Well, I'm not sure that I'm up to a build log, but I will post some pics of the Tahoe EV Project as it progresses.

In addition to the basic kit prep, I removed the running boards. Initially, I did this for ease of painting, but I think I will leave them off the final build as I like the look of the truck without them. The rest of the kit will be built basically box-stock, with few changes. The kit wheels will be replaced by a set of stock 5-lug Chevy wheels from an AMT Silverado, painted black and used with the tires from the Tahoe kit. The interior will probably get a radio and some emergency goodies, but I don't have anything specific planned at the moment.

Two coats of Tamiya primer and a lightbar mockup and she looks like this:



Speaking of the lightbar, I planned to nab the Federal StreetHawk from Revell's Taxi/Fire Chief Caprice for the build. Sitting in the box was an aftermarket bottom for the lightbar, which included front and rear flashers as well as alley lights. I don't remember where I got it, since I've had the Caprice kit in my stash from about 1995 or so. The aftermarket base is molded in black resin, and clearly used the kit part for the master, with the above mentioned lights added on. It's a neat little piece, if a bit soft on detail. I think I'll end up using it, mainly for variety's sake.

-YL

This should be an interesting build Yoni i will be watching for your updates.

Now for the paint.

I was originally planning on a traditional red or red/white scheme for the Tahoe. After a bit of sketching and layout of possible paint designs, I found myself wanting a different color, because the red seemed too predictable. I came across this article while surfing the web, and decided to go with a yellow and white design, although I toyed around with bright orange and white, as well as bright green and white. The yellow won out in the end, because that's what I had in the paint stash.



My first thought was to break the paint colors at the body character line, leaving the hood and front fender tops white, along with the roof and roof pillars. After seeing a FDNY Suburban build on SSB Resins Showcase page, I decided to leave the roof and pillars white, and carry the yellow over onto the front fender tops and hood, breaking it at the door line.

The paint is Tamiya Yellow (TS-16) over Tamiya Pure White (TS-26). Yes, there's a bit of overspray on the rear window frame and rear pillar, but that will get covered when the black trim gets painted.





After staring at it for a while, the Revell Streethawk looks a bit undersized on the Tahoe. From a realism standpoint, the brackets needed to hook it to the door frames are going to be pretty long. I guess I will scratch a set from brass sheet or plastic stock and see how it looks. I'm also thinking about adding some flashers to the grille, as well as some strobe units for the rear of the truck.



The wheels came from an AMT Silverado kit. I sprayed two coats of Krylon Satin Black straight from the rattle can over the chromed wheels, and used a toothpick to scrape away the hub areas while the paint was still soft. I like the look of these wheels over the stock Tahoe items. I still need to scratch some axle bosses on the backs of the wheels out of styrene tube, since I want to use the metal axles that came in the kit for ease of assembly.



The interior console received a few styrene knobs and buttons for a radio. They are a bit oversized, so I might redo them. I know I have some PE radio faces and knobs around somewhere...I just can't remember where. I also have a control head for the lightbar that I pilfered from my parts box (I believe it was from the AMT Robocop Ford Taurus).



Up next...clearcoats, decals, more clearcoats, and then masking and painting all the black trim (window and body trim, door handles and mirrors).

-YL

Hey Yoni!

I like the paint idea....yellow & white. May do a version of your paint scheme on my Ranchero. Really taking shape and looking forward to updates.

Mike

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pluto665/1133112504/

reminds me of one of my home town police paint jobs. i like it

(looks like you'll have to copy and paste the link)

I'd nearly forgotten about this build. It was buried, quite literally, under a pile of ongoing projects on the far side of my workbench. Back in December, I printed up a set of decals and applied them, but wasn't really happy with the result, and the project got pushed aside for a while. Ok, make that a long while.

I really need to clean it up, clear coat the body, paint up the lightbar and get this rig finished!

Steven: thanks for the link. The paint jobs are similar. Glad you like it.

-YL