Mercedes Benz 300 SL Gullwing n° 417, class winner of 1955 Mille Miglia - Based on the Tamiya 1:24 kit

[CrazyCrank]

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

Edited September 8, 2022 by CrazyCrank

[PappyD340]

Very nice!!

[Dann Tier]

Fantastically beautiful details!!

[ChrisR]

Looks great!!!

[sjordan2]

Spectacular. The plaid pattern on the seats is dead-on; how did you make it? It took me a long time to re-create it on my computer.

[CrazyCrank]

17 minutes ago, sjordan2 said:

Spectacular. The plaid pattern on the seats is dead-on; how did you make it? It took me a long time to re-create it on my computer.

I don't get credit for that.
Not owning a colour inkjet printer, there was no point in trying to recreate the pattern of this fabric on the computer.
So I turned to decal makers and found my match at Blue Stuff. (This website)
The design is excellent.
Unfortunately the decals are of very poor quality and tear into a thousand pieces very easily despite the constant supply of fabric softener. It took me 2 boards to get the result you can see.
 

Thanks for your kind comment

 

[CrazyCrank]

On 9/9/2022 at 2:08 AM, PappyD340 said:

Very nice!!

 

On 9/9/2022 at 2:39 AM, Dann Tier said:

Fantastically beautiful details!!

 

20 hours ago, ChrisR said:

Looks great!!!

Thanks you guys for your kind comments and praises, much appreciated

 

[1959scudetto]

Another wonderful built from you - looks like the real thing!

A fitting tribute to the late John Fitch and this rather forgotten car (everybody mentions the winning SLR of Moss/Jenkinson adn this is often overseen)

[Beamerman]

Awesome! Really a great Job. iI love it!

[ATHU]

Beautiful!!

[CrazyCrank]

On 9/10/2022 at 1:25 PM, 1959scudetto said:

Another wonderful built from you - looks like the real thing!

A fitting tribute to the late John Fitch and this rather forgotten car (everybody mentions the winning SLR of Moss/Jenkinson adn this is often overseen)

 

On 9/10/2022 at 9:03 PM, Beamerman said:

Awesome! Really a great Job. iI love it!

 

On 9/11/2022 at 9:08 AM, ATHU said:

Beautiful!!

Thanks a lot guys door your kind comments and interest for my builds

Stay connected for the current one: BMW 507 ?

[Pierre Rivard]

Félicitations Thierry!

This is a worderfully detailed model...or models. The chassis itself is a wonderful model. It took 2 kits but definitely worth it.

[CrazyCrank]

27 minutes ago, Pierre Rivard said:

Félicitations Thierry!

This is a worderfully detailed model...or models. The chassis itself is a wonderful model. It took 2 kits but definitely worth it.

Merci Pierre

Yes it took two kits, as usual when I decide to over-detail my model, or modify their bodywork,  if I make some irreparable mistakes...

Nice to see here a  Quebecer. My younger son live in Montreal too, and we visit him regularly, next time in January ?

[drifterdon]

Such a beautiful build.   Your level of detail is amazing.   I love the low angle photos.   Gives the car an agressive stance.  Well done!

[CrazyCrank]

2 hours ago, drifterdon said:

Such a beautiful build.   Your level of detail is amazing.   I love the low angle photos.   Gives the car an agressive stance.  Well done!

Thank you so much @drifterdon for this kind praise

 

[slusher]

Beautiful and impressive!

[Paul Waymouth]

Amazing work, your dedication and time spent to get this right has really paid off. Admirable commitment 

[CrazyCrank]

On 9/25/2022 at 7:05 AM, slusher said:

Beautiful and impressive!

Thank you very much

On 9/27/2022 at 2:04 AM, Paul Waymouth said:

Amazing work, your dedication and time spent to get this right has really paid off. Admirable commitment 

Thank you so much for this praise

 

[Bainford]

Great looking Merc. Nice work on getting the race car details right. I love the colour. It has that gritty, period race car look. I like the idea of displaying a second chassis with the completed kit. I purchased two Tamiya 300SL kits to do just that. Nice work here, great looking period racer.

[CrazyCrank]

On 10/17/2022 at 3:05 PM, Bainford said:

Great looking Merc. Nice work on getting the race car details right. I love the colour. It has that gritty, period race car look. I like the idea of displaying a second chassis with the completed kit. I purchased two Tamiya 300SL kits to do just that. Nice work here, great looking period racer.

Thank you so much for this huge praise

 

[absmiami]

Yup. Enjoyed this build on BritModeler ….

[stavanzer]

These are such Awesomely Detailed & Beautiful Builds, that words fail me. I'm stunned!

[Jim B]

Great looking Mercedes.  Very well done.

[CrazyCrank]

3 hours ago, stavanzer said:

These are such Awesomely Detailed & Beautiful Builds, that words fail me. I'm stunned!

Thanks a lot for this great comment ?

2 hours ago, Jim B said:

Great looking Mercedes.  Very well done.

Thank you so much for this praise ?

[Phildaupho]

Magnifique It is wonderful seeing the chassis and running gear as a separate model. I have visited the world class 300SL restoration shop in my area and have seen real Gullwings together like in your photos.