Blue Jada 1965 Cadillac diecast The reason behind the work.

Model is NOT for sale.

These pictures are only meant to show that it is possible to rework, and repaint this model, and the purpose of them thereof, is meant to be informative, and reference purposes, only.
















After seeing a request on my very first post on this blog, I feel I need to revisit the reasons behind why my model subjects are done the way I do things.

First and foremost, my models are not for sale.

Most of my model cars that I have posted, or will post are models of actual cars that I either have, or did have. If it is of another subject, such as my Hotel Brunswick model, I built this model because I remember this building from when I was a little kid, and I watched them tear it down in 1967. Such a beautiful building laid to waste simply because it was old.

Other subjects that I will post about later on such as a wood model of the Parthenon that I did in 1993, posterboard models that I did earlier than that, back to 1971, as well as a menagerie of different scale model subjects will be posted here. I did them all because I liked the originals of the model that it replicates in scale.

The Jada 1965 Cadillac Coupe de Ville was a labor of love, as I owned a Hampton Blue Metallic 1965 Cadillac Calais coupe for 25 years. The Calais coupe looks just like the Coupe deVille, but with narrower windowsill trim on the sides of the car. The interiors are a simpler cloth design, as opposed to the deVille's mostly leather interiors. I got it in August of 1983 for 500 bucks. It was used in our wedding in 1989. it was such a sweet running car that I really loved the design of. But when I got a chace to buy a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air in 2006, I did not have room for the Cadillac anymore, so I sold it. I have two other old cars, now, besides the Chevy, and I still may have to get rid of two more cars. Hopefully, it will not be the Chevy, as this car is the same year as I am, hence the reason that I wanted one of these more than I wanted my '65 Caddie. The main reason I bought the '65 in the first place is I fell in love with the car's design as a seven year old in the fall of 1964, and never fell OUT of love with it.

I also have three Jo-Han models of the car. Two promos of it with one detail painted up like my real car,and one molded in blue, and I also have an original unbuilt 1965 Cadillac Coupe deVille kit.

When Jada came out with this big 1/18 diecast model, I knew that I had to do it up like my old blue '65. It was not the easiest job to do. Taking the trim pieces off was not too easy to get them off without breaking them, either. I had to use a very toxic chemical stripper on the body after the model was completely disassembled of all plastic components, and the doors, hood, and deck lids were also removed for stripping, cleaning, primering, and repainting with "rattlecan" automotive touchup spray paint. This is not an exact match for Hampton Blue Metallic, but it is close. It is a tad darker, though.

Here is a resized copy of that first image, as well as two more pictures of the model that I took later on with my own digital camera. That first image was taken with a borrowed camera in 2009.

What I really do not understand is why Jada did not produce this model in more colors besides just the light yellow replica of the car used in the movie, "Reservoir Dogs" It also is missing key details, such as door handles and lock cylinders, rear window opening mouldings, wheel opening mouldings, and most blatantly, the cowl vent grille in front of the windshield. I added these to my models, both the yellow one, and this one. The interior has a 1964 dashboard, which is completely different in design than the 1965 dash. What Jada could have made into a very impressive model for it's size, is at best very mediocre, because of it's extreme lack of detail. Fortunately, it is a very easy model for someone like me, who has been building models, and reworking models, and scratch building models for about 45 years, to rework!!

Jim.