1961 Mercedes Benz 190SL - Revell with a few modifications

[89AKurt]

(saving time) THANK YOU everyone!

Simple detail, the splitter.  Added 4 mounting gussets behind the air dam.  Will carbon-fiber decal it.

Extremely dicey task, drilling holes for the visors in the already broke twice windshield frame.  Used a wood block for support.  I got this drill set from a model show vendor, these are really sharp, unlike the set I got from SpotModel.

Fun step, documenting all the parts.  Chrome tree: other than the radiator fan, haven't worked on the windshield frame, headlights, taillights, mirror (from the parts box).  The steering wheel is from the parts box, came from the Ferrari California.  Aftermarket parts are not shown, a bunch of photo-etch, screen, decals, seat belts, Bare Metal foil, etc.  Have wet-sanded the body parts, the rest got washed with warm dish soap water, after taking the pictures.

First paint!  First time using the Splash surfacer, I added just a little thinner to spray.  Can't tell in these pictures, but I have a bunch of pinholes, putty not blended in, superglue humps to work on.  The headrests were hard to refine, the white Corian hides imperfections really well.

[89AKurt]

Painted many of the small parts, except the engine.  Used some vintage collectible Model Master, Testors and Alclad.

[1930fordpickup]

Kurt this is awesome.  Maybe even Bare Metal Foil the 1960 letters that are on the bottom. 

[David G.]

Wow! Massive progress!

It must feel great to be getting so much done.

David G.

[89AKurt]

10 hours ago, 1930fordpickup said:

Kurt this is awesome.  Maybe even Bare Metal Foil the 1960 letters that are on the bottom. 

I'm going to use a black pen. 😎

5 hours ago, David G. said:

Wow! Massive progress!

It must feel great to be getting so much done.

David G.

Only because I'm doing nothing else, other than laundry and cooking brunch.

More colors, Splash paints aluminum because it's a tough paint that should be able to be painted over for the head.  Missed a couple parts, such as the header and used another Alclad aluminum for the intake and fabricated A-arms.  Tamiya primer on the chassis and interior, committed to painting blue with red interior.  Because I hate brush painting, airbrushed the oil filter white.  If I'm good, will assemble most of the chassis by tonight.

The body is going to take a bunch more work, will have to not be a cheapskate with the sanding sticks.

[89AKurt]

More painting done!  Vacuumed the house too, just to give the paint a chance to cure. 😅  The nice thing about these exotic paints, they cure quick and hard.  Painted the chassis and interior.  I'm leaving the chassis as is with the satin sheen, but sprayed the dash clear gloss.  The seats have the perfect sheen too.

Testors red on the valve cover, calipers, and fire extinguisher.  This was put in the pickup cab to help cure.

Anti-sway bar clamps are made from polished newspaper printing plate.  Made a bender jig, Western Cedar with the outside profile, Maple for the half round, was hoping to not mess up the polish, but still needed to use the pliers.  Photo-etch screw heads added.

Wheels got valve stems.  I lined up to a spoke, which gives a cleaner look, but also wondered if it was worth the effort.

Since the photo-etch had 4 tiny stars, added those.   Painted the centers, let that cure awhile, then added a drop a more paint to stick the stars on.  Masked the dash to paint the red, I cut a bunch of narrow strips of masking tape in hopes it went over the raised details enough.

Finally final assembly!

Had to see what the interior looked like with the blue.

[89AKurt]

Got the dash done, worked until 1:30AM, so posting this morning. 😵  The closeup pictures make it look like ****, I was never good at painting small details.  Handling the tiny toggle switches is fun.  Bare Metal foil didn't want to stick.  The accuracy is not very good either, there is a gauge missing, the main gauge panel is not right.  But once it's put together, it will not be noticed.


 

[jaymcminn]

The dash looks really good, especially given your starting point. It'll look great in place. I wasn't sold on the wheels at first but painted with the logos they look the business. I really like the color combo seeing it all together on that dash, I think the pop of interior color against that blue is awesome!

Edited June 20, 2022 by jaymcminn

[bill_67]

Amazing work Kurt, the body mods and chassis mods alone would have made this a great build, but  the small details some may miss if they weren't following along with this post are what makes it awesome! Once again thank you for posting it.

[89AKurt]

13 hours ago, jaymcminn said:

The dash looks really good, especially given your starting point. It'll look great in place. I wasn't sold on the wheels at first but painted with the logos they look the business. I really like the color combo seeing it all together on that dash, I think the pop of interior color against that blue is awesome!

Appreciate your input earlier!  

2 hours ago, bill_67 said:

Amazing work Kurt, the body mods and chassis mods alone would have made this a great build, but  the small details some may miss if they weren't following along with this post are what makes it awesome! Once again thank you for posting it.

Thank you very much.  That's why the WIP title is now a joke.  Welcome, it's like writing a reality TV show, without the drama.

Friend on the forum helped me with making the license plate.  I will also scan the kit box, and print to scale with the plate.

Sprayed flat black.  I had some paint come off with the masking tape on the engine, so did the minimum amount.  Tire sidewall has Firestone Phoenix. 🧐

Engine is installed!  Amazing how things didn't go together the same, such as the crossmember transmission mount hole was off center, and of course it was glued in the other way, for example.   I swear the exhaust pipe was tucked in better too, but oh well.

I should get back on the body, but I really want to finish all the chassis and interior, then mock up the body on it.  Never know if something has to be modified before getting the finish paint on.

[David G.]

Wheels, suspension, dash and interior, everything looks great!

You're making more of this model than it was ever intended to be.

David G.

[89AKurt]

On 6/21/2022 at 4:13 AM, David G. said:

[...]

You're making more of this model than it was ever intended to be.

I know right? 😏

Been getting a little time in the evenings, and today stole some work time to paint, to make baby steps during the week.  That's why I haven't been an attention hog. 🙄  The steering wheel got a photo-etch star.  I scraped off the paint from the rim to paint, then decided this looks better than paint.  I was planning to use the kit steering column lever, even B-M foiled it, but thought it looked like an aluminum baseball bat, so modified with wire.

Adhesive backed carpet installed.  Replicas & Miniatures of MD photo-etch ring on the shifter base.

I was worried about everyone else with big V8 engined cars, so I hope the nitrous will help. 😅  I checked out what size bottles are available, found one that worked for the Plastruct tube.  Made the top part from a big piece of sprue (where the plastic is injected) using the cordless drill and Dremel.

Speaker grills, screwed up painting, too much paint filled the holes, stripped in thinner, redid them but still not as good as should be.  Punched the B-M foil for the cone centers.  Black paper for the "cone".

Really botched 🤬 the intake with the drill, so that ruined it for me, but will carry on.

Battery is installed, added terminals, holdowns have p-e nuts and washers.  Will do cables when body is mated to the chassis.  Made a computer box.

Interior is almost done.  Some of the aftermarket goodies shown.  Seatbelts are next.  Need to figure out the NOS button.  The seats are assembled using stretched sprue keeper thingies so the backs can move, and won't be a pain with final assembly.

Nitrous bottle installed.  Thinking of making a seatbelt strap to hold the spare tire in.  Considering making a jack, but not a tool bag.

Radiator is done, except for hoses, which I can't figure out where they go on the engine.   I know the fan would most likely be black, but that was the kit part and wanted to carry something over.

[David G.]

Wow Kurt, you got quite a lot of work done in the last session! 

This is always one of my favorite parts of a build, when it all begins to finally come together. Everything looks great.

BTW, I noticed that the battery looks like it has four cell caps. Is that an eight volt system or some type of German battery configuration?

David G.

[89AKurt]

2 hours ago, David G. said:

Wow Kurt, you got quite a lot of work done in the last session! 

This is always one of my favorite parts of a build, when it all begins to finally come together. Everything looks great.

BTW, I noticed that the battery looks like it has four cell caps. Is that an eight volt system or some type of German battery configuration?

David G.

That's Revell, making up what should be an easy thing to replicate.  In my research, if there are caps on a battery, there are 6.  I had a resin Optima battery that was used on another project, should get a few more.  The trunk wells are wrong too, but I ain't fixing those.

Couldn't find a photo of a spare tire jack, only this lousy copy of the parts book.  There are some ID plates that could be reduced to scale and look okay.

[89AKurt]

Made the seatbelts, used two sources for the photo-etch and buckles, and red paper for the belts.  Didn't care to do shoulder belts, so they are just retractible lap belts.

Took it to the model meeting this afternoon.   Tonight worked on the headlights, and door mirror that came from someone in the model club.  Put the body on the chassis, this will be the last time before painting the body, it's like putting on cowboy boots.  I shouldn't have glued on the air filter, that makes it uncomfortably tight.

Decided to make a prop rod for the trunk, noticed the real car has one.  Taillights, they are not correct, would be easier to make little round lights, like what the VW Bus had.  I never really liked the taillights, the sedan are better looking.  They also tacked on the tiny reflectors, why did Mercedes do that?

[Bugatti Fan]

Kurt, your model is coming along amazingly well. Your subtle customising of a classic Merc looks good.

I was intrigued by the spring loaded work holder that was holding the chassis underpinnings to your model. Is it a PCB rotating holder or something else that you adapted? It's just like having an extra pair of hands on your worktop!

Edited June 26, 2022 by Bugatti Fan

[David G.]

Great looking mockup!

David G.

[slusher]

Excellent work and detail Kurt, I look forward too the rest buddy!

[dino246gt]

Wow, I love all the extras you're doing!

I also love photos of parts layouts, very cool!

Cheers!

 

[89AKurt]

15 hours ago, Bugatti Fan said:

Kurt, your model is coming along amazingly well. Your subtle customising of a classic Merc looks good.

I was intrigued by the spring loaded work holder that was holding the chassis underpinnings to your model. Is it a PCB rotating holder or something else that you adapted? It's just like having an extra pair of hands on your worktop!

I found that on eBay, there are numerous vendors, I simply picked the best price plus shipping, search 'computer circuit board jig'.  Thank you for the comment.

11 hours ago, David G. said:

Great looking mockup!

Thanks!

8 hours ago, slusher said:

Excellent work and detail Kurt, I look forward too the rest buddy!

Thanks for your support!

4 hours ago, dino246gt said:

Wow, I love all the extras you're doing!

I also love photos of parts layouts, very cool!

Cheers!

Thank you!  Some projects that I've made a bunch of parts for, getting this extra step with photos.

Committed to doing custom taillights.  Picked 4 rings left on the Replicas & Miniatures of MD supply for the size.   I used the calipers as a reference point, then measured from the outside, but after drilling the little center hole, I noticed the left side is closer to the crease, and the second coat of surfacer shouted screw up, so that side is getting redone. 🤬  Found a better copy of the fuel filler, got that painted.

Throwing this in here to fill space.  My dad was a Park Ranger at Zion N.P. (before I was born), worked the east entrance.  There was a rally that came through, so he took pictures.  Think the 190 sedan is why he got one just before I showed up.

[Bugatti Fan]

Kurt, I thought that it might be a PCB jig. Thanks for confirming and for where to look on the web.

[89AKurt]

My OCD is getting worse. 😅  Had to try and fix it, it's a little better but good enough for government work.

Got the plate, kit box and headlights printed to scale, sprayed clear gloss before cutting.  Glued the license to aluminum plate, that's done.  Used the calipers to clamp the box sides for gluing.

Heated clear plastic sheet over the range, then pulled down over marbles to make the headlight covers.

Used the circle template to scribe the covers, then it took forever to sand to size.

 

 

[Mattilacken]

Beautiful work! Keep it up! 

[89AKurt]

12 hours ago, Mattilacken said:

Beautiful work! Keep it up! 

Thank you.  But I have my limits...... 🙁

Thought I would add the spears that were on the famous Mexico race 300SL (which doesn't have the famous buzzard bars).

Tried out this paint, mistake #1 is to use paint without trying first on something else.

First sign of failure, the paint came off the Bare-Metal foil, and then some peeled off the body.   I also don't like how splotchy it looks.  So more take 2 steps forward, 3 steps back, will sand down this area, redo the surfacer (I love this paint), then the blue, and then I'm going to use the same paint that the interior is done with, that will tie it together better anyway.  I should also refine the headrest part better too.  So into the pickup cab this went to promote curing.

[89AKurt]

Is this typical with customizing, you think it looks fine, then soon as it's painted, flaws shout HEY LOOK OVER HERE YOU MISSED THIS SPOT!!  Will need to work on the headrest part some more and paint again.

Started the trunk prop rod.  Will bend the 90º when I get the body on again.  It will be adjustable, wire insulation will keep it in place.  Glued wire mesh behind the grill.