My Art Deco Aero Coupe Updated Jan 3, 2010

[Peter Lombardo]

I have slowed down a little on the construction of the Art Deco Areo Coupe mainly from the fact that the leaves are falling and my wife still thinks that it is a nice idea that we rake them up and we spent a week down in south west Florida where I could only play golf, catch up on my Gin and Rum consumption and spend my evenings in front of the TV watching the Golf Channel….no time for modeling…..anyway, I have managed to complete a few things so I thought I would post the progress, as minimal as it is.

The chassis is now complete and the Viper engine is installed, even though it is not visible in any of these pictures here.

I took the Viper chassis and extended it and widened it up front and narrowed it in the midsection. The wheels are from the Magnum wagon with Pegasus tires mounted to them. I still have a little smoothing to do, as you can still see some rough spots under the grill area and around the bottom.

I have debated with myself as to what to do with the grill over and over. I thought of metal mesh or brass bars but I just didn’t like the idea of that. Then I thought that it might look good with a deep bar grill painted to match the body.

After all, this is my idea of a modern day retro art deco areo coupe, so a body color grill would work with a modern day design, where a true 1930 design would have to have a shiny metal grill.

As you can see, in the end I opted for a deep rounded slot grill. I glued oversized slots to the sides and once the glue set overnight, I grinded down and then sanded the bars to conform to the grill contour.

I actually like this a lot. I will paint the grill the same color as the fenders which will be a dark purple pearl with a “pearlized†tan over the hood and top surfaces.

I have to build the magnet holders for the wheel cover “spats†and create the interior. I need to finish this up soon as I have drawn out the design for the next project and I can’t wait to get started on that….man am I impatient! I have posted the design in another post….I really like this next project!

[VW Dave]

Peter, your builds never cease to amaze; I'm looking forward to more updates here on the board, and also the chance to see it in person at the NNL East....finished or not, and you have got to bring the wood buck along too.

[wgflatliner]

this is sweet!

keep it up

it does look like the frontal pics of the grille.. that there's a pair of eyes in the windshield area looking like 'yeah, i'm cool.'

[curt raitz]

I threw in a picture of my "old" driver that I "flamed" yesterday which I did just for the fun of it. I know there are a lot of flames on it and it does look better in the light of day, but it is going to be different. This club, along with my old set of irons and wedges is going down to Florida next month with me for a few days, and then it will take up residence in Southwest Florida so whenever I can get down there, I don't need to drag my clubs with me anymore. I thought some flames on the club would look pretty cool.

A man after my own heart, model cars and golf...it doesn't get any better

vacuum forming is one of the steps I'd like to venture into with my modeling experience.

Excellent work, looking forward to seeing it come to completion

I bet the "flames" add at least 15-20 yards to your drives, heh!

[Tony T]

Wow, the grill looks great! This is moving along nicely. Can't wait to see it in paint!

[Peter Lombardo]

I don’t want anyone to think that my Aero Coupe has been left behind.

I have been working on it too.

I have been working on the interior panels, door panels and getting the “spats†wheel covers positioned properly.

The engine and chassis are all set and the grill is nearly completed.

I have opened up the two exhaust port openings in the center of the rear end.

I love how they will look as the design of the openings mirrors the headlights and taillight openings. I have to file the tips of the exhaust to flow with the contours of the body, but that will come later.

The dashboard and behind the seat areas are next. I can begin to get the body ready for paint soon and build the hood and gull wing door struts. I am planning a small twist to the paint job. It is two tone, as I originally envisioned, but to keep the grill area in one color, as I want to do, I will incorporate some computer designed and cut scallops for the hood area….I think that will look really sharp that way.

I really enjoy the Corvette XP45C I am working on, but this Aero Coupe is a joy to work on too.

[Corvette.Jeff]

this is absolutley amazing

[Ryan S.]

Peter, this has been a lot of fun to watch and this is turning out beautifully. I can't wait to see this finished. Fantastic work.

[Joe Handley]

Wow, I'm in love Kinda looks like something Bruce Wayne would drive to the office during the day on the first Animated Batman series form the 90's!

[Tony T]

Fantastic! Glad to see this one hasn't been languishing on the workbench! It is coming along beautifully! Nice work!

[Lownslow]

niiice

[Bernard Kron]

Really taking shape now. Funny how in the rear 3/4 view the design is somewhat reminiscent of the 300SL coupe. and not because of the gullwing doors but because of the rear deck treatment and "scooped" fender lines. It gives the car a kind of pre & post-war blended look. Can't wait to se it with its spats. They will really tie it together. And that poor little V8 looks almost lost under the massive bonnet. It almost cries out for a couple of more cylinders on each bank!

[Peter Lombardo]

Really taking shape now. Funny how in the rear 3/4 view the design is somewhat reminiscent of the 300SL coupe. and not because of the gullwing doors but because of the rear deck treatment and "scooped" fender lines. It gives the car a kind of pre & post-war blended look. Can't wait to se it with its spats. They will really tie it together. And that poor little V8 looks almost lost under the massive bonnet. It almost cries out for a couple of more cylinders on each bank!

There are two pictures with the spats on. And I agree that it does look somewhat like the 300SL in the back, but I assure you, that was not my intention. As I was carving the back end in the wood buck, it just looked good like this.....all too often the front and backs of cars look like two different people designed them...my goal was to make this look like a complete design. I wanted the front and the back to work together...so as I worked on the back, I kept thinking how it would look with the front and sides.

There are chrome moldings along the bottom of the sides and each spat has a little "art deco style" stylized "wing" design on them....if you look carefully you can see the un-chromed strips.

As for the engine, it is the Viper V10....and yes it does look mighty small in that huge hood (put that same engine in a Viper body and it fills every square inch of the engine bay) , but that is the look I am going for. I intentionally made this too long and extreme. The car is long...it is just about the same scale length as a 1965 Bonneville, so yes it is long....but that is the look I want.

Thanks, everyone for the kind words of encouragement, I really appreciate it. Now that I have been bitten by the "design and build my own" bug, there may be no going back for me. Obviously, I am working on the Corvette XP45C now, I also have a Ferrari roadster concept I designed which will be more conventional using a 612 engine and chassis, a Mini-minivanvan concept drawn out and one more that is going to be very different, but I will keep that one still under wraps for now.....mainly because I am not sure I can do it as I want....we'll see. Thanks again.

[seeker589]

On the subject of the little engine swimming in the huge engine bay -

I got this idea from Scott Colmer. A bunch of years ago - he but two stovebolt sixs (out of the AMT '51 Chevy kits) together for a rather large V-twelve. The V was about 90 degrees. He engineered the intake in the "V" - I think. I'm pretty sure there is a pic of the motor in his Photobucket or Fotki account. I'll see and add a link to this post soon.

Anywho - I'm quite sure it was larger than any viper motor.

And after seeing how skilled you are as a scratch-builder - siameseing a couple of straight sixs would be a walk in the park!

I think this is the engine. He put it in something already. After looking at the pic - both the intake and exhaust were crammed in the "V".

All is not lost - I think he send me a pic of it eons ago. Off to the photo files!

update:

I can't find the photo files - they must be in storage - but believe me it was impressive just standing alone as an engine.

Edited November 30, 2009 by seeker589

[Jantrix]

Pete, this is absolutely stunning work. You're a true artist.

[Foxer]

This continues to look better and better. I congratulate you on this design .. it is just ravishing!

[remingtonbox]

Awesome design with the wheel covers... Do you have any profile shots of how it sits right now?

[Bernard Kron]

There are two pictures with the spats on. ...There are chrome moldings along the bottom of the sides and each spat has a little "art deco style" stylized "wing" design on them....if you look carefully you can see the un-chromed strips. ...

As for the engine, it is the Viper V10....

How did I miss the spats? Perhaps I was too taken by the other details... They do tie everything together nicely. I'm amazed how quickly you've gotten to this point. Will you be sending any parts out to be chromed (such as the winglets on the spats)?

As for the V-10, I've got to do a better job of keeping the rear engined 'Vette and this build separate from each other in my mind. Since they couldn't possibly be more different I have no idea why it should be difficult... In any case they're both superb and, like everyone else, I look forward to each new installment.

Edited November 26, 2009 by gbk1

[seeker589]

I digging the spats. The bottom of the fenders look a bit too 'out' without them. They really add to the "period" design, anyhow.

Edited November 26, 2009 by seeker589

[charlie8575]

Absolutely amazing! Peter, I do hope you take Harry's request to write an article...or perhaps a series. This is incredible!

Charlie Larkin

[Tony T]

I hope this build gets some attention soon!!

[Paul Payne]

I have been away from the forum for awhile and discovered this when I was catching up. This is amazing work. It reminds me of the Duesenberg custom one of the "mints" put out a few years ago. Can't wait to see it finished!

[Trans Am Erik]

I love this car. All the proportions look right and it has teriffic lines. The back end especially with the split window and spired rear fenders. The wheel spats complete the look. I'm planning to build a car with a similar flavor but I'm starting with a Batmobile.

[Peter Lombardo]

First and foremost, Happy New Year to all of you guys, I hope this New Year brings us all prosperity and all of the new plastic from the manufacturers.

Anyway, it has been quite a while since I posted anything on the Art Deco Aero Coupe I thought I should get an update in. The paint has been more than a bit “difficultâ€. The paint scheme is very similar to the scheme on the “Cybele†roadster, but for some reason, it has not cooperated well on this car.

After primer, light sanding, primer; light sanding, white, light sanding, and GM beige on top the problems began to start. The Beige did not want to lie down without a fight. We went three rounds before I was reasonably happy with it. Next I threw down a coat of the Gold Interference top coat that I used on the Corvette. It gave the Beige a nice golden hue which I thought would work well with the lower color I had chosen, Deep Amethyst Pearl, which is a very dark Purple. After the gold was dry, I clear coated it with 2 coats and let that dry very well so I could mask it off to paint the Amethyst.

I was careful to let the gold layer dry extra long because in the past I have experienced difficulty in removal of the masking tape for the second color. For some reason, the Jacquard Pearl Powder, mixed with the clear and sprayed over the top coat, tends to not adhere as well as you may think and has a tendency to “pull up†with the tape.

Even with two coats of good strong clear lacquer, you can not always be sure it will hold. My care was rewarded, or at least I thought so, because the masking tape came up fine without taking the gold along with it. But later, when I was putting down the bare metal foil, I actually experienced some of the gold and clear coming up with the excess foil after I cut around the molding trim. Very strange. The tape did not pull up the gold and clear but the BMF did.

That is one thing about modeling that I have found, there are not that many “absolutesâ€! I mean, just because a technique has worked in the past, it is not guaranteed to work today. One day paint goes down great and the next day under the same conditions it does not. I am sure you all know what I am talking about. You must always be on your toes.

I HAVE MORE PICTURES, BUT A PROBLEM WITH THE FLICKR SITE WILL NOT LET ME POST THEM NOW...MAYBE LATER, WE'LL SEE.

Anyway, so far this is acceptable, but the wheel covers with the Art Deco Stylized Wings on them did not work out as well, so they had to be striped and redone.

Prior to the painting, the “spats†fit perfect. The paint went on fine, so I BMF’ed the wings, but when I test fitted them again, somehow (we all have experienced this) they had mysteriously grown and no longer fit. And what was worse, the BMF had developed wrinkles that really damaged to look. So I had to strip them and begin again only this time, I sanded off 1 ½ mm from each wheel cover. So these pictures are taken without the wheel covers. You can see the magnets mounted in each wheel well to hold the “spat†in position.

I went back and forth in my head as to what to do with the grille. It is so massive, and since this is an exaggerated Art Deco car, I finally decided to go with “Big Honkin’ Chrome†bars.

Big and Bold…just like the rest of this car, cartoony to the max.

The headlights are in and the exhaust tips, but the road lights up front and tail lights on the back are yet to be set.

Then I have to build the pneumatic lifts for the hood and gullwing doors, finish the interior in cream white and very dark Blue/Purple and that should do it.

[Scott Colmer]

That's one elegant beast. I love it!

Scott