Hearse-Limo, Brougham, in HO scale

[sequoiaranger]

Two HO-scale (1/87) ongoing projects for my brother for Xmas:

I bought a hearse on speculation that I could make a stretch limo out of it. I also bought a "fire chief"s car that SEEMED to have similar dimensions in the trunk area. The hearse's roof goes all the way to the rear bumper (and there was a full-sized rear door there as well. The idea was to switch out the sedan rear. Not as easy as it might seem. I had to make a lot of PRECISION cuts while I was holding my breath. But I did it (so far). A little clean-up and paint, and I will have a reasonable facsimile of a stretch limo.





Next, my brother had a nice, 1965 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham about 30 years ago. It was a slightly-longer-wheelbase Fleetwood, and a little more "formal"-looking than a regular Cadillac, but not a stretch limo.  I found a '66 stretched "Presidential Limousine" (black car on top and bottom of pic):



and made some cuts to shorten it, and...



So I have a good start for both of them. The hearse conversion is just for "fun" and not trying to replicate any particular car (a true whif). The Brougham I'm converting from a limo will be a CLOSE resemblance to my brother's Brougham, but there are a lot of things that will be slightly different, and in such a small scale, relatively impossible to change. So be it.

Gotta get these done in time to send to my bro in Montana before Xmas.... THEN I will get back to the Decimator!

[Sauragnmon]

Looking forward to more, Craig - the work is good so far.

[Glenn]

I've finally met someone who likes a Hearse. Back when I had more sense, I converted a 1936 Cadillic Roadster into a 1939 La Salle hearse from 'Dr. No', it was 1/43 scale....a metal model. Boy, I used words no one had ever heard before.
Glenn

[ysi_maniac]

I like it really!

[sequoiaranger]

OK, one down; one to go. This one had MAJOR paint malfunction--the gloss paint I used was old (what ISN'T?), and the "drier" in it has failed. That is, if you hold and squeeze the car, fingerprints will be embedded in the paint, even after a week of drying (Sigh). I can't UN-do it without ruining the puttywork and glasswork. So I am telling my brother (for whom it is being built) he can pick it up gingerly, but not to hold onto it.  

There is a dressed-to-the-nines gal sitting in the back seat, as if her chauffeur has run into Louis Vuitton to pick up the $10,000 purse she had ordered (no kidding--I was looking in a Louis Vuitton store in Nice, France, and the purse in the window had a price tag of USD-equivalent $10,000).



The Cadillac Brougham (RW project) has had its share of glitches, mainly fragility and "breaking" along the cut seams when handling. **JUST** when I think that the putty-ed cuts are ready to paint, the lines fracture. I have had to put in internal supports, and I think I am ready for final painting, now.

The pic below illustrates a "clever" idea I had. The Caddy had a grillework that reminded me of some fine brass screen I had. If you are looking at the illustration, put your finger in front of your face, covering the bumper, then move the finger toward your eyes until your finger just completely covers the bumper. THAT is how small this all is!!! I have painted the grille background black, so I think when I put the carefully-cut silver-painted screen over it, it will highly resemble the original real grille. Cross my GIGANTIC fingers!



I will post pics of the finished products side-by-side, but these will have to do for now.

[Sauragnmon]

Random thought, Craig - smooth the paint, and hit it with mild heat to see if that doesn't harden/set the paint?  It might not be solidifying at room temperature, but with a little heat it might bake into a hard coat.

[sequoiaranger]

>Random thought, Craig - smooth the paint, and hit it with mild heat to see if that doesn't harden/set the paint?  It might not be solidifying at room temperature, but with a little heat it might bake into a hard coat.<

Thanks for the suggestion. I have thought of that, that is, applying some hair-drier heat to it, but the house is about 68-70 degrees, so it's not like it is cold or anything. I have had some bad experiences trying to heat plastic with hair driers--there is a LOT of heat there--and am reluctant to put much on and melt something. Maybe I will turn on the bathroom heater-blower on low and just let the vehicle have WARM air blow over it for a half-hour.

[Sauragnmon]

I agree, heat has its risks - that's why I suggested Mild heat.  Your house temperature isn't That hot overall though, roughly what most would consider "Room Temperature"  so it's a gamble, but some more effect of heat might help cure the paint a little more effectively.  It's a shame you can't clear the paint off somehow.

[sequoiaranger]

The two black luxury cars in HO (1/87) scale are completed. I am mostly happy with the results. Here are the two cars with a dime for size comparison:



And, without the dime. You can see (partially) the mesh grillework that turned out spectacularly well and captures the look of the '65 Caddy grille. The original model was a '66 Caddy with a different grill pattern that I gouged out. The result would have been a flat, gleaming band of silver without the mesh:



Here's the Brougham from the rear quarter. The back window just refused to fit properly, so there is a gap. Also, technically the window itself should be a little bigger, but, like the proverbial four-legged table, as I painted the black it crept closer together:



Here's the front quarter. The hardest part was doing the wheels so that there was a distinct, thin black "ribbon" between the chrome wheel cover and the whitewall. I used the slow-rotation power drill scheme I described for making stripes on my "Jinpu-Kai" propeller spinner. I could put the wheel assembly in the chuck and slow-rotate it as I touched the brush to the wheel. Wasn't easy, but lots of trials and errors got the job done:

http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,21990.0.html

[Sauragnmon]

I think they turned out bloody awesome, Craig - seriously, great work you did on both of them.  They are some real sweet limos right there.  The whitewalls on the Brougham add to the power of the look, too.

[MiB]

I love a lot your cars, man!

[sequoiaranger]

Is that because......"Men in Black" prefer "Cars in Black"?? 

I am an "airplane guy" almost exclusively, but my brother always has enjoyed HO trains, and automobiles, and is VERY hard to buy for, gift-wise. I have made dozens of custom HO vehicles for him over the years, and it is a fun diversion from my usual projects.

Glad you liked them!

[sotoolslinger]

Holy crap Too small Eyes hurt just thinking about building 1/87 

[PR19_Kit]

Somewhere I have a stretch limo in N scale (that's 1/160th scale) that I built for my N scale American model railroad layout, I'll dig it out. There's something very satisfying about chopping and changing something THAT small!

I just love those two 'Men in Black' cars, very smooth and ultra-cool in black.