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]

18 hours ago, silver911 said:

It doesn't get better than this at any scale Thierry...stunning work

 

Ron

Thank you so much Ron for those very kind words

 

[CrazyCrank]

Evening chaps

 

Not a big progress today, since I'm still waiting for my order's delivery to finish the firewall.

Regularly, it's planned for tomorrow 👍

 

Nevertheless, I've achieved the water tank an its plumbing and put it in place.

There remains still a lot of room in the engine bay, to allow adding some stuff here and there

 

 

Taking inspiration with the photo below, I've drawn in Fusion 360 the left and right horns which will be fixed on the anti-roll bar

 

 

My drawings, left and right ones :

 

  `

 

The 3D printing is on the way...

 

[CrazyCrank]

Horns printed nicely.

 

Of course, at this scale, for a part whose diameter if quite 4.5 mm, the slots cut on the front plate are not wide enough to have been printed correctly, I mean, deeply enough, but they are after all visible
Hopefuly, after priming and painting, they would be still visible ???

 

 

 

A few sanding is required on the attachement plates, where you can see. - I wonder why - some striations.

 

Stay tuned if you like

 

[silver911]

I do love all the little add-ons and detail you squeeze in Thierry...so much more depth and interest for the viewer.

 

Ron

[Hamden]

 

As has already been said you add so much extra to your builds they are moved up a level or two!

 

  Stay safe       Roger

[CrazyCrank]

Afternoon mates

 

Always  nothing in the post box, so, I'm stuck to the step before glueing the firewall and finishing the chassis.

To kill time, I've glued the horns on the anti-roll bar, painted the set satin black, and glued the bar onto the chassis

 

  

 

 

Merciless comparison between the real car, and the model:

 

  

 

I'm going soon to begin the bodywork...if nothing else to do until the postman delivery

 

Thanks for watching 😎

 

 

[Fnick]

That is stunning.

 

I do have one observation...Is it me or is the real car radiator slopping down from left to right but yours appears to slope down from right to left?

 

Nick

[CrazyCrank]

Evening chaps

 

I said merciless comparison, and nobody, at the moment, has noticed that my horns are placed too high 😂

In fact I've inverted right and left.

So let's go for ungluing  and redoing the job, on the right way this time . Better like this, isn't it ?

 

 

Stay tuned for next steps

 

 

 

 

 

[CrazyCrank]

44 minutes ago, Fnick said:

That is stunning.

 

I do have one observation...Is it me or is the real car radiator slopping down from left to right but yours appears to slope down from right to left?

 

Nick

 

Your eye is very acute, Nick ! ... but for the "real" car only: In reality, the real car I've mentioned above is a replica, and the radiator is wrong on it !

 

But for my radiator, your eye deceives you: it's an optical illusion.

 The part is correctly placed, its bottom is horizontal, and the top slightly curved, for the water-cooling part of it (the left side one)

 

Hereunder a photo of a true real car:

 

 

As you could see, no sloping 😎

 

[CrazyCrank]

Hello guys

 

Due to a computer breakdown of the delivery service since 3 days, my order is lost in the "cloud", yet  I'm looking forward to progress more quickly on this build.

 

So I went to visit Mrs CrazyCrank and asked her for a bit of fabric with very tight weave.

She gave me an old white shirtsleeve, whose fabric is exactly what I was looking for.

 

Once painted the same blue I'll use to paint the tube dash top and seats, I cut a piece, following my template's outlines, an-d glued it with specific tissue adhesive on the tunnel in the side part of the firewall.

The floor has been carpeted with clack velvet.

 

And this is the result, pretty nice. The blue fabric is very resembling to the MB carpeting, imho  (indeed, the magnified photo reveals some details that the naked eye doesn't see, and make the carpet less resembling to the true one):

 

  

 

 

That done, I've continued the assembling of the different parts of the front side of the firewall:

- Painted on the right the fuse box, using Tamiya Hull red, and drilling a 0.3 mm hole in its centre, to thread into it a short piece of brass, which is supposed to simulate the opening knob

- Painted silver the wipers linkage

- Drilled a 0.3 mm hole in which I'll thread the washer fluid hose

- Glued the wipers moro and fixed its wiring on the firewall

- Glued the ignition coil, the wiring will be placed correctly later.

 

 

At last, I've just placed the decals, they are not dry at all, so, too much reflects:

 

 

It remains to painting, plumbing, and glueing the washer-fluid bottle, and to glue the Treadle-Vac brake booster, If possible

 

Stay tuned if you like

 

[Toftdale]

1 hour ago, CrazyCrank said:

Stay tuned if you like

 

 

I do like!

[Spiny]

That is probably the best carpet I've seen at that scale. I think a few old clothes might be planning on hiding from me now

 

[Pouln]

Very, very nice indeed. Wll done, Thierry

[CrazyCrank]

Evening gentlemen

Thank you to all of you for the kind comments.

 

Well, the chassis if quite achieved, it remain just ti glue the washer reservoir and its tubing on the firewall, and to install the wheels, once painted

 

Some pictures of the "beast" which at the moment count 71 Tamiya supplied parts, plus 3 replacement 3D printed  parts (Distributor, injection pump, propeller), and 152 added parts,  of which 6 were 3D printed , 6 were PE parts,  and 140 were totally scratched from brass, copper, electrical wire, masking tape, plastic from sprues etc.

So 226 parts and a lot of hours and cups of tea

 

   

 

  

 

Some works remain to doin the engine bay, with possibly  a few detailing .

 

Stay tuned for next steps

 

 

[silver911]

Superb craftsmanship as always mate...just glorious

 

Ron

[modelbautony]

I'm always impressed with scratch work and I'm with you on your ALL for the sake of authenticity. You work on this engine block is exemplary. I've been doing a similar subject, Moss's 300 SLR 1955 Mille Miglia (coincidentally exactly 66 years to the day of his victory) but no where near your standard.

[CrazyCrank]

12 minutes ago, modelbautony said:

I'm always impressed with scratch work and I'm with you on your ALL for the sake of authenticity. You work on this engine block is exemplary. I've been doing a similar subject, Moss's 300 SLR 1955 Mille Miglia (coincidentally exactly 66 years to the day of his victory) but no where near your standard.

Thank you so much for you kind comment, most appreciated.

I do my best, and my skill improve each time I build a new one.

 

This 417 Mille Miglia is specific for me, because it was suggested to me to make it by a Brimodeller's member who is a reference for MB 300SL Gullwing in USA.

I even approved the idea since I have in my stash the MB 300 SLR from Revell at 1:24 scale, driven by Sir Stirling Moss and 1st overall at the same Mille Miglia.

So, after the 417 MB 300 SL, and once achieved the Delahaye 135, I'll build this 300 SLR, in order to put the 2 cars in the same showcase, or, better, build a diorama with the 2 cars.

 

[CrazyCrank]

Evening chaps

 

Still and always expecting the delivery of another order, with Tamiya transparent blue paint, I can't achieve the firewall ...

 

So, I began working on the bodywork:

First, I made a test fit of the body with its bonnet, placing in it the chassis, and there, to be quite honest ....😲😡 .... the bonnet didn't close totally... something on the right of the engine, both on front and rear side, didn't allow a full closing...

However, my engine and my chassis are correctly assembled, nothing went wrong, despite of all my additions.

 

After  close inspection, it appeared that both ends of the intake manifold and the top of the air filter, though perfectly fitted in place, exceeded a little bit in height, and lifted up slightly the bonnet when you intended to close it.

 

2 options :

- 1/ filing and sanding the wrongful parts a bit....hum 🥴... not a good idea, because, if you open the bonnet to show the wonderful engine of the car, you will notice immediately the trickery, and the parts won't be as they should be !

- 2/ Decreasing the thickness of the bonnet on its inner side, where the mentioned parts touched it.... also not a good idea, but better (less bad in fact) than the first one

 

I've chosen the second option of course, but I've to say I'm not very happy with the result:

- Obviously, this has fixed the issue I faced with the closing, which is correct now.

- I had to decrease the thickness, precisely where the bonnet is embossed (right term ? ), but I couldn't see easily where exactly, and I must , first dig the groove to increase its depth, second also enlarge it.

So the relief of the embossing isn't the same on the inner side than on the outer side, of course.

And also, to be symmetrical, in order to minimize the visual aspect of this cheating, I've done a similar job for the second embossing .

But it's not easy to get an even and nice shape, neither for one side, nor for the second, and even more difficult to get the same shape for both sides.

Best being the enemy of the good, I decided to not risk aggravating the problem, and stopped my corrections when the last dry fit of the body/bonnet over the chassis gave, at last, a correct closing.

 

Pity, for an acute eye, all that job remains perfectly noticeable, and could offend the sensibilities of the viewer.

 

On the pictures below, you can see what I'm talking about, and notice that the bad job is more visible on the second one:

 

  

 

That said, if you open the bonnet, it's not to admire its inner side and verify it is perfectly similar to the real one, but only to see what is under the bonnet .

Hopefully, the inner side of the bonnet being painted black, this will mask partially the mess...

 

And, bonnet placed on the body shell, 2 photos, the second with flash:

 

  

 

Next, I've worked over the bodywork parts, the bonnet of coure, doors, and the body shell .

 

This latter had a lot of mold lines, and overall, it had a molding defect over the front right fender, whose profile section wasn't rounded, as the left's one, but, exaggerating on purpose,  quite triangular.

I managed to correct this on a very satisfying way.

I've also, as for the first MB 300 SL I built, opened the 2 vents at the back of the roof.

For this last operation, I improved my technique and have got a perfect result, without injuring the roof at the back of the vents:

 

  

 

Tomorrow, I'll prime all those parts, first coat to see if imperfections or defects remain.

 

Stay tuned if you like

 

[CrazyCrank]

Good morning chaps

 

To avoid making noise and risking wake up Mrs CC, I've delayed my painting job and killed time adding 2 more parts on the firewall, that I haven't noticed before !

I've seen them this night while I was  looking at my ref photos, searching W196 ones for @modelbautony

 

So, on the right, just on the left of the fuse box, an electrical relay for intermittent high beam, and in the left, above and between the ignition coil and the wipers motor, a box containing a resistance  0.9 Ohm.

There's still some room to add something, if needed 🤭

 

 

Now, Mrs CC awoke, and I can begin serious things

 

See you soon for next steps 😎

 

 

[silver911]

The devil's in the details Thierry...small...but worthwhile additions 👍

 

Ron

[CrazyCrank]

Good afternoon, guys

 

The bodywork parts have been primed a first time with the excellent ZeroPaint Grey Primer Filler ZP-3008, which if the better I've ever used, dries very quickly, gives a super-smooth aspect, and of course highlights all the details, particularly the defects.

So, as all primers, it's perfect to help fixing them by new sanding jobs....

 

Finally, after 3 corrections, I'm pretty happy with the result, which is far better in daylight than on the photos below:

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

 

Tomorrow, I'll inspect another time the job done in day light, to flushing out the remaining imperfections.

 

Stay tuned for next steps

 

[CrazyCrank]

Hello everybody

 

Not a big progress today, I've been strongly occupied with tax returns 🤒

 

At noon, the postman delivered me an order I was waiting for, and without which I couldn't go on with the chassis...

So, I received my Tamiya X23 paint, a transparent blue that I've immediately used to paint the inner side of the windshield washer tank to simulate common blue fluid.

That done, I painted black the fine strips on this part, which simulate the frame of its support.

And at last, I drilled a 0.5 mm hole on the top of the reservoir, and threaded into the tank a 0.35 mm diameter transparent plastic tube, that is the hose which leads the fluid to the washer nozzles, through a grommet on the vertical top side of the firewall

 

This is enough chit chat, let's see the photos:

 

  

 

With this last parts, the chassis is, in a manner of speaking, achieved. I should put the wheels to get completion.

But they are not painted !

 

I've also  spent a big hour to masking the "tub" before painting the engine bay and the underbody semi-gloss black

 

  

 

You can see on the underside some ejection marks, but, once the tub put onto the chassis, they are not really visible:

 

 

This last photo to get an idea of the engine bay one all parts assembled:

 

 

Finally, I think I'll give birth to this little beauty in less than 2 months more, a record for me

 

Stay tuned for next step 😎

 

[CrazyCrank]

Good evening gentlemen

 

Little bit of progress today

 

The tub has been unmasked, and then re-masked, to allow painting the wheels housings, body color, so Graphite Grey.

 

It's been impossible to purchase Zero Paints DB 190, the official Mercedes 300 SL Graphite grey:

- nor in England , where Hiroboy website inform on a banner that, due to Brexit, they refuse to send orders anywhere in Europe.

- neither in France or  elsewhere in Europe : Toms website in Nederlands is the only Zero paints reseller I've found, but the DB190 reference they could sell isn't in stock anymore and they can't provide an estimated date of delivery, of course, since they buy in England ....and so on...

 

So, I ordered a Gravity Color Porsche Graphite Grey, because the color seemed, on the green,  to match correctly  with the one I saw on the 417 Replica.

I worried a bit till today, not knowing if, once sprayed, the color would be exactly or very near of the true one.

 

I've not been disappointed, after 2 light coats, 1 mist coat and 1 wet coat.

 

So, I've painted the wheels, the wheels housing, the doors and the shell:

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

 

Under strong artificial light, it appears that there's a slight orange peel aspect here and there, and micro-scratches as well.

Once wet sanded with 4000, 6000 and 8000 grit micro-mesh, hopefully, it will not be very visible, and after the second wet coat, in a few days, probably the surface will be very smooth.

 

Another thing rather strange; depending of the type of light and the direction of  light, this Grey graphite can appear very light or very dark, and sometimes like a blue grey, very nice

 

I hear someone asking : "why didn't you paint the bonnets ?".... Thats a good question !

 

Simply because, before painting it, I've to scratch the deflector which one can see on it on all Mille Miglia MB 417 photos.

This job can't be done in a rough way, I've to make a template, and many tests to verify it fit correctly... All that will lead obviously to handle frequently the bonnets, with the risk of spoiling the paint.

So, I'll paint it later.

 

Stay tuned if you like

 

 

[Hamden]

 

This just gets better and better

 

  Stay safe       Roger

[wlell]

I have learned so much following your work.

Are you planning to do the LEGRAND 1/8 scale 300SLR? With your skills it would be a masterpiece.

Bill