TROG true Gentleman's car

[landman]

I see a familiar Foad in there.

[Eric Macleod]

3 hours ago, landman said:

I see a familiar Foad in there.

You are looking at the on-deck circle!

[Eric Macleod]

I think I have finalized the majority of the paint on both cars. Here they are in mock-up form. I will add a bit to the back story of the paint later on, but in short, I saw J 555,  a rebodied Weyman Torpedo Phaeton at the ACD museum in maybe 1988-9 when I was there for the ACD Festival. It was pouring down rain so many of us decided to head inside the museum instead of watching the Parade of Classics. That was a good decision as J 555 was inside. A beautiful car with Monell exhaust and rust colored upholstery, it was a sight to behold. My blue car will be a tribute (thought not an exact replica) to J 555. The white car is painted to resemble the Indy 500 winning race cars of the mid 1920's.

[Eric Macleod]

It's been a bit since I was able to do an update. Sick kids and other family stuff got in the way. Here is a decidedly unsatisfactory photo but it gives you an idea of the overall look of the interior of the second car. This is a tribute to J555 a Weyman Torpedo replica body by Fran Roxas I saw on the ACD Museum floor in about 1989. Replica body or not, the car was stunning.

[dino246gt]

Beautiful leather color, what is it?

[Eric Macleod]

Testors Model Master Rust for the seating surfaces with some flat black mixed in for the accent areas.

Thanks for the compliment!

Edited February 28, 2018 by Eric Macleod
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[Eric Macleod]

Here is a little update. I am working on engine details and induction systems. Those are not quite ready for prime time. In the mean time I got one set if wheels and tires together and flocked the interior then did a little more detail painting. Here is the interior just after the flocking was applied. Obviously it needs to be cleaned after the dust settles (literally) but you get a better idea of the color.

 

[Eric Macleod]

I am to a point where I a m trying to test-fit major assemblies. So car it looks like both cars will come together pretty well. I still need to wet sand the hood of the white car one more time and shoot it with another coat of paint. I also need to wire the engines, typically one of my favorite projects. I think I like the look of the wires and single stripe whitewalls on the blue car but do prefer the look of the red solid discs.Then it will be final assembly time.

[duesie]

Eric

what did you use fir the red wheel disc?

thanks for the builds as any classics are enjoyable.

Duesie

[Eric Macleod]

The discs are obviously not a stock or "correct " item for a J. To the best of my knowledge no J came with solid wheels. That being said, these just had the right look for this application and came from the Heller Hispano Suiza Town car kit. They are fitted with tires from the Johan Cadillac 452 V16 kit up front and standard Duesenberg tires in the back for a bit of a big and little look. Thanks for looking.

[Eric Macleod]

I have the first engine ignition wiring done. There is a lot more to do but this one is complicated because the Monnell exhaust has to be routed through the fender first and then the supercharger gets installed. Once that is done I can route the fuel lines. All of that will need to be done with the body, fenders and splash apron assembly in place. And...don't mess anything up. May the Force be with me!

[Eric Macleod]

Here I continue my work on the exhaust side of the engine. These couple of seemingly simple parts are going to be the key to the whole look of the model. The Monnell exhaust that I have referenced is shown above. It was a key item when Duesenbergs upgraded to "SJ" (never really called that by the factory but everyone does now) configuration. The manifold routes the exhaust strait down through the fender and when hot glows cherry red. I need to do some sanding on this part but you can see it plus my "custom bent" aka heated connector pipe in the first photo, and in place in the second. I think I am going to try my hand in adding some heat induced discoloration of the manifold.

[Eric Macleod]

I have not worked much on this as I have had a bad cold and general apathy for several days. Over the weekend I got busy and began wiring the engine and working on the first layer of the grill screen. Here is the progress so far. My goal is to have both cars done by the end of the month. We'll see.

[Eric Macleod]

Many times we have heard you are half way or even nearing completion when the wheels go on. So...last night the wheels went on the blue car and I added another layer of texture to the grill of the white car, greatly improving the appearance in my opinion. I am glad to hear your thoughts. Getting close...

[Anglia105E]

Eric, I am fascinated by your two Duesenberg builds and your detailing work is something to be admired. You certainly know your Duesenbergs!

Like you, I myself have reservations about giving a scale model car a paint finish of white. Your texture work on the grill of the white car does indeed greatly improve it's appearance, giving it a nice amount of depth. I have the greatest respect for your decision to attempt both builds at the same time. Several times I have set out to build two cars at once, but usually one takes priority and gets all my attention, with the other build going on hold.

I intend to read through this topic of yours again in order to pick up on details I may have missed the first time. These are truly wonderful motor cars.

David

[Eric Macleod]

I am finally back at it. I was struggling with the dual carb setup of this one but I looked up some photos on line and came up with a better set up. I still am not totally happy with the exhaust manifold but think I have a solution for that as well. Here it the progress so far.

[Eric Macleod]

So the engine is finally on the final stretch. I did a little more work with the manifolds and decided to make some changes to one of my Monell manifolds. I have some sanding, filling and then metalizing detail but I think another evening or two and that will be done. Finally, the engine in the blue chassis is staring to look as I intended; a very powerful looking supercharged engine. In the mean time I plan to add fuel lines and other plumbing to both engines and then I will be off to final assembly. While I had thoughts of adding brake lines and such, I really was after much more of a curbside, so I have already gone a long way past the original goal. Comments are always welcome.

[Eric Macleod]

I have a few more details then I think I am ready to move to final assembly. It is always funny how an engine (or other parts) look really good by the naked eye but under the magnification of the camera look...well, sort of sloppy. Here is the pre-plumbed engine and the exhaust manifold coming together.

[spike morelli]

On ‎2‎/‎19‎/‎2018 at 6:25 AM, Eric Macleod said:

I have the first couple coats of paint on this one. I have a little more body work to do before the final coats of paint go on. While this looks pretty gray in the photo in actuality it is more of an antique white. I am also working on building up a dual carb supercharger. I will have photos of that up tomorrow.

An interesting color choice that may work for you, is Wimbledon White, as used on Mustang GT-350s. It's offered in an aerosol by Testor's, or Model Masters, if I remember correctly.It's not an icebox white, but more of a creamy white, not unlike the creamy colors used on classic bodystyles. Anyway, I'm enjoying your projects and thought perhaps you'd like to give the Wimbledon White a test shot.

[Eric Macleod]

20 hours ago, spike morelli said:

An interesting color choice that may work for you, is Wimbledon White, as used on Mustang GT-350s. It's offered in an aerosol by Testor's, or Model Masters, if I remember correctly.It's not an icebox white, but more of a creamy white, not unlike the creamy colors used on classic bodystyles. Anyway, I'm enjoying your projects and thought perhaps you'd like to give the Wimbledon White a test shot.

Originally I wanted to use Wimbledon White (which is actually the factory color of my 1:1 Lincoln) but could not find it in a store around here. I decided on a Krylon Antique White which was pretty close. While normally I absolutely hate white on almost any classic automobile, Duesenberg used white on at least one Indianapolis 500 winner and there is a Duesenberg locally owned that is also painted white. I thought that made white with a dark chassis a good choice for this project.  Honestly,  it feels a little odd to be as creative with colors as I have been as typically when I build a model it is a replica of a specific car. That has also added to the fun of this model project. 

[Eric Macleod]

I have a few more details then I think I am ready to move to final assembly. This likely will be the final mockup. Everything seems to fit so the next steps are to assemble the pieces.

[landman]

Lookin' good. I like the tonneau covers. I bet that car would boogie.

[Anglia105E]

Huge amount of detail work that you have put into that engine Eric, and sitting there in the white car it looks the business. The camera never lies.... I too find that maybe an engine appears to be almost perfect to the eye, and then when you examine your own close-up photos you can see all sorts of tiny imperfections. Anyway, no problem there.... your engine is superb. Certainly, a cream white rather than an ice white looks far better on a vintage motor car and I have even used Magnolia with Gloss Black on a 1929 Rolls-Royce Phantom II.

Keep going Eric.... you are nearly there !

David

[Eric Macleod]

I have completed most of the final assembly. Remember that little part about test fitting stuff? I did that repeatedly but apparently never with the supercharger in place on the engine. So...the hood wouldn't fit. Well cr#*! So I looked over at the Mormon Meteor sitting there and realized they apparently had the same problem at the factory. Thus a solution presented itself. There actually were three possible and obvious solutions. First, remove the supercharger and glue the hood down. While easy, that solution would have defeated all the work I have been doing for several weeks, so no. Second, leave the hood off completely, which is appealing but I really wanted the hood top on the car for aesthetic reasons. Finally, the solution you see in the following photograph. Please feel free to let me know what you think of this one.

[landman]

7 hours ago, Eric Macleod said:

I have completed most of the final assembly. Remember that little part about test fitting stuff? I did that repeatedly but apparently never with the supercharger in place on the engine. So...the hood wouldn't fit. Well cr#*! So I looked over at the Mormon Meteor sitting there and realized they apparently had the same problem at the factory. Thus a solution presented itself. There actually were three possible and obvious solutions. First, remove the supercharger and glue the hood down. While easy, that solution would have defeated all the work I have been doing for several weeks, so no. Second, leave the hood off completely, which is appealing but I really wanted the hood top on the car for aesthetic reasons. Finally, the solution you see in the following photograph. Please feel free to let me know what you think of this one.

 

There is a name for that: power blister.