1/25 JoHan 1931 Cadillac V-16

Fleetwood Sport Phaeton

Gallery Article by Jerry Hawhee (Old Blind Dog) on Mar 5 2012

 

Here are some photos of one of my most successful “vintage” builds. This is an original-issue JoHan ’31 Cadillac V-16 kit from the mid-‘60s, found on eBay and built some forty years later. 

JoHan kits were the Tamiya of their day, with state-of-the-art tooling and a feast of built-in super details right out of the box. When built properly, these kits were akin to museum pieces, and I lusted after them as a kid, though they were well beyond my skill level and patience, not to mention my pathetically meager budget. JoHan’s ’31 Cadillac was available in three versions, a town car, a cabriolet and this, the Fleetwood Sport Phaeton. I’ve built one example of each since 2006, and look forward to doing the ’34-’35 Mercedes kits as well. 

 

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Some of the kit parts were extremely delicate to begin with, and over the decades, some of the plastic had become rather brittle. Also, JoHan had a habit of “getting their money’s worth” from their molds, doing thousands of shots, often using them until they were close to worn out. As such, these kits are fairly plentiful and usually quite inexpensive today, but it is wise to always buy one or two backup copies, as occasionally one will come across some heavily distorted parts and useless half-shots. After careful inspection of the kit contents, the first step in construction must always be a good soaking of the parts in warm soapy water to remove any close-to-fifty-year-old mold release agent and grease. Once washed, the parts should be allowed to air dry.

Some of the kit parts were extremely delicate to begin with, and over the decades, some of the plastic had become rather brittle. Also, JoHan had a habit of “getting their money’s worth” from their molds, doing thousands of shots, often using them until they were close to worn out. As such, these kits are fairly plentiful and usually quite inexpensive today, but it is wise to always buy one or two backup copies, as occasionally one will come across some heavily distorted parts and useless half-shots. After careful inspection of the kit contents, the first step in construction must always be a good soaking of the parts in warm soapy water to remove any close-to-fifty-year-old mold release agent and grease. Once washed, the parts should be allowed to air dry.

I built my Sport Phaeton completely out of the box, with no additions whatsoever—rarely does a plastic model kit speak so eloquently for itself as is. The 165-hp Series 452 V-16 engine is especially impressive, and could well be displayed as a stand-alone model. In fact, the kit box art suggests doing the chassis and engine separately without any bodywork, and I have to admit, it’s a tempting idea. Incidentally, the Series 452 V-16s were actually two independently operating V-8s, mounted in tandem, sharing an ingenious counter-balanced crankshaft. The first true V-16 was the Series 60 of 1935.

As this issue of the kit was tastefully molded in color, I opted to do only minimal painting. The wheel rims were highlighted with Polly Scale ATSF Silver. The engine exhaust manifolds were done with PS Stainless Steel, and the interior upholstery and folded top with PS B&O Royal Blue. I used Gunze Wood Brown for the trim on the rear dashboard and dry-brushed silver highlights on the front and rear dashboards. Bare Metal Foil Chrome was applied to the exterior pinstripe. The body was glossed with a couple thin hand-brushed coats of Polly Scale Clear Gloss, and that was all. I discovered during the painting process, that it was handy to keep a small amount of Windex on a Q-Tip to wipe off any excess paint that might get on to the body.

Hope you like it! 

cheers

Jerry Hawhee (Old Blind Dog)

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Photos and text © by Jerry Hawhee (Old Blind Dog)