really like the way Sean Svendsen handled the Model King box designs of the ’70 Wildcat and Camaro Funny Cars. He really knows how to present a built model, so I would put him in charge of that (hopefully his fees are reasonable). for the box top however, I also like the art work of Jairus Watson and know he would do a good job of a CHP unit burning sideways (showing off the "Wolfs Head" graphics on the door) through a corner on Mulholland drive, in hot pursuit of some bad boys. The size of the box would be like the "Accurate Miniatures" Corvette kits, to show off the artwork and the neatly displayed contents when removing the box top. - Packaging of the parts: chrome, clear parts, tires, packed separately in poly bags, same for the white plastic parts, decals by Cartograph covered with a protective paper and bagged too. - Instruction sheet: I like the approach AMT/ERTL took in the mid 1990s, which was very detailed and every part was clearly identified. - Consumer support: On our company website I would post a whole range of photos taken when the engineers of product development were measuring up the cruiser, together with anecdotes, facts and fiction of the subject and the agency it served with. Also a photo composing as per instruction sheet sequence would be available on line together with tips on how to build a perfect model. For photo's and the original article of the restoration of this unique vehicle click on the link below. Note: The book "Dodge, Plymouth & Chrysler POLICE CARS, 1956-1978" by Edwin Sanow and John Bellah, Motorbooks International was used for reference. http://www.hemmings...._feature15.html Tom Sheehy & Luc Janssens
  2. Hi, I'm building an Mpc 4x4 Ford Van and was wondering what color the engine should be. Also I asume the underbody is red primer with color overspray and the chassis, black, right? Thanks inadvance for your help.
  3. Tom, I'm working on the Van already, dunno what happened, I just digged into it 'bout the Dodge Van's, the tool in the state it's in now, is worthless, dead capital, so I'm hopeful that somewhere don the line they will rework it, not that I need one, got a whole slew of those kits, beginning with both the Window versions and ending with the Wanted edition..
  4. I'm posting this, to give hope to all the guys and gals here, who are looking for something specific, which always seems to slip away, due to too being to late or too darn expensive.... Almost ten years ago, I won an auction on a original Mpc 4x4 Ford Van, but when I got it, it was a mix of two kits, all except the chassis was Mpc Van, the rolling chassis was Amt Ford pickup. The purchase wasn't a total loss, due to having a Amt pickup, with a glue bomb chassis, but I really wanted a complete van. Now fast forward to the present times, a week or two ago, on ebay I found an Mpc van with a body which seemed twisted beyond repair, I asked the seller if the kit contained a complete rolling chassis, he said yes. I waited for the last seconds of the auction to put in my bid, which was under $10, and to my surprise won the auction. Picked up my parts kit at the PO last Saturday, so now have a complete MPC 4X4 Van, and it didn't cost me an arm and a leg (I'm sure you all have seen that expensive parts-seller on ebay ;^) The original purchase: The parts kit:
  5. I have a vague recollection they were made in France like the 2nd gen Tigra a few decades later, but could be that the coach builder only did the body... Anyway found this website, which may be helpfull to those interested in the GT http://www.opelclub.com/html/opel_gt___faqs.html
  6. Oh...I was 2 decades too late to work on them and in the wrong country as they were made in France.
  7. I'll pull it out of the stack and include it in this post sometime later today..
  8. Reverse engineering can also be used to aid in the design of all new model kits. We all know that there are newly tooled kits on the market, of vintage subjects which were ones available as Promo's and annual kits. And while the underpinnings of those new tooled kits, are state of the art, some of the times the body fails (grossly) in the accuracy department when compared to the 1/1 subject and even to the old annual/promo of which the tooling was altered or scrapped a long time ago. I think most of us here have seen the Moebius Ford Pickup Tooling models in the Truck kit section, of this forum,(http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=64836&p=906721 ) which were generated from CAD files ( http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=64836&p=910019 ), so IMHO the good parts of "accurate" classic kits can be used, scanned and morphed with all the newly generated data into the CAD design process, along the way updating it, adding panel lines and other details like clear headlamp lenses, features old annuals often lacked. Thats why I keep yelling off rooftops that IMHO the tooling from Jo-Han can be scrapped, but that the rights to the name and past designs are only of value,To get hold of those rights, is probably a legal nighmare, but it sure would be nice to bring back to life some of the interesting and economic viable albeit updated subjects they had in their catalog, like their '70 Roadrunner or '70 Deville (modified into i a convert to replicate Boss Hog's ride ;^)
  9. Do hope that Round-2, along the way will release the tanker trailer, need one for a conversion and dont wanna buy the "set" cuz don't need the dodge truck.
  10. Although I have a couple of the Buyers Choice editions, this re-release is definitely on my wish list. Partly due to the rework round-2 has done, like a better fit of the hoods on the cowl area (the originals were a little short) and because I used to work at Opel. I've just learned a local plastic pusher got a load of new amt kits, but sadly the Opel isn't part of the batch.
  11. I think it's 50s origin, think of it as a time capsule from the dawn of the plastic model kit hobby. Not accurate but interesting....
  12. I bought 20 or so sets (of 4) of the mpc Goodyear tires (like those in the Mpc '76 Caprice) from Model round up, are these the G70s you mention?
  13. Life is good, wish it was post summer already, uh wait a sec, no not after this winter, still...I have 'm pre-ordered already with my favorite online plastic pusher. Thanks for the photo's Dave!
  14. This past week I bought a parts kit off ebay, while my winning bid was within my projected budget, the shipping costs were much more then what I expected. Did USPS double their rates for international shipments? 10 years ago, I used to buy in bulk and shipped via surface mail, that were the good ol' days.... Another thing I don't understand, everything new these days is made in China and the currency exchange rates Dollar vs Euro, is favorable to us, yet, a $25 (20 Euro) US kit here, is hovering near the $40 mark (30 Euro) Why can't International distributors have their stuff shipped directly from China? (now the merchandise goes via the slow boat to the West coast, then trucked to the mid west, stored, trucked to the east coast, again boat, trucked, stored, and then retail.) From my past life in lean manufacturing, my task was to eliminate waste, to reduce costs, now international buyers, are paying more fro moving the stuff then the actual value of the kit, and taxed on that waste too.
  15. Revell Germany has it's repackaged version, planned as a May release.
  16. Italeri is listening or back in touch with the market, because their all new Iveco Stralis kit, again has an engine included, long live the "old concept" kits! ;^)
  17. The kit was loosely based on a 1/18 scale diecast, which suffers from the same discrepancies. IIRC it was tooled when they kicked all the talent out of the model kit r&d department.
  18. having played with my pro-shop issue, I seem to remember that if you're trying to cut out the hood, you'll see that where the fenders meet the cowl/ A-pillars isn't exactly the same left to right, like the hood opening isn't centered. You may want to look into that especially when you're thinking about scribing a parting line between cowl and fender. Luc
  19. That's the way it goes, Harry Now if the cottage resin industry for automotive modeling grows significantly, so much so that players in the plastic world see that they could get that revenue, then we will see a transformation in how things are done. The same happened in the military hobby, kits were basic, modellers started to buy update sets....and the manufacturers started to improve their kits....
  20. When my dad scratch built his 1/125 scale USS Indianapolis (a WWII vessel) back in the early 80s, he obtained copy's of the actual blueprints from the US embassy, here in Brussels. So I assume that all which is commissioned by the pentagon or any other military organization, has its blueprints (on micro film) in the vaults and later when decommissioned in the library, of which copy's can be acquired for tooling up a replica. I also remember a long lost friend in the resin world, who was nuts about old WWII German hardware and he got copy's of blueprints from a official German agency (don't remember the name though, it's been too long) to create masters for his company called Precision Models. BTW Art, I just remember something from my years in auto manufacturing, when ordering spare parts at the factory store for our personal cars, I could follow the parts detailed assembly on micro film (looks like a drawing of a exploded view of a model kit proposal) could this be helpful in designing the correct shape and detail of parts which are not easy to accessible (unless you're buying a wreck one can dismantle to see it's guts)? Also here's an interesting tread (thanks all who contributed) http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=71166
  21. The '50 Olds and '57 Ford are pretty darn good, for the price, so quality can be offered in that price range. it's the parts count that beefs up the price and frankly more parts doesn't mean a better kit. A good kit is one that is accurate and logic parts breakdown (meaning it has to be separate or it looks like a toy) to help the novice builder in the build and the detail painting process (like separate chassis, from floor pan, or separate grille insert)
  22. The Pro-Modeler car kits weren't that different form a standard all new kit R-M offered, like for instance the '55 Chevy convert and '59 Impala. They had some extra parts, but in the case of the '69 Charger, I at the time at expected the grilles to be separate from the housing (like the mpc annual) and the choice to display the model with open or closed headlamp doors, same for the Daytona, a front clip without the flip out headlamps, the later kits like the Torino had some great decals though. Not being available though the big box stores set the price point on these, my guess.
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