Impressive engineering

[Deleted member 65149]

Anybody who has any sense of the dedication to a job done to the nearest level of perfection, who sees beauty in such purism of craftsmanship, who can appreciate the dedication and love of a person for such an impeccable job, who can relate to the ability of a single person to do what Lou has done with after years of dedication, all these people must applaud Mr Louis Chenoa for having accomplished such a task.

A miniature functioning replica 1932 Duisenberg








This beautifully constructed 35" long working model made in 1/6 scale.

Louis Chenoa has spent the past ten years building this incredibly detailed 1932 SJ Duisenberg LaGrange dual-cowl phaeton. Not only does it look good, but the engine runs, the lights work, the top mechanism functions and the transmission and driveline are complete. Lou started his research on this project over fifty years ago with the purchase of a book and through the following years collected many drawings and studied a number of Duisenbergs while they were being restored, taking photos and recording dimensions.

[More pictures to follow]

 

[Deleted member 65149]

Complicating the prospect of building a running engine at that size is the fact that fuel molecules and electricity don't scale. It is very difficult to get tiny carburettors and little spark plugs to work like the big ones.




Inside the straight eight engine are all the correct parts custom machined to scale from steel, cast iron and aluminium. Here we see the block and crankshaft at the top. Arrayed below the block are the cast iron cylinder sleeves, pistons, wrist pins and assembled connecting rods.





Even though there would be no way to tell once it is all assembled, the cylinder head shows that Lou didn't cheat. The engine has 4 valves per cylinder --32 in total-- just like the real one.

 

[markjay]

...so was the real Duesenberg


Nice work though.

 

[Deleted member 65149]

The gears inside the differential will never be seen by anyone, but Lou cut them as actual hypoid gears like the real one rather than machining simpler bevel gears.



This is the dashboard and interior with the body primed but not yet painted. Note the detailed instruments and engine-turned finish on the dash.



The complicated convertible top mechanism is shown in the lowered position before the canvas top material was installed.

 

[Cubase]

Absolutely amazing. I've seen a video somewhere showing the engine build - if it's
the same one.

 

[brucemillar]

An astonishing and beautiful piece of modeling at it's very best. He would not want to be out the room when the grand kids come round for a play day. Broom Broom

 

[gaz_l]

That's wonderful. Having cut my fair share of metal over the years, I can appreciate the work that's gone into that. Top work, that man.

Cheers,

Gaz

 

[Charles Morgan]

Fabulous, thank you!

 

[Deleted member 65149]

An astonishing and beautiful piece of modeling at it's very best. He would not want to be out the room when the grand kids come round for a play day. Broom Broom

Perish the thought. I was just 15 when a friend and I made a fully functioning model traction engine as a school project. Every spare minute for a year we were in the workshop beavering away. We made everything from scratch; fashioning the boiler from copper sheet, turning the brass cylinder, hand crafting the valve gear, casting the wheels, etc. It was nowhere near the detail and quality of Mr Chenoa's car, but we were immensely proud of it. And so was our school who persuaded us to put it on show for open day. That was the last we saw of it - somehow during the afternoon it fired up and steamed off.