[LDD MOC] Police Car DX

Hello and a very Merry Christmas (for those whom that still applies ) fellow AFOLs! Today I'm happy to share something I've worked on since pretty much the first day I downloaded LDD so very long ago. A police car! But why do I call it a deluxe model in the title? Well, let's just see, shall we?

This is, of course, the obligatory diagonal shot, which shows it off quite nicely. I call it DX because I can comfortably seat two minifigs side-by-side, as well as having plenty of room for a prisoner in the back. Plus, I get to add fun little details, such as my front license plate (which helpfully informs people that yes, this is a police car), headlights and grille lights, which are always important. Plus handy side-view mirrors, complete with a spotlight on the driver's side (optional for passenger side, but easy enough to mod in). And my lightbar, of which I am very proud, and will show off more with the front and rear views.

(gray background used so the transparent takedown lights could be better seen)

I went with as close of an approximation as I could make to a V-shape lightbar, such as the Federal Signal Vector, which I like for the shape as well as the integrated yellow traffic direction lights on the rear. Speaking of the rear, I've got a license plate, tail lights, backup lights and a third brake light with a pair of rear-mounted emergency lights. I placed them along the top mainly because I could never arrange it in a way I liked on the rear deck itself, plus it's reminiscent of what the new Ford Taurus Police Interceptor does (you can just make out the center brake light in that image).

And, for completeness sake, a side view. Just because:

But why stop there? I decided to pretty up the interior as well!

In the front the officers get a nice in-dash Mobile Data Terminal to use for all their computing needs. There's also an instrument panel for the driver. Personally I prefer what the 60001 Fire Chief Car does over a flat tile, but LDD didn't give me that option. I do use the 1x2 cheese slope for the passenger side, so in theory if this were a real set I'd get a (preferably printed) 1x2 slope for the driver, as well.

Of course, our brave LEGO City Police Officers haven't been eating donuts all day, and have caught themselves a bad guy, who they place safely in the back for transport to LEGO City Jail. In the interests of officer safety, they have a clear plastic divider so our crafty crook can't bring the officers to harm while they drive, and they can of course keep an eye on him. It also shows off my rear deck design a little.

This is more-or-less my final (is there ever a truly final version of a MOC that you'll never tinker with again, though? ) version. Honestly I'd need some custom pieces to make it really awesome. A proper car door that fits in the space provided, for example. The ones presently in LDD are either too short or too big for the precise space I need, sadly. Still, all in all, I really like how this has turned out over my years of tinkering and refining. And I did keep copies of my older versions, so perhaps one day I'll show those off as well so you can see the evolution of this piece of work.

It is of course quite possible to swap out lightbars as your heart desires, so as one final bonus image, here's an alternate version with a more conventional clear rectangular LED lightbar, as many US police agencies use today:

Edited December 26, 201311 yr by RogueIce