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Posted

This is the Entex 1/16 scale Duesenberg Boattail... a very exclusive, high-end car in its day. It cost about $15-20,000 at a time when a doctor made maybe $3,000 a year. Obviously it wasn't seen in the garage of Joe Average!

The ebay seller was asking $100 OBO. I offered $80, and he accepted. This is the kit:

duesenberg1_zps49df910b.jpg

I don't know what color scheme I want to go with, except that I do know I don't want to go with the black/white scheme on the box art. So any color scheme suggestions are welcome!

Posted

I think you should do this "girls car", Harry ...

auburnboattail1_zps72c9da79.jpg

Sorry, I couldn't resist .. but I KNOW you already have the colors you'll use embedded in your brain and nothing we say will change it!

Posted

Ok, first of all, that's not a Duesenberg... :D

Second of all... YUCK!

And third... no, I really don't know the colors yet. Still trying to figure it out.

Posted

It is interesting that it is supposed to be a Weymann Speedster and it is shiny. Weymann bodies were fabric over wood. One nice color scheme would be the silver/crimson combination of Clark Gable's.

Posted

It is interesting that it is supposed to be a Weymann Speedster and it is shiny. Weymann bodies were fabric over wood. One nice color scheme would be the silver/crimson combination of Clark Gable's.

I was actually leaning towards silver/maroon. Close! ;)

Posted (edited)

That is a beautiful car, been drooling over a few of those big 1/16's on E bay as well

I know you will do the kit proud, so following along

Edited by Twokidsnosleep
Posted

This is the Entex 1/16 scale Duesenberg Boattail... a very exclusive, high-end car in its day. It cost about $15-20,000 at a time when a doctor made maybe $3,000 a year. Obviously it wasn't seen in the garage of Joe Average!

The ebay seller was asking $100 OBO. I offered $80, and he accepted. This is the kit:

duesenberg1_zps49df910b.jpg

I don't know what color scheme I want to go with, except that I do know I don't want to go with the black/white scheme on the box art. So any color scheme suggestions are welcome!

Well Harry, for exact accuracy, the real car is an ivory-shaded white and black. There is one issue with the bodywork on this kit that you might want to address (I have the kit as well), and that is the demarcation line between the colors--on the model kit it's an engraved, recessed groove, where on the actual car, the sheet metal that's painted black is actually slightly raised (perhaps a half-inch or so), around that "color sweep" of white.

The actual car is in the National Automobile Museum in Reno, Nevada--formerly the Harrah's Automobile Collection--it was originally owned by Capt. George Whittell of Lake Tahoe and Woodland CA--and that is how Whittell (who having bought SIX Duesenberg Model J's was Duesenberg Inc's single biggest customer!) had it painted.

Just my .$.02 worth.

Art

Posted

There is one issue with the bodywork on this kit that you might want to address (I have the kit as well), and that is the demarcation line between the colors--on the model kit it's an engraved, recessed groove, where on the actual car, the sheet metal that's painted black is actually slightly raised (perhaps a half-inch or so), around that "color sweep" of white.

I can't think if any way to correct that without doing some really tricky body work.

Posted

I can't think if any way to correct that without doing some really tricky body work.

Not as difficult as you might believe. I've seen it done with .020" sheet styrene, blended into the bodywork aft of the color line with putty and sanding.

Art

Art, was that Whittell the one with an awesome Mahogany cruiser as well?

One and the same. He was the heir to the Matson Steamship Line fortune.

Art

Posted

It is interesting that it is supposed to be a Weymann Speedster and it is shiny. Weymann bodies were fabric over wood. One nice color scheme would be the silver/crimson combination of Clark Gable's.

A point of clarification here: This speedster was bodied by the Weymann-American Company of Indianapolis, who of course produced Weymann padded fabric-covered bodies under license from the original German Weymann company. However, that coachwork system was never really accepted here in the US (primarily due to it's not being all that durable in wet weather--it seems Americans like being able to drive their cars in the rain, in winter, etc.) so Weymann-America also produced coachwork done the more conventional way: Sheet metal formed and attached over wooden framing.

Art

Posted (edited)

I got a little sidetracked looking at some unusual color schemes which turned out to be replicas built in the 70s-80s (and judging by the top on the cream yellow one above, that looks to be a replica. If that matters). Anyway, these are real Duesies, though different from the kit.

08042905_bloguncoveringorg_duesenberg_zp

08042913_bloguncoveringorg_duesenberg_zp

08042906_bloguncoveringorg_duesenberg_zp

Edited by sjordan2
Posted

There is a 1930 J at the LeMay museum in Tacoma, WA - without a doubt THE highlight of the collection. Unbelievably beautiful car. The size and scale of are beyond impressive - something pictures cannot purvey. I think it was listed as $20,000 in 1930. Another unbelievable factor...

Another kit I will enjoy seeing built.

Posted

Even though this is a "big scale" kit, it's actually not very well detailed–at least the engine and chassis. A lot of the engine details are molded onto the block halves and are not separate parts... so I had to do a lot of paint detailing to make the engine look like there's more going on than there really is. Also, for some odd reason the springs are diecast, not styrene, and attach to the frame rails by way of large, completely incorrect and out of scale screws. Also there are no shocks, no brake system, etc. The good news is, once the fender unit is installed, the chassis is completely hidden (unless you flip the model upside down). Once this model is built, it won't be displayed upside down... :D so I don't really care too much about the chassis lack of detail. I'll concentrate on the parts of the car you can see once assembled...

duesenberg2_zpsbddd3dd7.jpg

duesenberg3_zpsed562e88.jpg

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