1935 Auburn Speedster - The Abysmal Lindberg/Pyro Kit Completely (900+ hrs) Reworked

[Plastheniker]

Hi,

 

Though the Auburn Speedster is one of the really iconic cars of automotive history there was never any usable styrene kit. The 1:1 Speedster looked like this (for those who are not sure):

 

 

 

Wire wheels were optional, to my knowledge lateral wind deflectors as seen here were neither standard nor optional.

 

 

Whatever you hear about the 1/25 Lindberg (former Pyro) kit don't believe it - everything is much worse. All kit parts are crude and mostly out of scale. Fit is disastrous. Panel lines are still raised. A lot of important parts aren't replicated at all. Worst of all OOB the finished kit is so ludicrously ill-proportioned that it looks rather like a caricature:

 

 

 

 

After 60 years of modeling and several hundred built kits I think this is the poorest kit I have ever seen. Lindberg's claim on the box "Authentic Scale Model" is a joke even if you consider the age of the kit - many other manufacturers' kits of the same era are still usable.

 

After comparing the box content with an excellent scale drawing found on the web it was clear from the start that this would be a most challenging and very time-consuming project.

 

As expected I had to convert almost every spot of the nine-piece body:

 

 

 

 

All the rest of the kit was completely useless because it was so poor and so incorrect that it couldn't even be modified. Finally the finished model was half conversion and half scratch build, and my sacrifice of time exceeded 900 hours.

 

Since the proportions are now completely different some more pictures than usual in my topics may make sense.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 24, 2018 by Plastheniker

[Alpha Delta 210]

What a beauty - a real silk purse from a sow's ear!

[Rwa66]

Hello Jurgen,

Yes, Kits are very often somewhat euphemistic in the descriptions given on the box, that said, you have managed to produce another beautiful model.

Regards

Richard

[JeroenS]

Just: wow. I could look at it for hours. 

[bentwaters81tfw]

What a superb result. I had often looked at  the kit but never bought it. I thought it would go well with the Cord. Glad I didn't bother. I built and gave the Cord away, as I have the big AMT version.

[Bill.B]

Extremely well modified and finished. Nice job!   

[Nick Belbin]

Sensational!!!!

[arbrownra]

Astonishing!

 

What a great job, thanks for sharing

[Plastheniker]

Thanks for the comments!

 

This is another WIP picture showing what had to be done.

 

 

 

Maybe you find this cutaway drawing interesting

 

[kapam]

Now that is true modelling!

What an amazing replica you have produced!

That body work is so involved but the result is awesome.

[dnl42]

Bravo! 

 

Very well done. 

[tom2112]

Stunning!

 

A true classic truely reborn.