1953 Cadillac Eldorado - - Class of '53 - - Entry #3

[Ramfins59]

Here's something different. I picked up a Classic Metal Works kit of a 1953 Cadillac Eldorado on EBAY for the bargain basement price of $10. It was prepainted black and all the plastic interior parts were either black plastic or chromed. I found a couple of Google reference pictures of '53 Caddy's with red interiors so I decided to redo the interior in red. The box says this is 1/24 scale but it is actually 1/26 scale like a lot of their other kits.

I love the looks of the front of this car and the wire wheels are really cool too. All the chrome trim were separate pieces. I added BMF to the taillight bezels as they were only painted silver.

I added a clock face and radio face to the dashboard. It came with stickers for the speedo and shift indicator. I covered the speedo, radio and clock faces with clear epoxy for lenses. I flocked the carpet black and painted the ribbed seat and door inserts with flat red and flocked the rest of the seats and door panels with red flocking. Then I added red wire to the seats for piping.

I didn't go my usual route of adding a lot of detail under the hood. I just added some paint detail and BMF to the top of the air cleaner.

I paint detailed the molded in chassis details as best I could.

This turned out to be a cool looking model, albeit an unusual one, and makes a great addition to my 1950's car builds.

As usual any and all comments are welcomed. Now I'll be picking another "unusual" car to work on next.

[realgone58]

Came out very nice! Much better with the red interior. I didn't even know Classic Metal Works did one of these.

[crazyjim]

Pretty cool.

[Porscheman]

Rich, your interiors are beautiful. The detailing make this really pop!!!

[Harry P.]

Wow, Rich, that is a beauty! I absolutely love your interior work, what a great addition to this model. Not bad for a $10 model!

[Drgon63]

way Kewl looking Caddy.... love the red interior with the black exterior... whats next... HUH HUH... what .... what...don't keep us guessing....

[TooOld]

Great looking Caddy !! I love the black with red interior .

As a kid my Uncle drove one like this until he traded it in for a brand new baby blue '59 !

[cobraman]

I agree, the interior looks great !

[Ramfins59]

Thank you all very, very much guys. This was a quick and easy buildup. It took longer to redo the interior than to do the entire rest of the model. Yes, I really enjoy working on model interiors...... not that I don't like working on the rest of the car too.

Next on the bench...??? So many to choose from... I'm kind of leaning towards something from 1957. Maybe something we don't see built up too often, if at all. Although, I've got a shipment of Modelhaus replacement parts on the way to me for a couple of 1959 cars and another '58. We'll have to wait and see what calls out to me the loudest.

Then there is a Jimmy Flintstone HHR body and PT Cruiser parts that my daughter wants me to build as a Christmas gift for her fiance'. He would like a model of his 1:1 HHR and my daughter bought all the parts for it. I've been putting that project off since last June so maybe I should bite that bullet and get it done for her since Christmas is right around the corner. So many models... so little time.

[slusher]

Sweet looking model Rich..

[Brudda]

This is really nice!!!

[slammedi'am]

Nice work!!!

[the goon]

Really looks great.

Mark

[Tom Geiger]

Very cool Rich. I wouldn't have guessed this one for your next act! Sooooo what is coming up? With Christmas coming before ya know it, I'd recommend working on that HHR. Jimmy has that one set to be a slammer with painted windows... or are we brave enuf to open them up??

[Ramfins59]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate your kind comments.

Tom, I have the JF body that I picked up at NNL East in April, and I got a PT Cruiser builtup from one of the Forum members. I was thinking of trying to be brave and open up the windows, but then of course I'd have to make the glass from acetate unless I get lucky and find something that fits in the parts stash. I'm not really too thrilled about starting this project, but I know me... Once I get it started I will get into doing it.... especially because it's for my daughter to give to her honey.

[Tom Geiger]

Rich, I got the JF body at NNL East too. I bought the van version so I'd only have to make glass for the windshield and back window if I cut them out. What's kept me from starting this is I don't know just how close the PTs dash and interior match. And remember, he owns a 1:1 so he'd notice. I'd check out the match, and the necessary work to make any needed changes. It may be appropriate to do a slammer with blacked out glass... either way, I'd get it out of the way or you'll be up very late on Christmas eve!

[ChrisBcritter]

Thanks for posting this one, Richard! Not only does the kit build up nicely, but I can also see it as a very inexpensive source for a sharp set of Caddy wire wheels and tires - plus all the chrome items as custom parts for other kits.

Do the wheels just press on to one-piece metal axles? Are they close enough to 1/25 to look OK? Hope so...

Edited November 14, 2013 by ChrisBcritter

[charlie8575]

Funky scale or not, very nice, Rich. That's one car I would really love to see a full-detail plastic kit of, along with the Olds Fiesta and Buick Skylark.

Charlie Larkin

[PappyD340]

Extremely NICE Caddy there Rich, turned out great, you certainly have a knack for interiors, they always come out great!!

[peekay]

Very nice! That interior portrays the look and feel of Cadillac luxury so well.

[Chris White]

Rich, I'd say I think you are going professional

[Danno]

Very nice.

[captin]

very nice model!!! it reminds me of the car biff drove on back to the future .

[Ramfins59]

Thanks a lot for all of your kind words fellas, I really appreciate it.

Re the wheels, they are one piece, already mounted in the tires, and they press onto a metal axle. I didn't measure them against a 1/25 scale tire and wheel, but the difference in size would be about the same as the difference between 1/24 & 1/25 scale, only slightly smaller than 1/25 because they are 1/26 scale. They do look very cool though.

Chris, no, I'm not going professional by any means. Speaking of which, I get a kick out of seeing models for sale on EBAY that are listed as "Pro Built" with prices of $200 to $500 "Buy it Now"....!!! I showed some of them to my wife and she said that I should sell some of MY models like that...... I pointed out to her that all those models are still just sitting there and NO ONE IS BUYING THEM..!!

[Foxer]

GORGEOUS!