Mercedes Benz 300 SL Gullwing 5th overall of Mille Miglia 1955 edition, driven by John Fitch (based on Tamiya Kit 1:24 scale): FINISHED !

[CrazyCrank]

25 minutes ago, silver911 said:

Maybe some PE nuts...they are very thin...not being real nuts so to speak...would work Thierry?

 

Ron

 

They would work to simulate  the real nuts, but not to attach the struts to the bonnet.

After inspection, there is not 0.5 mm free under the bonnet on the 2 rear angles.

 

[silver911]

Were it a larger scale...there would possibly be enough thickness of plastic to rebate the nuts into the bonnet...but not sure if you have that possibility in this scale?

 

Ron

[CrazyCrank]

1 hour ago, silver911 said:

Were it a larger scale...there would possibly be enough thickness of plastic to rebate the nuts into the bonnet...but not sure if you have that possibility in this scale?

 

Ron

Precisely no, otherwise it would be already done !

[silver911]

5 minutes ago, CrazyCrank said:

Precisely no, otherwise it would be already done !

 

Fair comment.

[CrazyCrank]

Good evening Gentlemen

 

It was a challenge, and I've completed the deal...

 

Not the way I would prefer (struts bolted on the bonnet), not really happy with the result because things don't fit as I wanted they do, and the clear plastic sheet is very fragile, accepting easily micro-scratches during inevitable handlings, despite all the precautions I took.

The bolts which fix the deflector on the structs are out of scale, too big,  compared with those of the real car: to be accurate, I should have replaced them by copper or brass or steel wire of approx. 0.25 mm diameter, and doing so, I don't think it would have been possible to get a strong assembly.

 Also, they are very short, because the holes in the struts are short as well, due to their small size.

So, I didn't glue the bolts on the struts through the deflector, using a string adhesive, as CA for instance, because there was a big risk of ruining the clear plastic with it.

I've used Microscale Liquid tape, which has the advantage to become transparent once dried, and the drawback to dry very slowly and to give a weak bonding.

 

So, I'll have in the future to minimize the handlings of the set, to the extent possible, keeping it in a close box, protected from possible temptations.

Once the glue is dried, it'll remain to paint black the struts (the face in contact with the deflector  is already painted), and then the set will be dropped in the box, and will be glued on the bonnet at the final end of this build.

 

  

 

 

You should notice that there's only one bolt to fix the deflector on the central strut...

As far as I've been able to judge, looking at my few ref. photos, it seems that it was the cas on the original Mille Miglia n°417 300SL.

 

If I made a mistake, it's too late to fix this error....at least for this first opus of deflector.

But it will always be possible to fabricate another one, however it's a really difficult and hard job.

 

See you soon for next steps

 

[Michael Church]

It looks spectacular! The thin clear plastic is very effective. If this were my build I would live in constant fear of sneezing and drifting cat fur until the completed car was safe in a case

[Sabrejet]

Looking good!

[Hamden]

 

Stunning!

 

 Stay safe          Roger

[CrazyCrank]

7 hours ago, Michael Church said:

It looks spectacular! The thin clear plastic is very effective. If this were my build I would live in constant fear of sneezing and drifting cat fur until the completed car was safe in a case

 

1 hour ago, Sabrejet said:

Looking good!

 

59 minutes ago, Hamden said:

 

Stunning!

 

 Stay safe          Roger

Thank you very much, mates, for the kind comments 😎

However, I'm sure you won't use such words if you could look at it closely, as me .

 

[Toftdale]

Very elegant solution for the deflector - Andy 

[CrazyCrank]

Evening chaps

 

Deflector's struts have been painted semi gloss black and the whole set is now protected from my awkwardnesses 🥴

 

I've continued the work on the cabin, putting the "blue tartan " decals over the seat ...

 

I've to say that it's been extremely difficult because the Blue Stuff decals, although they are beautiful and realistic, are of a very bad quality.

Pity, the manufacturer is French !

They are so weak that, just pushed out the support sheet or touched with a tiny brush, for applying MicroSet, or re-position them, they broke.

Fortunately, I had planned the fact that this kind of misadventure could occur, and thought that I'm not very experimented in applying decals, and had taken the precautions to order 2 sets of the same product.

 

So that I've been able to make when needed some patchworks of tartan's pieces, and managed to get finally an acceptable result.

I say acceptable only, because it is not neat as I would like, but, with the naked eye, you can't see anything and it looks quite good, hopefully 🤔

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

It remains to spray a light coat of matt clear on this upholstery because it is a bit shiny, what is inaccurate .

 

Stay tuned if you like, next step tomorrow evening 😎

 

[Hamden]

 

Those seats look stunning

 

  Stay safe           Roger

[CrazyCrank]

9 hours ago, Hamden said:

 

Those seats look stunning

 

  Stay safe           Roger

Thanks Roger .

They look better now I've sprayed 2 light coats of matt acrylic varnish.

 

 

And you can see the big defect on the op right of the right seat 🥴

[Brandy]

Only because you pointed it out. The overall effect draws the eye away from it and it all looks good from here!

 

Ian

[CrazyCrank]

27 minutes ago, Brandy said:

Only because you pointed it out. The overall effect draws the eye away from it and it all looks good from here!

 

Ian

It's very kind of you Ian, much appreciated

 

[Mr Mansfield]

Wow, I really had to zoom in to see where the joins are on the decals. The Matt varnish really finishes them off nicely, very realistic!

[CrazyCrank]

19 minutes ago, Mr Mansfield said:

Wow, I really had to zoom in to see where the joins are on the decals. The Matt varnish really finishes them off nicely, very realistic!

Thanks for this kind comment, @Mr Mansfield, most appreciated

[CrazyCrank]

Evening Gentlemen

 

I'm still and always thinking about which fonts to use for fabricating my numerals decals....My ideas get off the ground gradually 

 

Meanwhile, I've to go on with this build, since I've bet on a 3 months "pregnancy".

 

So, I've enhanced the cabin, adding some screws where the blue vinyl is covering the doors opening, on their vertical side, just on the left of the driver seat, and on the right of the passenger seat.

For my first opus of this MB 300SL Gullwing, I'd used some PE parts, but frankly, they were a bit overscaled.

 

For this "417 Mille Miglia" one, I haven't any PE screws, so, I've drawn them under Fusion 360:

- Head diameter 0.7 mm

- Screw thread 0.45 mm

- Length 4 mm

 

  

 

I got those tiny parts:

 

 

 

On the cabin, I've drilled seven 0.5 mm holes on each side, from the exterior towards the interior, using a jig, in order to get an even spacing, according to my references photographs .

This worked perfectly for the driver's side, not perfectly, pity, for the right side, because my jig wasn't correctly placed on the cabin (the tape I used to fix it was worn and the jig moved a bit during drilling)

Into the holes, I threaded the screws, not entirely.

I painted the heads with Molotov Chrome

Once dried, I pushed the screws against the wall, and glued them from the exterior with CA.

 

And I got this:

 

  [

 

  

 

 

The passenger seat is glued, the driver's one not, because Ive to paint and fix the handbrake lever in place before.

 

Next steps:

 

- Handbrake lever

- Shift lever

- Dashboard

- Lateral and front metallic rails for the rear shelf

- No luggage, this time

- I wonder if this "417" had a car radio or not ?

 

Stay tuned for next steps, and thanks to all of you for the comments and likes

 

 

 

[CrazyCrank]

Good evening Gentlemen

 

Quiet, but always working on this beauty 😉

 

As I wrote above, the screws on the right door opening were not correctly aligned.

I thought I could live with this, but in fact, it was disturbing, so, I've re-done the job, managing to get a better result.

 

 

I've also put in place the front rail on the rear shelf and drilled the five holes which will serve to fix the lateral rail.

 

 

I've scratched a new gear lever, whose shaft was too thick (0.65 mm, where 0.4 is expected), using 0.4 piano wire for the shaft and UV curing resin for the knob, which has then been painted ivory.

 

  

 

I've painted ivory  the steering wheel, without forgetting to paint silver the 2 junction parts between the hub and the crown,  and then gloss cleared it.

 

 

I've begun the painting job of the dash, giving it a coat of Gravity Colors Graphite grey (the same as for the bodywork), on its centre part.

Then, I've had to remove the grey paint over the chromed parts which must keep their chrome, such the gauge bezels, using delicately the point of a toothpick to scrap the paint.

It remains to paint blue the chrome lower part of the dash, and then to gloss clear the whole set.

It's only after those steps that I put the decals and metal transfers on the dash.

 

  

 

At least, I've painted light grey (Zero Paints grey primer) the handbrake lever, gloss cleared it, and giver some paint touch-ups for the knobs

 

 

Stay tuned if you like 😎

[silver911]

Some very nice detailing going on Thierry...making some good progress on this entertaining build

 

Ron

Edited May 25, 2021 by silver911

[CrazyCrank]

Evening chaps

 

Handbrake lever fixed in place and driver seat as well:

 

 

I've also sprayed a couple of gloss clear coats over the dash (Alclad Klear Kote Gloss, because it dries fast), after having painted  the warning lights, following previous instructions supplied by @ejboyd5, and put as well the marks red and blue at ends of the 3 ventilation controls

 

 

Now, I've to wait 24 hours minimum for a complete curing of the varnish, before masking the top part of the dash, in order to paint blue the lower part.

Then, and only afterwards, I'll be able to put on the metal transfer "300SL" and the gauges decals.

 

The steering wheel is achieved , with a metal transfer (a ring) on the top of the hub, a decal (Mercedes star emblem) - first picture below-, which I've covered with UV curing resin to give it a bright shine, - second picture below- :

 

  

 

Hereunder, I've just dry fitted the steering wheel on the dash, to give an idea of what we'll get once the job finished:

 

 

You can notice that, very funnily, 2 reflections joined the game, on both sides of the "MB Star", making it look like a smiley

 

Now, I'm going to work on the lateral rail of the rear shelf.

 

Stay tuned it you like, and thanks for criticizing

 

[ejboyd5]

Interior is excellent. Original cloth seats would crease and wrinkle and that's what happened to yours, very realistic. Don't obsess over screw placement. Remember these were hand assembled vehicles and variations occurred even in 1:1 scale. 

[Fnick]

Lovely work on the dash. Can't wait to see it finished.

 

Nick

[CrazyCrank]

Good evening guys

 

Tonight I've quite achieved the dash, It just remain to put the inside mirror, to glue the dash on the tub and then glue the side handles.

 

This time, I haven't made any mistake, and managed to put the decals and the metal transfer correctly.

The lenses of the gauges have been made with transparent UV resin, and the result is spot on (first picture below)  

 

Sorry for the dust on the dash (micro cotton fibres around the emblem "300 SL", stuck by the flue residues of the transfer), I've seen them only on the picture, so too late.

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

The point I've reached today:

 

 

  

 

 

 

Stay tuned for next steps, it remains 1 month to perform the challenge 😎

 

 

 

[silver911]

Stunning....simply stunning

 

Ron