You know the score pal. You're not cop, you're little people.

After Alien Bear told me about the Gaslands miniatures produced by North Star Military Figures last month, I had to buy a set to check the figures out in real life.

The set I picked up was the Highway Patrol (NSPIoC12), though I would have gotten the Wasteland Warriors (i.e., War Boys) if they were available.

In any event, four of the figures in the set are the eponymous Highway Patrol.

They are in the mould of the old Citadel Dark Future Cops, and I don't really have plans for them, but maybe they can be used for something pulpish like members of the Blackhawk Squadron.

The pièce de résistance of this set however, was the Blade Runner figure.

All the figures are 1/72 scale, so I didn't need to bring them up to height.

I had a little trouble trying to figure out what color to paint Deckard's trenchcoat, since it looks different depending upon the lighting during the scene.

I went for a lighter brown color, but it looks much darker in the picture.

Since we're on the subject of Blade Runner, we need to talk about Spinners. Someone really needs to produce a Police Spinner in 1/72 scale.

The closest models available are from an obscure set of 1/64 diecast models made by ERTL almost 40 years ago.

I didn't even know these were around until a few years ago, but from what I understand, they went to the bargain bin because the movie was a box office flop.

If you look for the models on eBay nowadays, they run anywhere from US$50 to US$100 individually, and a boxed set of four runs over US$500!

I bought two mishandled ERTL Spinners because condition was not as important to me as price.

The first model is Deckard's Chase Spinner (#1872).

A bar was added between the two wheel pods to accommodate the axle, but obviously this does not exist on the actual Spinner.

The second model is Rachael's Spinner (#1874), more properly known as the Alfa Romeo Spinner.

This vehicle is briefly seen passing Gaff and Deckard as they approach the Tyrell Building.

Tomy re-released the model as the Galactic Cruiser at one point, after they picked up the assets of RC2 (which included ERTL and Johnny Lightning).

Syd Mead is said to have based the design on the Alfa Romeo Navajo, and the dimensions of the diecast model match up pretty well with those of the actual Navajo in 1/64 scale.

I was really hoping the models could pass for 1/72 scale, and they actually don't look that bad next to 1/72 figures.

However, if you place them next to actual 1/72 scale cars, they start to look overscale.

The two other models in the set (which I don't own) are Deckard's Ground Car (#1871), and Bryant's Police Spinner (#1873). The Police Spinner uses the same body as the Chase Spinner, but it has a light bar and different tampos.

Maybe I can do something with these models one day, but I think (for me) it will be more difficult than the restoration of an actual Spinner. In all probability, someone will come up with a 3D model in 1/72 before I'm even able to start.

NECA also makes a Spinner from Blade Runner 2049 in their Cinemachines line, which is still readily available.

From what I can tell, it doesn't look like they put much effort into the design, so if I do buy one, it will only be if there is a significant drop in the price of the model.

On a side note, if anyone is interested, you can read about my visit to some of the Blade Runner film locations in November of last year at my other blog.

Calling Dick Tracy!

The heyday of Dick Tracy was before my time, but I was aware of the character from the comic strips, and I get the feeling that I may have actually seen the cartoon series in syndication though my memory about it is rather unclear.

10¢?!!!

The 1990 movie didn't do much to increase my interest in the franchise, though I did like the highly stylized art design of the movie itself.

What I didn't know back then, was that the merchandising associated with the movie would provide us with a 1/72 scale 1936 Ford Model 68 V8 Fordor sedan.

The Dick Tracy logo across the boot of the car detracts from it's appearance, but luckily, diecast car collectors have come up with a number of ways to get rid of unwanted tampos. The method that I used to get rid of the branding is shown in the following YouTube video.

The method works pretty well, though at certain angles, I can still see a faint outline of the Dick Tracy logo.

There are three other cars in the series, including a 1937 Studebaker Dictator, 1936 Ford V8 De Luxe, and a 1939 Chevrolet Master De Luxe, but they are all overscale. There is also a micro size set of four cars that can sometimes be confused with the larger ones.

Another interesting item from the Dick Tracy franchise, was the Space Coupe. I don't know what space travel had to do with a detective series, but I guess it was the late 60s, right in the middle of the Cold War Space Race, so the subject of space travel was popular.

A model of the Space Coupe was manufactured by Aurora, and various sources have suggested that the model is 1/72 scale. Since the vintage Aurora kits are always pretty expensive, I never bothered buying one to see if the rumors were true, but a while back I managed to pick up an inexpensive Polar Lights re-issue kit.

The kit includes four figures consisting of Dick Tracy, Moon Maid, Junior, and Diet Smith.

The figures are sculpted in a cartoony style that befits comic strip characters, but I don't think Moon Maid is a very good likeness.

Moon Maid wearing a hat to blend in with the natives.

I'm undecided about whether I really want to build this kit, but an amazing build was done over at Hobby Talk.

An image of Aurora Station, which is being touted as the first luxury hotel in space turned up during my Google search for the Aurora Space Coupe model. The center module of the station looks remarkably similar to the hull of the Space Coupe.

In the event that I don't want to build the kit as the Space Coupe, I was thinking about using it as the base for an Aurora Station conversion.