It's got a cop motor, a 440-cubic-inch plant. It's got cop tires, cop suspensions, cop shocks, It's a model made before catalytic converters... Options

[choc-ice]

And lots of other cool lines; if you're of a certain age, most of them are probably buried deep in your subconscious. But what's this got to do with slot cars?

I'm glad you asked... when I was developing the 1977 Dodge police car, one or two people mentioned that a Bluesmobile would be a cool thing to make. I'm sure we all know what it's like to have more good ideas than time to do them, so I parked that idea in the back of my head until, well, until its time came.

There's no 1:32 model of a Bluesmobile so far, or a '74 Dodge Monaco in 1:32 either. The '77 Dodge is close in terms of proportion but the front and back are quite different, and the waistline is different too. The Cadillac is being done straight from 3D CAD data and recently I managed to get hold of CAD data for the Bluesmobile. Just as with the Caddy, it needed some work to get from the surface model to something that can be made on a 3D printer. For a computer game, it doesn't really matter if there are tiny gaps in the mesh, but for a solid model it's got to be completely solid. I tried a few methods of "automatic repair" but it didn't work so off it went to be stitched together so it was suitable for printing.

But we're getting ahead of ourselves, let's get some pictures up

The surface model


Rear view of the surface model


Rendered surface model


The bodyshell is literally a shell now it's been stitched together, 3mm thick so it's solid enough to support itself and have a silicon mould taken from it


Rear and underside


And for comparison, the same view but as a wireframe mesh


Some 3D models are quite simple in terms of their mesh, once it's in a computer game you want it as simple as possible so it can move around without crunching up all the game memory. But for making a model, the tighter the mesh the better level of detail and smoother the curves will be. As you can see, this is pretty complicated!

The wheel centres should be the same as the early ones I had on the '77 Dodge so they already exist, I'm now waiting for the 3D print to come back so I can check its quality. Then it's the long road to preparing it and getting it moulded. It's 106 miles to Chicago....

[bensonsnuts]

.............we've got a full tank of gas, a half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark and we're wearing sunglasses

Still one of my favourite films after all this time . The car is looking great . Really looking forward to seeing the finished product

[Ember]

So happy to see someone take on this mission from god.

[choc-ice]

Look what was waiting for me this morning! The push bars didn’t make it past the cleaning process, but that’s ok because they’d probably need to be separate on the casting anyway, maybe even metal.

The radiator grille didn’t make it either so that’ll need to be remade. There wasn’t enough support behind it so the cleaning process blew the slats out.

Despite all that, I think it looks very promising

[Phil.Insull]

Excellent news Choc-Ice,
The real thing - I know I did a Blues Brothers paint job on the 77 Dodge but the real deal will be better. Any chance of doing the roof mounted speaker unit as a seperate moulding then folks can build a with and without speaker version?
Looking forward to seeing this develop and the Cadillac.
Cheers
Phil

[Si.]

" First you pick me up from jail in a po-lice car... "

" Then you tell me you sold The Bluesmobile for a MICROPHONE ! "

" Jake... Is this the new Bluesmobile, or what ? "

Cool

Choc-Ice !

Cheers

Si.

[Ian H]

So is it the new Bluesmobile or what?

Fix the cigarette lighter . . . .

[petestrike]

4 fried chickens.....and a coke!


gotta be the coolest movie motor of all time!

[Ember]

My head is already busy designing a 'shopping mall' themed rally cross track. It's either got to be rally cross or the cars need to be digital for full 'pursuit' on a single lane.

[doncatwalker]

I don't believe it. It's that shitbox Dodge again!

[choc-ice]

Good to see there's so many remembered lines from this movie, and I'll bet most of you haven't seen it for years but can still remember them!

I'm not sure what to do about graphics, should I make them already weathered or do them clean and let people scruff them up?

[Ember]

I'd do them clean and let the purchaser have the joy of mussin' them up.

Let's see. When did I last see Blues Brothers. Hmmm.... It's February isn't it? That would make it nearly 2 months. Around here it gets ritually viewed twice a year, as does Rocky Horror Picture Show (are you scared yet?).

[choc-ice]

Wow, another film I've never seen all the way through, or whilst sober...

I did a trial fit of the bodyshell onto my chassis and it looks good but a bit tight under the low bonnet (hood?) line



I need to get the radiator grille made up today, and some front windows too so a mould can be made properly. As well as this, I've got another project on the go whilst the Caddy is being cast *gulp*

[Slots-O-Fun]

The penguins will love it.

[Lee666]

Thats looking really good!