1928 Lincoln Model L (Dietrich coachwork)

[Harry P.]

Now that the '28 Mercedes SS is "Under Glass," time to get going on another kit in the pile. This time it's a 1/16 scale 1928 Lincoln Model L Convertible sedan. This is a big car, meant to be chauffeur-driven, with a second windshield for the passengers and two fold-away jump seats in back. This is the kit:

[Cato]

Is that a V-12?

[Harry P.]

As usual for me, I start with the engine. Like many high-end cars of the '20s-'30s, in addition to the actual engineering, the engines were designed by stylists to look clean and sleek. Many times, ignition wires were hidden under various types of sheathing or covers to keep the engine looking crisp and clean. In this case, the distributor and ignition wires were hidden by shielding that kept all of that "messy" stuff out of sight, with the plug wires popping out of the shielding just enough to reach the plugs. First step was to cut apart the kit shielding like this:

Then new pieces were made of styrene tube, drilled to accept the plug wires, and pinned on the ends so that there would be a way to reassembe everything:

Here's the almost finished engine, with scratchbuilt spark plugs added. You can see how the ignition wires feed into the shielding to keep everything looking tidy. Also note the unusual placement of the exhaust manifolds. Instead of the usual location on the outside of the cylinder heads, this Lincoln had the exhaust exiting on the inside of the heads, with the exhaust manifolds centrally mounted in the engine "valley"...

[Harry P.]

Is that a V-12?

It's a V-8.

[peter31a]

Looking very sharp, Harry! I have this one in the "to be built" collection. Will watch your progress on this.

[cobraman]

Great looking engine.

[DynoMight]

I wonder why they made the manifolds go on the inside rather than the outside... Save space?

[imatt88]

Oh yeah...this should be good

[Harry P.]

I wonder why they made the manifolds go on the inside rather than the outside... Save space?

No idea. Never saw a layout like that before.

[Harry P.]

The wheels and tires are very poorly engineered, and will not fit together correctly without a little re-engineering. First of all, there are molded plastic whitewall inserts that are supposed to snap into the rubber tires, but the whitewalls are so thick that when you insert them into the tires, they stick out past the tire sidewall. So I had to sand them thinner from behind, and also had to slice off part of the inner circumference of the tires so that the WW inserts would fit flush with the tire sidewall.

Another problem... I painted the rims silver for a little contrast, but the wire wheel doesn't fit flush into the WW insert. The rim looks odd sticking out of the whitewall insert. So I fixed that by making new rims with silver beading wire. I wrapped a length of the wire around a bottle of paint that had just the right circumference, then used tiny drops of CA to glue the new rim in place. In this photo you can see how the wheel rim is sticking out too far...

[Harry P.]

And here you can see the "before" wheel on the left and the "after" wheel on the right with the new rim. It's a liitle hard to see in the photo, you have to look closely...

[bobthehobbyguy]

Wheels look great. Nice work.

[Harry P.]

I got the basic chassis built. Here you can see the unusual way the exhaust is routed in this car...

[DynoMight]

I think it was to save space. Does the engine cowl sit close to the engine? If it does, that's probably why.

Also it uses less pipes. You don't have to make a second pipe junction to one pipe. Instead it is just one pipe.

Engine and chassis looks great Harry. Are you going for a box-top build?

[Harry P.]

I think it was to save space. Does the engine cowl sit close to the engine? If it does, that's probably why.

Also it uses less pipes. You don't have to make a second pipe junction to one pipe. Instead it is just one pipe.

Engine and chassis looks great Harry. Are you going for a box-top build?

No, I'm doing my own color scheme.

[bobthehobbyguy]

Chassis looks great.

[LDO]

There was a Cadillac with heads like that. A guy in New Zealand has one in a street rod.

[Cato]

There are NO crossmembers in that chassis??? That explains the 'hoseshoe' rear engine mount. That's not even a 'ladder frame'.

I'm thinking zero torsional rigidity. :wacko:

[sjordan2]

I knew you were salivating to build this one. Never seen a finished version of it, and I expect this will be another masterpiece.

After this, I assume we can see a drop-dead build of a Pocher Rolls woodie.

[Chris D]

wow, thats a cool model and some great craftsmenship

chris d

[Harry P.]

There are NO crossmembers in that chassis??? That explains the 'hoseshoe' rear engine mount. That's not even a 'ladder frame'.

I'm thinking zero torsional rigidity. :wacko:

I'm pretty sure this kit is simplified and they left out some pieces.

[Harry P.]

I painted all the interior panels and seats with a color I mixed using three different shades of acrylic craft paint. It took two coats to cover the kit pieces. Then I sprayed everything with a coat of matte clear acrylic:

Then I used a mix of Future and black acrylic craft paint and a very sharp, small brush to "highlight" all of the seams and crevices:

I use Future instead of water in my wash because Future flows better, stays in place better, and is easier to control than a wash made with water. But because Future dries glossy, the final step is another shot of matte clear:

Adding the black wash is one of those little tricks that really adds to the realism of the pieces. It's a subtle effect, and people looking at the model may not even realize that a wash has been applied... but the parts just "look right." I believe that a black wash on most parts of a model (if done correctly and not overdone) adds a lot of subtle but unmistakable realism.

[bobthehobbyguy]

Great color for the interior. It really has the appearance of leather. What ratio do you use for your future wash?

[Harry P.]

Great color for the interior. It really has the appearance of leather. What ratio do you use for your future wash?

It depends on how obvious I want it to be (more obvious on engine parts, less obvious on upholstery)... but I don't measure, I just eyeball it. I squirt a little Future into a plastic cup, and start by adding a small brushful of black and mix. Then I see what I have and either add a few more drops of Future or a tiny bit more black to get where I want to be.

On engines, since Future dries glossy, the Future wash looks oily and greasy... just the look I want on an engine. If I use it for interiors, I have to add matte acrylic clear as a last step to kill the gloss of the wash.

[Harry P.]

The final product. The effect is subtle yet effective:

Adding black washes, IMO, is one of the most important steps to making a model car look less like a toy and more like the real thing.