Yet another Gullwing Mercedes

[Neddy]

Bravely as well as skillfully done.  Glad it turned out OK!

[Toftdale]

1 hour ago, Spiny said:

the amazing happened and I didn't make a mess of it

See I told you it would be ok 😅, I Still think you're slightly mad for trying.  But I'm glad that it worked out ok - Andy

[Spiny]

22 hours ago, Neddy said:

Bravely as well as skillfully done.  Glad it turned out OK!

I like the idea here that I can just describe what I've done without needing to show photos. So for the record, today I was busy and did a complete overhaul including the creation of an immaculate working 1/24 internal combustion engine and miniature animatronic driver to control it😆

 

(Sadly, work ensured that only the bit about being busy is true from that statement!)

[Neddy]

Really?  Petrol or Diesel?  (Well, you started it...) 

[Spiny]

Surely methanol is best at this scale?

 

Back to reality and first job was to get the bulkhead fitted to the chassis. As will probably come as a surprise to nobody I had to redrill the holes for fitting to the spaceframe as a combination of paint, PVA and no doubt bits of embossing powder had rendered the hole in the part smaller than the pin on the chassis. Quickly fixed with a 1.1mm bit and pin vice, then it slotted into place without too much of a fight.

 

 

What did put up a fight though was the little bit of diagonal bracing across the engine bay. And the reason for it being so painful was that you have to thread it through the exhaust manifold then glue one end into the most inaccessible point imaginable next to the front wheel and the other end in a much easier position at the top. I had about 3 goes at dry-fitting the thing, and every time it just fell down through the gap when I tried to line up the top end. So eventually I just gave up with the dry-fitting, got the long nozzle of Revell's Contacta Pro into the hard to reach mounting point and threaded the piece through to that. Then while the glue was holding it in place I brought the 'easy' end round into position and applied some Tamiya Extra Thin to hold that in place.

 

 

As you can see it seems to have worked. You can also see I got the radiator pipe installed as well as the fan. But for the radiator I had a few paint issues - Tamiya X-18 doesn't seem to like me. I think this is probably because I thinned it on first use as it was just too thick and drying. But now I have to apply it very quickly as it keeps reactivating the paint already supplied... and that's what happened here. It's painted now, but will need to set firm before I install the radiator.

 

So for now, that second picture is how it will stand until a bit after Christmas as I don't see me getting on the bench for a while.

 

Thanks for looking, and Merry Christmas everyone.

[Windy37]

Good work . And I thought roll cage  building was fiddly !

Gary . 

[Neddy]

I second that, lovely work.  Having just fitted a pair of V8 tubular exhaust headers around chassis members I feel your pain.

[Toftdale]

Thirded (if there is such a word).  Thats another one of my achiles heals when making a model, very often if I try something and it doesn't work I just keep repeating the same method and am constantly surprised that it fails again and again and again until real frustration kicks in and thats when I really muck it up 🤬.  Great progress,  its almost going to be a shame and put the body over all you work - Andy 

[Spiny]

2 hours ago, Toftdale said:

...  its almost going to be a shame and put the body over all you work - Andy 

 

I have thought the same thing, must remember to get a decent photo of the chassis when it's ready as that spaceframe will be pretty much invisible when I've done. I can see why Tamiya give the option of a clear underside, but I just can't be doing with that as it just feels wrong to me, even though there is a good reason for it.

 

To be fair, apart from the support I put on this weekend, there has been surprisingly little threading bits through other parts, certainly much less than you'd expect with that spaceframe. The biggest worry throughout the whole build has been getting it straight, well that and will I be able to close the bonnet once everything is in place.😬

[Alan R]

I had the same dilemma on the Tamiya Peugeot 205-T16. That had a clear undertray.
I painted it blue for the same reason as you. It just seems wrong to be clear...

 

Cheers,

Alan.

[Spiny]

Having been away for Christmas there's been limited progress recently. But having got back on the bench, I'm pleased to say that the engine has been completed just in time for new year. Nothing particularly exciting with these, just painting, decalling and a bit of glue, generally tube glue for the main attachment then Tamiya Extra Thin on the smaller connections and to strengthen main joints.

 

 

Now one thing I keep reading about this is that the engine is very tight under the bonnet and it's not unheard of for it not to fit, so with everything in place it was time to test fit the body and cross my fingers the bonnet would go down...

 

 

Happily it did all fit I've also spent a fair bit of time over the last few weeks micromeshing the body (and touching up the burnt through areas) - it's almost there now with just the sides to be done in 12,000 grit then some Novus 1 or Tamiya Finish (I've not decided which yet) for the final finish, But the body in the pic isn't far off how it will end up.

 

Other works are the wheels and interior which are still very much works in progress and needing more layers of paint. But I have done a bit with the dash too. Way back at the start of the project I stripped the chrome and then painted it body colour. Masking looked a bit of a nightmare to get right, so having got the red on it I covered the whole thing in BMF chrome today. Needless to say it needs quite a bit of careful trimming around various dials and buttons, but apart from one button where the BMF came off with the rest (and which will get a touch up with the chrome paint) I think I'm there.

 

 

If I'd done this with a different body colour I expect the chrome would stand out a bit more, so it may not be a bad thing as the silver is much more forgiving for any imperfections in cutting out the BMF.

 

That's it for this year. Thanks for looking. And Happy 2023. May your stashes remain undiscovered by significant others

 

[JeroenS]

I dare say you have a very decent finish on that body already. 

 

Have a great 2023!

[harti20]

On 19/12/2022 at 21:53, Spiny said:

I can see why Tamiya give the option of a clear underside, but I just can't be doing with that as it just feels wrong to me, even though there is a good reason for it.

A few years ago, when the kit came out, I once saw a build where the underside was held by magnets, so it could be removed to show the work underneath. The builder also had to cut the exhaust into pieces and attach them with magnets to make it work, but I thought, it was a quite good idea

[Toftdale]

20 hours ago, Spiny said:

Happily it did all fit

Thats great news, as its horrible having it take things apart to adjust them as they new seem to go back together as cleanly as they where in the first place. She's really being to look the part - Andy

[Spiny]

8 hours ago, harti20 said:

A few years ago, when the kit came out, I once saw a build where the underside was held by magnets, so it could be removed to show the work underneath. The builder also had to cut the exhaust into pieces and attach them with magnets to make it work, but I thought, it was a quite good idea

 

I did consider going down the magnet route, but you've hit the nail on the head as to the reason why I didn't - the exhaust protrudes through the floor near the engine end and so would need chopping up to allow the undertray to be removed. And I know if I did that I'd never get it fixed straight again...

 

As for the build, had a couple of decals break up on my on the dials for the dash (only part way through at the moment). The one's I've put on so far as at least in the right position, but having them on top of BMF means it's painfully obvious where they've broken - think I'm going to have to do some very careful touching in before its finished

 

[Spiny]

Not been massive progress over the last few days, but it is quite visible progress so probably worth some photos.

 

First of all, the wheels are on the chassis now. I do still need to add the hubcaps, but it's starting to look like a car now... Despite my fears, nothing fell off when I pushed the wheels on which has to be a good sign right???

 

 

I've also been painting the interior. The red doesn't cover the grey plastic at all well, so after the first coat looked dull I gave it a coat of matt white as an undercoat then went back to red (I also did the same on the dashboard top). In hindsight, two coats of white would have been a better idea as it would have been a better base, so that's something to remember for next time. All the leather parts have had a coat of satin Fiery Red, the carpeted areas are just matt Carmine Red at the moment, but tomorrow I'll start adding more embossing powder to create either a much better carpet effect of a hideous mess. Fingers crossed for the former.

 

Obviously, having test fitted the body to the chassis I had to try the interior in the body (it fits) and on top of the chassis just to see what it will look like.

 

 

Finally, the decals on the dash which I mentioned earlier. All is finished now, and I've touched up the worst of the damage on the speedo and revcounter. I'd never get it 100% at this size, but I'm reasonably happy at the recovery from me splitting the decals. And I have to say this photo is particularly unforgiving - please believe me when I say it doesn't look this bad in reality.

 

 

Just got to get the other bits ready to fit to it now.

 

And that's it for tonight, thanks for looking.

[Fnick]

That dash is absolutely stunning! Some really progress there.

 

Nick

[JeroenS]

9 hours ago, Spiny said:

please believe me when I say it doesn't look this bad in reality.

 

Spiny, please stop being so harsh on yourself! It doesn't look this bad even in close-up!!!

[Bengalensis]

It's all looking very fine at this stage and when it's all together these tiny mishaps will just disappear. Good work.

[Windy37]

There isn't much wrong with that dashboard even when zooming in , so the naked eye will never see what mishaps might be there ! 

Gary. 

[Spiny]

I didn't mean to give the impression I was unhappy with the dashboard, just that I was unhappy with the way the light in that last photo really brought out the bits where I didn't cut the BMF perfectly circular around the dials and the bits where I broke the decals. It doesn't help either that I've spend quite a bit of time looking at this in either 2.5x or approximately 8x magnification so I know all the little bits which aren't spot on with it. In truth, the only bit which actively annoys me is the bit of dust which lodged in the paint while spraying on the right hand side of the dash. As Gary said, once I make a mess* of the gullwing doors and find that you can't open them after all you'll barely be able to see it anyway.

 

I've got a little more done today but no photos as yet. Now I've got a couple of hubcaps on, I'm pleasantly surprised that you can tell the difference between the brush-painted flat aluminium wheel rims and the sprayed gloss aluminium hub-caps. I've also found that you need decal solution to get the 3-pointed star decals to conform to the hubcaps due to their convex shape.

 

*Obviously, I hope I don't make a mess of this, but as I usually run into issues at the end I wouldn't be surprised if they don't line up once fitted.

[Neddy]

I've got to say that dash looks pretty damn' good to me, even in the magnified photo you have to really search for any imperfections which I'm certainly not going to do.  By the time that's installed in the car it's going to look excellent, trust me!  😉

[Stickframe]

Yes - another really nice dashboard!  seems to me I was just thinking about the really nice work you do on your interiors!  😄

Cheers

Nick 

[Spiny]

Kind of you both to say, but I'm still learning including on interiors. For example, this is the first build I've tried to create a 'carpet' rather than just matt paint, but more on that later.

 

Unfortunately, it's back to work tomorrow so progress will return to it's usuall snail-like speed. But the good news is that I've got the chassis done This can go into its old sandwich box now to help keep it out of the dust as it won't be needed until I put it into the body.

 

 

All I've done to this since the previous photos is add the hubcaps, and the decals to the hubcaps. The wheel rims (brushed flat aluminium), hubcaps (sprayed gloss aluminium) and Mercedes logo on the hubcaps (decal) are all different finishes, yet have conspired to look almost identical in the photo, and only a little different in real life. Ah wel... I found cutting the masking tape on the hubcap (so I could keep the chrome trim ring) difficult to make a circle, so if this comes up in future I have bought a set of cheap punches which will hopefully mean the next time I need to mask a circle is a bit neater.

 

As for that carpet, apart from the footwell I did earlier this is the first time I've done carpet over a significant area. I'm reasonably pleased with how it's come out, yet I need to touch up the 'leather' in a couple of places where the PVA overspilled, but I think the embossing powder is the way to go in this scale as it looks like a typically close-knit automotive carpet.

 

 

Possibly it might have been better if I'd used a larger brush to apply the PVA as I was racing it drying on the rear parcel shelf, but I was able to break the interior into sections rather than do it all at once. Overall, I'm quite happy with this as a first attempt.

 

The dashboard continues to make progress, but no photos yet. I did get the seats out though to check whether I needed to carpet under them (I don't) and noticed that like far too many kits this doesn't have seat backs. Not a problem for the lower part as it's invisible, but the upper part will stick above the parcel area so needed to sort that out. I've sort of filled with some plasticard to give be a solid(ish) base as below, and since the photo it's been slathered in filler which hopefully will be ready to sand by the weekend.

 

 

And that's it for my Christmas break, thanks for looking.

[Toftdale]

The embossing powder looks spot on to me, I might even try it myself - Andy