Junkman

I was not aware that it could be a bad thing to try and build a historically accurate model. What is wrong with sharing knowledge and discussing ways to achieve this goal?

OK, it's not a car. But I want this: http://www.lindberg-models.com/water_model70814.html

This '58 Chevy ragtop of your's is el nico! Ya sure it's not for sale?

They aren't currently available. but there are loads on ebay.co.uk for surprisingly little money. As I said, contrary to the Aoshima original, the Airfix repop includes both bumper options.

This is nice! Really nice. I think the old Lindberg big scale kits are the most underrated kits in model history. See my 1/12 scale Luv Bug elsewhere on this forum. Their 1/20 scale kits are also waaay better than their reputation. I can't start my Exterminator before I sourced four hemi heads for it.

Where would you get an MGB engine in 1/24 scale?

Aaaaaah! Whatcha say? And did I promise too much re. Captain Foster's interior? Hey, thanks for the hints. I'm not a computer man at all, you see.

OK, here is the photo of the Coupe Napoleon interior, unfortunately this is the only one I found that gives a head-on view on part of the decor. I know it's not very good and it will require a lot of tinkering with colours and stuff: http://public.fotki.com/Junkman13/bugatti-...renapoleon.html This photo gives you a glimpse of the interior of Foster's car. See, I was not kidding you: http://public.fotki.com/Junkman13/bugatti-...turefoster.html This must be the ultimate in 'nouveau riche' 1930s tasteless common tackiness (imagine me putting my monocle on while I say this). Now, how can I make these photos actually appear here on this page?

Nope. Even if you replace the running gear of an MGB with something functional, the body will rust away in no time. In addition, never put a Toyota engine where a Hemi would fit.

What Keith does is the answer to many of my prayers. I hope he has time to do some stuff for me. OK, I tried to upload the photo, but it tells me the file is larger than the available space. How do you guys post photos?

Either FM or DM. I'm not into metal models, so please don't nail me on it. Does Keith make his decals available to others? My 69 Coronet keeps telling me it can't live without a mod top since I read your last post. I will scan the picture and post it here when I get home tonight. Just another thing: Since we can't get any definitive information on who put that interior into the car and most of all when, there is no way of telling if it was present when the car was still all black, which must have been very shortly after it received this body. Also, from the pictures, I can't find anything wrong with the shade of blue you used. Admittedly, I have only ever seen the car in artificial lighting, but the blue you used looks perfectly ok to me. Entirely btw: The book also contains a photo of the interior of Captain Foster's car. Hard to believe, but it's even tackier than the one in the Coupe Napoleon. One wouldn't want to be seen dead in such a common interior. Both cars certainly would have deserved better. It confirms what I always said: Money doesn't buy one good taste.

Terrific job! What's 'symetrical'? I think even the real ones weren't that symetrical.

If whoever comes up with a way of doing this interior as a decal sheet, can I please raise my finger for one too? $$$$ waiting. Well, a few at least. Because of your build, I bought another book on the Schlumpf saga, called The Schlumpf Obsession. It contains yet another picture of the interior of the car. If you like, I could scan it. This way someone could use the head-on view of the opposite door panel as a pattern to copy and re-size? Let me know if you'd like to have it. An alternative would be to buy the Franklin Mint diecast, rip it apart and use that interior They managed to replicate it, I think with tampo print.

It looks like the link referring to the resin parts (http://www.largescalemodeler.com/dreams/index.html) is closed. Is there another source for 1/8th scale parts? I need four hemi heads for my exterminator. Btw, that is one of the nicest Deuces I've ever seen.

The interior actually looks pretty worn when you see it in the flesh. I also noticed the mismatch of the fabric on the armrests. I also can't believe that a man of Ettore Bugatti's aesthetical sense would ever select a material like this (no offense to you and your couch). But I find it equally hard to believe that the Schlumpfs would specify this, since they were comparatively meticulous with their restorations for the time. 62 unrestored cars have been returned to Arlette Schlumpf in 1999. This lot contained 17 Bugattis, including ten T57 and has been brought to Switzerland. Nothing has been seen or heard of the cars ever since.

I still have the 1989 Corvette ZR-1 kit from Monogram. A real 1989 ZR-1 never existed. The kit itsself also has the 1989 dashboard, which didn't make it into the ZR-1. I'm not convinced that it is worth anything, despite it's now extremely hard to find.

Erm. What's wrong with the one that's on the model now? Btw. I just snatched another Berline De Voyage off Ipay. This is my Royale kit number five (including the Fuman Bandai 1/16 scale Binder Coupe De Ville, I start feeling like a Schlumpf) and I will use it together with the Lindberg one to build Dr. Fuchs' car in its original configuration. I also just found out that the Coupe Napoleon you are building a model of was indeed all black originally. The blue sweep was added while the car was still owned by Le Patron though. I still have no confirmation whether that hideous silk interior is original or a Schlumpf outrage.

You are a brave man. Very, very brave. To have the guts to cut into THIS paint job gets my full admiration.

A SPARE '60 El Camino body? People got killed for less... Great piece! I love it.

This is the maddest thing I've ever seen! I love it.

I don't know too much about the Wheatcroft car, but supposedly it has a one-off engine resembling the original. Afaik, it is still in the Donington Park Museum. Maybe I should pop over one of these weekends to verify this.

Thanks for pointing this out. I wasn't aware that the museum has been refurbished. I was in the museum first in 1979 pretty immediately when it was opened for the public. The last time I was in it in 1994, so I must have been there just before the refurbishment commenced. I only know it with rows after rows of 'Pont Alexandre III' chandeliers and the cars resting in pebbled areas. There also was this magnificient mechanical organ and an altar with artefacts of their mother, whom they had dedicated the museum.

The Schlumpf brothers did not create a Royale for Armand Esders. Bugatti did. The Esders roadster was the first of the Royales being sold (the second one was the car for Dr. Fuchs, which is the one in the Henry Ford Museum, the third one was the limousine for Captain Foster. The three remaining cars stayed in the Bugatti family until they were sold as used cars when the company went belly up). The original Esders roadster is still with us today (like all six Bugatti built Royales, which in itsself is remarkable), but now has a Coupe De Ville body by Binder. The Schlumpf brothers started to build a copy of the Esders roadster in the Sixties from leftover parts, an engine from an 'Autorail' and a lot of stuff made with original Bugatti tools they had aquired when they bought out the bankrupt Bugatti factory. This unfinished copy fell in the hands of the French government when it seized the Schlumpf property soviet style in the late Seventies. Work has continued and the car is now finished and on display in the Mulhouse museum. The Wheatcroft 'Royale' is not a copy, but a replica. It neither contains a single original Bugatti part, nor is it made from the same materials. Also, the Coupe Napoleon was not bought from the Bugatti family by the Schlumpfs. It was part of the John Shakespeare collection in the States and they purchased it from him in 1963 or 1964 - together with almost 40 other Bugattis.

I can't find a photo except the one on the link I posted. I also discussed this with a friend, who told me that the interior might not be original. He has 'heard' it was commissioned by the Schlumpf brothers to suit their taste during the restoration of the car. I find this hard to believe since they usually were quite accurate with their restorations and if I look at the overall setup of their museum, I suggest their taste was impeccable. No Bugatti site gives clear info about this subject. Most of them are downright misleading and indeed, I find the info I can obtain about the 'most magnificient car of all times' built by a legendary make quite dismal. I can read more useful stuff about a bl00dy Trabant of all things.

Hmmm. I have five of them and all were aquired pretty immediately when they initially became available, which must be the better part of twenty years ago, if memory serves right. All my kits contain woodgrain decals and a sheet of red carpet material, which I don't use though. I found it extremely easy and rewarding to attach the self-adhesive metal trim, but I did it before I applied the clearcoat. The chrome in all my kits is as shiny as can be. The way things are usually going nowadays, my guess is that you have the 'updated' version. New, improved. For your convenience. And I agree with you 100%: Whitewalls do not belong on this car. Not even narrow bands. A MKII must have the original Dunlops, no substitute. The ones that come with the kit are little jewels.