1957 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham

[Andy Oldenburg]

The ´57 Brougham was Cadillacs answer to Rolls Royce. It cost a staggering 13,000 $ but the manufacturing price was about 10,000 extra. Not a good deal for Cadillac but an impressive marketing move.

This kit misses those standards by far. I was a bit shocked when I unboxed it and was on the brink of not building it at all. I learned later that the original issue was in 1958, but the very low level of molding and fitting quality is a disappointment. After shifting the chances of turning this kit into a reasonable build in my head, I took the challenge and set out to pack everything possible into my Brougham.

The body and undercarriage are in an unusual molding setup. Two parts that connect at the belt line. This kit contains no engine and the details one could call almost nonexistent. Instead of tires you get plastic donuts. So I replaced a lot of parts (only about 60 in the box anyway?) and fabricated many details from scratch. Fortunately I had enough parts to build an engine and could cut an engine bay of a spare body.

On a blue base coat I sprayed Schmincke AERO Color ultramarine blue with a 50% part of metallic fluid. After applying the BMF I sealed the body parts with AK gloss varnish and gave it a polish. The wheels and tires are from my parts box. The grill is cut out and replaced with a sheet metal grid from my model crafts dealer in town. Headlamps are lenses from Scale Production, same with other details like the wipers, door mirror and the handles.

The suicide doors really hooked me and this build cried for getting them. Inside the drivers door I hid a micro magnet and the counterpart is behind the side of the drive seat. This keeps the doors in place and aligned because the drivers door holds the back door tight. The floor and the mats are flocked and the chrome is BMF with a occasional dab of Molotow chrome pen. I tried to get some of those original gimmicks into the interior and chose the record player in the front arm rest and the bar in the glove compartment. The dash got some upgrading for the gauges with printed images and 0.4mm silver wire for the trim.

The engine is a mix of 3-4 different kits. Fortunately I had a air filter box that looks the the original. Detailing engines is always my favorite with every build. In this case I had to fabricate the power steering pump  and the generator. The pulley wheels are deconstructed from a kit part and worked to pick up rubber belts. The wheels are connected to the block with 0.5 and 1mm brass pins. The grime comes from AK interior streaks. The extra parts in the engine bay are hand made from scratch styrene sheets and rods, wire and thin sheet aluminum.

The undercarriage and all the parts for the suspension and transmission needed heavy working. A big part of the undercarriage I cut out or just grinded off. I discarded most of the kit parts and remodeled the few left to get some details on the bottom. The rear axle is from my spare box and received the extra details with styrene raw materials. The brake and fuel lines are inspired by original images. The exhaust system is finger bent 2mm styrene with mufflers from my parts box. Like the engine I weathered the bottom and added a bit of "rust".

You can see the building progress in a thread on the WIP forum.

The video will be released soon with this link:

https://youtu.be/S5R_Goj9sR8

Thanks to everyone that followed me on the WIP and thank you for watching here!

[stitchdup]

I really enjoyed watching you work on this. When you compare what you started with to the finished result you would struggle to believe it was the same kit

[Tom99]

Very nice, great work.

[ncbuckeye67]

Your hard work definitely paid off! That paint is really beautiful.

[ChrisR]

Looks great!!

[Zen]

WOW, amazing model.

[Zippi]

I'm liking this one.  Great job on the build.

[TarheelRick]

Definitely some outstanding detail work. It takes excellent craftsmanship to turn that brick into the jewel it became.

[Chuckyg1]

I have no words. Just staring open mouthed.

[SpikeSchumacher]

Exceptionally well done Andy!

[happy grumpy]

Wonderful work on a less than optimal kit.  You just proved old Darnell (Christine) wrong. You can indeed polish a t**d.?

[espo]

I followed your build on this and your turned out amazing especially knowing what you started with and all the detail building you have done. This remands me of an old saying about "Making a silk purse out of a Pigs ear". 

[Hi-Po]

Considering what you had to work with, that turned out really nice.

[Hard_2_Handle_454]

I know that kit isn't that great.  I built one too, and this looks a lot better than mine.

[John King]

Very nice, turned out great 

[Yeah Nah]

You're a true artist Andreas. You've done as well as can be done with this kit. In fact yours is easily the best example I've ever seen.

[bh1701]

Looks really good - especially the opening doors!

[Rattlecan Dan]

Great looking build. Lots of great detail work and nice paint. Bravo!

[bondo bill]

that's a lot of work, sharp build

[Bainford]

Very well done, Andy. That is one fine looking Cadillac. You sure wrestled this ancient kit to the ground. I enjoyed your build thread. Very brave taking on those double doors. Great work. 

[Ridge Rider]

Looks fantastic, well done

 

[Andy Oldenburg]

Hello everybody,

many thanks for all of your friendly replies! That really feels good....?? I´m still enjoying that feeling of getting this build done. It will get a front row place on the shelf.

Merry Christmas and a happy model building new year!

 

[bbowser]

Very impressive work!  I especially like the phonograph and the engine detailing is off the charts.

[Supernurd]

Excellent build and great photography!  ?

[Slotto]

Beautiful build Andy! Top Shelf