New to Car models

[fremac]

I have built wood ship models for several years and would like to try building some plastic car models. I am interested in police and EMS vehicles but want to start with some basic kits. One question I have is - do modellers really use the chromed plastic parts that come in a kit or are there alternatives?

Also is there a good source for police and ambulance models?

Thank you

[crispy]

Hi Fred! Welcome to Model Cars!

I'm going to bet you ships are a lot more work than these kits will be.

As far as the chrome goes, yes, most of the time it gets used as is from the manufacturer. However their is a product called AlClad Chrome. It works best if airbrushed over Testor's gloss black, blue or a few other colors.

Some guys will strip the chrome and ship it out to be re-chromed from a model chroming service.

You also have your choice of Bare Metal Foil, but that is very difficult to work with on compound curves and the like. Works great for the bumpers of Rigs.

If you want to get your your feet wet with a kit I would recommend the Revell Impala police car to start with. It's an easy kit, meaning snap fit parts, however it's a good enough kit that detailing would go a long way. You should be able to find that kit at most hobby shops or online.

I'm not sure where to send you for just emergency kits, but if you want to just see what is available I would peruse ebay. That will give you an idea of what is out their.

Chris

[Aaronw]

Welcome

As far as emergency vehicle kits, Police cars are not too hard to find. Lindberg has re-released their '96 Crown Vic, it comes pre-painted with decals for several departments, primarily state highway patrols / state police or plain white if you want to do you own thing.

Revell currently has the Impala ('03?) which was previously mentioned. They also did a 90's Caprice which you can still find occasionally.

AMT / Ertl did a 78 or so Dodge Monaco, I think it started out as a TJ Hooker car but the most recent release was as a Gotham City PD / Joker Goon Car which is still fairly easy to find.

Also did an '89 Taurus as a Rescue 911 and later Robocop police car.

There are a number of others but they are harder to find Johan had a nice '60's Plymouth Fury and AMT / Ertl had a '70 Ford, both were available within the last few years but are getting hard to find.

There is a pretty good aftermarket for police decals.

Ambulance's are few and far between, AMT / Ertl did a Cannon Ball Run Dodge Ambulance later released as a Rescue 911 Ambulance. This had a couple of light bars and generic decals but no interior details.

Johan had a '60's Cadillac ambulance which is supposed to be pretty nice, you can still find it on ebay fairly easily. Auctions seem to run around $30-40.

Polar Lights did a Ghost Busters Ecto 1 which is based on a '59 Cadillac Ambulance. It would take some work to make it back into an ambulance but it can be done. There are also some resin conversions that start with this kit. Jimmy Flintstone has a couple of ambulance and hearse bodies for ths kit.

Other than that ambulances are resin or do it yourself.

You didn't mention them but there are a few fire apparatus kits out there too.

You can find a pretty complete list of emergency vehicle kits and links to parts sources at the scale fire house

http://scalefirehouse.com

[fremac]

Thank you for the responses, any and all help is appreciated. Ship modelling is quite different from plastic modelling, especially where my supply of paints consists of red, black, white and brown. I am going to have to start learning how to use a color wheel - .

Thank you again.

[mr moto]

Another product you'll need to become familiar with for chrome is Bare Metal Foil. It's purpose is different from Alclad and they're both essential. Bare Metal is generally used for chroming the trim pieces and scripts on the bodies but it can sometimes be used to completely cover small detail pieces as well. It's a very thin adhesive backed foil that is burnished down to the plastic and then trimmed with a very sharp #11 blade. And I would recommend that you use the one that is called "Chrome" not the "Ultra-bright Chrome". It's much easier to work with and I've never been able to tell the difference in brightness after it's on the model.