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After having built 3 Mercedes Benz 300l Gullwing, the last of which representing the one that won its class under number 417 in the famous 1955 Mille Mille race, as I had in stock this old Revell kit from 1991 started and never finished more than 25 years ago, and another one intact, I naturally decided to build it, to have the series of the two victorious Mercedes in this prestigious race, and also to complete in a way a series of emblematic cars and give them a new life, in all modesty. This model has been achieved 3 months ago and was built in a little less than 7 months, or even 5 if you exclude two months of holidays in Canada, a record for me. The true car was the overall winner of Mille Miglia 1955, driven by Sir Stirling Moss. It includes nearly 600 parts in all materials, more than 480 having been added to the 115 initial ones, of which about 50 were modelled and 3D printed, and the rest scratch-built. I didn't count the time spent, not being a professional modeler and not intending to sell it once it was finished, but I probably spent more than 300 hours on it, counting the time spent studying the documentation, the 3D design of the parts and the realization. Not only the hood is openable, but also the driver's door, the fuel flap on left headrest, the trunk, which open simultaneously with the 2 headrests. The interior of the trunk is fully detailed, as is the engine bay, and the underside. I'm quite proud of the result, despite all its imperfections, and the few big mistakes I made that I only realized too late to correct. They will be obvious to the connoisseurs. My Mercedes Benz 300 SL and SLR cycle doesn't end with this one, as one of these days I'm going to build the 300 SLR Uhlenhaut coupe, of which one of the two authentic examples ever built was recently sold at auction for the modest sum of 135 million euros. Hope you enjoyed the journey Those who are interested can follow the assembly of this difficult model in the WIP section here: Mercedes Benz 300 SLR n° 722 - Mille Miglia 1955

Here is my interpretation of the graphite grey Mercedes Benz 300 SL Gullwing that John Fitch drove to victory in the famous "Mille Miglia" race in 1955 (5th overall and 1st in his own class GT +1.3 !). At that time, it was numbered 417 (which indicates, for the curious, the authorized starting time of this car for the race, 4 :17 AM). This model that I entirely built on a Tamiya base at 1/24 scale – with addition of more than 200 scratched, 3D printed parts, or self-made decals- is to my knowledge the second scale model in the world of this mythical car to have been entirely built by a modeler. It's been achieved last December . I was able to find this during my documentary research that the first one was built over 2 months between September and October 2015, on a FROG kit n°705 base, by a modeler named Ian, whose work is exposed on the “themotormuseumminminature.co.uk” website (link : http://www.themotormuseuminminiature.co.uk/1955-mercedes-300sl-mm-fitch.php). Ian voluntarily omitted the chassis and the engine, glued the bonnet and the rear trunk lid, and made though not only a very nice model, but a remarkable work, in spite of some mistakes and omissions, if you compare it with the pictures of this car taken during the race, some of which can be found quite easily on the Internet. I have to say that he was less lucky than me, who benefited from a wealth of advice and documents, such as those kindly and generously provided by a member of the Britmodeller.com forum, E.J Boyd, a Mercedes Benz 300 SL Gullwing enthusiast from New York. It must be said that it was Edward Boyd who suggested, not to say asked, that I make this car, after seeing my first silver Gullwing, and I gladly accepted the challenge. I didn't know yet what I was getting myself into, and had no idea of the difficulties I was going to encounter in creating or recreating certain indispensable and characteristic parts of this car. In the end, it will have cost me 2 Tamiya kits, more than 400 hours of documentary study, drawing in Fusion 360, 3D printing, assembly, a lot of hardware and supplies I didn't have, a few nervous breakdowns and a lot of beers I also discovered and sometimes mastered new techniques, which improved my modelling skills. Of course, there are still many imperfections (At least, my clear coat, which is covered with a lot of micro-scratches, because I sanded it too early after application) or mistakes on this model, but I assure you I don't intend to build it a third time. During the building, I noticed that the first chassis had a little and un-fixable defect, which would lead to the impossibility to close the bonnet. So, I built a second one, avoiding to repeat the same mistakes, and this is the one I’ve incorporated in the body of the finished model. The first bare chassis has been even more improved, and is exhibited naked below with the car. And now some pictures (Sorry for the dust particles, they wasn't visible with the naked eye nor on my iPhone's screen ) I hope you enjoyed this journey Here is my interpretation of the graphite grey Mercedes Benz 300 SL Gullwing that John Fitch drove to victory in the famous "Mille Miglia" race in 1955 (5th overall and 1st in his own class GT +1.3 !). At that time, it was numbered 417 (which indicates, for the curious, the authorized starting time of this car for the race, 4 :17 AM). This model that I entirely built on a Tamiya base at 1/24 scale – with addition of more than 200 scratched or 3D printed parts - is to my knowledge the second scale model in the world of this mythical car to have been entirely built by a modeler. I was able to find this during my documentary research that the first one was built over 2 months between September and October 2015, on a FROG kit n°705 base, by a modeler named Ian, whose work is exposed on the “themotormuseumminminature.co.uk” website (link : http://www.themotormuseuminminiature.co.uk/1955-mercedes-300sl-mm-fitch.php). Ian voluntarily omitted the chassis and the engine, glued the bonnet and the rear trunk lid, and made though not only a very nice model, but a remarkable work, in spite of some mistakes and omissions, if you compare it with the pictures of this car taken during the race, some of which can be found quite easily on the Internet. I have to say that he was less lucky than me, who benefited from a wealth of advice and documents, such as those kindly and generously provided by a member of this Britmodeller.com forum, @ejboyd5, a Mercedes Benz 300 SL Gullwing enthusiast from New York. It must be said that it was Edward Boyd who suggested, not to say asked, that I make this car, after seeing my first silver Gullwing, and I gladly accepted the challenge. I didn't know yet what I was getting myself into, and had no idea of the difficulties I was going to encounter in creating or recreating certain indispensable and characteristic parts of this car. In the end, it will have cost me 2 Tamiya kits, more than 400 hours of documentary study, drawing in Fusion 360, 3D printing, assembly, a lot of hardware and supplies I didn't have, a few nervous breakdowns and a lot of beers. I also discovered and sometimes mastered new techniques, which improved my modelling skills. Nothing would have been possible and I would not have succeeded in completing this model if I had not benefited from the support and sometimes the suggestions of all my contributors, whom I will not mention all, for fear of forgetting one, but they will recognize themselves without difficulty. I could never thank them enough for their enthusiasm and for giving me the courage to go through with it. Of course, there are still many imperfections (At least, my clear coat, which is covered with a lot of micro-scratches, because I sanded it too early after application) or mistakes on this model, but I assure you I don't intend to build it a third time. During the building, I noticed that the first chassis had a little and un-fixable defect, which would lead to the impossibility to close the bonnet. So, I built a second one, avoiding to repeat the same mistakes, and this is the one I’ve incorporated in the body of the finished model. The first bare chassis has been even more improved, and is exhibited below with the car. And now some pictures (Sorry for the dust particles, they wasn't visible with the naked eye nor on my iPhone's screen ) I hope you enjoyed this journey And I invite you to follow my thread on the assembly of this car by following this link: MB 300 SL Gullwing n° 417, class winner of Mille Miglia 1955