sjordan2

Okay, okay. I've got the camera out, and this old baby still looks good after 40 year years. I have to wait for the rain to stop because flash shots suck. On another note about the new kit... Here are a couple of shots of the #9 car - supposedly the subject of the new kit. The radiator and shell look different to me, more smoothly arched. I have no idea about the fog lights on the second shot. No cord wrapping on the steering wheel. Cycle fenders seem to mount differently. Headlights look larger and all chrome, and I overlooked the degree of camber that these old racers had on the front wheels.

What happened to all the images?

Well, here we are 4 years after this thread was posted, and I haven't gotten any younger, and my kit interests remain pretty much the same. Even in the 50s, my modeling activities were mostly for 30s classics, which they still are, and I was annealed in the fire of Pyro kits like the Auburn Speedster, 1948 Continental, etc., and the bodaciously difficult Revell multipiece bodies of the '56 Continental and Austin-Healey 100/6. I'm still stuck in a time warp of buying older or reissued kits, since there's not much new out there that I find of interest. Can't someone issue a new large-scale kit of the ancient greats?

I think the kit was also sold under the Gabriel label. (Didn't they make shock absorbers?)

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I built this kit in 1972 with one coffee-table book to go on, and everything I know now I learned since the advent of the Internet. Take a look at John Teresi's build for lots of detail. I have some issues with authenticity there, but that's about as good as this kit gets overall.

None of this is any surprise to find on this site. Cooking is one one of the most creative disciplines out there. The Food Network, the Cooking Channel and Bravo food shows are my default channels. Cars, of course, are of interest, and I'd love to see Gordon Ramsay join the blokes on Top Gear.

Just some notes to those who haven't tried this kit... It makes a beautiful display model right out of the box. If you feel the itch for more complete detailing, you've got your work cut out for you. -- There's plenty of real car reference out there for you, and build reference from Volume 1 of Gerald Wingrove's "The Complete Car Modeller" and his website, to a downloadable superdetailing guide (not free). -- All molded mesh parts need to be replaced with real mesh: Radiator, headlight stone guards, windshield stone guards, gas tank exterior (with new underside mesh added). The kit omits a curved mesh screen that should should run over the top of the carburetors. -- When you open the bonnet, it reveals all of the space between the back of the dashboard and the firewall. If you're not faint of heart, you should add behind-the-dash wiring, which will be noticed for its absence. -- I improved the wire wheels by filing down each molded plastic wire on the outer sides. Pocher enthusiasts may want to painstakingly rebuild the wheels wire by wire. -- Cycle fenders and headlights have incredibly fragile plastic mounts. You may want to substitute metal wire.

Well, my favorite character is #6. But he drove a Lotus Seven. Anyway, I should also draw your attention to the different numbers on the registration plate. 1. The original kit was the Birkin Team car with #8 on the roundel and radiator, and a registration number of UR 6571. This is the car that is in the Ralph Lauren collection. 2. The new kit is Birkin Team car #9 with a registration number of UU 5872. Why the differences? Well, if you ask me, it could be a licensing issue with Lauren's barracuda legal guys, who are masters of licensing loopholes. He would copyright his toenail clippings if he could get away with it. In any case, here's the new kit description from a Norwegian site: "The number 9 car featured in this kit, UU5872, is the original Birkin Team Car known as ‘Birkin Blower No.2’. This is the car that made a dramatic appearance at the 1930 Le Mans 24 Hour Race. In 1929, Bentley replaced the 4.5 litre and opted to race the higher capacity Speed 6. Three ‘Birkin Blowers’ were entered to compete alongside the Bentley Speed 6s at the 1930 Le Mans. In the event, only one ‘Blower’, Birkin’s own number 2 car, started the race. Under Walter Owen Bentley’s, tactical team management, Birkin’s role was to draw the Mercedes of Carraciola and Werner into a high speed duel which he successfully achieved. The Blower lead from the start, swapping the lead with the Mercedes throughout the night, until eventually the German car withdrew with a blown engine. Birkin’s success came at a cost, as he had to retire after 20 hours with a bent valve, leaving the two Speed 6s to take first and second place. Model Scale 1:12 Number of Parts 278 Dimensions (mm)L365 x W135 Skill Level 4 Flying Hours 4 Requires Painting Yes Default Decal Paints and the Associated Accessories for this Product" So...there were five Blower Bentleys in the Birkin Team. You could build all five and pay Airfix $700!

Okay, I'll save you the suspense. Here's one of the original boxes (there have been several). As either Mr. Rogers or the Muppets used to sing, "One of these things is not like the other..."

I was at HobbyTown USA the other day and saw they had a new boxing of the Airfix 1/12 Blower Bentley ($140.00 USD). At least two things I could see are different. Can you find it? I have no idea if there are more differences in the box, and I'm not going to spend $140 to find out. [CAUTION: spoiler and answer in my next post]

Minicraft is probably best-known in the modeling world for military, aircraft and ship models. As mentioned above, a good portion of their automotive output is reboxed, reissued versions initially produced by others, with varying degrees of quality. In general, their 1/16 kits are very good. They have the only Mercedes Gullwing kit with a spaceframe (though there are some detail and minor fit issues). On the other hand, their 1/24 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud (mislabeled on my box as a 1/16 - there never was a 1/16 version) is a reissue of a very bad Hubley promo. It's pretty much a mixed bag for Minicraft cars.

This is from the prewar Mercedes expert at the Antique Automobile Club of America forum... "I can speak for the authorized agent in the United States which was Mytropia Motors located on Park Ave in NY city. All MB cars could be special ordered, however the lesser models 320 and below tended to be standard catalog versions that Mytropia would have in stock. That stock was not large and I doubt there were ever more than 4 or 5 cars of all models on hand at the dealership at any one time. Mytropia could perform some minor customizations in house. Any and all of the range of models could be custom ordered and i would say probably 1/3 were. As for the 500k/540k models, many were custom ordered. Considering the fact that the cars had to be sent by steamship from Europe in the U.S. this was a lengthy affair. Customers would specify a number of custom touches and order sheets could indicate chromium plated wheel spokes. If you thumb through either Melin Volume I would guess 30% of the 500k/540k cars had them from the factory. That is just off the top of my head from memory." As for "who would know?" this is a very famous car that was the subject of a feature story in February in Town & Country magazine, about which I started a thread here describing its precarious fate. It has been living for over 40 years in a tinderbox of an exotic car salvage yard in South Central L.A., where the heirs of its owner, Rudi Klein, have rejected all offers for sale and even free restoration. My contact at the Mercedes factory Classic Center, who has been leading the negotiations to buy it, just told me he has given up.

As I posted above in the images I showed, the original Caracciola coupe in 1935 (one of 3 built) clearly didn't have chrome wheels, like its later restored and more tricked-out version that I also posted (and was the basis for the Jo-Han kit). The guys at the AACA forum would let me have it for chrome wheels and whitewalls . I think I'll go with metallizer paint.

The 500K and 540K were available as catalog production cars with a variety of options, but as Road & Track noted (Nov. 1969), "these were limited edition cars, often built to special order, and variations abound." Which, I guess, means they weren't only built to order. There's no telling how many of today's survivors and restored vehicles bear much relationship to their original state as delivered (and Mercedes won't give you the records and build sheets unless you can prove you own the car in question. This is a security measure, and is intended to protect privacy and avoid theft and counterfeiting).

True. You could get almost anything you wanted as a special option. They weren't shipped from the factory as normal equipment, though.

Terrific. What did you use to paint the steering wheel?

I see so many posts on here about why manufacturers would make it so hard to pay for and get licensing for model kits. Forget about "free advertising." It isn't there. Listen, the manufacturers make tons of money from licensing their logo to a million different entities, and model kits are not at the top of their list. They don't see it as "free advertising," which they don't need at all, but as an income opportunity. Just stop thinking about the supposed advantages, which don't exist.

I don't think that's necessarily a "rules" thing which is not intuitive, because it's not a prescribed "rule" that tells you what you can or cannot do. I think it's a "how to use the forum" thing, and it took me a really long time to discover it and how it works.

My preferences for PM are set to send them to my main e-mail inbox and to pop up when I access the forum. And I'm no forum or Internet expert. Also, check out the e-mail envelope icon at the right top of your pages. There will be a red box with a number telling you how many PMs you have.

I was in HobbyTown yesterday and was looking at their diecast car section. I noticed that, particularly on the American Muscle series, the chrome window trim around the windows and other chrome accents (not separate parts, but painted on) had nearly perfect chrome finishes. Any idea what paint they use? Is this part of a reaction to baking on the overall paint finish?

For those of you who use Dawn Power Dissolver to strip paint, guess what? Its intended use is to clean pots and pans like this. Works for me.

I needed the right shade of red for carpeting for a vintage Mercedes. At Hobby Lobby yesterday, I found a large Christmas bow with a faux velvet finish and thin plastic backing. Perfect. (Christmas supplies seem to be a permanent department at Hobby Lobby.)

I'm good at a lot of different recipes, but my passion used to be grilling and smoking meats. Since moving into an apartment, however, I had to give it up since the local fire codes prohibit grills on apartment decks and patios. (Thanks to those who left their grills unattended and burned down apartment buildings, thereby killing people. How inconvenient.)

Just excellent. Before I saw the model in Kate's hands, I thought it might be the 1/12 Airfix/MPC version (which, incidentally, has just been reissued by Airfix at $140.00).

Who'da thunk you could make a distributor out of hot dogs and spaghetti?