Kit: No. 72713
Scale: 1/25
Manufacturer: Lindberg, Craft House Corp., 328 N. Westwood Ave., Toledo, OH 43607-3343, 419-536-8351
Price: $14.40
Comments: Injection molded, 54 parts (4 vinyl, 2 metal axles, 4 screws), decals.
With the recent demise of Chrysler's and GM's full-size, V-8-powered, rear-drive sedans, Ford's Crown Victoria is the only traditional American police car platform available.
Lindberg's snap-together Crown Vic builds into a satisfying curbside replica; that means there's no engine detail or opening hood. Despite its basic layout, it has enough detail to keep advanced builders and collectors happy as well as provide an easy kit for beginners. The kit can be finished without painting as the chassis is molded in black, the interior light gray, and the body in dark metallic gray.
The body and exterior parts are well molded. The headlights are molded with the grille and therefore are chrome plated, but the plated spotlight units feature separate clear lenses. Taillights and four of the police light-bar lenses are molded in clear red. While not correct for the Ohio State Patrol, the light bar is a good representation of the Federal Signal "Vision" with seven separate globes. Chrome-plated reflectors are included for each globe. I painted a couple of the clear globes with Tamiya clear blue for variety. A "light stick" directional flasher for the rear of the light bar is also included.
Additional police gear includes a radio (but no microphone), computer, and shotgun (but no mounting bracket). There is a cage for the interior and a front bumper guard with driving lights and spotlights for the exterior.
Dashboard detail is good, with a decal for the main readouts. Gas and brake pedals are molded into the floor, and the seats look fine. However, the interior door panels have little detail. The twin front bucket seats are the only parts that require glue.
The one-piece chassis features good relief and surface detail. The intricate wheels and Goodyear RS+A police tires are mounted on heavy metal axles.
The only assembly problem I had was getting the clear windshield to fit tight to the frame. Careful clamping and gluing worked it in, but separating the windshield from the rest of the "glass" would help. The instructions show the spotlights going on the front fenders, but they should be mounted on the windshield pillars.
I painted my model with Duplicolor Ford dark silver metallic over Plastikote gray primer. If you use automotive lacquers, apply a primer as a barrier to protect the plastic. The high-quality, water-slide decals (complete with Ford logos for the wheel covers, grille, and trunk) are thick but responded to Micro Sol.
The finished car looks right compared with my photos and Bruce Cameron's Police Cars: A Graphic History.
I spent 20 hours on my cruiser. Beginners can produce good-looking models with little effort, and experienced modelers will enjoy adding details to the interior and exterior.
- Terry Jessee