randyc

Hey me too!!! LOL I may be acquiring leftover parts of a Franklin Mint 53 Cadillac that may donate some parts if they will work. Which will take it in a whole new direction. But hopefully I can get more photos over the weekend as I keep moving as I can. I do think I want to keep the inline 6 with the multi carbs and header. Maybe some custom wheel covers - I have several sets if they will fit the large tire openings. Wide whites will stay - may use the lowered suspension options with the wide whites if they will fit. Big thing is I want to come up with better interior detailing. That's where the 53 may come in. But it also has cool bumpers and such. That deal is waiting to see what's usable and left if I can get the Caddy. So far I'm thinking a green metallic with a turquoise top. Kinda 50s and kinda modern. Otherwise stock body unless the Caddy parts will bolt up easily.

A lot of race cars are hauled with narrow tires on them to fit in a trailer. I have one built. not sure if I can get to it, but I'll try over hte weekend and see if I can get that measurement for you. If I don't forget.

An update. Clean up of the body is almost compete. trim is defined, parting lines removed. Opened the grill opening to float the grille bar. Left a little material at end for the grille bar to attach to. Added a couple of slivers of plastic to the body to make grille fit better and will smooth that out and sand as needed to get the grille shell to fit better. The parting lines are tough around the headlights and taillights.

Ok true. But what do they look at while they are at work?! LOL I can barely stand facebook, so I don't look at those pages too much but am a member of some of them. THIS is my favoritest page for modeling on the internet. This is hard to work with on the phone though.

I dont; care if it's stock or not. I do think that basic skills should be learned and improved on continually. but that's for me. This is an individual hobby so each of us can build as we please. I just want to see more of the builds of kits so I can see what's in the box and maybe some good and bad before I get started.

Looks good!

I have a Franklin (?) mint that I have $10 in but I fixed it and can't bring myself to take the wheels off of it... I may see what I can scrounge up in the parts boxes or mods I can make. but it does need wide whites for sure.

Oh man! This one just gets better and better. can't ait to see the new wheels and tires. I'm going to let you guys get them all fixed up, then borrow hte best ideas and get one myself.

And yes folks, the original post was about the OLD AAR Cuda made from the Challenger with my peronal opinion on how the new version looks in relation to the old one. Richard, I wouldn't even begin to undertake a correction of the proportion you have. But I see some things with the new body feel wonky to me, but can't exactly identify what. It is a better "'Cuda shaped object" than the previous AAR.

I have only recently started trying to darken the lines. Haven't come up with a method I really like. Yours look good without darkening and that is all a personal prefence. To me, lines that look like a coloring book black ink drawing are too much. None is too little. Very rare that I see a build that has perfect door line shading. But that's my opinion. I can appreciate a model without darkened lines more than one that has too much.

Shoot I wouldn't mess with it. Looks fine to me. Other than add a second color to it. lol

Good luck with the warp. Maybe a bath in hot water too and you can twist it back a little before attaching?

Edmunds.com is one I have used extensively in the past. In my history VW and Audi aren't especially reliable. I have such negative history with them, that I would not ever consider another. But that's me. Good luck!

What if you rescribed the lines to remove the black wash? If the detail is soft to begin with, more defined door lines wouldn't hurt. After reading and looking at photos of other builds, I am scribing door lines on every build now. Go gentle so as not to destroy your paint. Then wash them in again with a different color or black Detailer fluid. Just a suggestion.

Sweet!

THat may be a new high water mark for this kit. Beautiful! Those Fireball tires look so good! Way better than kit tires. And what did you do to the Mags to get them to look more real than kit parts? So nice in every aspect. Interior and dash are soooo goood.

So who will be first to post a review of the NEW one??? And will I need to build it?

Looking good!

Good luck making the boot. I am miserable at things like that. Moreso now as I get older. I just wanna build and detail them. Very little scratchbuilding.

Found this red conv showing the soft boot. https://premierauctiongroup.com/vehicles/2424/1958-cadillac-series-62-convertible

hmmmmmm, even better. Maybe. I usually end up making a mess with MCG parts. Or launching them into another dimension. To be found 6 years from now. But I am working on doing better with tiny stuff. I got my guy that I build for looking into the car for me. But that makes it where I could possibl repaint. How hard did it look to remove all the trim and get down to just the body for a respray? Standard stuff? Screws and hot joints? I also thought about just painting the roof with stainless and leaving it. But I'd really like it better in different color. Thanks for letting me know. Would the hard cover from your bonneville fit on the Caddy? Looks like it would be too long from rear of seats to trunk line. 58 chev convertible? One of hte other 55 - 58 GM diecasts, plastics? I may have a Trumpeter 60 Bonneville boot. I used a 59 Chev top on my Bonneville. And I have seen some resin boots on ebay. Looking good so far

Yeah, ok, gotta have one! It doesn't have Caddy scripts on hood and trunk? In the ebay photos, looks like it has the Caddy scripts. Just thinking of how hard it would be to repaint in some other color - Lake Placid Blue to match my Strat? Something 50s "poly"...

I like this one other than the paint. Can't wait to see the mods!

Man I was awesome when I had those wheels on my truck. I won't say when or where, but let's just go with the assumption that Southeast US was a little behind. No mullet though. LOL

Nothing too exciting here. Just an easier build for me while I'm working on the Lotus for a friend. The Esprit is kinda intense. This should be an easy build of a generation of BelAir/Chevy I don't have enough of. Probably a metallic green with a cream top - not sure on the wheels yet. Maybe the lowered suspension and wide whites? If it will fit. Just opened the box yesterday. Maybe a few Custom touches. Very mild. These photos may not show but the panel lines and trim is all soft as molded. The panel lines are barely there - mostly a guide. Can't imagine painting it this way. So I'm cleaning up the gaps and mold lines and trim edges. I have a couple hours in this so far and haven't progressed beyond the trunklid. Just saying there is alot of cleanup and sharpening to be done. I think this will pay big dividends at the far end of the build. I can't see that far yet. I barely have an idea what color this thing will be. But my goal is to look at least as good as a "mint" diecast. In the phtos, the passenger side is the one with the most work. The driver's side door has had a couple passes with scribing tools (Xacto with a broken tip mostly). Nice square groove. Same blade on past 4 builds. I use dental picks, regular Xacto tip, and a triangular file for the panel lines. Same for hte chrome trim. Mark Gustavson recommended scribing the edges of trim years ago and he's really right - it does help sharpen the edges.