VRM

Foxer, The engine-turned area is about 4.5 inches by 5.5 inches and will be silver chrome - it is actually pretty big and will cover a lot of area. The strip is a small band on one side. Here is a close up pic of one of the 1/24th Midget sheets. You can check out other decals here: http://www.v-r-m.com/decals.html

Hey Gang, I'm working up the chrome silver engine turned decal sheet and I have a strip down the side that I would like to fill with some hot rod chrome details. I already have things like a skull/crossbones, Maltese cross, some old style Ford V8s, old script Fords (with and without blue oval), spider, blue dot rings (for Rep and Mins blue dots), and may do some chrome flames. I even have a reclining lady like on the truck mud flaps, but not sure she is going to make the final cut... The engine turned decals will be great for firewalls, dashboards, etc. Any input and ideas would be helpful. BTW - please do not suggest factory stock stuff - that will be on the same print set and Camaro, Barracuda, Mustang, and Corvette are first up. A few other things are also planned for later releases. For those not aware, I produce waterslide decals but mine are professionally printed, not ALPS ones. Thanks all, Steve D.

They use T-426 as redlines (and they are good - I have the RR kit), but they only list them as whitewalls. I would repaint them anyway.

No worries Maxx...you will like this kit a lot. Be forewarned - the tolerance between panels (hood and doors) is REALLY precise. Make sure you consider paint thickness when you are doing paint prep.

Maxx - sorry, the Tamiya kit is all new. The old Revell Germany that was posted is (I think) the old Heller version.

Nope - definitely not the Italeri 1/24th. That kit did not have opening doors. The Heller and AMT versions had opening doors. The Heller version had wheels with vent holes too close to the hub just like the one in the pic. The Heller also had a front clip you had to attach (2 piece body as described). My money is on the 1/24th Heller.

Yeah, he gave me two sets of the copied AMT versions, but they are smaller (1/25th), and do not really look right for the Tam kit. I gave him a Tam kit at the NNL and he was going to see what he could do. Did he make a new pattern for 1/24th? I also told him about the Dunlops (which are nice in the kit, but not really accurate). The Engleberts in the 250TR would be fine (and is what he used for the 250 TdF). I know I have a set of Continentals somewhere, but I'm not exactly sure where. I might post a pic of the copied Rudges later this weekend. Steve

Yeah, I had two SLs at the show yesterday - they lasted all of 45 minutes. The Strawberry Red paint lasted about 2 hours. A Tamiya SWB??? wow......I have 2 SLs for myself right now and will probably end up with 5-6. I could easily see a couple cases of SWBs ending up in my stash. Good to see you at the NNL yesterday Bill - thanks for the stories... Steve

Skip - I never said they could not be ordered with them, I said that my sources state that they never left the factory with them, thus the phrase 'not a factory option'.. Nothing you have posted contradicts anything I have posted. Either way - building a model as factory built or as invoiced and delivered is really splitting hairs. Personally, I'm going with factory built because that is the reference material I have.

Skip, My sources definitively state that production cars never left the factory with chrome wheels or whitewalls, and says that all wheels were painted body colour. That does not mean that they were not available - the wheels were made under licence in Germany by Kromprinz. BMW, Mercedes, Facel Vega all used them. Mercedes used a more robust version, though they look identical. Hans Stucks 507 (later owned by Elvis) raced with MB Rudge wheels because of the strength. The alloy car you are probably talking about is 55-208. It was originally built with Rudge wheels, but not chrome ones. They were replaced with chrome (probably when it went through Hoffmans NY dealership) as invoiced and delivered to California. The show cars were another matter - the '54 car did have chrome wheels, but it is also not defined as a 'production' car and not listed as such in the factory records. The chrome wheels were never a factory option, but they were certainly a dealer option that a lot of buyers went for. I would imagine that whitewalls would have been the same sort of upgrade done at a dealer. Steve D.

Well, the factory can restore a car just like anybody. There are things that the factory never did originally that many restorers have done. For example, none of the cars originally had chrome wheels. None were also originally equipped with whitewalls. Recently companies like Ferrari and MB have created restorations shops that are capable of restoring a car exactly as it originally left the factory.

Mine arrived today and I have been going over it slowly. Other than the bits I mentioned before the only new thing I have noticed is that the rear fender 'eyebrow' seems to be slightly sloped down at the back more than it should be. It could be a scale illusion and I have not measured anything yet, but it just looks a bit off. I will admit to a bit of irritation at the wheel covers. I will need to figure out a way to mask the chrome band and prime/paint just the top section either over the chrome plating or by stripping the plating just on the top. Grrr.... Tyres are no-name, but the tread pattern is really close to a Dunlop R5 (which was not available until '57 or '58 I think). Almost all Gullwings were originally equipped with Continentals, though some did have Dunlops. Dont let these nits stop you from getting this kit. The frame and suspension look fantastic. I picked up the Strawberry Red metallic and will hopefully do a test mix this weekend.

The things I have seen so far in the photos and instruction sheet that are bugging me are: 1. Speakers, but no radio. 2. No backs to the seat. 3. No tie down rail in the rear section of the interior. None of these will stop me from getting a few though. The Rudge wheels look like they will be easy to do, and Historic Racing Miniatures will likely do a set of inserts to use with the existing wheel.

I have some on order - they are being shipped from Russia!

Let me mix some up and test shoot it to make sure it works - then I will have it at the NNL or by request at my website.

Well, I'm planning on the silver #7 LeMans car, a strawberry, a bright blue alloy body car (Mustang grabber Blue is a near perfect match), the John Fitch #417, a couple of Sebring cars, Tim Flocks Nasscar, and a shocking one that is actually factory. And I might do Natalie Woods car...

Well, I have some good news...I will be picking up some paint next week. I already have the DB-180 Silver, but I will be adding the DB-543 Strawberry Red Metallic and should have some of both at the NNL East. Interestingly, Natalie Wood owned one of the roadsters and she had it repainted pink shortly after delivery. The interior was left as original - bright red. The car has been restored to the original silver blue metallic, but for you folks wanting an 'interesting' looking car...

Hey Bill - give credit where credit is due...Vic Laskorski did the first 85%. He did the same for Brads 300 SLR, and some other things that Brad has in the 'I'll get to it' pile (Filioinetti and NART Corvettes come to mind). Steve

Ok - I have an update on this. Still no price yet as parts are still being worked out, but hopefully soon. It has been tweaked to use the AMT '67 as a transkit. It will also include single and dual exhaust tips, more accurate seats, separate grille and bumper. There is also more detail on the door panels. The downside is that it might not be ready for sale at the NNL East, but the delay will be worth it.

Nope - those are high res Cartograf printed with foil for the emblems. I'm going to have to make a couple of corrections to the plaid if I do a 300SL set. That yellow stripe must bleach out after 5 minutes in the sun. Steve

Skip - great minds... I like it, but I have never seen any of the blue version with a yellow stripe. Do you have patterns for the red and green? I may do a seat plaid run (and would have to tone down the white background a bit). Steve

I've already done one of the plaids. The plaid was designed for the Revell SLR. And there are chrome decal emblems and really good instruments. The instruments were designed to work with the Italeri version of the SL (in addition to the ones for the SLR).

These are all of the standard colours, plus special order light blue and green metallic. This covers the '57 coupes as well, but does not include roadsters. Light blue and green metallic were special order, but there were a lot of them. Code Colour Number Built DB-180 Silver-Grey Met 530 DB-50 White 158 DB-534 Fire Engine Red 155 DB-190 Graphite Grey 108 DB-40 Black 101 DB-608 Ivory 70 DB-158 White-Grey 67 DB-353* Light Blue Met 64 DB-334 Light Blue 27 DB-274* Light Green met 19 DB-543 Strawberry Red Met 14 DB-166 Blue-Grey 4 Incidentally Maxx...The Tim Flock car was DB-50 with a red interior. And yes, I will do the decals. They will be on the first German racing sheet. Skip, Does your BMW 507 it have the Rudge wheels? My box art with the red/black hardtop shows them, but does not actually have them. I have a pattern maker and caster all lined up to make and cast Rudge wheels for the Tamiya. I have 3-4 of the Italeri kits - this seems like a pretty significant improvement based on the pics of the Tamiya.

I have the owners edition of the Anthony Pritchard book Gullwing - it lists every car with its paint code and interior info as it left the factory. Most were the MB silver or Ivory. There were a fair number of light metallic blue and red cars, but there were only 12 in Strawberry Red met. Black was pretty rare. I think there were 3 or 4 different shades of green used, but they were pretty rare also. I'm doing one in the rarest shade of all of the factory ones though - just 1 car. Just to make things interesting I will send a set of my 300SLR decals (which include chrome emblems and seat plaid) to the person who first posts the paint code (it will look like DB-xxx, where the x are numbers). It is a very early car, number 16 to be exact, but you will have to sleuth out the rest. There are 2 clues in that last sentence. I will post another clue tomorrow if nobody gets it. Steve

The ones from Missing Link are fantastic!