Mercedes W154, German GP '38

[Bengalensis]

I'm a little stuck waiting for 3D-printed details for my Alfa Romeo build, so why not start up something more in the mean time. More 1930's Grand Prix, and this time the Mercedes W154, the new car built for new 3/4,5 litre formula (3 litre supercharged or 4,5 litre atmospheric) introduced for 1938. With its diagonally placed engine the drive shaft was moved to the side and the driver seat moved down, giving the car a very low profile for the day. The kit is again from FPPM in resin 1/24 scale.

 

 

The car I'm going to build will be #16 with a green nose that British driver Richard "Dick" Seaman drove to victory in the German GP 1938. The young hero would sadly lose his life a year later, crashing out while leading the Belgian GP in 1939, again in a W154. But the German GP 1938 was a happy day of glory.

As usual Leif Snellman has a good race summary on his Golden Era GP page here:

http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/gp383.htm#18

And don't miss the short race summary from British Pathé available on Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbnKQC146nc

 

Opening the box reveals the usual content of FPPM that I like so much. I now realise that I bought the kit with #26 decals, but I will draw and print the 16 I need.

 

 

The resin parts. As usual this will be quite a lot of work, but work I usually enjoy. The engine has the double compressor that I think only came in use in 1939. Please FPPM; I will very much like a 1939 version of the W154 as well, with its different bodywork.

 

 

There are also a few metal pieces and the usual lovely wire wheels of FPPM. The row of small bonnet fasteners are my own 3D-printed parts.

 

 

The nose of the 1938 version of the W154 looks a bit special with most of the frontal area made up by a large shaped open grille. FPPM supplies a fine photo etch part and this quite interesting instruction. I just love it. This will be the most difficult part of the build. I hope I will deserve that beer in the end...

 

 

I have made a start cleaning up most of the body, seat and floor part and filling air bubbles and imperfections. Quite a lot of work, and why I rarely have a problem doing a lot of this work with resin, while I find it much more disturbing in ordinary styrene I will probably never know.

 

 

[Hamden]

 

Looks an interesting project which I'm sure you will take to the next level!

 

  Stay safe           Roger

[Vesa Jussila]

One more project that must be followed.

[johnlambert]

That's a great subject for a build as it's one of my favourite Grand Prix cars.  I look forward to seeing this model take shape.

 

I'm also interested because I have a FPP model waiting for the time when I have the courage to build it.

[klubman01]

What a great car.  I will follow with interest.

Trevor

[Brandy]

Do we get the sound effects too?

Looking forward to seeing it come together.

 

Ian

[keefr22]

Lovely looking kit of a beautiful car - another gorgeous model on the way I think! Looking forward to this one!

 

Keith

[Six97s]

Those wheels and tyres are beautifully done.  I think that PE grille would have me reaching for something stronger than a beer though.  😬

 

Looks like a sophisticated machine for its time, I'm interested to see this progress.

[Bengalensis]

23 hours ago, Hamden said:

Looks an interesting project which I'm sure you will take to the next level!

Thanks Roger, I hope I can make it justice.

 

22 hours ago, Vesa Jussila said:

One more project that must be followed.

Good to have you along Vesa.

 

20 hours ago, johnlambert said:

That's a great subject for a build as it's one of my favourite Grand Prix cars.  I look forward to seeing this model take shape.

 

I'm also interested because I have a FPP model waiting for the time when I have the courage to build it.

Thanks John. This is a fantastic era, and the W154 is growing on me the more I study it.

Pinto's kits are not easy to build and you have to enjoy spending time preparing resin parts that need work, but every time I find them very well worth it, probably because they give we subjects I really want to build.

 

10 hours ago, klubman01 said:

What a great car.  I will follow with interest.

Thanks Trevor, you're most welcome.

 

5 hours ago, Brandy said:

Do we get the sound effects too?

Looking forward to seeing it come together.

 

Ian

Thanks Ian.

Oh, the sound, the sound, just awesome:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mercedes-Benz_W154_(1938).ogg

 

1 minute ago, keefr22 said:

Lovely looking kit of a beautiful car - another gorgeous model on the way I think! Looking forward to this one!

Thanks Keith, I hope you will enjoy me messing around in the resin dust.

 

5 minutes ago, Six97s said:

Those wheels and tyres are beautifully done.  I think that PE grille would have me reaching for something stronger than a beer though.  😬

 

Looks like a sophisticated machine for its time, I'm interested to see this progress.

I think the Mercedes W154 and Auto Union Typ D were in at the very top of racing car development in 1938, most certainly in GP racing.

Yes, the PE grille is daunting... If I manage that I will just relax doing the rest...

[Bengalensis]

I improved the scribings on the body and some minor details, and then I cleaned up the nose section. I need it to be separate until after fitting the PE grille and doing the painting, but the fit against the body clearly needed improvements before anything else. So does the fit of the bonnet.

 

 

 

I tacked the nose in place in four tiny places with CA, hoping that it will stay in place while working, yet brake free nicely when I want it to do so. We'll see... I first sanded off at bit at the bottom of the nose to get closer to the bottom of the body. Then I masked the nose and applied filler on the body. As usual I work with 2K automotive filler.

 

 

 

Some sanding later the nose and body was a nice and smooth combination and the cut outs for the front suspension were reshaped after looking at some reference photos. The nose is staying nicely in place, which on the other hand makes me wonder if it will come loose again without too much trouble...

 

 

 

While the nose is still there I will try to make the bonnet fit well. It will be a tight fit against the cam covers of the engine.

 

[keefr22]

Nice start!

 

Keith

[Vesa Jussila]

Clearly nice kit. And good start.

[cmatthewbacon]

Very interesting! If you haven’t read it and want to make it a richer build experience, this is a great book by one of the best motor racing writers:

A Race with Love and Death: The Story of Richard Seaman https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1471179354/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_fabc_7JEMMMN532W0P5NBRDB1

best,

M.

[Bengalensis]

Thanks a lot guys. With a bit of work the parts quickly improves.

 

10 hours ago, cmatthewbacon said:

If you haven’t read it and want to make it a richer build experience, this is a great book by one of the best motor racing writers:

A Race with Love and Death: The Story of Richard Seaman

I've been waiting for the paperback copies, but when the kit got on the work bench I ordered the hardcover. Should arrive during the week, looking forward to reading it.

 

[Sabrejet]

"Motor Racing with Mercedes Benz by George Monkhouse (1938) is also a very good read. Monkhouse had unlimited access and his period recounting of the team and its exploits is evocative,

[Brandy]

 

Turn it up loud and feel the goosebumps!

Enjoy!

 

Ian

[klubman01]

Good grief, that is a fantastic video!  Grip/adhesion not the car's greatest attribute, judging by the very wide lines on some of the corners!  I think a double dose of "brave pills" is required to drive at the limit.

Trevor

[Bengalensis]

9 hours ago, Sabrejet said:

"Motor Racing with Mercedes Benz by George Monkhouse (1938) is also a very good read. Monkhouse had unlimited access and his period recounting of the team and its exploits is evocative,

Thanks, I didn't know that one, I will have to find a copy of some sort.

 

4 hours ago, Brandy said:

Turn it up loud and feel the goosebumps!

Enjoy!

 

2 hours ago, klubman01 said:

Good grief, that is a fantastic video!  Grip/adhesion not the car's greatest attribute, judging by the very wide lines on some of the corners!  I think a double dose of "brave pills" is required to drive at the limit.

 

Hurling one of these beasts around Mount Panorama would indeed be something! Always loved watching racing on that track.

[Bengalensis]

Most of today's time at the work bench has been spent making the bonnet fit. Little by little, sanding a tiny amount, reshaping with heat, repeat, repeat... But in the end I had a bonnet that fits quite well. There is room for a little paint as well. The whole thing will have to be checked again after the surfacer has been sprayed and sanded.

 

 

 

I then did some more work on scribings and making marks for panel fasteners. That meant studying reference photos, which also lead to filling and reshaping of the rear suspension cut outs and some changes around the cockpit opening. BTW, Mercedes Benz have a very good archive open to the public, filled with well organized period photos from their motor sport history. Well worth a visit if you have the slightest interest in anything historic Mercedes racing:

https://mercedes-benz-publicarchive.com/marsClassic/en/instance/ko/Motorsports.xhtml?oid=6715

 

 

The engine still fits under the bonnet. I will have to scratch the two ignition wire tubes that will fit along the two centre cam covers and the pipe from the compressors running between the cylinder banks.

 

 

Still, the two compressors I have here are the two stage setup, with one small and one large compressor... As far as I can make it out the cars in 1938 used the M154 engine with two equal compressors in parallel, and the 1939 cars used the M154 and soon the updated M163 engine, and the two stage setup of compressors was developed. I think I must try to create the 1938 twin compressor setup for this car.

[Bengalensis]

I changed resin dust and filler for 3D CAD for a few hours today. First making a simple model of the resin engine I have, minus the two stage compressors, to have something to work against.

 

 

Then I started work using a few 1938 M154 engine photos as the guide. First the long pressure pipe.

 

 

A compressor with pressure connection.

 

 

A second mirrored compressor and some simple drive cover or something.

 

 

An excuse of a carburettor with manifold. Not very much will be seen of it down there.

 

 

Something like this would be closer to the German GP in 1938 I think. I'll have that printed, with some paint and washing it should hopefully do the job.

 

[Bengalensis]

While waiting for the new compressor setup I finished off the rest of the parts for the engine bay. Except that I forgot the two ignition wire tubes until now...

 

 

The parts I think I need for the cockpit are also done. Some small scratch built details are added.

 

[Malc2]

Hi Jörgen, this is great - as usual!

I appreciate the time you take to choreograph your photos with a clean and tidy background, having tried to do the same I know the effort it takes.

What did you use to fill the rear axle opening? Most fillers I have are too soft to create a durable edge like this.

Looking forward to the next instalment when you get your 3D parts from the printer.

 

Malc.

[Bengalensis]

4 minutes ago, Malc2 said:

Hi Jörgen, this is great - as usual!

I appreciate the time you take to choreograph your photos with a clean and tidy background, having tried to do the same I know the effort it takes.

What did you use to fill the rear axle opening? Most fillers I have are too soft to create a durable edge like this.

Looking forward to the next instalment when you get your 3D parts from the printer.

 

Malc.

Thanks a lot, you are most kind.

Lining up the parts at certain stages makes it a little easier for myself, to sort of see where I am. Like forgetting the ignition wire tubes...

I almost exclusively use quality 2-part automotive filler, in this case from PPG as I use it in my 1/1 scale work shop, but most 2-part automotive stuff will do a similar job on the modelling work bench. It's well worth the extra mess I think.

[Vesa Jussila]

Good progress there. Are you printing compressor yourself or do you use some company for that?

[Bengalensis]

Thanks a lot Vesa.

I use Shapeways. I try to hold off getting my own 3D-printer as I don't really want the extra work of messing around with slicing, supports, curing and what not. But I'm afraid that sooner or later I will fall in that trap too...