Eric Macleod

I think that anyone who completes a Pyro anything deserves a round of applause. Nicely done model.

I have been poking around to see the correct colors of SJ-295 when new. The consensus is the car was a very dark color but nobody knows for sure what the color was. Barring that notion, I have been curious about what the color the car is now. I have done a lot of on-line research and a maroon car keeps coming up, though I know for sure it's a different car. How do I know? Because the car in the photo used to belong to a colleague of mine in Kalamazoo. That said, my friend's car has always been one of my favorite Duesenbergs. It was a local car for many years and is very close to what I'm trying to create. Plus, if I ever get the opportunity (and of course the funds) I will buy it myself and bring it back to Southwest Michigan...where it belongs. Going forward, I have to be satisfied with 1:24 Duesenberg and have decided to repaint and recolor the whole car, in and out, and make some much needed upgrades. That takes this from an evening project to a several week project but I will be much happier with the end product. I will keep you all posted on my progress.

Agreed. I can't keep a model that clean while putting it together, let alone 17 years later.

As many of you know, I am in the final detail phase of building a Cord L-29. While getting ready to stage the car for some photos, I thought it would be fun to have a Duesenberg and an Auburn in some of the pictures. I opened the display cabinet and a Duesenberg sedan started rolling out. Trying to stop it, I missed catching this Duesenberg Roadster, and it tumbled out hitting the cement floor...hard. It wasn't as bad as it could have been and I was able to roughly reassemble the car inside of 5 minutes. The bottom line is I could clean it up, glue it back together and have the car back on display in one evening. But should I? I have two sets of Pico's hubs to hand lace some wire wheels. The car clearly is the wrong color; SJ- 295 was the car Fred Duesenberg was driving when he had an accident that eventually was fatal. The car was obviously a very dark color, dark blue, dark maroon or maybe black. My model, clearly missed the mark there. Plus, the paint has never been overly shiny. The radiator shell could use an upgrade and better windshield wipers would be an improvement. Conversely, giving it a good cleaning then moving to another project would allow me to move on to something new. Not sure, so I'm wondering what you folks think

Super sharp!

I am impressed. Is this the Kojack car? It really looks great.

Me too. And I have really appreciated your support through the process.

Satisflying? Oh...that's the understatement of the year. But, I have to admit, it feels a little weird. I had the same feeling when I ran my first marathon, restored my first car and when I completed my Ph.D. Now what? I'm sure I will come up with something.

Well...I recall the conversation was between the contest judges. One of them worked for (or was a contributor to) Scale Auto Enthusiast magazine. I honestly cannot remember which person was working on the L-29, whether it was the SAE author or someone he knew. It was clear both were "bigwigs" in the model car hobby. I too would curious if there is a 45 year WIP out there...or an L-29 completion that has never seen light of day. The latter is a possibility as I suspect there are a lot of builders (I am one of them) who build models, lots of them, that never are shown. Speaking personally, I had a bad experience at a show, perhaps 10 years ago. I took a break from contests and just never got back to it. Mayhap my model will shake another model or two out into the open.

I wish I could take credit for the Auburn. Its a 1932 8-90 Speedster, a resin cast. I liked that I could have an Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg shot, all in 1:24 scale. Thanks for the compliment.

I have heard of that car but not sure if I ever saw it down there. I've not shown a car at Auburn in about 10 years but maybe will go down this fall. We'll see what happens after (if) COVID-19 remits this fall. You are right about brush painting. I think my next project will be a tad less ambitious....maybe right out of the box. Thanks for looking.

The L-29 Cord is essentially done and now posted Under Glass. Thanks Richard for helping to push me along on this one.

For those interested in such things, you can now see the model Under Glass.

I have one of these. They are a really nice model, especially when you consider the age of the kit. Yours is a delight.

So I wasn't going to post this until it was 100% done. I still need to add the trunk and I am thinking of attempting to add some pinstripes as the 1:1 car has it. The back story in brief is I was attending a car show in St. Ignace, Michigan that had a model contest. I entered a few models and won a couple awards. While packing up the models I overheard a couple guys talking about their projects. One said "how are you coming on the L-29 project?" I butted into the conversation and asked if someone had released a model of a Cord L-29. The answer was no, so he was building his own from a MPC Chrysler Imperial kit. I thought, "how hard could it be?" and went to work to find an Imperial of my own. That was in about 1980 and I have had this kit on my workbench on and off ever since. Multiple aborted attempts have been made to finish the model. Finally this year with Snake's excellent "bring out your dead " thread, some of Pico's parts and a couple "distressed " Cord L-29's from Automodello, I have what you see here. No, it is not perfect. There are imperfect aspects of the paint and my striping hand is no longer as steady as it was when I was 16. Warts and all, I present a 99% complete Cord L-29 Phaeton Sedan. A word about the color combination. This is a model of Dick and Janet Saddler's Cord. I first saw the car in the Kalamazoo, Michigan downtown Christmas parade in 1979. The car had been finished only weeks and was absolutely mind boggling. It went on to win first place among other Cord L-29's at the Auburn Cord Duesenberg festival in Auburn Indiana for several years in a row. It is a meticulously researched and restored car and some 40 years following it's restoration continues to be one of the most well respected restorations of the groundbreaking Cord L-29. While I briefly thought of replicating the colors another car, the local connection and authenticity of the Saddler car sent me in this direction. Comments are always welcome.

Very nice. I like your final color combination.

I really like the looks of this.

Oh no. Only 39 years! I heard about a Cord L-29 project while attending a car show in St. Ignace, MI when I was 16.There was a model car contest connected to the show and I'd entered a few models. I overheard a couple guys talking about their L-29 project, butted into the conversation and learned they were basing their projects on the MPC Chrysler Imperial kit. Thinking "how hard could it be? " will result in an under glass submission 5 months before I turn 56.

So this is the end. Just short of 40 years after I started this model, i am now posting what I think will be the final WIP photo. Clearly this is a very long way from being a perfect model but it has been a very satisfying journey. I have headlamps, a couple chrome tidbits, cowl lamps, the trunk and some paint details and then off to the land of under glass.

Ive wondered about this kit as I have always been a VW fan...and a fan of air cooled cars in general. I am watching with interest.

Thanks for your ongoing support. Maybe 2 evenings plus 1-2 for the trunk but I'm getting there.

As you can see in another thread I am making good progress. Barring a disaster I should finally have this nearly 40 year project done.

I am finally getting to a place where i am hanging jewelry on the car. I still don't have the trunk done but I am working on a new plan as I just don't like the one I built earlier. Here is the car as of 11 EDT tonight.

Thank you David. Little by little I think I am gaining on it. While this will not be a perfect model, it will be a satisfying model when I complete it, if for no other reason than to demonstrate in the modeling world what perseverance can do.

I believe it is the only one in existence, though the moment I say that someone will post another one! It is a very long way from a perfect model but is satisfying to see it heading toward completion. Thanks for the comment!