Mercedes L 4500

[Lummox]

3 minutes ago, Kelscale said:

Fantastic work Paul.  Keep the updates coming.  Can I ask where you sourced the Eduard 3D lights from?

Cheers Los. 👍

I got the 3D Noteks from Hannants

[Stef N.]

What have you got against sausage fingers? I've had mine for over 50 years.😄

 

Good update and the first time I have seen the Eduard prints in action and they look good. Nice.👍

[Kelscale]

33 minutes ago, Lummox said:

Cheers Los. 👍

I got the 3D Noteks from Hannants

Thank you, just ordered a set 👌

Edited November 14, 2023 by Kelscale

[Model Mate]

Absolutely sublime work as usual - brilliant detail. The fact that you can even see, let alone contemplate refining sausage fingers at 1/35 is frankly beyond me!

[vaoinas]

Great work, Paul. Very impressive indeed.

Put these Eduard Noteks on my Scalemates wishlist thanks to your post.

[Bullbasket]

I'll be glad when this build is finished, because my gob is getting very sore from continuously being smacked!! Brilliant work with the hands for that figure. That is just first class, and nice little number that you came up with for holding the chassis when you're working on it. Well done Paul.

 

John.

[edjbartos]

I love looking at this build, it just shows an amazing modeller doing an amazing build, can't say more than that...

 

Ed

[Jochen Barett]

On 14/11/2023 at 16:41, Lummox said:

As per usual, +++

 

And here is Kev with his new hands. Hmmm, his fingers are still a bit like sausages so probably need more work:

 

And that brings things up to date. Cheers, and thanks for looking,

 

Paul.

 

Paint them sausages grey so he'll be wearing gloves.

[NIK122]

Great stuff 😎

[Lummox]

On 11/14/2023 at 4:43 PM, Stef N. said:

What have you got against sausage fingers? I've had mine for over 50 years.😄

 

Good update and the first time I have seen the Eduard prints in action and they look good. Nice.👍

Cheers Stef. The quality of the Eduard prints was a real eye opener for me.

Sausage fingers must be a common affliction as I suffer from them too. My fingers are like a bunch of Cumberlands - all six of them.

 

On 11/14/2023 at 4:53 PM, Kelscale said:

Thank you, just ordered a set 👌

Clean up of the prints is a bit of a pain Los, but I don't think you'll be disappointed,

 

On 11/14/2023 at 9:49 PM, Model Mate said:

Absolutely sublime work as usual - brilliant detail. The fact that you can even see, let alone contemplate refining sausage fingers at 1/35 is frankly beyond me!

Thanks M², much appreciated. I was actually contemplating scribing some fingernails but sanity prevailed.

 

On 11/15/2023 at 11:11 AM, vaoinas said:

Great work, Paul. Very impressive indeed.

Put these Eduard Noteks on my Scalemates wishlist thanks to your post.

Cheers Kristjan 👍

I think you'll like the Noteks as they are very good. Eduard should be putting me on commission for all the sales I'm generating

 

23 hours ago, Bullbasket said:

I'll be glad when this build is finished, because my gob is getting very sore from continuously being smacked!! Brilliant work with the hands for that figure. That is just first class, and nice little number that you came up with for holding the chassis when you're working on it. Well done Paul.

Thanks John, much appreciated. Truth be told you're not the only one who will be glad when this build is finished.  

 

19 hours ago, edjbartos said:

I love looking at this build, it just shows an amazing modeller doing an amazing build, can't say more than that...

Cheers Ed. I'm not sure that I'm worthy of such praise but I greatly appreciate the encouragement. 👍

 

19 hours ago, Jochen Barett said:

Paint them sausages grey so he'll be wearing gloves.

Brilliant! That may not be a bad idea Jochen depending on how his finger diet goes. 

 

9 hours ago, NIK122 said:

Great stuff 😎

Thanks Nik. 👍

 

 

Thanks to everyone for all the feedback as it really does help to bolster the mojo. But now I'd like to ask a question if I may, as I know your combined knowledge is exceeded only by your wit and attractiveness...

 

Does anyone have any idea what the highlighted object on the engine firewall might be? There appears to be a split connector below the object with one pipe (or cable?) traversing the firewall behind the engine, and one pipe heading downwards towards the chassis:

 

Here's some more shots of the 'thing' on the same vehicle:

 

You also see the 'thing' on other vehicles, as in these wreak examples:

 

But here's the rub, you also see some vehicles with no sign of the 'thing':

 

Period pictures are hard to come by, but you do see tantalising hints of what looks to be the 'thing' (if you use your imagination and squint a bit):

 

I suspect that the 'thing' is period so I plan to add something to represent it (the assumption being that the examples where it is absent are perhaps post-war modifications, or  the object has simply been removed). It would be great to know what the 'thing' is before I try to replicate it (so educated guesses could be made on pipework, etc.)  especially with respect to anything that may need to be added to the chassis which I'm trying to finalise before hitting with paint.

I thought it may be an oil/water separator associated with the compressed air system, but as it's on the opposite side of the vehicle to the compressor this seems unlikely.

 

Any ideas/suggestion will be very gratefully received. Thanks in advance, thanks for the encouragement, and thanks for looking,

 

Paul.

[Jochen Barett]

2 hours ago, Lummox said:

+++

Brilliant! That may not be a bad idea Jochen depending on how his finger diet goes. 

+++

Does anyone have any idea what the highlighted object on the engine firewall might be? There appears to be a split connector below the object with one pipe (or cable?) traversing the firewall behind the engine, and one pipe heading downwards towards the chassis:

 

Here's some more shots of the 'thing' on the same vehicle:

+++

Any ideas/suggestion will be very gratefully received. Thanks in advance, thanks for the encouragement, and thanks for looking,

 

Paul.

 

I wonder if "that thing" is on the other side of the firewall right in oppostiton to the brake pedal. If so my quess: "It might be the brake cylinder."

Maybe we can scroll back to the map af the brake system.

 

Regarding the "brilliant idea": In the olden days when we were handling 20l Kanister (a frequent therapy to keep us busy, load Kanister to truck, unload truck, load Kanister to truck ...) we usually put on our grey Bundeswehr winter (lined) gloves (and said "Danke." for every Kanister that was passed to us and "Bitteschön" for every Kanister we gave the next guy in the chain). They (the winter gloves) wore quickly but were more comfortable than any other gloves supplied by the official supply chain. Who knows how that was done in the 40ies and if gloves were already invented?

Edited November 16, 2023 by Jochen Barett

[Mpfiend]

My guess would also be Brake master cylinder.

 

Keith.

[NIK122]

Screen wash reservoir?😁

[Pig of the Week]

Shamefully not been on here for prob 9 months or whatever , but defo wanted to check your truck out as first port of call. 

I'm always astonished by the detail you're achieving.. You sure you're not building this in 1/6 scale or something? 

[Lummox]

Shamefully my laxness has continued into the new year. I'm way overdue an update. I really will have to knuckle down and get on with the job, but it's been so long I'm struggling to recall what the job was! Ah yes, I remember now, I was rambling on about a mystery object on the firewall...

 

On 11/16/2023 at 7:56 PM, Jochen Barett said:

I wonder if "that thing" is on the other side of the firewall right in oppostiton to the brake pedal. If so my quess: "It might be the brake cylinder."

Maybe we can scroll back to the map af the brake system.

It does look rather like a master cylinder of some kind doesn't it Jochen? It's position seems to be wrong for the brake system to me, as I'll try to explain later.

 

On 11/17/2023 at 11:30 AM, Mpfiend said:

My guess would also be Brake master cylinder.

Thanks Keith, and another vote for a brake master cylinder. Not sure about its location though (but I'll freely admit to not knowing a great deal about these things).

 

On 11/19/2023 at 3:54 PM, NIK122 said:

Screen wash reservoir?😁

Ha, Nik (there's always one isn't there)

 

On 1/12/2024 at 11:59 AM, Pig of the Week said:

Shamefully not been on here for prob 9 months or whatever , but defo wanted to check your truck out as first port of call. 

I'm always astonished by the detail you're achieving.. You sure you're not building this in 1/6 scale or something? 

Hello stranger, good to see you're still alive and kicking Mr P. You did well to dig this thread from the depths (must have been languishing on page 7 or something)

 

Right, on with the update.

Firstly, let's revisit that picture showing the mystery object on the firewall, with added annotation to explain my thinking. We can see the protrusion for the footwell where the clutch, brake and throttle pedals are situated, The mystery master cylinder is some distance away from where the brake pedal would be (although interestingly there is something else that looks like a master cylinder where the clutch pedal would be, which makes sense I guess). Note the highlighted stiffening rib which we'll use as a reference in the next pictures:

 

Now let's look inside the cab (I think these pictures are from the same vehicle). We see the footwell with the various pedals, but interestingly if we follow the reference stiffening rib we we see 'something' which looks to correspond with the location of mystery master cylinder. I don't have a clue what this may be to be honest. It doesn't look like a foot pedal, more something that may be pushed/pulled (though a bit of a reach for the driver I'd have thought)? Unsure whether the red has any significance (a button perhaps)?

 

Wondering if this was an oddity to a specific vehicle, I has a poke around and found other (similar, but different) examples:

 

So the mystery deepens. We now have an unknown master cylinder thing on the firewall and a seemingly corresponding unknown lever thing in the cab. I'm curious as to what purpose these may serve, so would welcome any thoughts/ideas/guesses from you clever people. Preempting any suggestion that @NIK122 may have, I don't think it's a bonnet release lever

 

Right, on with the build. Not much has gone on to be perfectly honest, but I thought it's time to stop faffing about and get final things added to the chassis before sloshing some paint around. Naturally this meant that we should rip something from the chassis that has been previously added.

Do you see that mid-section of the exhaust system that was added some time ago? It's going to awkward painting that isn't it with it twisting and turning around the chassis?

 

So off it came, pins being added to the attachment points to allow it to be 'push fit' added after painting. The exhaust system is now totally separate which should simplify painting no end:

 

Things have been added to the chassis though, starting with the width indicators created some time ago:

 

...and the rear light cluster things. Whether these extreme sticky out bits will survive the work to come is another question. Time will tell 🤞:

 

Finally, Kev has seen some progress in that he's got a new head. The kit head isn't too bad, but a resin replacement (from Hornet in this case) is always going to be an improvement:

 

When replacing heads I find the trickiest part is getting the orientation correct (so that the head fits the pose of the figure). To help with the orientation the kit head is tacked in place (the fit wasn't great as can be seen) and some major trepanning undertaken to drill through following the plane of the head. A pin in the replacement head then naturally follows the kit head orientation. The neck area is then excavated, thinning the collar as much we dare:

 

Now Kev has a new head (removable for painting):

 

That's things up to date. Cheers, and thanks for looking,

 

Paul.

[NIK122]

Preempting any suggestion that @NIK122 may have, I don't think it's a bonnet release lever.........damn😆

[Pig of the Week]

The "master cylinder" things look perhaps more like remote hydraulic fluid reservoirs for the master cylinders, rather than the MCs themselves.. they're in a fairly suitable location for the pedals of a LHD motor too. 

I'd have thought however on a vehicle of that age and usage that the clutch at least would likely be a direct mechanical linkage rather than a hydraulic set up?? but who knows. 

You need the "Haynes" type workshop manual really 

[NIK122]

The mystery reservoir has two lines coming from it? One traveling forward and one going across the firewall. Yeah I'm guessing but maybe it's something to do with the brakes!? The black cap reminds me of a power steering reservoir but I appreciate that's a stretch.........

[Keeff]

Nice work on Kev .... a bit brutal, but nice.

 

As for the mystery 'thing', it has 2 lines from it, so I'm thinking some sort of lubrication .... pump in cab, resevoir in engine bay .... 🤔

 

Keith 😁 

[Jochen Barett]

I have to admit the pictures seen before

 

and

 

 

speak against the master brake cylinder theory and it seems the car can do without it

 

 

so it is probably not a verrry mercedessy parking brake. I'll ask the kind Museum-people. In case we ever visit them we will owe them a beer or a few coins in the Kaffeekasse,

[edjbartos]

More wonderful detail, the figure looks so much better with the facelift...

 

Ed

[Phil1960]

Nice figure. Which brand?

Thank you

Ciao

Filippo

[Lummox]

Blimey, there's been lots of comments and suggestions (which is great). Rather than rudely waiting a month to reply which is my usual trick, I thought I'd respond more promptly for a change...

 

On 1/23/2024 at 4:18 PM, Pig of the Week said:

The "master cylinder" things look perhaps more like remote hydraulic fluid reservoirs for the master cylinders, rather than the MCs themselves.. they're in a fairly suitable location for the pedals of a LHD motor too. 

I'd have thought however on a vehicle of that age and usage that the clutch at least would likely be a direct mechanical linkage rather than a hydraulic set up?? but who knows. 

You need the "Haynes" type workshop manual really 

Ah, OK, so the reservoir doesn't necessarily need to be that close to the brake pedal. Gotcha Mr P, thanks. And yes, a 'Haynes' would be rather nice (didn't see one in The Works last time I was in ).

 

On 1/23/2024 at 4:23 PM, NIK122 said:

The mystery reservoir has two lines coming from it? One traveling forward and one going across the firewall. Yeah I'm guessing but maybe it's something to do with the brakes!? The black cap reminds me of a power steering reservoir but I appreciate that's a stretch.........

Cheers Nik, and yes there looks to be two lines coming from the reservoir, possibly to the brakes, but then again...

 

On 1/23/2024 at 5:38 PM, Keeff said:

Nice work on Kev .... a bit brutal, but nice.

 

As for the mystery 'thing', it has 2 lines from it, so I'm thinking some sort of lubrication .... pump in cab, resevoir in engine bay .... 🤔

Thanks Keith. Yes, two lines, maybe for a lubrication system? Hmmmmm....

 

21 hours ago, Jochen Barett said:

speak against the master brake cylinder theory and it seems the car can do without it

Sorry if I'm being a bit slow, but is it the mechanical linkage for the brake that is leading you to rule out the master cylinder theory Jochen?

There certainly are examples of vehicles that don't exhibit the mystery reservoir 'thing', so it doesn't seem to be a 'must have'.

 

21 hours ago, Jochen Barett said:

I'll ask the kind Museum-people. In case we ever visit them we will owe them a beer or a few coins in the Kaffeekasse,

What can I say my friend, apart from 'thank you'. I certainly owe you a stein or two.

Coincidentally once of the images you show is I think the Stammheim L4500 before restoration (the following being 'before' and 'after' shots). Given that their vehicle doesn't seem to have the 'thing' I'm not sure if they would be able to help, but you never know :

 

The museum certainly would be worth a visit as it looks to be packed with interesting stuff. No sign of our L4500 though, which is a shame.

 

8 hours ago, edjbartos said:

More wonderful detail, the figure looks so much better with the facelift...

Cheers Ed. The resin head certainly makes a difference. Just hope my paint job will do it justice.

 

8 hours ago, Phil1960 said:

Nice figure. Which brand?

Thanks Filippo. The figure is the one on the left in this set by MiniArt (it needed quite a bit of cleanup but turned out OK). The replacement resin head was one in this set by Hornet:

 

 

And finally I stumbled across this which shows a running example of the truck with the mystery 'thing' evident:

 

Cheers, thanks for looking, and thanks for all the input (which is much appreciated),

 

Paul.

[NIK122]

Good grief! Online archaeology or what? I hope this may help but........... handbrake on a canoe springs to mind!

Both of these images are of an Opel Blitz. Maybe there is more technical information that you can use to identify just what the 'mystery object' is, by researching the Blitz?! It's slightly annoying that these things aren't clearly labeled😂

Edited January 25 by NIK122

[Pig of the Week]

They must have produced a workshop manual for these vehicles, I used to have a wartime copy of a very comprehensive mechanics manual for the British/Canadian Quad gun tractor, the Germans would have certainly done likewise with their motors, and I'd think their publications would be typically thorough and well presented. 

If the Blitz has some commonality of parts, it's likely a more common vehicle and might be easier to find a download or whatever of the manual. 

Btw, here's, for example, the type of clutch master cylinder with built in reservoir that I have on the Land Rover, it's a fairly compact unit for what it does and very much has the look of your elusive part.. 

 

Edited January 25 by Pig of the Week