crowe-t

Hey Brian, I've been working on the body and will have some progress pictures in a day or so. Thanks for posting this drawing with the dimensions. I wish I had it when I started. I re-sized the image(675%) to match the length of the body and I compared the measurements. I have to say it's all good. I was working off pictures when I modified the windows and installed the '64 Quarter panels. All my dimensions are basically spot on to the drawing. I couldn't believe I came that close. I measured everything twice and it's all spot on to the drawing. The front doors on the Ecto are a bit longer. If I re-scribe the front door approximately 2 mm shorter then the doors will be in line with the drawing. However I have to make sure the front seats don't look like they are sitting too far back. I might just leave the front/rear side doors as is. With the widened window frame the front doors look more correct in length. It's funny that you mentioned the taper of the body width. I noticed the taper in a couple of reference pictures and started to correct it, well a little bit anyway. I put some masking tape over the front doors, along the seam line, and used a sanding stick to narrow the fenders a bit and then added a bit of taper to the fronts of the doors. It's subtle but it's there now. Mike.

Awesome build! WOW, a Dodge Charger gasser! The color looks great and the diorama is incredible.

Beautiful job Charles! I always liked Pro Street cars.

Richard, do you have a build thread?

For final sanding 300 and 400 grit should work and then some 600 grit. Wet sanding keeps the sand paper clean with no build up. For filler you might want to try Bondo or some other auto body filler. These will adhere well to the metal which they are made to do. Plaster may not stick as well on the metal. You can spread the auto body filler right over the panels and shape it to match the die cast body. The auto body filler sands easily.

Your ideas sound good! Plastruct and Evergreen Scale Model both make nice styrene shapes that might also work for the frame but the steel rods will be stronger. What color will you be painting this?

Thanks Joe! The 'Ghostbusters' computer consoles were removed from the interior and the holes were filled in with with some 1 mm sheet styrene. I cut the ends off the Ecto dashboard and attached them to the '64 dash. I started shaping the fenders and I made the rear pillars. The fenders are still rough and will require more putty and sanding. IMG_7635 by Michael Scarola, on Flickr IMG_7646 by Michael Scarola, on Flickr IMG_7651 by Michael Scarola, on Flickr IMG_7648 by Michael Scarola, on Flickr IMG_7645 by Michael Scarola, on Flickr IMG_7640 by Michael Scarola, on Flickr IMG_7644 by Michael Scarola, on Flickr IMG_7641 by Michael Scarola, on Flickr

Very impressive work so far! Will you be scratch building the interior? How do you plan on making the chassis?

I appreciate all the kind words everyone! David - The white overspray on the side windows of the real car is frost. They were carrying a character who was frozen. I'm not 100% sure I'll add the frost around the windows. On the model it might not come across as frost and apart from being linked to this show might look strange. Jay - Your scratch building on your 1/16 GL has been an inspiration. Thanks! Here's a small update. I glued the 'humps' on the top. They still need more putty and the bottom rears need to be finished off. I filled in the holes above the drivers's compartment with pieces of styrene. IMG_7625 by Michael Scarola, on Flickr IMG_7626 by Michael Scarola, on Flickr IMG_7628 by Michael Scarola, on Flickr IMG_7630 by Michael Scarola, on Flickr

It came out great Nick!

Thanks guys! The hi-top took me a few days to work out but it's starting to take shape. Nick, nice work on the hearse!

Here's some more work done on the ambulance. I removed the center of the roof and started scratch building the hi-top. The two 'humps' on the rear of the top are just placed on for the pictures. They still need some shaping before I glue them in place. I also cut out and raised the front of the roof over the driver's/passenger seat area. I started re-shaping the windows on the sides and widened the posts on the driver's and passenger doors and started to fill in the lower quarter panels so I can re-shape the wheel openings. That's all for today! IMG_7608 by Michael Scarola, on Flickr IMG_7616 by Michael Scarola, on FlickrIMG_7626 by Michael Scarola, on Flickr IMG_7617 by Michael Scarola, on Flickr IMG_7619 by Michael Scarola, on Flickr IMG_7621 by Michael Scarola, on Flickr

The paint on the body is perfect!

Thanks guys! Aaron - I did find out that they were painted a GM Special order color called 'Root Beer Metallic'. However no one knows what the paint code is. I'll most likely use a '66 Cadillac color called Autumn Rust Metallic that looks very close.

Thanks for the compliment and information David! I still think once I widen the vertical door pillar and angle the tops of the windows towards the rear of the doors it will all look right. BTW, I like your last name. lol

Thanks Christopher! I thought the front doors looked a bit longer. However the windows on the drivers' and passenger door angle up a bit more than the '59 and the vertical post looks wider on the '64. That could be making the doors look longer on the '59 I'll look at more reference picture and see if I actually need to shorten it. Thanks for identifying the year of the wheel covers. Mike.

Nice color combination! What paint did you use? Real automotive paint?

There was a TV show in 1985 called Misfits Of Science. In the opening scenes of the Pilot episode there was a 1964 Cadillac Ambulance built by coach builder, Superior. Cadillac continued to use the wrap around windshield on their commercial vehicles through 1964 even though the wrap around windshield didn't come on the regular passenger '64 Cadillacs. Here are a couple of pictures of the Cadillac Ambulance from the Misfits Of Science. It looks to be an Ambulance that was used by Schaefer Ambulance Service due to it's brown/white color combination. MoS Ambulance 2 PS Auto Color by Michael Scarola, on Flickr MoS Ambulance 3 by Michael Scarola, on Flickr The closest kit I could find is the Polar Lights Ghostbusters Ecto-1. The Round 2, PL Ecto-1 has clear windows(with no scribed horizontal lines for the tinting) and a stock rear bumper. These details made the Polar Lights kit the better choice over the AMT kit. The overall shape of the '59 is very similar to the '64 so I picked up a Jo-Han 1964 Cadillac Deville to combine the 2 bodies to make a '64 Ambulance. Here are some progress pictures so far. The blue parts are from the Jo-Han '64 Cadillac. The most obvious differences between the 1959 and the 1964 are the quarter panels, hood/front end and fenders. The Jo-Han '64's fenders represent a passenger car and aren't a 100% match to the '64 Cadillac Ambulance fenders. I combined the inner top parts of the Jo-Han fenders with the '59 fenders which should make it look the part as well as the windshield wiper valance. In order to install the quarter panels in the correct position I'll have to move the wheel openings back and re-scribe the 'skirts' in a lower position. I still need to do some re-shaping and puttying to blend all this. Then it's on to the windows and raised roof. IMG_7560 by Michael Scarola, on Flickr IMG_7562 by Michael Scarola, on Flickr IMG_7563 by Michael Scarola, on Flickr IMG_7565 by Michael Scarola, on Flickr

New Park Pizza is great stuff! Now a days I like La Villa on 153rd Avenue, it's just a couple of blocks away.

Thanks guys! Joe - the parts from Custom Squads look like what I need. BTW I'm close to where you are, I'm in Howard Beach, NY. Mike.

Does anyone know of a source that makes a 1/25 scale Police/Fire/Ambulance red beacon light? These 2 pictures show the red beacon light I'm looking for.

I tried Future on a small chrome part and it works very nice. Thanks for the help.

Does anyone spray Future over chrome parts to protect the chrome? A friend suggested it but is it any good to do?

Thanks! This is a big help.

Greg, I have gone to the paintref,com web site. The Ambulance I'm building is one from the Schaefer Ambulance Service. Schaefer used a GM special order color called 'Root Beer Matallic' that doesn't appear on any of the paint chip pages. I learned of this from the Pofessional Car Society forum. I've been unable to locate the paint code for 'Root Beer Matallic' so I'm trying to pick a color that's era correct and close enough. So far 1970 Cadillac Briarwood Firemist Metallic, 1966 Cadillac Autumn Rust Metallic and 1970 Chevrolet Classis Copper look close. Right now I'm leaning towards 1970 Cadillac Briarwood Firemist Metallic but I'm still trying to find a good picture showing 1966 Cadillac Autumn Rust Metallic.