MFH 1/12 Mercedes Benz C11

[Matt Crane]

Beautiful!

[LKF1130]

Thanks Malc and Matt for your encouragement.  I am surprised that a friend from UK saying 恭喜發財 (“kung hei fat choy“) to me.

 

I have just completed a test painting of the C11 body on a piece of scrapped plastic in metalic grey and I am satisfy with the result.

 

 

 

The test consists of one coat of silver and one coat of gloss clear.  The paints and the leveling thinner is “Mr Color” series by GSI Creos.  Tamiya polishing compound “Finish” is used to polish the silver colour to remove the orange-peel like surface before the application of gloss clear.  The gloss clear is polished first with #5000 water-proof sandpaper and then Tamiya polishing compounds in the order of “Coarse”, “Fine” and “Finish”.

 

For actual painting of the C11 body,  I shall use gloss black as a base, apply two coats of silver and two to three coats of gloss clear.  I expect the outcome will be much better than that of the test.

 

See you in this and RFI sections in 2022.

 

Kenneth

[LKF1130]

Although I do not post updates in the past few months, my work for the C11 has never stopped.  My apology to those who have followed my build for keeping you waiting.  This would be the last update of my build of the C11 cause it has now been completed.  This is a big update which covers the remaining work for the chassis and the body work.

 

In the last update, I installed the engine, gearbox… , next is to install the turbochargers and the exhaust pipes.  Below is a sequential shots of the installations.

 

Left turbocharges and exhaust pipe

 

 

Right turbocharges and exhaust pipe

 

 

 

 

A template made from plastic sheet is used to guide the ends of the exhaust pipes to ensure that they are positioned within the narrow openings of the body.  Part fitments is very good.  I shift from CA gel to 2-part clear express epoxy for the processes.  It provides a stronger bond, ease of control and it does not release chemicals during curing which cover the surrounding parts with unknown white matters.

 

Then the engine compartment partitions and the air ducts for cooling the rear are installed.

 

Left air ducts and partition

 

 

 

Right air ducts and partition

 

 

 

Major components of the engine compartment are installed.  The next thing is to install the pipings.  In addition to the white metal pipings included in the kit, I create additional pipings using 1.2 mm heat shrinkable tubes for hose joints.

 

 

All the pipings are installed.

 

 

 

The engine compartment has now been finished.  My work goes to the body.  The body are created using mainly resin and the detail is of white metal, photo-etched parts.

 

The middle section of the body must be put on to the chassis prior to the installation of radiator and the air ducts for front brakes cooling.  Pipings of the radiator will run through the side panels.

 

Middle section side panels

 

 

Cockpit roof

 
 

The resin parts are first coated with two coats of 1200 surfacer, then primed with gloss black.  Two coats of silver are applied.  The silver is sealed with a coat of gloss clear prior to application of decals.  Two more coats of gloss clear are applied to seal the paint and decals.

 

A total of nine coats of surfacer, paints or gloss clear are applied to the resin parts. 5 days is allowed for each coat to dry completely before proceed to the next coat.  I polish each coat with water-proof sandpaper and/or polishing compounds to make the surface of as smooth as possible before applying the next coat, except for the last two coats of gloss clear where I polish once after the final coat.

 

For the final polishing, I use #5000 and #7000 water-proof sandpaper to remove the uneven surface of the gloss clear, then use Tamiya polishing compounds in the order of “Coarse”, “Fine”and “Finish” to restore its shine.

 

Here’s the pics for the C11 with the middle section of the body installed.

 

 

 

Then it come to the installation of the doors which can be opened after installation.  The doors hinges seem not easy to install when looking at the instruction, but it is not that difficult when it comes to actual execution; the key is wait until the previous hinge part are firmly attached before the installation of the next one.

 

 

 

Then it comes to the installation of the radiator and the air ducts for cooling the front brakes.  Here is the sequential shots of the installation.

 

 

The front body, rear body and the wing are painted with the above method.

 

Front body:

 

 

Rear body:

 
 

 

The Wing:

 

 

Below is the result when every single items above are put together.

 

 

 

 

 

As a hobby, I used to build modern jet fighters, completed builds and in-progress builds include the F-15s, F-16s, Panavia Tornado etc.  When I come across MFH in YouTube, I am not able to resist the attraction of its level of details so I decided to give myself a challenge.  The C11 is my first MFH kit, I choose it because of its simple but elegant painting scheme which increase the chance of success.

 

I gained much experience and technique in handling various modelling issues during this complex build, the lessons I learned are that one should not give up a model kit when difficulties encountered and to accept flaws caused by my mistakes and below-standard skill.

 

I sincerely hope that you enjoy watching this build progress and thanks for watching once again.

 

Kenneth

 

Edited June 1, 2022 by LKF1130

[keefr22]

Absolutely beautiful work Kenneth, that is a simply stunning model, everything looks flawless!

 

Top job! 

 

keith

 

 

 

[Malc2]

Truly fantastic result!

The Mr Color Creos silver looks very good and the panel alignment is superb.

I look forward to seeing what you build next!

 

Malc.

[Pouln]

Beautiful!

[Flintstone]

Brilliant build, well done!

[LKF1130]

Thank you all for your encouragement.

 

Malc, pleased to tell you that my next challenge is a 1/12 Alfa Romeo 155 V6 TI DTM 1993, the body work is more complex than the C11, with a lot of decals.  But currently I have returned to aircraft modelling with my attention shifted to the 1/32 Tamiya F-15E which I bought many years ago.

 

Kenneth

[Mpfiend]

On 6/2/2022 at 4:20 PM, LKF1130 said:

Thank you all for your encouragement.

 

Malc, pleased to tell you that my next challenge is a 1/12 Alfa Romeo 155 V6 TI DTM 1993, the body work is more complex than the C11, with a lot of decals.  But currently I have returned to aircraft modelling with my attention shifted to the 1/32 Tamiya F-15E which I bought many years ago.

 

Kenneth

Stunning work Kenneth,

Do you have a link to your Tamiya F-16 and F-15 builds?

best regards

Keith.

[LKF1130]

Thanks Keith for your kind comment.  

 

Regret that there is currently no wip thread for my Tamiya F-15E build.  By now all the plastics are joined together and I have not taken photos of these steps.  I added a Black Box cockpit and a Cutting Edge Model Works seamless intake to the kit,  the aftermarket ejection seats and the tails have been painted and decals are applied to the latter.  The F-15E would be an aircraft of 336th Fighter Squadron “Rocketeers“.  If you are interested in a wip thread with certain early steps omitted, I am glad to create one.

 

Best regards,

Kenneth

[Mpfiend]

17 hours ago, LKF1130 said:

Thanks Keith for your kind comment.  

 

Regret that there is currently no wip thread for my Tamiya F-15E build.  By now all the plastics are joined together and I have not taken photos of these steps.  I added a Black Box cockpit and a Cutting Edge Model Works seamless intake to the kit,  the aftermarket ejection seats and the tails have been painted and decals are applied to the latter.  The F-15E would be an aircraft of 336th Fighter Squadron “Rocketeers“.  If you are interested in a wip thread with certain early steps omitted, I am glad to create one.

 

Best regards,

Kenneth

yes please do Kenneth

[Tomasz Zamiara]

Fantastic building! I already built a C9 MFH in this scale and thought I had had enough... But when I saw your bag I decided the C11 would be a great choice for my next build

20220710_135843 by Tomasz, on Flickr

[Mpfiend]

On 6/6/2022 at 2:22 PM, LKF1130 said:

Thanks Keith for your kind comment.  

 

Regret that there is currently no wip thread for my Tamiya F-15E build.  By now all the plastics are joined together and I have not taken photos of these steps.  I added a Black Box cockpit and a Cutting Edge Model Works seamless intake to the kit,  the aftermarket ejection seats and the tails have been painted and decals are applied to the latter.  The F-15E would be an aircraft of 336th Fighter Squadron “Rocketeers“.  If you are interested in a wip thread with certain early steps omitted, I am glad to create one.

 

Best regards,

Kenneth

Kenneth, did you ever write a WIP for your F-15E build? I have been searching for it but is far have not found it. Please direct me to it so I can admire your progress.

Best Regards

Keith.

[LKF1130]

On 8/19/2023 at 4:35 PM, Mpfiend said:

Kenneth, did you ever write a WIP for your F-15E build? I have been searching for it but is far have not found it. Please direct me to it so I can admire your progress.

Best Regards

Keith.

 

Hello Keith,

 

Our journey starts here.

 

Best regards,

Kenneth