Danno

It has the ground ladder but it's shy of an aerial ladder. Probably more like a 'quart.'

Verrrrry nice!

Nice, Jim!

Here's a reference shot of a 1:1 that seems to be very similar to the kit offering:

And a Pontiac and a Buick . . .

That's not a turtledeck on the rear. You are seeing two chemical tanks mounted longitudinally, horizontally, side-by-side with the hose basket above them. The 'body' is nothing more than a dashboard (cowl/firewall) and the metal-shrouded seat sitting on a box platform. It looks very accurate for a period-correct fire car of that era. I can't wait for a couple of these!!!!! Wish they'd do that ambulance in 1/24 also.

Outstanding work, Chris!! Those look great!

Dittos!!!! Thanks, Dave

Inspector (Frank) Luger. Played by James Gregory, who earlier did stints in Police Story and Ironsides along with dozens (hundreds) of character actor minor roles on numerous other TV shows and movies.

Yeah, I forgot to mention our Captain of Detectives. He also was a consummate gentleman, an impeccable dresser, and ever calm and collected in the midst of all the chaos. Although he occasionally allowed a bit of a 'conductor on the crazy train' look to flash across his face as he assessed the nuttiness. While not as stylishly garish as Wojo, we had a sergeant who was convinced his next nickle might be his last nickle. He was a hoot. He bragged that he bought all his clothes off the rack . . . at Goodwill! And he looked it. Didn't bother him any. But nobody wanted to be seen with him, even at a scene.

Wow. $130? The one produced by Greg Wann ~ The MasterCaster ~ is a fraction of that price and every bit as good.

' Amen, bro. The Lovely and Gracious Mrs. B always laughs and says, "That's so-and-so!" Or, "That's just like such-and-such!" And, she was always right. You could SO see 'the guys' and 'the guyettes' in those characters. Officer Carl Levitt (played by Ron Carey) was the spitting image of one of our doods. Acted like him, thought like him, and was even durn near a spitting image of him! Same personality. We were convinced the BM producers must have known him!!!

Excellent!!

I'm guessing he's talking about decal sets.

Go, Mike. Go, Mike. Go!

Aaron, Jefbo and Dave relate it well. But, a caution: Each IPMS Chapter may have and employ its own interpretation of those rules at any given Chapter-operated event. I've found the safest approach is to research the specific rules of the specific Chapter you are most likely to participate with; then research the IPMS international rules that would be applied at a regional or international event; then build your models to the strictest standard. That will ensure your models will be eligible at the strictest event and there won't be any problem at a less stringent event. Likewise, any non-IPMS contest you might want to enter may have rules that differ from IPMS. You should check with them for their rules and adhere to the toughest standards you may encounter. Follow those steps and there will be no surprises. And, I echo Dave: It's sad to disqualify nice models because the simplest rule was not followed - the instructions must accompany the model on the table.

I'd think about it a second time if I hadn't seen that his bio also refers to him as a comedian. That explains it. His silly little essay (NESCAR? Really?) is just a comedy routine. I'm over it.

I never checked it out, but I always assumed it was loosely based on the Chrysler experimental turbines. I'm surprised it's not, but, I'll take your word for it, Bill. Thus, I have no idea what it is.

Sad to lose Fish. Loved the character and Abe Vigoda's portrayal. Condolences to Bernice. Barney Miller was always a favorite! Fortunately, it's currently running daily on a nostalgia channel here. Amusing sidebar: And, G can chime in here. When Barney Miller was running on TV, I was doing my fair share of public speaking on behalf of my department at various venues. When speaking about crime, law enforcement, and the life and times of law enforcement officers I would kick off the presentation by asking the audiences which television cop show they thought was the most realistic depiction of the typical, true, every day police work. I always got a wide range of answers from Mayberry to Starsky & Hutch to Baretta to CHIPS to Hill Street Blues to Kojak. My audiences seldom guessed Barney Miller and they were always shocked and amused when I told them BM was actually a better depiction of the crazy pandemonium of a typical day-in-day-out squad room.

Brudders from dif mudders.

That's because the ones in the model aisle are model paints, not graffiti paints! I figgered you'd a knowed dat.

A little football math for my dear but deranged friend in Sin City: 5280 + 14/4 + 7 + 8 + 18 factor 2/7/16, divided by 50 = 1.

Mark, Welcome! This is a great forum, as you already noticed. More power to you, man. Quite a few years ago, I built a couple of landmark (for me) models while recovering from bilateral carpal tunnel release surgeries. The stay-at-home, one man therapy was amazing. And, those two models have caught their fair share of attention over the years. Stay with it and enjoy the ride here. By the way, there's a lot to do in the Valley. A little trip North can dial you into tons of modeling nirvana!!! Two car-specific modeling clubs, four great contests every year (Goodguys Spring Nationals in March, DESERT SCALE CLASSIC in April, Goodguys Southwest Nationals in November, and Modelzona in November). There are a few swap meets every year (DESERT SCALE CLASSIC in April, a big new event coming in July, Modelzona in November, and a handful of occasional swap meets during the coming year at the Phoenix Indoor Karting / HobbyTown USA facility. Just get you some of that!

Reminds me of the hobby craft store that insists a teenage employee must carry my spray paint purchases from the paint cabinet to the cash register because I can't be trusted . . . it's an anti-graffiti measure, they say. Really?