Paddy Wagon Triple Play

[DAVE "THE DUKE" ARMSTRONG]

Paddy Wagon Triple Play

After we decided to do a showrod challenge, and this was going to be the first since Rick's passing, I thought this would be a good time to get this done. I got a slow start due to some health procedures right at the start.

This has been on my project list for a long time, something I'd hinted to Rick about doing. I wish I'd done it while he was still with us; I know he'd be happy to see it done. I decided to build all three of the Paddy Wagon kits (not to include the '33 Willys snap kit reissued as a Paddy Wagon, doesn't count, it's not in the same class). They all came out about the same time- Monogram Tom Daniel, '68; MPC Carl Casper, '68; and the AMT Paddy Wagon Copout by David Carlock & David Wilder, '69. I have originals of all three. The Monogram shown below is the box from '74, my '68 is a little rough.

The Monogram Tom Daniel was originally issued with chrome, then reissued with gold tinted chrome, which most of us are familiar with. The gold has kind of grown on me over the years, so instead of the chrome original I decided to build one of my reissues with that gold tint. The next decision was what color/style. It's been built many, many times; some in some shade of blue, some black, some white, blue and white, white and gold. I liked the white but decided on a somewhat different shade of blue. Built boxstock, boxart style. Navy blue with white interior. I did the window bars with gold marker, outlined the glass with black marker.

The MPC Carl Casper is a rare kit, never reissued- you'll see them once on a while on Ebay. I've only seen about 4 built, not many, and none boxart style, though a couple were somewhat similar. I wanted to build it boxart style. I fouled up with the airbrushing the first time trying to get it right (the detail especially on the fenders is TIGHT) got a little exasperated, and reprimed it and decided to paint it a single color, Pure Blue. I have more originals of this kit, so maybe on down the road I'll do another imitating the boxart. Built boxstock, except that I put better slicks on it. Because of age, the decals were iffy so I scanned, copied, and made new ones, which I've done before, but these just didn't seem to work well, so I went with the originals and hoped for the best. This build was my problem child; between the paint, a problem during assembly, the decals, and gluefingers in the paint, which I had to polish out.



















The AMT is a rare kit, only a very limited short run reissue. They NEVER seem to get built! I've never seen one built, only one, kind of a kitbash with some AMT and Monogram parts together. I built this boxstock, boxart style. Racing Blue and True White.




















Here they all are-

They were all decent to build, but the Monogram was a real pleasure. I haven't built many since I was a kid, I'm going to have to go back and build more of them again!

So, I'm glad I got this done! A couple of boo-boos as usual, but I'm happy the way they came out. Hope you like them, comments welcome!

[BIGDRAG]

Great job on all the builds Dave, I `m sure Rick would have loved all of these Paddy wagon`s. Happy Modelling !!

[BRITBOY]

Dave, that is an impressive lineup (and one to really make the collectors squirm!). For me, the AMT version is the one which hits the mark from a style perspective - the MPC kit sits too high at the front end (full marks for building such a rare kit though!) while Monogram's offering sits too high at the rear (if you look at the original box art it was designed to be much lower).

An epic collection and one that's worth all the hard work which went into it!

(As an aside, there is another Paddy Wagon type custom out there - sort of. In the original MPC Gangbuster's '32 Chevy kit, it was possible to build a Police van complete with a blown V8 and all the usual go faster trimmings although the box art and instructions never mentioned it. Sadly, the stock parts were sacrificed to make the Barnabas custom van thing but who knows what might turn up if you scour Ebay long enough!)

[DAVE "THE DUKE" ARMSTRONG]

Jan 28, 2023 4:22:10 GMT -4 BRITBOY said:

Dave, that is an impressive lineup (and one to really make the collectors squirm!). For me, the AMT version is the one which hits the mark from a style perspective - the MPC kit sits too high at the front end (full marks for building such a rare kit though!) while Monogram's offering sits too high at the rear (if you look at the original box art it was designed to be much lower).

An epic collection and one that's worth all the hard work which went into it!

(As an aside, there is another Paddy Wagon type custom out there - sort of. In the original MPC Gangbuster's '32 Chevy kit, it was possible to build a Police van complete with a blown V8 and all the usual go faster trimmings although the box art and instructions never mentioned it. Sadly, the stock parts were sacrificed to make the Barnabas custom van thing but who knows what might turn up if you scour Ebay long enough!)

Harley, the grouping of these is such that they're all pre 1930, all old-time, which disqualifies both the Chevy and the '33 Willys I mentioned. They're paddy wagons vs. police vans.

I wanted to build them pretty close to the way the kits were designed- so unless some one altered the suspension on a particular Monogram wagon, they all sit a little higher in the back, which actually, I don't mind. As for the MPC, the kit was designed sitting higher in the front, which I DIDN'T like, and was one of the reasons I substituted the slightly bigger slicks, it brings it to just about level, but the rising roof line toward the front still makes it appear to be high at the front. Of the three, I still think the Monogram is the best looking, my favorite. Thanks for your thoughts, I love being able to discuss this stuff, just wish we could do it in person!

Thanks guys for your kind comments!

[Sammy the ace]

Well You hit these out of the ballpark Dave
Really nice builds all three of them 
Good for you on building rare kits
Personally l really like the mpc build

[OLDCOYOTE]

Three more gorgeous builds. Outstanding workmanship on all three Dave. While I'm not into showrods, I'm definitely into beautifully built models.

[DAVE "THE DUKE" ARMSTRONG]

Thanks Joe and John! I'm glad you liked them!