Question about Cadillac model kits…..

[Street Rod]

Wondering if anyone has built either the Minicraft 1933 Cadillac v-16 town car 1/16 scale or the Italeri/Testors 1933 Cadillac fleetwood 1/24 scale kits?

If so, are they good kits as far as fitment issues, have good details, etc? Is one a “better” kit than the other? Would you build one again? I realize the scale difference can matter as far as my questions.

Like the looks of these and like cars from this era. I’ve only ever built muscle cars and pickups, etc. and would like to try one. The town car catches my eye the most.
 

Thanks for any advice or suggestions!

Edited July 30, 2022 by Street Rod
Added pictures

[stitchdup]

Id go for the italeri kit, simply because my experience with minicraft has been trash. At least with the italeri if there are missing parts someone is likelly to have them as they are mush more commonly found and a better price

[Street Rod]

Thanks! I think that’s the direction I’ll go when I get ready to do one of these cars.

[Richard Bartrop]

I have the Italeri kit, and honestly, the engine in that is not great. Also the huncaps are noticeably undersized compared to the original.

[Street Rod]

Any thoughts on the Monogram kits. I’d like a kit that’s got good details throughout, makes it easier to add to if things are reasonably right to begin with. 
 

Doesn’t have to be a Cadillac. A Lincoln, Rolls or Duesenberg would be good, also. I would just like to build one of those ‘30’s luxury cars.

[Dave G.]

20 hours ago, Street Rod said:

Any thoughts on the Monogram kits. I’d like a kit that’s got good details throughout, makes it easier to add to if things are reasonably right to begin with. 
 

Doesn’t have to be a Cadillac. A Lincoln, Rolls or Duesenberg would be good, also. I would just like to build one of those ‘30’s luxury cars.

Yes and yes to Monogram in 1/24. The Classic series and later releases were Connoisseur Classic. I've enjoyed those many moons ago and wouldn't mind them again. In 1/25 you have MPC in the late 20's-30's era classic cars, most notably Lincoln being among those in a couple of iterations. Those in the latest release are the Gangbusters series, I believe there is a new release on a Caddy or maybe it is the 28 Lincoln ( oops just looked it up , 32 Chrysler is freshly released and in well stocked stores for sure and I believe the 28 Lincoln  is still around). Both companies though are pretty straight forward building they build nice with no real tricks to over come but not much for working items. Your own detailing helps, attention to accurate paint etc.

I can speak on Entex and Minicraft in 1/16. There are some nice old stock kits still out there, of those two there are a lot of parts in both brands but Minicraft likes to throw in a hurdle or two to jump in my experience anyway. You're looking at 200+ parts in some of the Entex kits though. Italeri I have not worked with, I'd listen to those who have. I've done some Minicraft Model A's and the door hinges are both a royal PITB to work with and inaccurate and they are right there out in the open on the doors. The instructions are vague as in use your imagination quite a bit, hope you're good with inaccurate pictures. They's a bit of a puzzle kind of thing to build but the engine and drive line look good, in scale etc..

[Street Rod]

Thanks a lot, Richard and Dave! Your replies were very helpful. I looked at some of the Monogram kits, haven’t looked at MPC yet, and they look really good. I saw several different cars I like, so will go that route when I’m ready for one.

 

[Oldcarfan27]

Connoisseur Classics are the MPC kits. Also very nice.

Don't forget the Johan's. They show up pretty often and prices can be pretty fair, if the seller isn't that interested in the subject matter. 

[Street Rod]

Thanks, Patrick! I’ll definitely check them out.

[Dave G.]

Yep, so I flipped the name Connoisseur, That was under AMT and MPC. The Monogram classic cars are listed just Classic. One of these days I'll land a good buy on the Monogram Classic 1930 Packard 4 door Speedster phaeton.

 Right now the 32 Chrysler in MPC is listed Gangbusters.

[stavanzer]

The MPC 28 Lincolns are good kits, but very Fiddly to get together. Don't bother with the Out of Scale working steering.

I'd prefer the Monogram Classics to start. They go together faster and more cleanly than any other kits listed. I'd not tackle any of the Italeri Classics until I had a few Monogram kits under my belt.

[Dave G.]

The original MPC 28 Lincoln kit that I built back in the mid 1970's is my only recall, I don't recall it being finicky, I can't speak of newer iterations though. I also don't recall working steering on that version. But that's a long time ago and it's not to say it didn't have it and I bypassed it. I built that right after building the Monogram Classic Duesenberg Dual Cowl, to which I had previously built several of the Monogram Classic kits and as mentioned more than once now in the thread here, are straight forward builds.. Both turned out very nice at any rate. I still have them stashed in a box wrapped in paper towels and last I looked at them they could use a bit of reconstruction at this point. I don't recall that iteration MPC 28 Lincoln having any quirks about it. And I have not built later ones nor the newly released Gangbusters 32 Chrysler. I seem to recall though the Monograms are a bit stronger building/handling, the plastic felt more stout from the MPC plastic but I'm really digging into these old memory banks on that lol.

I remember my at the time and now past on relatively new wife being quite taken by both model results ( she loved those old classic cars as much as I do).

Edited August 2, 2022 by Dave G.

[Deathgoblin]

Built the Italeri/Testors 1933 Cadillac V16 Town Car.  It's a fun kit, but keep in mind the main body is a multi-piece assembly.  I found it easier to put the main part of the body together so I could sand/paint in one piece.  I'll post pics as soon as I can.