'88 Diplomat

[Rdkingjay]

Its interesting that MRM just posted a story about his "polished diecast", which clearly, it is not. But that is pretty much what this is. Another plain white 1/25th Motor Max Dip. I wet sanded and polsihed this thing at nauseum, then applied the custom made decals, which were cleared over first. I also painted the interior and added the police radio, mike and antenna. The lightbar is from Dave Panek and is a beautiful representation of an old S&W piece. The front plate reads 439th SPS and the serial numbers on the doors are 88B 1402. Aside from the radio, this is an exact replica of the very first police car I ever drove, following my assignment to the unit at Westover ARB in Chicopee Ma.

Edited January 1, 2012 by Rdkingjay

[Eshaver]

Most interesting subject and nice out come too. I used to have one as I bought it new and leased it out to a couple of Cab drivers in 1886 . Ed Shaver

[Eshaver]

Funny David . Ed Shaver

[Harry P.]

That turned out great!

That's one of the cool things about diecasts... there are a lot of subjects available as diecasts that are not (and probably never will be) available as a styrene kit.

[Agent G]

Your "build", because that's what it is really, is very very nice. I actually thought the first pic was an old snapshot.

We drove those pigs in '83. I have always wanted to build a replica of it though. Oh the memories. We called them ghost cars, the electric locks would just start cycling at random as you drove down the street. Annoying as heck. Nobody riding passenger could catch any zzzz's on the night watch.

G

[Dominik]

Thats also a well done built! Like it. looks perfect.

[Danno]

Your "build", because that's what it is really, is very very nice. I actually thought the first pic was an old snapshot.

We drove those pigs in '83. I have always wanted to build a replica of it though. Oh the memories. We called them ghost cars, the electric locks would just start cycling at random as you drove down the street. Annoying as heck. Nobody riding passenger could catch any zzzz's on the night watch.

G

Electric locks? Electric locks?

We never had that problem with our LeBaron/Dips ... we didn't have electric locks or windows. We had to lift or push down the little lock button ourowndangselves!

You were working for a real uptown, high-faluting department!

I s'pose you had 8-way power adjustable seats, too!

[gray07]

Cool

[Agent G]

Electric locks? Electric locks?

We never had that problem with our LeBaron/Dips ... we didn't have electric locks or windows. We had to lift or push down the little lock button ourowndangselves!

You were working for a real uptown, high-faluting department!

I s'pose you had 8-way power adjustable seats, too!

No, no adjustable seats.

The only reason we had power door locks, is those cars had cages for prisoner transport. We drove midsize cars as regular district cars, full size as "lock ups" and a van as a transport vehicle. In '83-84 district cars were Malibus, after that we drove Celebritys (yukk) until '87-'88.

The first ever police car I drove with power everything, and honest to goodness CARPET, was a '93 Caprice. I had 14 years on by then.

Not to hijack, but here's the car.

We were told they were ordered by another high faluting PD on the east coast, which couldn't take delivery. I inherited that beast when I got made and transferred back to uniform. It was such a nice car we hid it from fleet services every time it was due to be rotated to the reserve fleet.

G

[promo55]

Mr. Gray is right. Those '93 C's were such nice cars that when the Sheriff traded them in at the Chevy dealer where I worked, they would ask $3 to 4,000 dollars for them. The Taxi companys and folks that pulled boats ate them up! Many of them were high mileage cars, as well.

[Dr. Cranky]

Wonderful subject indeed, and I agree with Harry. Sometimes the subject matter in scale becomes irresistible.

[Danno]

Yeah, G, we had cages and transported prisoners in our patrol cars, too. But fleet disconnected the interior doorhandles so our honored guests couldn't skip the ride to the hoosegow. Of course, that was back in the days before the federal government decided every arrestee needed a hug; I imagine they wouldn't stand for the disconnected handles now - it just doesn't give the prisoner a fair chance to escape.

[Agent G]

Yeah, our Deputy Chief Moonbeam once ordered padded seats for all the wagons, and cushions for the lock up cars that had the fiberglass inserts.

Prisoners rode better than we did..........................

G

[Rdkingjay]

I like that Caprice kit you did Wayne. Very nice job. It looks like the Revell snap-tite Caprice with opened rear wheel wells. I have an MSP cruiser done using the same kit that I will post soon. Thanks to all for the great conversation and comments.

[Agent G]

^{Thank you sir!}

^{What I did was combine the '91 Caprice interior with the '94 Impala SS body. That gave me a period correct dash and split front bench. I used strip and rod to replicate the rub strips on the body sides. Super glue and baking soda filled the trunk trench Revell uses to mount the SS spoiler. Grill, wheels, and hood ornament came from the '91 as well.}

^G