3D Printed 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham (LOTSA PICS)

[MrObsessive]

Yes, many of us have tried to deal with the hoary Revell kit that was kitted back when that car was new. I attempted to make a bunch of corrections to it back in the '90's and was fairly successful, but unfortunately the model fell on the floor, and shattered in several places-----right where I did the bodywork. So, I shelved it and never touched it again.

Enter 3D printing: About a year ago, a few months after I got my first printer, I got interested in getting away from "printable" files, and wanted to start creating my own by learning how to take .obj files and make them printable. I downloaded a file which I fell I fell in love with immediately----the 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham. I got the file, and while it looked excellent in the .obj format, converting it to .stl told quite another story. VERY faceted appearance due to the low poly count of the body, and no amount of smoothing made to the surface looked correct for my tastes. Around the end of last year, someone who follows me on FB and runs a 3D printing business, offered to take the file and see if he could smooth out the surface. I got the file back, and it was a terrific job he did (he used Turbosmooth), but it left the vertices in a lace like pattern and very criss-crossed which makes it VERY difficult for me to divide up the body panels for wall thickness.

So-----back in the hard disk it went. I didn't say anything, or complain, I figured someone will come along and do the car eventually, and I'll just wait for a decent file.

Well, Doug Craig mentioned an extension a while back which I had heard of before, and actually had it as a part of Blender. It occurred to me to try it out on the Caddy, and wonder of wonders......it made the quads MUCH neater on the surface, and there was yet hope I could finally get this car printable, and get a CORRECT version of the Eldorado Brougham in 1/25 that the kit makers won't touch.

I've got a lot of pics below of the printed car, and it'll be on my radar to fully build one of these fine days. So, IMO----the Revell kit has just been rendered obsolete with the print I did, and chalk up another good reason to get into 3D printing. If a kit of a car is not to your liking, you can always find the file of the car, make any changes need if needed at all, print it out and keep steppin'. No need to wait for them to correct anything which seldom happens.

OK.........enough with being so long winded..........here are pics below.

I did print the other body parts a couple days ago, but those pics are on my phone and not on my laptop where I'm composing this post. Maybe later on I can add those.

Some touchups here and there with some liquid resin and a UV light-----not a big deal and it's easier to use than trying to use putty actually. The extra effort in getting this file straightened out was worth it, but I'll admit it was one of the TOUGHEST files I've had to deal with to date. I hope not to have to deal with another one like it for some time.

BTW, the file originally came from a site called Animium.com. I found out later on though that the exact same file I could have downloaded for free on Gamemodels.ru. Oh well, that's how it goes.

Thanks for lookin'!

[ColonelKrypton]

Very nice.

3d printing is a game changer. Still lots of room for improvement but getting better ( quality and bang for the buck ) all the time.

cheers, Graham

 

[Can-Con]

Looks incredible. Love the pockets for the door hinges.

[bisc63]

That looks SO promising. Very impressive so far, so do keep us updated on this one!

[H.A.K]

Looks good.