1967 Chevrolet Biscayne

[Kodiak Island Modeler]

 

 

I made a couple of minor changes t the Supernatural 1967 Chevrolet Impala Supernatural kit.  It is now a Biscayne police car.  I probably don't have all the police items correct, as this is the first time that I've ever done a police car, and I'm out of my comfort zone.   I did not include an areal as they have a tendency to get knocked off, or worse, broken.   When I introduce it into a diorama sometime in the future, I'll then include the antenna(s).   I really expect to see AMT produce a police car from the Supernatural kit as the interest for the kit wanes.

 

For those of you who are considering this transformation, I have some information to add. The rear center of the trunk has to be reworked. Impalas had a trim piece on the lower edge of the trunk. The Biscaynes do not. This trim is molded on with the rear bumper. You will need to carefully cut that from the bumper, sand it smooth, and add it to the bottom of the center trunk lid. The tail lights are also different. Once again, turn to the rear bumper. Carefully file the upper trim from above the lights, leaving the backing intact. After the trim is removed, sand the detail from the light area. I used parts bins lights for it, which suffice quite well, since I'm just going for a shelf model. To reach a higher level of authenticity, I would suggest that you plan ahead and acquire slightly larger lights, and include the trim surrounds for them.

 

The seats have to be addressed. Straight from the kit, the seats don't match each other. I resolved this by sanding both seats semi-smooth. I then added .010 strips for the detail. I did not alter the trim on the doors, as it would not be noticeable through the small window openings. If you're using the beige color that some departments used, you may want to give the door panels consideration.

 

The 1965 Chevelle wagon comes with surf boards and a rack to carry them on. I used the uprights for the racks to build the sides for the light bar. The cross piece was in one of my miscellaneous parts drawers. It was a piece that says remove on it, and probably was from the hood opening section of a long built model. This one was perfect as it had to round areas on either side that matched the emergency strobe lights. Those strobe lights came from the red lens trees for big rig trucks.

 

Edited October 27, 2021 by Kodiak Island Modeler

[Zippi]

Nicely done Douglas.  Looks great.  I still get a little nervous when I look at a cop car ☺

[espo]

Very nice body conversion. The thing about a PD car is that the paint job can change from one town to the next and even from year to year, so just about anything goes there. I think you got the look of a real one here. I did a '50 Olds CHP car a couple of years ago and it was fun to try something different sometimes. 

[Oldmopars]

Great job on this. I like how you added the post door frames. I'm very interested by this as I had a 1967 Belair and I want to replicate it. Thanks for showing me the way.

Beautiful build.  

Edited October 26, 2021 by Oldmopars

[happy grumpy]

really nice job, I also build a police car from that kit but I left it as an impala. I have a second kit and I am considering making it a taxi cab, I might try the Biscayne approach.

I agree with you, Round 2 should issue different version of that kit . 4 doors are a rarity in model cars beside the more expensive resin option.

[PappyD340]

Real nice!

[Kodiak Island Modeler]

13 hours ago, Oldmopars said:

Great job on this. I like how you added the post door frames. I'm very interested by this as I had a 1967 Belair and I want to replicate it. Thanks for showing me the way.

Beautiful build.  

For the window top frames, I used .040 X .060, fitting them from rear to front for better control of the arch.   The middle door frames are made from .080 X .125 strip plastic.  .060 would have been a more authentic depth, but the thicker depth gives more support.   Remember to give a slight rearward lean at the top.   I also sanded both seats semi smooth to make them match better.   Seat detail was added with .010 plastic strip.  I'm sorry. but I forgot to take pictures of that stage.

[Dominik]

well done - o like that. can you upload more pictures?

[ChrisR]

NICE!

[slusher]

Looks great!

[ewetwo]

Nice.

[6883michaelw]

Nice work. Love the black and whites. Could you tell me where the dog dish hubcaps caps came from? Been looking for some just like them.