Ralph_S

Kenworth W900 and CHP Police Interceptor

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In the last few days I've had some fun building a few more large-scale vehicles.

The first is a rebuild of a truck I built in August last year, a Kenworth W900. It's a classic American truck. The LEGO Model Team highway rig was my favourite set as a child and I've had a soft spot for US trucks ever since. My original truck was red with two orange stripes, but I was never too fond of that colour scheme and I feel like building a new fire engine so I could do with the read. Black looks far nicer IMO.

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More pictures, including pictures of version 1 can be found on flickr.

The second model in a sense is also a rebuild. I used to have a number of different models of Ford Crown vics over the years. I took the last one apart a few months ago because I wasn't at all satisfied with it any more. Then, about a week ago, I saw Sigmeister's California Highway Patrol Dodge here on eurobricks, which made me want to give building a Crown Victoria a new try -this time a CHP Police Interceptor model. I studied pictures of my older cars to see what bits I liked and which I needed to improve on. Since I built the older models LEGO have made a lt of new parts (cheese slopes) and I have added a lot of very useful stuff to my collection that I had only few of ears ago (vast quantities of jumper plates), and using those and a few new tricks I have learned over the years I was able to build a new Crown Vic that I am happy about. As usual with my cars doors etc. can open and the vehicle has a detailed interior. I also decided to build a police officer with it, complete with trooper hat.

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Here too, more pictures are on flickr.

Cheers,

Ralph

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Very nice! :wub: The truck looks deceptively big, but at a closer look it isn't! You've done a stunning job at that scale. The interceptor is great as well. It's a complex shape and I think you've pulled it off!

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The Kenworth is very good, but the highway patrol is mega-sick ! :thumbup::grin:

Love the maxi-fig officer and all the details on the patrol car even right down to the accessories in the boot.

Keep up the good, 'Ralph_S'. :thumbup::classic:

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It's strange. I kind of feel like they are so real that if I saw it on a street I wouldn't even glance at it twice! You really captured these cars with precise accuracy! Nice officer, too! :tongue:

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Those are really nice! Awesome! I have a funny question though, why don't people put a Lego man AKA minifg, inside these vehicles? I know the scale is off but I'd still put one in there for laughs even if you have to hike the seat up :tongue:

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First thing that came into my head when I saw the Kenworth: Optimus Prime. xD

Nice work on those 2 vehicles! Emulates the real-life ones really well.

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Looks great! My only sugjestion for the Crown Vic would to be to try and replace the inboard clear head 1x2 slope used for the headlamp with an amber slope like the one used on the outside corner. Also add some red lights on the push bumper and mirros as all current CHP vehicles have them. Other than that there dead perfect!

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Amazing job with these Ralph_S :wub:

I like the Kenworth the best. :wub:

Truly stunning job with the scale! :thumbup:

Great job and looking forward to more!

CommanderFox

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Thanks for all the comments. I'm glad like these. I had fun building them.

Very nice! :wub: The truck looks deceptively big, but at a closer look it isn't! You've done a stunning job at that scale. The interceptor is great as well. It's a complex shape and I think you've pulled it off!

I always consider it a great compliment if people can't see the scale of my models right away. That tells me I've managed to hit the right level of detail. Indeed, it isn't overly big. 14 studs wide and about 50 studs long. I like to have lots of different vehicles on the same scale that I can put side-by-side. Keeping the scale in check is a necessity.

Kenworth is very good, but the highway patrol is mega-sick ! :thumbup::grin:

Love the maxi-fig officer and all the details on the patrol car even right down to the accessories in the boot.

Keep up the good, 'Ralph_S'. :thumbup::classic:

I used to mainly be a lurker on Eurobricks a hot rod competition was held here less than two years ago. Part of the competition was building a driver to go with the car, which I felt was a terrible idea distracting from the actual car. However, I have since realised that the opposite is true. Adding figures to go with the cars actually makes them more interesting to look at, ceratinly when displaying the cars at public events and I've built figures for many of them since.

Great work mate, models are fantasic, randomly I really like the policemen

I had a CHP Camaro a while ago with a policeman figure and somebody on flickr suggested that he needed a trooper hat and somebody else suggested I add a badge. When I came to build 'trooper version 2' I decided to take those suggestions to heart.

It's strange. I kind of feel like they are so real that if I saw it on a street I wouldn't even glance at it twice! You really captured these cars with precise accuracy! Nice officer, too! :tongue:

Apart from the studs of course :grin:

Those are really nice! Awesome! I have a funny question though, why don't people put a Lego man AKA minifg, inside these vehicles? I know the scale is off but I'd still put one in there for laughs even if you have to hike the seat up :tongue:

A funny question indeed. I look at these things as scale models and (apart from studs) try to make them look as realistic as I can. Putting a minifig in there would look really silly, unless the CHP is in the business of arresting babies. Perhaps if I were to build a people carrier...

First thing that came into my head when I saw the Kenworth: Optimus Prime. xD

Nice work on those 2 vehicles! Emulates the real-life ones really well.

I didn't see the Transformers movie, but in my mind Optimus Prime is red and is a cab-over-engine truck rather than a conventional model, but you're not the first person to tell me that.

Looks great! My only sugjestion for the Crown Vic would to be to try and replace the inboard clear head 1x2 slope used for the headlamp with an amber slope like the one used on the outside corner. Also add some red lights on the push bumper and mirros as all current CHP vehicles have them. Other than that there dead perfect!

Thanks for the suggestions. I know they have orange bulbs inside the headlight units and various LEDs on the bar and the rear-view mirrors, but I didn't add more lights is because they are barely visible when they're switched off.

Amazing job with these Ralph_S :wub:

I like the Kenworth the best. :wub:

Truly stunning job with the scale! :thumbup:

Great job and looking forward to more!

CommanderFox

I'm very picky when it comes to scale. I want my cars and trucks to look good together. I think the Police Interceptor is my own favourite among these tow, simply because it's such a vast improvement over the older versions I had. As I wrote in my first message, the Kenworth is merely a rebuild in new colours.

Cheers,

Ralph

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Very great models Ralph!

I looked so much on 5580 back as a kid. I built several 4-5 wide trucks to fit in my City back then with just this truck as inspiration.

Since I then mostley was into minifig scaled sets, I never got that one.

It is so nice to see models in this size today. I really think you made a model that could have been a modern version of that truck.

Very good, very nice details and the colours is absolutley lovely.

The police car with the officer is really good as well and looks like they could have been picked out from LEGOLand California :wink:

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Very great models Ralph!

I looked so much on 5580 back as a kid. I built several 4-5 wide trucks to fit in my City back then with just this truck as inspiration.

Since I then mostley was into minifig scaled sets, I never got that one.

It is so nice to see models in this size today. I really think you made a model that could have been a modern version of that truck.

Very good, very nice details and the colours is absolutley lovely.

The police car with the officer is really good as well and looks like they could have been picked out from LEGOLand California :wink:

Thank you. :blush:

5580 was my favourite set when I was a child. I remember getting the catalogue early in 1986 with it on the back page. I already built trucks back then, but surpassed anything I had come up with at the time, so I was very excited and at the same time disappointed because I'd have to wait until summer before it came out. I also remember having a poster of it on my wall. I've built (and taken apart) many trucks since, but I still have a soft spot for trucks like this and every once in a while feel like building a new one.

I'm glad you feel the Crown Victoria wouldn't look out of place in Legoland. Legoland cars are a massive inspiration for my car models.

Cheers,

Ralph

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Nice job !! Too bad Lego coudn't provide us with some quality chrome wheels. They would be a well deserved final touch to this perfect tractor trailer model. Very well done ... thanks for sharing it with us.

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Nice job !! Too bad Lego coudn't provide us with some quality chrome wheels. They would be a well deserved final touch to this perfect tractor trailer model. Very well done ... thanks for sharing it with us.

Thanks. I would have loved to use chrome rims. I have suitable ones for the rear wheels (from a Ferrari Enzo). Lego has also made suitable ones for the front wheels (from a Power Puller set), but they're rather expensive. Grey will have to do.

Cheers,

Ralph

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