Chuck Most

That bumper would not only protect the hood from a deer hit- it would process the meat for you.

What Casey said. I have an old issue of SAE from 1991 which states the AMT/Ertl '86 SS version was a new offering for that year, obviously based on the former MPC annual, but all of the SS-specific pieces were added for that modified reissue.

Best way to strip one? Small screwdriver, a good, sharp hobby blade, and a little bit of careful pulling and prying. On the one I'm working on, the only problem I had was the retiner screw for the dash snapping off when I tried to remove it- no big deal, just glue it back in. I did manage to break the firewall and steering column while removing the doors- I'd suggest getting those pieces out before removing hte doors if you have to do that.

A few years back there was a thread here about this- somebody had one of the 1:18 Hot Wheels diecasts (IIRC) which was literally falling apart. I can't seem to find that thread now...

This one might end up with an 8' Wood dump body, and if that happens, maybe some six-spoke cast IH wheels.

Lower it and throw some chrome wheels on it and you could replicate International's Lonestar D street rod concept truck from a few years back. If you were really brave, you could cut open the hood and make a Dmaxx 7 engine to stuff in there....

Oh, yeah... that'll do! Might have been a long time in the making, but I think it was worth the effort.

That's an improvement for sure. I have one of those '37 Studes but I'm a bit reluctant to tear into it, being it's still in mint condition. One of those mail-order nick-nack places sells a 1:24 Stude which appears to be a copy of the Danbury truck, or based on the same tooling.

Here's how the First Gear IH looks with those Liberty/Spec Cast Dodge artillery wheels and WWW tires- they look a bit too small for my tastes, but I'll leave it up to the rest of you to make your own call.

I'm irked by the fact that we no longer have "cold snaps". Nope, those are all gone now, and they've been replaced with the more-threatening sounding "Polar Vortex." You can stop coming up with scary euphemsms for silly little things any time, mass media. That is all.

Here's a shot of that so-so detailed chassis, for anyone who's curious. Don't bother going to the TSC in St.Johns, MI... I bought all four they had. They're also out of Maisto 2010 F-150s now, too.

Yeah- the random pattern is just plain choppy, I really wish they'd just make them all so they rotate, or at least look like they're rotating.

Nope, Roger- those aren't the right style. In fact those aren't the right style for a first-gen Expedition, either. Kinda wonder why Revell didn't just stick with the alloys in the SSP kit, as many agencies had them, and the steel wheels they did use in '97-'02 were different from the ones in the kit. John- thanks for that link! I'll get with Don and Carol for the specifics on those wheels.

I'll be keeping an eye on this one, I have something similar in progress with the barfy old Monogram '57.

There's a good reason you've never seen one- it's because you're right about it not being First Gear- as you mention the '36 Dodge is a Spec Cast piece, which I knew when I posted earlier, but for some reason my brain stuck on First Gear. It is underscale, but I still think the artillery wheels would look presentable on the IH. Those wheels are actually the main reason I got the Dodge. I plan to find out how they'll look on the IH for myself pretty shortly.

Nice indeed! Always wanted one of these cars as a kid... still do. I need to get one of these kits.

He also repops the roof rack and surfboards from the Mod Squad kit. Just putting it out there.

I've wanted to build a Michigan State Police car for a long, long time, so I figured since this Antarctican weather isn't going away any time soon and I'll be staying indoors thank you very much, why not start now? I'm starting out with the Ohio State kit, but really, any of them would do- practically none of the supplied police equipment will be used. Front push bar? Nope- the MSP uses a different style. Rear seat divider? Nope- MSP doesn't use them. Light bar? Nope- the MSP uses a Unity Spitfire "Gumball". I'll also need to deep six the alloys, as pretty much every MSP Ford in my area had steel wheels with baby moon caps. There were some of these available in resin years ago, but no more... I'll have to make do with something else, I guess. I'm thinking making the push bar and "hailer" (the hood mounted stop sign) will be the only real expendatures of effort on this one. Anyway... The first order of business was to remove the rub strips from the front doors to accomodate the door seals. The color is custom-specified by the MSP, its Ford paint code is LM, but any competent paint shop can mix it for you, just ask for Michigan State Police Blue, not to be confused with the metallic Michigan Blue used by BMW. The six-window Fords used by the MSP (1992-1997) had gloss black bumpers. The remaining rub strips are also black (without the inset brightwork), as are the mirror housings. I used an old set of E&K decals from 1994- they are meant for a Revell Caprice, but the graphics will work on any 1:25 MSP vehicle. Jbot still makes a set in 1:24 that look good on 1:25 models if you're wanting a more readily-available source.

Nice! Sort of looks like it's based on a '65/'66 US-Spec Galaxie body.

If you have the First Gear '36 Dodge panel, you have the wheels and tires for that panel.. They'd look pretty nice on the pickup, too Now where am I going to get one of those Dodge panels... OH WAIT, I HAVE ONE!

Guess who's getting an inadvisably high number of these? (If you guessed me, you are correct.)

ALL of the above. And probably all of the below too, as this thread progresses...

What Art said. I've had good luck sticking it to raw plastic with a decent gloss molded into it.

Thanks! I agree they look better on the car. Now, if the car had a big tunnel ram and a jacked up back end, then yeah, the first wheels would have been the way to do it, but the chrome steelies fit the style you built way, way better.

Had the same idea and I like how yours is going. Just FYI- the reason the hood is sealed is because this is a plastic version of the diecast Tomb Raider Jeep from 2004 or so.