26 replies to this topic

[MrObsessive]

Well, I need something to break up the monotony of the superdetailing on the '55 Ford.............so I pulled out this forgotten model I bought a couple or so years ago at the NNL East.

This is The Modelhaus 1961 Cadillac Series 62 2 dr Hardtop.........I wanted to build something that was about as old as I am :shock: (not the actual model but the car ) So this is it!

I've always liked the jet like sleek lines of all the '61 GM lineup..............they were just starting to come out of the super excesses of the '50's yet they hadn't quite hit the simple lines that would be to follow as the '60's wore on.

I've just gotten as far as primering the body..........whoever did the master for this body did a pretty darn good job as there was never a 2 dr hardtop bodystyle modeled of a '61 Caddy. They were all four doors. They also "lengthened" the body to the correct proportions as all the Johan Cadillacs that this is based on were too "short". :?

As usual for Modelhaus standards there were NO pinholes to fill in and the resin is of very good quality. The roof had a very slight bow in towards the center, but some hot water and some bending fixed that. I noticed this when I was test fitting the front and rear glass and it wasn't fitting as flush as I would like.

Here's the body in primer so far..............





There'll be more pics to follow after I get the color coats on and paint the interior. It's rainin' hard here today..........so now's the time I guess since I can't do yard work! :wink:

Thanks for lookin'!

BILL

[Zoom Zoom]

Can't wait to see this one finished to your standards! It's a gorgeous kit of a beautiful car. What color will you be doing this one?

[MrObsessive]

Thanks Bob!

The exterior will be '61 Caddy York Blue..........a sorta solid Navy Blue. The interior will be a medium blue. It's kinda hard to find interior photos of older Cadillac's............I had some pics of a '61 from an eBay auction a while back. Thank goodness I saved them and burned them on CD.

That car also had a blue interior so I have some reasonable reference.

I figured it was time to do something a little simpler to break out of the mold of superdetailing..............I think I'll be doing this a lot more as my time isn't as plentiful as it used to be!

BILL

[MrObsessive]

Okay!

In the last couple hours, I was able to lay down several color coats of the York Blue and now need to let it sit for a couple weeks before rubbing it out.

I could speed things up a bit and let it sit in the dehydrator.........but we'll see. I'm not crazy about dehydrators after having a bad experience with one years ago .........so I've learned to exercise patience. 8)

First, here's a pic of where I do all my painting in the house...... I live in a 3 bedroom rancher..........(2 of the bedrooms are quite small) so I turned one of them into a build room.



The other side of the room I have this table although it's a lot messier now! :shock:



Here's the Caddy now that it's been painted.......





While the paint's drying, I'll start on the interior..........I'll mix the blue with some aluminum Alclad to make a medium blue interior. I may add a couple details like a rear view mirror and the "Autronic Eye" on the dash.

When the body dries I'll rub it out with the polishing cloths and Meguiars Car Cleaner Wax.

Stay tuned and thanks for lookin'!

BILL

[MikeBoyle]

Looking good! If its 1/10th as nice as anything else you've built it will be awesome!

[Wildrice]

Looking good Bill. That is a dark blue.

[Mal.au]

Hi Bill

Been a while found this new board about model cars and here you are, I look forward to being inspired


Regards Mal

[Billy Kingsley]

That looks fantastic Bill! Can't wait to see it move along and at the next NNL I see you at, whenever it may be!

[MrObsessive]

Ok, fellas...............here's the latest on my "quick" build '61 Cadillac. I got as far as getting most of the body rubbed out and polished, and will soon start on the interior.

Here's some new pics of the progress.........

The chassis that The Modelhaus gives you........looks like basically a repop of the old Johan kit chassis.



The interior..........which was modified to become a 2 dr------some of us old timers remember that there were no '61 2 dr hardtop Caddies. Both the '61 and '62 were 4 doors. I LOVE the separate door panels.....makes painting a LOT easier!



The Modelhaus gives you the correct wheels and WWW tires with the kit. The tires look like repops of the '59 Cadillac kit from Monogram. The wide whites would be correct for a '61 as this would be the last year they were offered across the GM lineup.



OKAY! Now where gettin' somewhere! I got the body pretty much all polished out............and have done a "mockup" to see where the body would sit in relation to the chassis. Lookin' good so far! I'm just trying out the BMF to make sure the sheet gives me no surprises!



One of the things I like to focus on when rubbing out the body is to put a lot of emphasis on the hood, roof and decklid. The reason for this is when the model is on display, that's the first thing most people will notice. You can have all the bells and whistles on your model..............but if the paint job looks like hell, it won't matter!



I'll get the rest of the driver's side polished out later today and get the interior painted also. Contrary to popular belief.......................painting is not the most difficult job in putting the finish on a model-----------rubbing it out and polishing it is!



I give a lot of kudos to whoever did the master for the body on this one. Like I mentioned above, there were no '61 2 door hardtops done of any Cadillac by Johan (they didn't appear until '63 or '64). The body has been corrected to the correct length as the Johan bodied were a little "short". Word has it that Johan originally did this to get the model to "fit" in their boxes. Probably economically sound at the time, but wreaks havoc on us detail guys 45 years later!

Anyway, a kit well worth the money-------------and by golly I think I'm hooked! This is actually my first attempt at a 1/24-1/25 resin buildup believe it or not!

Stay tuned as I'll try to get this baby done by next weekend!

Thanks for lookin!

BILL

[Tuffy's Garage]

That is just smokin cool

[Billy Kingsley]

WOW! That polishing is something that really sets it off, for sure! Can't wait to see some more on that one!

[SoCalMark]

That shined up real good, can't wait to see some chrome

[MrObsessive]

OK Fellas......she's all done!

Except for a couple minor details, for all intents and purposes, this baby is DONE!
Here are some pics......









I've decided NOT to paint in between the spokes on the wheelcovers body color........I think it makes the wheels look "busy" and I've seen '61's that had full chrome wheelcovers.

I may add an outside fender antennae..........and since the body is not fully set on the chassis yet, I should add an inside rearview mirror. Or maybe not.......

The kit had a few inaccuracies..........but it was a fun build just the same.......and as I mentioned before, I have a few more resin kits that I may build in the future. A '59 Buick, '61 Olds, and a '56 Stude Golden Hawk are just a few.......not to mention a bunch of 1/43 kits.

Thanks for lookin'!

[Mr. Can Am Garage]

Beautiful job Bill!

The colour sure suits the body lines.

[Zoom Zoom]

Now that's a snazzy Caddy! Nice job, nice model. Would be fun to drive a 1:1 version of it. You can't beat a bubbletop for classy lines, and the Caddy is the classiest

[Darin Bastedo]

Doesn't it feel great? You did an awesome job on it Bill. I love the color.

[Wildrice]

Great looking Caddy. Excellent build.

[MrObsessive]

Thanks for the nice words guys!

And yes Darin............You'll be seeing some more "curbsides" from me in the future! 8)

[Billy Kingsley]

That is, by far, amazing. I can't wait to see it in person. NNL Nationals, or NNL East?

[promoman]

Beautiful job, love the color..