ARII Models - Specifically the 58 ElDorado

[MrBuick]

How is the quality of ARII kits? I'm not a huge stickler for 100% body accuracy, but just overall general quality...fit/finish, etc. Specifically I'm looking at the '58 Cadillac ElDorado Biarritz.

[Eshaver]

Colby, stay away from the ElDorado HT . The top has all kinds of "Fit issues " On the other hand , the top down model goes together nicely

[Ramfins59]

The convertible is actually a pretty nice kit Colby.  I built one about 2 years ago.  With some extra detailing in the interior and engine compartment it comes out great.  Pictures of my completed model follow...

 

[MrBuick]

Awesome, thanks for the info guys. The convertible kit is the one I'm looking at. 

[gardnerpag44]

Colby PM sent 

[SfanGoch]

You did a great job, Richard. That engine compartment is excellent. 

Colby, I have the convertible also. I'll second what Richard said about the kit. With a little work and detailing, it is a nice kit.

[Edsel-Dan]

I also have the Convertible

In fact, I have it and the Heller re-boxed LEE copy

STAY away from the Heller/Lee kit

Though the rear trailing arms are separate, the rear axle is molded 

in the chassis, and set up for a Toy battery operated motor!!!.

Details are also a little soft on the other parts.

 

Richard, I do Like that build

Hope mine comes out Half that nice.

But, neither of my 2 kits have that Trim surround on the from fenders

The slots are there, but no trim

[keyser]

Nice build. Dimensions a bit clunky, and it doesn't have doglegs or top boot. But it's only one available. I had one, sold it. Arii tend to be either ok, or super crude. This is best American car they've done imo. 

[SfanGoch]

But, neither of my 2 kits have that Trim surround on the from fenders

The slots are there, but no trim

If you're talking about this,

that's a fender vent trim spear, aka "Pitchfork", which is similar to, but not the same as 1958 Chevy Impala convertible rear quarter pitchfork trim spears 

That isn't a slot on the model fender. That's how the trim is modeled. The Spear mounts flush with the fender skin. That's a job for BMF, a steady hand to paint it or do a lot of fancy-schmancy masking and spray some Alclad.

[Mike999]

Built the top-up convertible as a junker many years ago and still have some pieces of it.

If you want one of these, be aware it was originally issued by ARII in 3 different versions: top-down convertible with boot; top-up convertible with vacu-formed ragtop (which looks pretty good); hardtop, but the hardtop is a separate piece and takes some work to integrate with the body. I recall a hardtop build article from MANY years ago, probably in The Other Magazine. It came out great but was built by a very good modeler.

All 3 original ARII versions show up pretty often on eBay. Be patient and you can probably find one at a decent price. As mentioned earlier, avoid the LEE version where the chassis was reworked for motorizing.

For anyone who cares, along with the clunkiness etc. mentioned earlier, the kit has 2 minor errors easily verified by Mr. Google:

1. The kit has 9 chrome "hashmarks" on the lower body panels, in front of the rear wheel well. The real car has 10 of those hashmarks.

2. On the interior driver's side, the main power window switch is in the wrong place. The kit has it on the door panel. On the real car, it's mounted on the "dogleg" part of the dashboard.  Weird, because on the ARII kit, the box sides had detail photos of the real car...showing that power window switch!

[SfanGoch]

There's a fourth ARII kit, 31241, a pink convertible. I have 31002 Soft Top. It's molded in white, black and turquoise (the interior parts)

The top is molded in white styrene

The fins near the rear wheelwell are also to short vertically. The biggest issue is that there is a 3mm discrepancy between the rear edges of the door and inner panel. In order to align both, you need to scribe a new door opening. That also means repositioning other details. The kit body length (236.4 mm) scales out exactly to the 1:1 (5674 mm); the problem is with, for lack of a better term at the moment, the proportion of the kit body panels when compared to the actual car. These are pretty obvious when looking at a photo of the real deal

There are plenty of other nits to pick; although, since it is the only model of this car available, it ain't that bad.  

 

 

[Mike999]

Thanks, Stan. 31002 is exactly the kit I built. I remembered the top as vac-formed but it's obviously molded in styrene.

And the plot thickens!  HobbyLink Japan sells the molded-in-pink version with a release date of Oct. 2010 and a kit number of "ARI91241." I'd think the "AR" prefix meant "ARII."  But the manufacturer is listed as Microace:

https://hlj.com/product/ARI91241

 

[SfanGoch]

Same company. 

 

 

 

 

BTW.....................

 

It's S-F-A-N!  

[Mike999]

Whoops! Sorry, won't let that name mistake happen again. Now I can feel stupid x2.  Which happens pretty often.

I know a modeler who wanted to use the ARII kit's chassis/engine under a resin copy of the old JO-HAN '58 Cadillac 4-door.  He loved the ordinary '58 Cad and was hoping to cut open the JO-HAN hood and have engine detail etc.  That guy was a great builder but he finally gave up on the whole idea.  There were just too many problems hacking up and matching the parts of the 2 kits. 

Though now that I've said that, somebody in here has probably done it and will produce amazing photos of the results.

[Harry P.]

From the photos Rich posted, looks like the front seats have hollow backs that need to be filled in with sheet plastic. Also adding a top boot (either scratchbuilt or from the parts box) would go a long way as far as realism goes.

[Ramfins59]

Harry, the seat backs are separate pieces that are glued on.  They have the tuck & roll pattern molded on but the panels are slightly recessed so it looks like the seat backs are hollow but they're not.

I did get a hard type convertible boot from a fellow Forum member after I completed the model and painted it to match the car and installed it...

 

Edited June 3, 2016 by Ramfins59

[Edsel-Dan]

There should be a Boot cover

He bought it from me

since I had both the Good Arii kit & the POOR Heller one

I sold him the one out of the Heller kit as it looked identical

to the Arii piece

Some pieces in the Heller/Lee kit were OK, but that chassis.....................

[Edsel-Dan]

I think we were tying at the same time

[Harry P.]

Harry, the seat backs are separate pieces that are glued on.  They have the tuck & roll pattern molded on but the panels are slightly recessed so it looks like the seat backs are hollow but they're not.

Yes, I see now. I goggled it, the seat backs have that raised padded "rim" around the edges which makes the seatbacks look recessed.

[Robberbaron]

Whoops! Sorry, won't let that name mistake happen again. Now I can feel stupid x2.  Which happens pretty often.

I know a modeler who wanted to use the ARII kit's chassis/engine under a resin copy of the old JO-HAN '58 Cadillac 4-door.  He loved the ordinary '58 Cad and was hoping to cut open the JO-HAN hood and have engine detail etc.  That guy was a great builder but he finally gave up on the whole idea.  There were just too many problems hacking up and matching the parts of the 2 kits. 

Though now that I've said that, somebody in here has probably done it and will produce amazing photos of the results.

First problem that comes to mind is that the Arii is listed as 1/24th while the Johan is 1/25 at the largest.  The old Johans were sometimes "scaled to the box", and I wouldn't be surprised if the '58 4-door is even a little smaller than 1/25.  Think there would be enough of a difference to cause lots of headaches...

[gtx6970]

Johan made a 58 Cadillac kit ?

 

1st I've heard of this....my understanding is there 1st one was a 1959

[Mike999]

Here you go. Pic of the JO-HAN '58 Cad, randomly grabbed from the net.  Like the JO-HAN '59 Cad, the '58 is a 4-door Fleetwood Sixty Special, which makes it even more interesting.  As Mr. Baron says above, all these JO-HANs look to be a "box scale," maybe slightly smaller than 1/25.

 

[MrObsessive]

Johan made a 58 Cadillac kit ?

 

1st I've heard of this....my understanding is there 1st one was a 1959

Bill, I have a black Johan '58 Cadillac Sixty Special (actually an X-EL promo) that is still in excellent shape. These turn up on the 'Bay from time to time as well as the original promos. Expect to shell out some BIG bucks for one of the X-EL ones as they're made of the regular plastic, and not the self-destructing/warping Cycolac or Acetate.

[MrObsessive]

There's a fourth ARII kit, 31241, a pink convertible. I have 31002 Soft Top. It's molded in white, black and turquoise (the interior parts)

The top is molded in white styrene

The fins near the rear wheelwell are also to short vertically. The biggest issue is that there is a 3mm discrepancy between the rear edges of the door and inner panel. In order to align both, you need to scribe a new door opening. That also means repositioning other details. The kit body length (236.4 mm) scales out exactly to the 1:1 (5674 mm); the problem is with, for lack of a better term at the moment, the proportion of the kit body panels when compared to the actual car. These are pretty obvious when looking at a photo of the real deal

There are plenty of other nits to pick; although, since it is the only model of this car available, it ain't that bad.  

 

 

That is one GORGEOUS profile shot!

This is one car I want to slice and dice so badly to make it right! Other projects are in the way right now, but I have the hardtop one and the shape of the roof is so incorrect it's sickening to look at IMO. Looks more like a '58 Rambler than a '58 C-body Cadillac.

You're correct about certain aspects of the body shape. I always thought the wheelwells in particular were a bit big and not quite in proportion to how the 1:1 is shaped. The windshield rake on the kit is another sticking point with me------but y'all know how particular I am about things like that! True, this is all we have and I don't see anyone stepping up to the plate and giving us a more up to date one anytime soon.

Just another one of my '50's favorites to add to my correction list.................someday.

[gtx6970]

Bill, I have a black Johan '58 Cadillac Sixty Special (actually an X-EL promo) that is still in excellent shape. These turn up on the 'Bay from time to time as well as the original promos. Expect to shell out some BIG bucks for one of the X-EL ones as they're made of the regular plastic, and not the self-destructing/warping Cycolac or Acetate.

Duh,

I had stryene kit on my mind and completely forgot about the  promo version

note to self, ,,,,,,, have morning coffee before posting online

Edited June 4, 2016 by gtx6970