LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: Presenting my Marmon Wasp, winner of the 1911 inaugural Indianapolis 500 race

[Rattlecan Dan]

Incredible! Fantastic showpiece. Congratulations!

[ismaelg]

On 6/5/2025 at 11:05 AM, Pierre Rivard said:

This is exceptional in so many ways. Your extensive research and obsession to accurately replicate every single detail is so so impressive. The 1/25 scale replica is confidently displayed with period pictures of the car as a background and they look like twins, so what else can be said?

Pierre, Thank you for the very kind word. I really appreciate!

 

On 6/7/2025 at 6:26 PM, Rattlecan Dan said:

Incredible! Fantastic showpiece. Congratulations!

Thank you!

[PhilX]

Nice subject, nice realization and nice pictures ... 🙂

[stavanzer]

I watched the WIP thread, marveling more & more at your detail and effort to get this correct.

I thinks this one of the best Scale Models of any Car that I have ever seen. You have joined the Likes of Wingrove & Kirn with this build!

AS was mentioned, this is Museum Quality work, without a doubt.

Kudos tp you and all the work you put into this!

[gtx6970]

Very well done. And Its not even in my wheelhouse of the cars that interest me to build

I followed along on the WIP 

 

And the amount of work you put in it asstounding to say the least 

 

But if I may ask.

In the black and white photos the car appears to be a darker color. Noticed the light color car next to it in one photo?????  I would think yellow car will appear very similar , even in black and white 

[ismaelg]

On 6/21/2025 at 7:06 PM, stavanzer said:

I watched the WIP thread, marveling more & more at your detail and effort to get this correct.

I thinks this one of the best Scale Models of any Car that I have ever seen. You have joined the Likes of Wingrove & Kirn with this build!

AS was mentioned, this is Museum Quality work, without a doubt.

Kudos tp you and all the work you put into this!

Wow! I am humbled and really appreciate your words.  Thank you!

 

4 hours ago, gtx6970 said:

Very well done. And Its not even in my wheelhouse of the cars that interest me to build

I followed along on the WIP 

 

And the amount of work you put in it asstounding to say the least 

 

But if I may ask.

In the black and white photos the car appears to be a darker color. Noticed the light color car next to it in one photo?????  I would think yellow car will appear very similar , even in black and white 

Hello,

The color of the Marmon Wasp has been a controversy for decades.  I've been researching this topic for years.  In a nutshell, all evidence points to the shade of yellow I used is the correct one.  Some points are:

-The photographic emulsions of the day were not sensitive to red. The hint of orange in the color will make it show dark in the pictures. It has been proven that the current color will show that dark in period emulsions.

-The car was kept by the Marmon family for decades and it was faded. The museum acquired it in the early 1950's . The car was not completely restored like they do today. Only repainted. Ray Harroun himself oversaw the process.  Some parts are believe to still have original paint.  There is a 1946 movie film in color called "Crucible of Speed" where Ray Harroun himself talks about the car. The car looks quite faded and most likely fueled the confusion.

-In the 1960's there was a magazine article that referred to the car as "orange".  Part of the confusion is that Ray Harroun was apparently quoted to say "I remember it more orangey" or something along those lines.  Apparently he was referring to the faded car prior to the restoration.  

In summary, after years of research and conversation with like minded lunatics... I mean, other enthusiasts,  I truly believe that is the correct color the Marmon Wasp raced with.  

Changes to the car from race configuration to today is another story I can spend hours on.

Thanks,
Ismael

[stavanzer]

1 hour ago, ismaelg said:

Changes to the car from race configuration to today is another story I can spend hours on.

I'm ready to read it when you write it, Sir!

Your Knowledge of this historic car is breathtaking.

[Bugatti Fan]

Absolutely gorgeous classic racing car build.    A refreshing change from all the modern F1 scale models.