The MPC 1968 Olds Toronado Californian - with some modifications

[Karl LaFong]

I missed the Californian the first time around, so I was looking forward to the re-release - to say the least, the styling is quirky.  Was Bradley going for a retro look, or GT sedan, or Car of the Future? Some of the odder elements, like the spoiler, hood scoops, and other doodads could be left off, but the roof gills (or whatever they are) needed more work.

I glued in the "taillights" and sanded them down.

I used autobody filler for smoothing out low spots.

While sanding, I removed the drip rails, so they were replaced with Evergreen strip.

There is an issue with the rear wheel wells - straight out of the kit, the interior tub and rear part of the body are visible through the rear wheel opening.  I added Evergreen styrene around the chassis rear wheel well.  It's not perfect, but it cuts down on the view.

For most of the builds I've seen of this kit, the front end sits high.  I drilled 1/16th holes above the kit front end, which brought the front end down a bit.

The kit Toronado wheels look kind of bland, plus they extend almost beyond the body, so I'll be replacing them with the tires and wire wheels from the AMT '65 Riviera.  In the pictures below, the wheels are only mocked up, eventually they'll be properly installed.

  
 

That's it, for now!

[cobraman]

Your changes cleaned it up nicely.

[Oldcarfan27]

Nice work. That car needs to be cleaned up - like you said, too many doo dads! Just eliminating the roof gills cleans it up immensely. (Can't call them taillights, who's gonna see them?) 

Never realized until now how much Bradley made the Olds look like a pregnant Javelin AMX! ?

Edited April 2, 2022 by Oldcarfan27

[ozmodeler]

Your changes improved the styling , but that "C" pillar looks heavy still.

[slusher]

Really great changes that makes it a much better looking car…

[Karl LaFong]

8 hours ago, ozmodeler said:

Your changes improved the styling , but that "C" pillar looks heavy still.

I agree!  Probably cutting the side window opening back to the rear edge of the front "gill" would lighten it up.  I'm going to keep it as is, it kind of presages the heavy "C" pillars of late 70's luxury barges like the Lincoln Mark V or Chrysler Brougham (can you say "opera window"?).

As bad as the "C" pillar looks, the front grill/light is the stuff that nightmares are made of:   

[chris chabre]

I'm gonna keep an eye on this! so much better already! Bradley's design work has always been "interesting". I havent decided if he was ahead of curve or just throwing stuff out there to see what stuck haha The man definitely had vision...or visions 

[Tom99]

I will be watching this thread. I have a Californian, that I have no idea of what I am going to do with it.

Here is mine.

 

[Karl LaFong]

I completed the interior.  I painted it Testor's Enamel Flat Black. In order to simulate leather, I masked off the floor and rear shelf, and painted it with Testor's Semi-Gloss Enamel.  The steering wheel is from the parts box (looks like a Chevy).  The turn indicator and shift are a straight pin with a blob of 2 part epoxy on each end, the blob was hit with a Molotow chrome pen; all the small chrome bits are Molotow.  I used bezels from a Model Car Garage photoetch gauge set with the kit instrument decals.

  

The seat belt buckles are also Model Car Garage items.  I used the kit-supplied bench seat because it looked classier than the buckets.  Photo-reduced copies of the April, 1968 Playboy and Cream's Disraeli Gears round out the swingin' interior.

[Karl LaFong]

16 hours ago, Tom99 said:

I will be watching this thread. I have a Californian, that I have no idea of what I am going to do with it.

Here is mine.

 

 

 

Tom,

Thanks for posting this - it illustrates the stance problems with the kit-supplied wheels.

 

You could just add some patina and you'd have a rat rod that's different.  Another thing I considered was filling in the roof gills, simulating a vinyl top, molding in a continental kit, and adding some wide white walls and wire wheels for a FWD Super Fly-mobile.

[Karl LaFong]

I was surprised by how well detailed the engine is (at least for a circa 1968 kit).  I painted it Testor's Metallic Copper, to simulate the Oldsmobile Bronze color of 1968 engines.  If I was doing replica stock , I would strip the chrome from the valve covers and air cleaner, but since this is a custom, I kept them bright.

I used Krylon Short Cuts flat black for the chassis; it has the sheen of Tamiya Semi-Gloss black, but at almost 1/2 the cost.

[Lunajammer]

First off, thanks for posting this. I've really wanted a first-hand report on what's in the box and how it goes together.

This model is like a kit bashers dream. It's already so nutty that any additional customizing can't make it worse, which is liberating for customizers who want to try risky choices. Kudos for what you're doing. Otherwise everyone has already spoken my other thoughts.

[Can-Con]

6 minutes ago, Karl LaFong said:

I was surprised by how well detailed the engine is (at least for a circa 1968 kit).  I painted it Testor's Metallic Copper, to simulate the Oldsmobile Bronze color of 1968 engines.  If I was doing replica stock , I would strip the chrome from the valve covers and air cleaner, but since this is a custom, I kept them bright.

I used Krylon Short Cuts flat black for the chassis; it has the sheen of Tamiya Semi-Gloss black, but at almost 1/2 the cost.

Looks like it was cloned directly from the JoHan Toro engine. Great looking engine.

BTW, Keith, your valve covers appear to be upside down.

[Karl LaFong]

On 4/6/2022 at 8:17 PM, Can-Con said:

Looks like it was cloned directly from the JoHan Toro engine. Great looking engine.

BTW, Keith, your valve covers appear to be upside down.

You are correct!  Thanks for catching this, I fixed it.

I painted it Testor's Rootbeer Metalflake (which looks darker in person) and attached the wheels.  Because of their fragility, I'll be adding the knock-offs after the chassis has been glued.  

[Kah puts]

Who are you, and what have done with Pierre Cardin?

[Karl LaFong]

Heading into the homestretch.  I tinted the upper part of the windshield with Tamiya Clear Blue and added a photoreduced 1968 Pennsylvania inspection sticker. The glass, interior, and chassis have been glued in place, I just need to add some details to the engine bay, glue on the taillights, side mirrors, and grill/lights, and call it done.

I probably should have dusted it before taking photographs.