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Big Bad Benz...finally finished!


Harry P.

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Well, here (finally... :rolleyes: ) are the finished pictures.

mercedes5.jpg

mercedes4.jpg

Paint is... none! Gasp! :o

Yeah, that's right, none. The black plastic body panels were so perfectly polished and shiny right out of the box, I knew right away that there was no way I could ever come up with a paint finish to match that. Painting just isn't my thing... actually painting a body is my least favorite part of building a model. So I left well enough alone.

I did a custom interior, because these were real high-end cars in real life... custom coachwork, anything goes, really. Like contemporary RRs, the only limit a customer had was the size of his bankbook... so I upholstered my interior with a pretty wild animal print-type "leather" and added custom "leather"/wood/chrome insert door panels. The seats are aftermarket resin items... much more realistic than the kit-supplied units:

mercedes2.jpg

I used an aftermarket steering wheel, horn ring and wheel hub. I also used clear Lexan to cut new windshield glass; the kit supplied glass was too thick and way out of scale. The new "glass" is mounted in in-scale "rubber" gaskets made of styrene U-channel (you can see that "gasket" right at the middle pillar, by the rearview mirror. Dash is covered in real wood, glove box handles are made of silver paper clips:

mercedes9.jpg

On the dash, I simulated the "mother of pearl" gauge insert panel with a piece of paper from the scrapbooking aisle at Hobby Lobby. The paper has a pretty realistic "mother of pearl" pattern printed onto it. The MB logo crest on the wheel hub is part of the aftermarket steering wheel package:

mercedes8.jpg

Actually, I used a lot of aftermarket parts on this one... interior and exterior door handles, wipers, hood mesh inserts, grille mesh, headlights, etc...

mercedes1.jpg

mercedes6.jpg

The cloth convertible top really works. I didn't want to mess with the tiny PE buckles so I left it open, but it really does work (honest!):

mercedes3.jpg

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Thanks-was worth the wait. I need a cigarette now... :wub:

That was a ton of work even without the paint finish. Did you BMF all the chrome sweeps and accents or is that kit chrome?

And I'm flinching seeing 6 wire wheels. Marvin's stuff is beautiful and the expense is secondary with results like that.

What thickness is the Lexsan (expensive vs plex- no?) - I need to get some and the channel you used.

You solved a ton of problems (the scratch folding top for example) with great craftsmanship.

Great work Harry.

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Some of the chrome trim (on the deck lid, for instance) are kit pieces, the side sweeps and the run strips on the running boards are foil. Whitewalls are white acrylic craft paint brush painted on. The Lexan I used was actually left over from a different kit (I don't throw anything away!). It's just about 1mm thick and fits perfectly into the Plastruct "U" channel that I used to simulate the rubber gaskets.

Yeah, building six of those wheels is a chore... :lol:

Actually I just realized that I still have to mount the lights that go on the windshield pillars (they have the rear-view mirrors mounted on their backs). I guess I'm still not finished after all!

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Harry great looking build .. I havhe an original Pocher Volvo truck kit you wouldny believe what I paid for it

Because you got it really cheap? Or because you paid a fortune?

That's one Pocher kit I almost never see for sale. I'd buy it just because it would be cool to build a 1/8 scale truck.

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That is Just Super....i spend a bit of time here....watching you on these Pocher Kits.....I have been giving it some thought....to trying out my skills on said kits....

And if i do Spend that amount of $$$$ for one of these kits....I am going to Blame you Harry.... :D

Thanks......Really like....

Cheers...Don aka XJ6

Edited by XJ6
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That is a real beauty Harry, thanks for sharing it with us, it obviously takes some real dedication to finish one. I have the Fiat and also recently got an Alfa with a TON of aftermarket parts in a trade and the ones you have shared here have given me some inspiration to start one. That and the fact that after 30 years of working 2 and sometimes 3 jobs I am finally down to 1 and now have some free time to enjoy this hobby. I hope my skills and patience are up to it :blink:

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Thanks, guys!

Randy, the Fiat is the perfect choice if you've never built a Pocher before. No fenders, no opening doors, no roll-up windows, no individually spoked wheels ,etc... yet it's still nicely detailed and builds into a very convincing replica.

Here's mine:

fiat29.jpg

It's the perfect choice for a first ever Pocher build.

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  • 8 years later...
On 12/12/2009 at 8:31 PM, arick said:

Hey Harry, as you know, I'm doing the same build and I've got Paul Koo's video coming. If you haven't got the vid, let me know if there's anything I can help you with.

Ha! I am in the same boat. Wanted to tackle one of these years ago and baulked at the price. Should have bought it then and put it away until now.

I am doing the K90. Crank, cam, head and valve cover finished. Hours of sorting and prepping the ancillaries for the passenger side of the block and trying to figure out what goes where. They are painted now so next step is to see how they go.

Manual is a bit short of info so I too am awaiting the DVD. This is not for the faint of heart for sure. Last model I built was 20 yr ago which was a fully rigged USS Constitution. At least the parts fitted reasonably well. When this is finished my bet is great percentage of the time will be with fine files.

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The age of a thread is of no consequence if someone comes across it and it is interesting.

Harry P will be remembered for his models.

He wrote and published a book The Evolution Of The Automobile In Scale shortly before he died that featured his built models.

Edited by Bugatti Fan
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