MOC: 1965 Cadillac Fleetwood

[Ralph_S]

This month's LUGNuts challenge on flickr is called Plus or Minus ten. The idea is to build a car that is ten years older or younger than yourself. For me that meant a car either from 1965 or 1985. In 1965 Cadillac introduced a new version of the Fleetwood, their top-of-the-line model. Vertically stacked headlights were all the rage.

1965 Cadillac Fleetwood (2) by Mad physicist, on Flickr

Earlier models of Cadillac still had fins, even if they already were a lot smaller than those on the '59. The '65 Fleetwood didn't really have proper fins, but because the bootlid drops down while the sidepanels don't, there's still something that looks a bit like a fin left.

1965 Cadillac Fleetwood (3) by Mad physicist, on Flickr

As usual, the doors and boot (and bonnet) on my model can all be opened.

1965 Cadillac Fleetwood (7) by Mad physicist, on Flickr

The Fleetwood was powered by a massive 7litre V8, delivering a comparatively measly 340 HP. This was not a fast car by any means.

1965 Cadillac Fleetwood (8) by Mad physicist, on Flickr

Cheers,

Ralph

[Rijkvv]

I already saw this on Flickr, but now I searched for a picture of the real car. It looks a lot like the real thing. Nice you put some effort in making a realistic engine.

Wouldn't grille tiles be better for the front, or is there not enough space to place them?

Oh, and has this car working steering? If not, than it should be counted as Creator.

Edited May 29, 2011 by Richie

[Ralph_S]

I already saw this on Flickr, but now I searched for a picture of the real car. It looks a lot like the real thing. Nice you put some effort in making a realistic engine.

Wouldn't grille tiles be better for the front, or is there not enough space to place them?

Oh, and has this car working steering? If not, than it should be counted as Creator.

There often isn't enough space in cars on this scale to put much of an engine in them, but this is such an enormous car in real life that the scale model is quite roomy too, with sufficient space for the engine. I did consider grill tiles, but there are a few reasons why I didn't use them. The space between the headlights is nine studs wide, which doesn't lend itself well to grill tiles -8 wide would be easier. I could try stepping them, to also build the V-shape in the grill, but it would still be awkward. Then there's the step in the front bumper. The grill doesn't have a constant height, with the central bit being taller.

It has working steering, but not connected to the steering wheel....

Cheers,

Ralph

[DLuders]

I'm old enough to remember these driving around town when I was 8 years old. They were big "land yachts" that wallowed around each corner and offered a pillowy ride. Good job in creating the Lego model -- "they don't make 'em like they used to!" Your car got pulled over by "The Fuzz" for going 65 MPH in a 55-MPH zone:

Edited May 29, 2011 by DLuders

[Lasse D]

What a beautiful tiny little car I can see why you choose to go 10 years back in time.

Nice way of making the 8 wide rear detailing fit into the 11 wide body.

This is, however, not creator, since: You did not make at least 2 alternate models.

Creator is also limited to use parts in the current parts palette.

BTW.

You have to tell me your secret of preventing comments like "I don't like your solid looking windows". I get them every time I present cars with brick built windscreens, no matter the forum.

[Ralph_S]

I'm old enough to remember these driving around town when I was 8 years old. They were big "land yachts" that wallowed around each corner and offered a pillowy ride. Good job in creating the Lego model -- "they don't make 'em like they used to!" Your car got pulled over by "The Fuzz" for going 65 MPH in a 55-MPH zone:

Thanks for posting the picture of the real car. It is quite a land yacht indeed. I saw a convertible of a similar vintage drive through my street not too long ago, and me living next to a canal in the city center of a Dutch city the road is quite narrow. It only just fit

The picture with the Crown Vic was to show how large the Cadillac is. Most Americans will have a rough idea of how big a Crown Vic is (that is very) and the Caddy is even bigger.

What a beautiful tiny little car I can see why you choose to go 10 years back in time.

Nice way of making the 8 wide rear detailing fit into the 11 wide body.

This is, however, not creator, since: You did not make at least 2 alternate models.

Creator is also limited to use parts in the current parts palette.

BTW.

You have to tell me your secret of preventing comments like "I don't like your solid looking windows". I get them every time I present cars with brick built windscreens, no matter the forum.

Thanks Lasse. Indeed, no alternate models. That's settled then.

The Cadillac Fleetwood from 1985 doesn't actually look all that different!

There's a fair bit of somewhat subtle stuff going on in this car. At a first glance it may look like a big box on wheels, but the mix of odd-wide bits with even wide bits caused a few difficulties, as did the covered rear wheels. Fun though. I've seen the comments about the windows and I have had them myself as well, actually. Perhaps people are getting used to me using them. My standard reply is that I'd rather have a window like this than no window at all. That normally seems to suffice. Of course, I have a history of using non-LEGO windows in my cars and even the people who don't like my current way of doing things tend to agree that it is better than 'cheating'.

Cheers,

Ralph

[Lasse D]

If only there was a nice way to draw attention to details like that. It's a double edged sword (see C.K. Louis' show). On one hand you want details to blend in and add to the harmony of the shape, but on the other hand you would also like to show off those nifty details.

We need a nice index for all scale cars out there.

Another fine detail is in the C-pillar, which is made using reverse slopes and cheese... at first I wondered how you had attached cheese to normal slopes...

[Ralph_S]

If only there was a nice way to draw attention to details like that. It's a double edged sword (see C.K. Louis' show). On one hand you want details to blend in and add to the harmony of the shape, but on the other hand you would also like to show off those nifty details.

We need a nice index for all scale cars out there.

Another fine detail is in the C-pillar, which is made using reverse slopes and cheese... at first I wondered how you had attached cheese to normal slopes...

Some of the stuff I do actually isn't very hard. Where I can I tend to use simple solutions. My models aren't intended to show off some new technique or application that I've invented. However, sometimes I need to get creative.

I've often had people look at my models on shows and tell me that they didn't realise how intricate they are until they saw them in real life. You mentioned the C-pillars and how I worked the details in the back (10 wide) into the rest of the car 11-wide. I'm sure plenty of people won't have noticed that it is actually 11 wide overall.The area around the headlights was quite tricky too, with cheese slopes mounted upside down and a bit of SNOT work to add the grille tiles to the sides.

I think that people -certainly those who aren't used to building MOCs- sometimes look at my stuff and don't see that some of it really is quite complicated, because it's not obvious. On flickr several people have tried to reverse engineer some of my models and had a very hard time. Making things look simple can be a very hard thing to do. I'm sure the same applies to many of your MOCs.

Cheers,

Ralph