Pierre Rivard Posted April 19 Share Posted April 19 Often called the greatest race ever, the 1955 Mille Miglia was famously won by Sir Stirling Moss (and navigator Dennis Jenkinson) with a record time of 10h07m and unbelievable average speed of 99mph. The main competition came from the powerful Ferraris of Castoletti and Taruffi (both retired) as well as Hermann's 300SLR (crash) which helped Fangio land second place with a time of 10h39. So it looks like Fangio took a beating from Moss (his young protégé) but the story has more nuance. Moss had the help of a navigator and MB's strategy was to send Moss out as the rabbit to force Ferraris to chase and break down (which they did). Fangio was to take a more reasonable pace and ensure a finish. On top of that, Fangio did not have help of a navigator and a broken fuel feed forced him to run on 7 cylinders for about half of the distance. That to me represents a performance as worthy as the Moss win. I started with the Revell/Monogram kit (not an easy one...) and modified it represent the 658 entry (one occupant configuration and wrap around wind screen). Some detailing was added to the chassis and engine and weathering was done to represent the car at the end or the race (lots of oil, soot and dust). All finishes and weathering were done with brushes. Decals from Indycal and the formidable wire wheels were printed special order by Jason Hupin (JackModeling). 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drodg Posted April 19 Share Posted April 19 Fabulous build. Congratulations Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1959scudetto Posted April 19 Share Posted April 19 With your fine detailing and excellent weathering you really brought this kit to life and turned it into a remarkable model, Pierre ! Juan would be pleased to see it - very realistic ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Chernosky Posted April 19 Share Posted April 19 A masterpiece of re-engineering and finishing skills. Very well done. Congratulations on another finished project Pierre. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkJ Posted April 19 Share Posted April 19 Another unbelievably awesome build from your bench, Pierre. Your mastery of weathering is better than I've seen anywhere else and so realistic and not overdone to the point of not being believable. It truly looks like you went back in time and obtained the real winning car and shrunk it down to 1/24 scale. And you always pick subject matter that is so interesting to learn and marvel at how back in 1955 such complex high-powered machinery was already in use and could take the high-speed beating that they took and still finish after 10 hours and a few minutes of utter machine breaking abuse by the super talented and brave drivers of the time. Thank you so much for building this project and sharing it with us mere mortals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim B Posted April 19 Share Posted April 19 Beautiful Mercedes. Very well done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
echo Posted April 19 Share Posted April 19 What a nicely done replica. Superb craftsmanship. Weathering is spot on and definitely sets it apart. Well done ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papajohn97 Posted April 19 Share Posted April 19 One of the best weathered race cars I’ve seen, you’ve mastered the “less is more” art to weathering. The right side with the exhaust soot is particularly nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger U Posted April 19 Share Posted April 19 Beautiful model. The detailing and the paint/weathering are very realistic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bondo bill Posted April 20 Share Posted April 20 Sweet build love the finish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre Rivard Posted April 20 Author Share Posted April 20 19 hours ago, drodg said: Fabulous build. Congratulations Thanks for stopping by, comments much appreciated 19 hours ago, 1959scudetto said: With your fine detailing and excellent weathering you really brought this kit to life and turned it into a remarkable model, Pierre ! Juan would be pleased to see it - very realistic ! Thanks my friend, it was a long journey but worth it. Now I need something a bit more relaxing. Looking into the Tamiya stash...😁 19 hours ago, Rich Chernosky said: A masterpiece of re-engineering and finishing skills. Very well done. Congratulations on another finished project Pierre. Absolutely right Rich, one of these that looked more toy than model and the whole assembly sequence made no sense. Re-engineered it definitely was. 16 hours ago, MarkJ said: Another unbelievably awesome build from your bench, Pierre. Your mastery of weathering is better than I've seen anywhere else and so realistic and not overdone to the point of not being believable. It truly looks like you went back in time and obtained the real winning car and shrunk it down to 1/24 scale. And you always pick subject matter that is so interesting to learn and marvel at how back in 1955 such complex high-powered machinery was already in use and could take the high-speed beating that they took and still finish after 10 hours and a few minutes of utter machine breaking abuse by the super talented and brave drivers of the time. Thank you so much for building this project and sharing it with us mere mortals. Indeed an very interesting subject matter with such an historic race and Mercedes pulling out at end of season after the Le Mans tragedy. This car had to be part of my "stable" but man dit it push my limits. At least 3 times I seriously considered pulling the plug. 16 hours ago, Jim B said: Beautiful Mercedes. Very well done. Thank you Jim 16 hours ago, echo said: What a nicely done replica. Superb craftsmanship. Weathering is spot on and definitely sets it apart. Well done ! Thank you Ed. The kit has some issues but it can be built into a reasonably good replica. 15 hours ago, papajohn97 said: One of the best weathered race cars I’ve seen, you’ve mastered the “less is more” art to weathering. The right side with the exhaust soot is particularly nice. Thanks John. The weathering was the scary part for me but since I was not super pleased with the paint job I decided to have a go at it. 13 hours ago, Roger U said: Beautiful model. The detailing and the paint/weathering are very realistic. Thank you Roger 10 hours ago, bondo bill said: Sweet build love the finish Thank you Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gramps46 Posted April 20 Share Posted April 20 Congratulations on bringing this model to an outstanding conclusion. Sharing your techniques and progress was certainly appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bytownshaker Posted April 20 Share Posted April 20 Absolutely Stunning build !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjohan Posted April 20 Share Posted April 20 All possible compliments (and a few more x 2) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yeah Nah Posted April 20 Share Posted April 20 Wow! Simply stunning in every aspect Pierre. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kolu Posted April 21 Share Posted April 21 The two Ferraris and this are wonderful , Bravo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1hobby1 Posted April 21 Share Posted April 21 Wow. Amazing build. The weathering is top notch! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TransAmMike Posted April 21 Share Posted April 21 Ditto on the amazing, what a great job you did Pierre👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckyg1 Posted April 22 Share Posted April 22 Really nice. The attention to detail and the weathering make this build outstanding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phildaupho Posted April 22 Share Posted April 22 Historic in all respects Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre Rivard Posted April 22 Author Share Posted April 22 On 4/20/2024 at 11:43 AM, Gramps46 said: Congratulations on bringing this model to an outstanding conclusion. Sharing your techniques and progress was certainly appreciated. Thank you Gary. Your passion for the historic grand races and creativity in creating good replica from humble kits have encouraged me to follow a similar path. On 4/20/2024 at 12:16 PM, bytownshaker said: Absolutely Stunning build !!! merci Edgar for following and providing support. On 4/20/2024 at 1:43 PM, kjohan said: All possible compliments (and a few more x 2) Thank you Gunnar On 4/20/2024 at 6:24 PM, Yeah Nah said: Wow! Simply stunning in every aspect Pierre. Thanks Garry 16 hours ago, Kolu said: The two Ferraris and this are wonderful , Bravo. Indeed, the era was rich with so many wonderful Italian race cars, and a few German one as well. 14 hours ago, 1hobby1 said: Wow. Amazing build. The weathering is top notch! Thank you Steve. Weathering is a mix of washes, Tamiya weathering masters and dry pigments. I was a bit scared to try it but it worked out pretty good. 12 hours ago, TransAmMike said: Ditto on the amazing, what a great job you did Pierre👍 Thank you Mike 11 hours ago, Chuckyg1 said: Really nice. The attention to detail and the weathering make this build outstanding. Yes, lots of work on getting the right details incorporated. A lot of these older simpler kits can be turned into good replicas. 6 hours ago, Phildaupho said: Historic in all respects Thanks Phil. I could not pass up on a replica of this famous race and happy I chose the easily forgotten second place finisher... who happens to be one of my all time favorite driver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave B Posted April 23 Share Posted April 23 Looks great Pierre, especially the weathering. It's also nice to see something other than the Moss/Jenkinson 300SLR. Dave B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chinacar Posted April 23 Share Posted April 23 Top shelf stuff...I can smell the oil and the gas when I look at this model. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rattlecan Dan Posted April 23 Share Posted April 23 Outstanding! What a great addition to your trophy case. Brilliant paint and detail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre Rivard Posted April 25 Author Share Posted April 25 On 4/23/2024 at 12:09 AM, Dave B said: Looks great Pierre, especially the weathering. It's also nice to see something other than the Moss/Jenkinson 300SLR. Dave B Thanks Dave. I wanted a different look for this one than the usual Moss/Jenkinson plus I'm a huge Fangio fan and I have a habit of complicating things for myself...so still no OOB project for me. On 4/23/2024 at 2:28 AM, Chinacar said: Top shelf stuff...I can smell the oil and the gas when I look at this model. Thank you Alex, that's what I was trying to do with this, grimy smelly end of race look. On 4/23/2024 at 7:58 PM, Rattlecan Dan said: Outstanding! What a great addition to your trophy case. Brilliant paint and detail. Thank you Donato. Blood, sweat and tears on this one. I need a more straightforward project for my next build. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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