activexp Posted November 28, 2014 Share Posted November 28, 2014 Got this recently at a reasonable price from an Ebay seller. It arrived in good condition but upon inspection I found broken parts on the main body wheel arches where the plastic is very thin. I'm hoping that the damage will be easily repairable and unnoticeable once the body is fitted to the floor pan. It'll be a while before I begin construction due to other projects but watch this space. The breakage on both sides. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wkennerley Posted November 28, 2014 Share Posted November 28, 2014 nice model and a good find - I would say that with a thin backing piece and some off cuts of the sprue you should be able to fix the two breakages - I look forward to seeing the build -Wayne 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Hall Posted November 28, 2014 Share Posted November 28, 2014 Cadillac called this "Style 5525". Three were made for 1933 model year. Actress Joan Crawford had one of them. When you get going on it, feel free to contact me. I may be able to help with some of the details. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
activexp Posted November 29, 2014 Author Share Posted November 29, 2014 Cadillac called this "Style 5525". Three were made for 1933 model year. Actress Joan Crawford had one of them. When you get going on it, feel free to contact me. I may be able to help with some of the details. Thanks, I'm hoping for a nice clean build but you never know what you might find with a kit of this age Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinnie the panda Posted November 29, 2014 Share Posted November 29, 2014 (edited) Lovely car. As for the damage I personally would glue them now and then put away to harden. Poly cement on the mating surfaces to weld, then a drop of good super glue over the joint to hold in place, but till the chassis/floorplan is added it will be a weak point. Look forward to seeing it built though. Edited November 29, 2014 by vinnie the panda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
activexp Posted December 16, 2014 Author Share Posted December 16, 2014 Hi folks, I've now got round to making a start on this kit. First, a closer look at what's in the box. The tyre walls look whiter in the photo than they actually are, appear to have yellowed slightly. Might have try painting them. The clear parts have scratches and any suggestions for polishing would be welcome. I was thinking of Brasso but if there's a better way I'd like to know. One very dusty floor pan. Having gone through all the sprues I realised there was a shortage, missing hinges for the bonnet (hood) and doors and the tubing for the engine. The latter is not a problem but the hinges are N5 appears to be about 90mm long with an extended hinge pin for locating purposes and N6 x 2 a standard hinge about 60mm. If anyone knows a good source of miniature hinges please let me know. As for the door hinges N1 to N4, I can probably botch something as they are just bent steel wire. Any suggestions greatly appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roymattblack Posted December 16, 2014 Share Posted December 16, 2014 (edited) Try searching 'miniature hinges' on Ebay, in the Dolls house category. There are umpteen different sorts. Maybe something could be adapted, or even be just the right size. There are 60mm ones here: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-PLATED-MINIATURE-HINGES-HARDWARE-60x20mm-SMALL-DOLLHOUSE-JEWELLERY-BOX-CIGAR-/151205624538?pt=UK_Dolls_House_Miniatures&var=&hash=item23348ebada Roy. Edited December 16, 2014 by roymattblack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
activexp Posted December 16, 2014 Author Share Posted December 16, 2014 Try searching 'miniature hinges' on Ebay, in the Dolls house category. There are umpteen different sorts. Maybe something could be adapted, or even be just the right size. There are 60mm ones here: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-PLATED-MINIATURE-HINGES-HARDWARE-60x20mm-SMALL-DOLLHOUSE-JEWELLERY-BOX-CIGAR-/151205624538?pt=UK_Dolls_House_Miniatures&var=&hash=item23348ebada Roy. Ah yes, thanks. Looks like the 60mm ones are the closest. I might get away with one and a half to make up the 90mm one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
activexp Posted December 20, 2014 Author Share Posted December 20, 2014 This kit certainly shows its age, lot of flash, seam lines, ejector pin marks, soft detail, missing location pins/holes, sinkholes and poor fit. The instructions don't help with tiny drawings, vague locations and incorrect numbering. Assembling the engine proved quite challenging but the end result is reasonable. Next up, the chassis......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mencie Posted December 20, 2014 Share Posted December 20, 2014 Wow, what a find, shame it's incomplete. Following with interest... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
activexp Posted December 23, 2014 Author Share Posted December 23, 2014 Steps 7 to 9 of the chassis assembly completed. Crossmember D9 which supports the fuel tank had no visible location points and the correct position can only be determined by assembling the fuel tank first. Some 'adjustments' were necessary to get the engine to sit squarely on the underpan C5. I used heat shrink tubing for the radiator hoses as a substitute for the missing vinyl tubing. The only problem is that it tends to kink rather then bend. Next up, the exhaust system which looks rather daunting 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
activexp Posted December 30, 2014 Author Share Posted December 30, 2014 Chassis completed and as expected the exhaust system was a bit of a juggling act to get it correctly positioned. I'm having problems with breakages in general as the plastic is very brittle and some parts seem to have suffered stress, falling apart when removed from the sprue. This is turning out to be a frustrating build. The question is can I meet the challenge? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Codger Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 Chassis completed and as expected the exhaust system was a bit of a juggling act to get it correctly positioned. I'm having problems with breakages in general as the plastic is very brittle and some parts seem to have suffered stress, falling apart when removed from the sprue. This is turning out to be a frustrating build. The question is can I meet the challenge? That's perfect training for Pocher-building.! And yes, you can do it judging by the work here. A tip: I use dental floss to tie fiddly parts in approximate places (like chassis or suspension). Eliminates the '3-hands' system. Strong but easy to cut and remove when parts glued in. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roymattblack Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 Looking great so far. Another tip - if you use heat shrink tube as hoses etc, slide a piece of thick solder wire inside first. It will keep whatever shape you bend the hose to without kinking. The exhaust manifold downpipes on my Big C - and soon the D Type - are made from guitar lead with the core replaced with wire. Roy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
activexp Posted December 30, 2014 Author Share Posted December 30, 2014 Thanks for the tips Codger and roymattblack I think this build is more of a challenge than the Pocher Merc I built back in '76, now that's saying something! I tried inserting a thinner tube into the hose to prevent kinking but it didn't work too well. Problem is it's a short hose and has to do almost a 90 degree bend. These are the 2 hoses from the carbs to the air filters and are very awkward to get to. With the whitewalls for the tyres being a shade of cream (in fact one was more like tobacco brown) I thought I'd try painting them with Tamiya gloss white acrylic. Took a couple of coats but the result looked good. That was until I tried fitting them back in the tyres - the paint went into fine hairline cracks I should have known better. Well it gives the tyres and aged look, possibly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
activexp Posted January 2, 2015 Author Share Posted January 2, 2015 Here's an example of the paint cracking on the whitewalls. You can also see how much the original white has faded. I've sprayed the other walls with primer so hopefully the white paint will bond better. This is the tension strut (E23) between the engine bulkhead and radiator which broke after removal from the sprue and is a typical example of how brittle the plastic is. The designer of this kit must have been on the Saki because moulding the cab body and frontend fascia as one piece is ludicrous and makes for very difficult assembly. My best efforts to keep it together failed despite superglue and metal splints. Breakage is inevitable IMHO especially when trying to mount the entire thing to the chassis And that is the next step.......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
activexp Posted January 5, 2015 Author Share Posted January 5, 2015 Managed to get the cab assembly successfully mounted to the chassis. The broken ends over the wheel arches mated up OK but I'm left with a gap, same on both sides ... The frame doesn't follow the same contour as the wheel arch and there's not much I can do about it. Next up are the doors and in the absence of the hinges I'm undecided what to do. I might attempt to make some hinges from bent wire or just leave the doors glued shut. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 This will be most impressive built up. I've drooled over a slightly later one of these, the ex marlene Dietrich one, at the Southward Museum in the lower North Island, scroll to the bottom. They really do have Prescence. Steve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxfriend Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Yes, I agree entirely with codger about the brittle plastic. Definitely reminds me of a Pocher kit as well!! On a more serious note, the build is looking great so far. I am sure it will look great on completion. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
activexp Posted January 7, 2015 Author Share Posted January 7, 2015 As I can't come up with a viable solution to the door hinge issue, it's decided, they'll be glued in place which could be interesting as they aren't designed for that... . On another forum I found some photos of the contents of the Revell version of the kit which showed the bonnet (hood) hinges. As suspected they are 'bespoke', made specifically for the kit, so I've had to botch the main centre one with a 60mm standard miniature hinge. It's too short and leaves a gap but if I try to fill the gap with a cut down section of hinge it fouls on the radiator so the bonnet (hood) sits too high. For the side panels I used duck tape 'hinges', works fine Next up lamps, horns, luggage rack etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Codger Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Poor kit design makes this a tough one. You're doing fine work in spite of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
activexp Posted January 7, 2015 Author Share Posted January 7, 2015 Poor kit design makes this a tough one. You're doing fine work in spite of that. Thanks Codger, any encouragement is greatly appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
activexp Posted January 13, 2015 Author Share Posted January 13, 2015 All finished now, so posted on Ready for Inspection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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