Utah Highway Patrol 1990 Ford Taurus

[av405]

After a very long dry spell from modeling that saw me finish school, become a sworn peace officer, and just grow up in general, I finally got to sit down and finish a model. Here is my 1990 Ford Taurus police-package car in Utah Highway Patrol markings. The Taurus is the Rescue 911 version of the AMT Taurus as it has the correct 1990-1991 dash and steering wheel that the real police versions had. Resin wheels are from Custom Squads/Models by Tony, decals from Chimneyville, police equipment is a mixture of stuff from the Taurus kit, the Lindberg Crown Victoria kit, and the Revell Caprice kit. The Ford decals also came from the Crown Victoria kit and the slotted grill vents came from the 1989 "Police Car" version of the Taurus kit.

About the kit itself, it wasn't exactly the easiest to work with. First and foremost, the AMT Taurus is not a true police package/base model kit but a SHO version. To make the car more accurate, I filled in the "SHO" emblem in the rear bumper, sanded off the corner signal lights on the front bumper, and cut/sanded down the car flares surrounding the bottom of the wheel arches. The front bumper is still technically incorrect but I decided I didn't want to push my still-developing skills. Also, the front headlights didn't fit properly but I didn't notice until it was too late. The wheels were also a pain in the behind and the front passenger side one ended up not fitting very well, even with extensive modification (as you can see below).

As for the final product itself, I was pleased given the custom work I had to perform. I got a chance to practice some new techniques and figure out some do's and dont's. I did not polish the paint job, but that is something I will definitely tackle on my next build. Oh and I accidentally dropped the car near completion, resulting in some minor scratches near the front passenger side wheel well 

Without further ado:

I used pictures I found on the internet and reruns of Real Stories of the Highway Patrol to piece together a fairly accurate interior of an early 90's UHP car: 

The inspiration:

This one is a 1992 but it provided an excellent shot of the rear lighting and antenna setup:

Both pictures above are not mine.

Edited September 7, 2017 by av405

[martinfan5]

Looks good

 

[bbowser]

Nice clean build, well done!

[Maindrian Pace]

Very clean and realistic.

[D. Battista]

Nicely done ...!    your x-tra work shows   

[espo]

Nice looking build. All the best in your new profession and keep yourself safe.

[donb]

Very clean and realistic.

Agree

[ChrisR]

Very nice replica!

[PARTSMARTY]

Very well executed !!!

[JerseyRed]

I could swear I've been in the back of that car before ?. Nice job.

[Chuck Mols]

Nice job, I like the out of the box thinking. A Utah Taurus,not very common, Kudos.

[jefropas]

Looks great! For a Taurus...:)  I've had that same project on my bench to do list forvever, not too many users of that pig, I was gonna probably do AZHP. Nice project, welcome to law enforcement!

 

Jeff

[Danno]

Nice job with a bad/difficult kit! 

And welcome to the LEO family.  Good luck and Godspeed with your career.

[GLMFAA1]

Nice version of the Taurus. Trivial fact I was told was that the grey rear and back panels on Ford denotes a commercial chassis. I was told this by a Taxi fanatic if this is true maybe a FOMOCO fan can deny or verify the fact

greg

[Agent G]

NICE!

Welcome to the wonderful world of law enforcement. You now have ring side seats to the greatest show on earth.

G

[Jim B]

Nicely done.

[slusher]

Nicely done.

X2

[Ron Hamilton]

Nice Job!!!!

[av405]

Thank you all for the kind remarks on the build! And thank you to my fellow  LEOs for the warm welcome.

Looks great! For a Taurus...:)  I've had that same project on my bench to do list forvever, not too many users of that pig, I was gonna probably do AZHP. Nice project, welcome to law enforcement!

 

Jeff

I actually started this project off with the intention of doing it as an AZ DPS car. They were, as far as I can tell, the most prolific users of the 1990-1995 Taurus at the state level. I have the decals and light bar but I was desperate to finish this build and didn't want to scratch build a push bar so I went for the simpler Utah car. My next police Taurus will be an AZ car, followed by a San Diego Police car.  Even though the kit leaves a lot to be desired, I like how uncommon these police cars are, both in 1:1 and in the modeling world.

[jefropas]

They were uncommon because they were turds, decent looking, but ugh.....you might actually get me to finish mine....

Jeff

 

[Erik Smith]

Very cool. Great work. Unusual model for an extremely common (at one time - where are they all now?) car. 

Only thing I would change is the ride height - I think the Taurus was one of those models that even had the box art model sitting real high in the front. Both ends needs a slight nudge down. 

 

[gator52]

Looks like a very authentic reproduction of the real thing.  Looking forward to your future projects, and best wishes for your career.

 

Jonah

[Rdkingjay]

Very well done. Especially the interior!!

 

[av405]

Very cool. Great work. Unusual model for an extremely common (at one time - where are they all now?) car. 

Only thing I would change is the ride height - I think the Taurus was one of those models that even had the box art model sitting real high in the front. Both ends needs a slight nudge down. 

 

Yes, the ride height on these kits is yet another glaring error. I left it under the "good enough" category on this one but I will see how I can improve on it when I (eventually) do my next Taurus. 

[av405]

Thread updated with new photos after the whole photobucket debacle. I have also updated the car with more accurately sized and detailed license plates.