California Highway Patrol 1990's Dodge Ram

[av405]

I know it's been a while since my last update but I ran into issues with the topper, including warpage issues, BMF issues, and an accident in which I dropped some thinner on it. Combining that with being busy at work, I decided to put the project away for a few weeks because we all know that we shouldn't work on projects while frustrated. Well, I'm finally coming back to it. I sanded and repainted the portions where thinner fell and I settled on using  Tamiya X-11 Chrome Silver to paint the aluminum hinges. I'm going to continue working on the aluminum and black trim portions. 

I was hoping this project would be done a few weeks ago, but sometimes you have to set this hobby aside for a bit to recharge.

[av405]

I got hit with the building bug last night and managed to do a lot of work. The topper shell is done and has been mounted in place. The third brake light was made from scrap clear plastic and I placed a 1/24 scale cone inside of the bed.

I glued the front push bar, bumper-mounted red light, side mirrors, and spot lights into place.

The truck is 99% done. I just have to mount the light bar and some extra antennas into place and it'll be done! This will be the last WIP post, the next shots will go Under Glass.

[av405]

So I lied in my last post...sort of. I forgot to mention that I had to add license plates. I have many California law enforcement decal sheets, but most don't contain the specific kind of exempt license plate I needed. And the plates that I did have that were period correct looked a bit cartoonish. So I dug into my stash and found this excellent Warbird decals California license plate sheet.  It had the correct plate that I needed, but unfortunately does not contain the "diamond" style E that signified an exempt plate during this time. 

So I decided to remove the diamond E from this CHP set that I had:

Being the glutton for punishment that I am, I cut out the diamond and each number individually and then added it to the blank plate. I am more or less satisfied with the results, though the diamond E decal is thicker and literally stands out more: 

Edited October 19, 2022 by av405

[slusher]

Your truck look outstanding! 

[av405]

The truck is complete!

 

[vincen47]

A project to be proud of, for sure.