Finished - 1932 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Continental

[AndyM]

I call her The Satin Doll. She is a 1:8 scale 1932 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Continental Fixed Head Coupe. The body, engine and interior are scratch-built and sit on a Pocher chassis. Each wheel has been hand spoked and there are 875 pieces in the five wheels alone. The interior is fitted with solid walnut door crowns and dash and features cabretta leather on the seats and wool carpets with hand-sewn leather bunting. All exterior lighting fixtures are lathe-turned brass with nickel/chrome plate. All interior metal fittings are triple chrome plate over brass. The Spirit of Ecstasy is Sterling Silver.

Total build time was 1600 hours over two years.

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[Cotterik]

1600 hours! christ! Thats a hell of a lot of time!

Well done.

[dydzi]

1600 hours! imagine how much sweaters you could knitted in that time

ok, now seriously - i really appreciate your work, it looks totaly amazing; a real car just few times smaller did you ever think how much one of your works of art is worth?

[AndyM]

It was 1600 hours of pure heaven. Really, when you think about it, it's not all that much time. It comes down to about 2.5 hours a day. I'd rather spend time at my bench than watch TV anyway.

In terms of worth, I suppose if you look at similar pieces and the prices they've earned on eBay, at auction and through private treaty sales, I'd figure somewhere between $10,000 and $25,000 depending on the model.

[Esperante]

Fantastic work! I'm working on a 1:8 Daimler Sonder Kabriolet right now. Any tips for cars of this scale?

[AndyM]

Details, details, details Esperante. Take advantage of every oportunity to detail the Mercedes. At 1:8 scale, you can really go crazy and I highly recommend it.

Now where did you find a 1:8 Sonder Kabriolet? I built version of that car that was 1:16. I didn't even know a 1:8 existed. Do you have any pictures? Do you know who manufactured it and if it's still available? I'd love to learn more about that kit.

[Esperante]

Excuse me, but I hadn't worked on it for over a year now, so my scale of the model is now blown out of the proportion. it is indeed the 1:16 Minicrafts version.

I do, however, have a 1:8 or 1:12 scale Citroen unbuilt somewhere, too...

[henk4]

I do, however, have a 1:8 or 1:12 scale Citroen unbuilt somewhere, too...

That should be the Heller 1/8 kit of the 15CV. I have never seen or read a build report of that one, but the 1/24 scale is quite flimsy.

[henk4]

It was 1600 hours of pure heaven. Really, when you think about it, it's not all that much time. It comes down to about 2.5 hours a day. I'd rather spend time at my bench than watch TV anyway.

In terms of worth, I suppose if you look at similar pieces and the prices they've earned on eBay, at auction and through private treaty sales, I'd figure somewhere between $10,000 and $25,000 depending on the model.

There was an alfa romeo 1750 Monza and a Duesenberg model for sale at the recent christies auction at Monterey. Both 1/15 scale and both estimated between 15-25,000 US$. And they looked worth every cent of it.

[crisis]

Congratulations. You are truly up there with the most brilliant and psychotic scratchbuilders around. And thats a good thing.

[Matra et Alpine]

wow. superb piece.
Respect for the skill AND the patience.

downside ........... makes me want to STOP buidling kits

[AndyM]

Henk - those two models at Christie's were Gerald Wingrove pieces. The Alfa sold for $25,000. The Duesenberg did not hit reserve. I love his engines, chassis and bodies, I just wish he'd detail the interiors.

[henk4]

Henk - those two models at Christie's were Gerald Wingrove pieces. The Alfa sold for $25,000. The Duesenberg did not hit reserve. I love his engines, chassis and bodies, I just wish he'd detail the interiors.

yep, I knew that I have the catalogue too . Did not check the sale results though.
Earlier this year they had this chassis of the Bugatti Royale for sale.

[AndyM]

That Royale chassis went for more than the Alfa. That sale featured a number of Wingrove pieces and marked the end of his career building scale replicas of classic automobiles. If you like Wingrove's work, you should get his new book "Art of the Automobile in Miniature". It's a wonderful photographic compilation of his finest works. Amazon has a deal going right now where if you can buy this book and his "Complete Modeler 1" book for $43. You can check it out at

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...books&n=507846