Lincoln Continental Raymond Loewy by Brooklin

SEPTEMBER 2016

Hi mates, I'm back! Did you miss me? I missed you, so I followed your posts on S1/43 during my fantastic summer vacation in the North Sea. Unfortunately, summer is over now, and it's time to wipe away the cobwebs around the work bench. This time, as you've already seen, I'm "visiting" the USA again and will convert the Lincoln Continental Derham Coupé, designed by industrial design artist Raymond Loewy and made by Brooklin. (Century made the same model, I suppose in the same cast, but with some differring details.) Loewy designed plenty of cars, with more or less success. His designs on the Jaguar E-Type or the BMW 507 are - hopefully - the worst in automotive history ever! This Lincoln is not the big shot, especially the dull front grille, but nevertheless quite handsome in its attitude. A kind fellow on coachbuild.com helped me in identifying the car, as there were two cars built for Loewy, one in 1941 and a second one in 1946. As I am only collecting cars made before WWII (for the US that means before 1942), I want to make the first version, although the Brooklin model shows the later one.

Loewy's (first?) sketch:



The car from 1941:



And the differences compared to the 1946 version:

(1941 standard bumpers, grille with 2 x 3 rings, continental spare wheel, painting described as brown and black)

(1946: bigger bumpers, no spare wheel, but a central fin (not to be seen on the photo due to the photographic angle/distortion), grille with a central ornament, painting in bronze/gun metal metallic)

And the model by Brooklin:

Model shows the car in its current condition



Authentic plexiglass roof, but with awful thick bars!

Limited collector's edition

This as an introduction, and I'd be glad to inviting you to this thread, if you like ! Stay tuned!

...and you'll find even more the longer you look at the model :roll:

And I always thought only women could be that cruel :lol:

I found it the biggest difficulty to get the matching bumpers for the '41 version, so I first bought the Altaya Continental, being aware that all Ixo/Altaya models are much too fat! After confirming this, I bought the Minichamps Continental, learning that this seems to be rather 1/64 than 1/43:







So if anybody is in need of one of these Continentals, please let me know! They are new with original boxes. (Seems as if I would have to make the bumpers by myself, was an expensive plan to copy the bumpers elsewhere... :? )

Time to disassemble:



... and to strip off the painting:



Always funny to see how nice the model cars are detailed under the finger-thick paintings:

As I always say: Acetone is not only a very tasteful and refreshing longdrink :mrgreen: , it further reveals the essence of an artwork, where dullness hazed your eyes.

Going on: The central tail-fin is nice, but has to be replaced with a spare wheel for the '41 Conti. Cutting it off is an easy operation:

(the future spare wheel cover in front)

Tadaa:



A simple printout helps designing the cutout:



Don't forget to fill up white-metal from the underside for not milling through the bodywork :oops: :





Tail-lights and much-too-big cutouts for the bumper were also deleted:

Just follow my step-by-step instructions, and everything will be fine!

Don't know why, but I think that almost any model car has too big trackwidth, especially old cars...

Look at the strange "fat" inner sides of the wheels :?

Brooklin challenges with pressed-into wheels and axles which can't be solved with any "soft" technique, so it's necessary to cut the axles midway and shorten them slightly to make a narrower track:



Fixed in the Dremel and reduce the inner sides:



Shorten the axles and connect them with a brass tube:



Provide some space in the baseplate for this tube:



Already burnished and brought into place:

Thank you!

Now a more delicate labour follows. As already shown, I bought two Continentals for the purpose of "borrowing" the bumpers, but the Altaya was much too wide, the Minichamps much too narrow. So nothing helps, I have to make it on my own... :roll: First grabbing flat and half-round brass strips, bringing them into shape and soldering the central "V" together:

(two half-rounds soldered one on the other for the side parts; the flat strip filed to "sharp" edges, cut at an angle and soldered together)

The side parts bent on the corners and cut to length; making a simple template for the angle and arrangement:



All parts soldered together:



...polished (before soldering!) and nickle-plated:



Rear bumper doesn't need the double-bladed center part (thanks god!!!):



...bent...:



...shaped and plated:



(The attentive reader noticed that these works were already made some time ago, before the bodywork was overdone... :oops: )

Thanks, still missing the bars... This will be another challenging work to carve them from brass strip... :roll:

Thank you!

Thank you! To be honest, for a short time I really thought of making both versions, as I love(d) the central tail fin on the later version. And as I could have used the original bumpers and save a lot of work...

Thanks, I already followed your Lincoln thread with great interest, and indeed, it was quite an inspiration for me to do the same model. I think yours is the "Century", isn't it?

Thank you! Hope to do so, sometimes I fear that car modelling is a kind of "extincting art" I would make some video clips, but I'm not familiar with that modern techniques, so I will maintain with photographing... :oops:

Holders for bumpers were made of brass strip and then burnished. And I learnt that such thick brass has to be annealed before bending it - well, learning by doing!







Headlights are glued into bodywork...



... to be milled out, so that only the frame stays in position, as it will be painted together with the body:



polished:

You can bet! :lol:

I really do hope so Although I was a little bit afraid because the Brooklin headlights were made quite refined...

Me too, sometimes I really don't know how I've made particular works...

Guess it was no particular thread, but I'm sure to have seen several photos with gold-foiling the interior and some further steps - don't know where exactly...

Today - Day of the German Reunion! - I've made only minor works: Deleting the roof bars and the side vents:



Will be difficult to make the plexiglass roof detachable, the side vents will be made with photo-etched frames (as well as the windshield frame and the wipers).

You've got a sharp eye :geek: Indeed, the front wing at the Brooklin model is slightly curved backwards, even not that much that would be necessary. Sooo, I've tried to change this, brave boy as I am ...

Original condition:



Applying solder from behind to have "stuff" to shape:



Reshaped front wing (the rear top edge has also been rounded):



At this opportunity I noticed that the opera windows are much too big and "mis-located", so I deleted them:



Printing a photo in the matching scale helps positioning the window:





To be continued...

I can tell you... :roll: The tiniest works need sometimes days to fix them...

Yep, thanks for your hint!

Opera windows are now ready on both sides, and the window frame has been "straightened & cleaned":



And I fear that I will be absent for a few days, from time to time I unfortunately have to earn some money for buying new models...

Finally I'm back at my workbench, I really have withdrawal symptoms :mrgreen:

Meanwhile Brooklin supplied another axle resp. wheels - they really have a perfect service for ordering single parts . This 5th wheel is necessary for making the spare wheel:



Dividing the axle and milling out the spare wheel cover from behind:



Reducing the material on the back of the wheel and opening up the hole in the trunk:



Fits!

@ Tom & Jager: Thank you! It's still a little bit tricky to make round parts only with the motor device, not with a lathe. But I'm still not sure if I should buy one and which one in this case... :?

Meanwhile I have designed the photo-etched parts and really do hope that I've not forgotten anything and that everything will fit:

That's it... I'm always trying to test the parts by printing out on paper and using the cut-outs, but of course they don't show the exact size at all... :roll:

I've bought a lightened drawing board, it's really useful for works like this, arranging the four transparent foils for the film pocket for photo-etching:

ozmac: :shock: Hope that I'm not affected... but it seems that it works now as usual again...

Nice... 30 years ago I didn't know at all that I would do such things once in a time...

To be honest: I don't, neither... :roll: Obviously Mr Loewy had a faible for circles, so I was quite dazzled about all the rings and circles on the film and was finally not sure if I combined everything in the right way... :oops:

Photo-etching turned out quite well, only few very tiny parts have gone lost due to holding rods which were too thin... But these parts are only needed for the final finishing, and by that time I'm sure I'll already make the next turn of etching :



The dashboard in its original layout:



...and "cleaned" for the photo-etched parts (the loudspeaker already in position):

Wait until it's gold-plated...

Welcome back, nice to hear from you again! My vacation in the Northern Sea has already past for several weeks... And yes, I'm doing a "FoMoCo" product, simply for not anyone thinking that I'm posh... :oops:

And to show that "sh... happens", I want to show following problem:

The frame for the flat windscreen is flat at its top edge, but was curved to the front at its lower edge. When filing this curvature down, the material got so thin that it was torn off:



Quickly designed a matching frame and photo-etched it:







"Cleaning" the existing frame:



Glueing the new frame onto:



Smoothing everything with putty:



... and already (finally... ) priming all parts:

Thanks for your encouraging comments!

After sanding and a second coating with primer the body looks like this:



The interior decoration elements are now gilded:



The two main gauges are ready made:



And the wheels got a cream-white ring (at least I suppose that it should be a similar colour):

Always trying to entertain you

Guess I am nuts, at least I don't worry anymore about these questions... :mrgreen:

Meanwhile I'm doing things that my camera seems to be unable to reproduce. There are tiny "Lincoln Zephyr" writings on the hubcaps (according to the photo on page 1), which are furthermore glossy lacquered now, but the reflections make it impossible to see...



The steering wheel has thin dark red rims around, this is to be seen at the '46 model in its current condition, but I think it's suitable for the '41 as well:



And the interior as well as the windscreen frame got the first cream-white painting:

HELP AGAIN!!! Since yesterday photobucket seems to be unavailable... Can you upload photos to photobucket? By the way, is there an alternative for uploading photos?

Seems that some unpolite curses are sometimes helpful, photobucket now accepts my photos...

I regard this doing as a kind of late education, always trying to get closer to the desired result... On the other hand, believe me, it's also frustrating to fail in 50 %...

Meanwhile:

Yesterday I got my new airbrush, made by Harder & Steenbeck It's great!!!



And here's the result of the first testing with the brown painting for the Lincoln:



And the completely assembled wheels:

Thanks for your advice! So this will be my first post with pictures by Flickr!

I guess they will stay there until the magnetic field of the earth will turn upside down...

Yep, that's right. So you can see the - meanwhile - two layers of brown paint, on the following picture with the template for the masking foil:



The next two days the black paint will follow, cross your fingers that everything will work... :roll:

And the interior including the dashboard is going on, slowly...

Thanks Stewil, meanwhile I'm making the steering wheels solely with photo-etching, this way they become very thin and very round and accurate, better than all ready-made steering wheels you can get...

Small tutorial for masking and two-tone-painting:

First design the desired shape on screen and print out in the right size:



Stick with double-sided tape onto 0.5mm polystyrol card, cut out (with knife) and smoothen & shape the edges:





Put onto Bare Metal Foil and cut out the template:



Stick BMF onto body, rub on the edges very carefully but very tightly:



Airbrush second colour:



And here another photo of the interior, unfortunately still missing one of the small gauges...:



And the two RL-Logos (they say the rings of the original logos were taken from one of Raymond Loewys fridges... :lol: ):

...thank you!

Well, I think I've made my day , the result of the three-tone painting turned out quite good:





There are some smaller blemishes, but that's nothing I'm afraid of... Nevertheless I have to wait 24 h until the painting has dried completely to retouch the concerning spots. Enjoy your sunday!

You're welcome!

Meanwhile two layers of clear lacquer have been applied, and I think it already looks quite well...:



Tomorrow I will start polishing and then I will decide if a third layer is necessary or not.

Furthermore the windows are cut out of glass and glued into their frames:

...thanks, guys, but please wait until the Loewy Lincoln is ready...

As announced I spent my day polishing the Lincoln, and I am quite satisfied with the result. On the photos it still looks quite terrible due to the bright halogen and LED lights, but believe me, in real life the painting has a deep lustre and a shiny surface. I think it will turn out on the photos the right way when I take photos with natural light...



The portholes, sorry: the opera windows got their light blue glass:



The spare wheel has already found its place:

And that was quite a mess... :evil: My model building supplier doesn't stock thin blue PVC-foil anymore, so I made several tests with blue glass paint, adhesive foils and so on... Finally I took 1mm blue plexiglass, looks fine from the outside, but is of course much too thick... :?

Well, if I consider how many hours such a car needs, I really do understand Brooklin & Co. why they don't do it this way... And if you are teased with all this, I've reached my goal :lol:

Beside several smaller retouches, I finally "married" body and chassis, so we now have a first look at the completed car:





The dust drives me crazy... :evil:

...and this will take some further time, I fear... :?

Hard to believe, but I spent almost the whole day with arranging the radiator grille. First I covered black Bare Metal Foil with AlClad Clear Flat Kote to get a thin matte black adhesive foil. Cut out with the help of the photo-etched radiator grille and sticked in the right position:



Then the metal grille had to be curved fitting the bodywork. Not so easy, as there are two different radii at top and lower edge. Fixing the grille was difficult, too, as usual adhesive would get into the thin rods, so I chose adhesive spray, but this doesn't stick very tightly...



Finally the chrome bars on upper door edge and roof, the door buttons and the RL-logo were applied:



...and the shark has
pretty teeth, dear,
and he shows'em
pearly white...

From photo-etched headlight "lenses" I made a silicone cast, as well as from the licence plate. The clear resin was filled with white pigments for the licence plate, afterwards sprayed black and then filed the reliefed numbers. This way you can make reliefed licence plates with coloured figures (depending on the pigments you are using):



Lego bricks always are useful as third, fourth and fifth hand:



Making the bumper horns from rectangle brass strip:

"Overriders"... A new term for my vocabulary, thank you ! Well, at least I cannot say that I have seen these techniques anywhere before... Perhaps I should claim a patent for that...

... and the tiniest details need about 90 % of the total work... :?

By the way, I couldn't resist to make the small red "barber shop" stripes for the overriders:



From the hardened remainings of the clear red resin I needed for the taillights, I made the funny-styled central taillight:

(hope the entire beauty will be visible when clear-coated...)

And - tadaaa - the plexiglass roof, carved from light blue plexiglass, matching the opera windows:

Thank you ! And indeed, everytime I'm ready with a car, I can't believe that I have done it by myself, that's a really good feeling

Thanks a lot! I know that the audience is divided concerning this Loewy-Lincoln. I think that this was one of his good creations, all details are coherent, besides the rectangle grille, this seems to be no progress against the original waterfall-grille. Loewys later works for his own garage, the Cadillac Eldorado and the BMW 507, are simply horrible... :?

Thank you! But believe me, I wouldn't dare to hide anything of my collection from your eyes :oops: The Chrysler was my last build before getting started with photo-etching, and by that time I only presented the pictures of the completed cars on the thread "Gems of the '30s & '40s", in this case this must have been around March 2015.

Thanks a lot! I always hope that I can give some suggestions for everyone to tune & enhance old model cars

Meanwhile you know me quite well, and so you can be sure that I'm already working with the next kit. And if you thought that the Lincoln already was a "folksy" car, hold tight for my next project, this will lead us down to the frugal base of motorizing...

Playing now in this theatre

Later in life...

Thank you so much! That's exactly what I intend! I do love detailed and finely made models, but - you already know - in my opinion a model car has to be made of metal, so I'm simply doing what a man has to do

Meanwhile the Lincoln moved to its new home:

I always fail to translate "Gesamtkunstwerk", a term created by Richard Wagner, but I think it's exactly that what I'm trying to achieve...

Thanks! Always helpful to have an architect around... RIO is right, the Auburn is the one by Matchbox. When starting with model building, I first took the (cheap :oops: ) Matchbox cars, but the proportions of the Matchbox Auburn are horrifying! So I meanwhile bought the WM as well... The Packard is also by Matchbox, I think this was the second or third car I built, still without any of the techniques I use now, only the plain car "smoothened" and repainted:

Thanks, always trying my best to meet your expectations!

We're among us, you needn't to be shy

Happy to hearing this, thank you!

And now one last picture. Not the best result, but a first attempt in rear projection. I equipped my newly built photo-box with a rear wall of translucent plexiglass to project any pictures on it from behind. Of course I'll need spotlights from the front to illuminate the model car, but I think it's going in the desired direction: