Revell Mercedes-AMG GT

[galaxyg]

Background:

I love how the Mercedes AMG GT looks in it's road guise (much less so the GT3 version), and it's become one of my most used cars in Gran Turismo Sport, with this same colour scheme. If I had the money, this car would be on my shortlist.

 

Pros:

It's tough. There's no way this one will come out of the box with squashed A-pillars - they're a decent realistic thickness. The body fits snugly to the to the chassis, there's is no gap whatsoever. Same in the wheel arches. This is unusual and good - most kits I build have some kind of gap. There's a full engine - sadly you don't see much of it once built. There is a choice of LHD and RHD dashboards. The way the glass fits in the kit is easy, perfectly flush and something I wish more kits had. The bonnet has actual hinges and whilst they're not accurate to the real car, they do mean the bonnet doesn't just lay in place. Everything fits together well - except for the bonnet when it's shut.

 

Cons:

Some of the pros generate their own cons. There's no corresponding RHD scuttle panel or wipers, so if you put the wheel on the right side, those items won't match. The body's snug fit make it quite some effort to get on. The kit is quite heavy duty and somewhat toy-like in parts. Some details are treated with decals rather than any kind of 3D part. Quite a few vents have the mesh moulded in, such as those on the bonnet and take some opening up. The order of the instructions is less logical (to me) than the actual order I followed, and some of the painting instructions do not follow the real car such as the rear light covers. The chrome wheels are far too shiny and this particular chrome is a pain to remove - in fact all of the chrome parts are horrible. The tyres have cracks in the sidewalls and no sidewall markings at all. The wheel mountings would make swapping the wheels hard work. The mouldings of the front wheel wells mean that even though the wheels do turn, they can't turn very much.

 

Verdict:

Pretty good. An experienced modeller can get a very satisfying result from this and there's scope for extra detailing under the bonnet. A junior modeller is going to get something that at least looks correct and is not hard to assemble. If these images in any way inspire you to make this kit, I'd recommend it.

 

Build notes:

I opened up the bonnet vents and those below the headlights/number plate and filled these with mesh. I also removed the unrealistic moulded-in hoses/cables under the bonnet where possible. There's some extra detailing added around the engine bay, and the inside of the bonnet itself is also detailed. The wheels have been sprayed with Mr Hobby Flat Matt to tone down the chrome to something more normal since I could not get it off with neither bleach or two types of oven cleaner. Or brake fluid. The rest is out-of-the-box except the Mercedes emblem on the boot and on the engine cover, which are Tamiya. The body is painted in TS-49 Bright Red overcoated with TS-92 Metallic Orange which - being not very thick, gives the result of a reddish-orangish metallic I am going to christen "Volcano Red". Then the whole thing is clearcoated with Tamiya TS-13. I did put on the supplied carbon decal on the roof and it fits fine but I decided I preferred the look of the car without it.

 

[Vesa Jussila]

I really like paint in this model and finish is top class.

[cmatthewbacon]

That looks great... great colour scheme and detailing. I think Revell are really hitting that sweet spot of kits that are good for simple builds OOB for the less experienced but also a great platform for the more experienced and skilled modeller... like your good self!

 

I think I have one in the stash with the body painted and nothing else done...

best,

M.

[Jon Sharp]

This is great! Love the added detail and opening up the bonnet and vents! I have the f1 safety car decals and light bar from KMP for this.. must get it out the stash and get started!

[Red316]

That's a lovely finish.   Can I ask how did you do the TS-13 clear?  I've always struggled with it.

[galaxyg]

On 12/1/2020 at 11:06 AM, Red316 said:

That's a lovely finish.   Can I ask how did you do the TS-13 clear?  I've always struggled with it.

I let the colour paint dry at least a week before applying TS-13. Given they all work off the same underlying solvent, it can loosen the colour if applied too heavy, too soon.

 

3 or 4 mist coats, let them dry 10-20 minutes apart. I'll often let the last mist coat dry overnight.  The dry mist coats should help protect the colour coat against re-liquidising once the wet coat is applied, as it'll "attack" the mist coats instead.

 

So then the next day or so - the "wet coat". ie. Heavy. When applied and wet it'll look very glossy - the perfect shine. This fades off as it dries and I usually give it a day to a week to fully dry out.

 

After that, 8000 grit micromesh (going carefully over bumps and raised areas) and then Tamiya polishing compound.  All this gives me a very good finish.  It took me many many builds to get this part to  a stage I'm happy with.

 

Michael.

 

[Red316]

On 12/6/2020 at 8:58 AM, galaxyg said:

I let the colour paint dry at least a week before applying TS-13. Given they all work off the same underlying solvent, it can loosen the colour if applied too heavy, too soon.

 

3 or 4 mist coats, let them dry 10-20 minutes apart. I'll often let the last mist coat dry overnight.  The dry mist coats should help protect the colour coat against re-liquidising once the wet coat is applied, as it'll "attack" the mist coats instead.

 

So then the next day or so - the "wet coat". ie. Heavy. When applied and wet it'll look very glossy - the perfect shine. This fades off as it dries and I usually give it a day to a week to fully dry out.

 

After that, 8000 grit micromesh (going carefully over bumps and raised areas) and then Tamiya polishing compound.  All this gives me a very good finish.  It took me many many builds to get this part to  a stage I'm happy with.

 

Michael.

 

 

Thanks for this.  I'll give it another try.  I think the long cure times could be the secret, I need to be more patient.

[kapam]

That's a beautiful piece of work!

Thanks also for the painting tips.👍