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Duesenberg J Judkins Victoria


Eric Macleod

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I decided to change plans. Today I started on the trunk and rear body assemblies. I used two more Duesenberg Town Car bodies for spares because the shape of the top matches the coutours of the trunk, which in turn matches the coutours of the top of the body. I also added a rear vallence pan to cover the gas tank. See what you think.

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I am curious, is your Rollston the Torpedo version? I built one many years ago. It was a long drawn out process of replicating a car that was long since "lost." Or so we thought. A couple days after finishing my model a guy by the name of Terry Adderly showed up with a Duesenberg J Rollston Torpedo Convertible Victoria at the Meadowbrook Hall Concours d'Elegance. I was a newbie to the show and had yet to attend, let alone start showing cars there. The event was a revelation. So many great cars. So many well restored cars. The best of the best! And best of all, there was the Rollston Torpedo painted a spectacular shade of maroon, in and out...and I had just finished my model...in dark green! Grrr...Anyway. Here is what I built. You can see my modeling skills have improved a bit in the subsequent years.

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I don't mean to jump the topic, but my Rollston Convertible Victoria is not the Rollston Riveria. Fred Roes book is excellant resource for Duesenbergs and mine is replicate of one on page 209 at the top on the long wheel base.

Thanks for everyones indulgence. I will study your picture closer .

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Duesie,

Now that will be a good car to do! I can't help but wonder if it still exists as I have never seen the car. You are right, The Pursuit of Perfection is indeed an excellent resource. Fred Roe was a true gentleman and is someone those of us who knew him miss greatly, just as my friend and walking Duesenberg enthusiast Al Ferrara is missed. Great men and phenomenal Duesenberg enthusiasts both. We are fortunate to still have Terry Adderly among us who keeps on buying Duesenbergs and promises to deposit them in my back yard one day. I digress.

Alas I cannot afford a Duesenberg of my own so here is my humble contribution to the hobby. I have finished the trunk of the model to a point where the general shape is correct though the final fitting has yet to be done.

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Very nice work, Eric.

Interesting detail I noticed is that your painted the chassis zinc chromate. Was that Duesenburg's normal procedure? I ask because the couple I've seen appeared to have semi-gloss black frame rails, per more-or-less standard industry procedure.

The car is a pretty body-style, and I like the colors, too.

Perhaps someday if I ever hit the lottery for a substantial amount...

Charlie Larkin

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The chassis still needs a coat of Future to bring out the shine. Perhaps the color is not coming through very well but it actually is more of an olive green which is how the 1-1 car is painted. Right now I am sanding and priming then will be moving my attention to an interior. I decided to do all my interior fitting before painting the body so I don't scratch up topcoat.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Eric, I had a few questions about other Duesenbergs that you had built from a forum post on Nov.14, 2007. How can I contact you by email to discuss further.

Looking forward to any progress on the Judkins Victoria soon.

Thanks

Larry

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  • 1 month later...

It looks pretty rough in mock-up form but really is coming along pretty well. I am planning a big push in the next week and will try to get the interior knocked out. Then it will be time for some detail painting, assembling running boards and then final assembly.

Thanks for the encouragement guys!

E-

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  • 4 weeks later...

Finally I had time to make a bit of progress. I got the paint work completed on the body including the intricate multi-tome paint scheme. I still need to rub it out and get some real gloss going but I am very happy so far. I did a bit more detail work on the firewall and it is ready to fit to the body. Interior panels have been made from scratch. I tried multiple attempts to copy the exact Judkins pattern but could not. So...I cheated. I figured in this scale hardly anyone would ever see the difference and besides, this is not a model destined for a contest anywhere anytime. So...I said "good enough for what it is an who it is for."

Next I need to make the headliner, windows, windshiled wiipers, hinges for the doors, floors, pedals and fit the seats (I cheated and used out of the box seats for this. They are not perfect replicas of what was in the car but prety darn close) and shorten/fit the running boards. If I were dilligent I could probably finish it in 3-4 evenings but I am trying to take my time and not smudge anything in the final assembly.

Comments are always welcome.

Eric

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I am now scratchbuilding the interior. Here are the door panels I made up. One has some wash to bring out the details. Candidly, I am not sure I like it as much as the other so I may re-do it. The armrests are quite severely angled. Such matches the real car.

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  • 3 months later...

I took a  long vacation from this project...again.  I am now into the final assembly stage though I am taking a step back with the body.  I just wasn't happy with the appearance of the taped on top. Therefore I'm going to take a chance on painting it onto the finished body. Wish me luck. 

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