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Posted (edited)

If you were a German industrialist or Saudi prince in the 80s, just walking into a Mercedes dealer and leaving with a bog-standard car was out of the question. To fulfill this need for exclusivity, companies like AMG, Duchatelet and Lorinser were there for you. Modifications ran from simple body kits to Testarossa strakes and gullwing doors, car phones to stereos that took up the entire dash. 

Tamiya's kit of the Mercedes 500SEC came out in 1982 and was a high water mark for their 1/24 efforts. A year later they reissued it as the Lorinser version, representing a lightly modified car from a tuner that tended to focus on appearance and comfort modifications. Newly-tooled parts included the body kit, very nice BBS "Mahle" wheels, and interior parts including Recaro seats and a Telefunken car phone. Sadly, this version has never been reissued. They go for silly eBay money these days but I got a good deal for this one at a show a few years ago.

I wanted to have fun with colors and finishes with this build. Paint color is Tamiya Mica Red over their pink primer. I used Mr. Model upholstery decals for the seat and door inserts. Since the interior is very visible I added a cord for the car phone as well as removing the molded mesh in the head rests and replacing it with real mesh. Burl wood was replicated with swirled Tamiya browns with a top coat of clear orange.

I added mild weathering to the chassis as well as the engine, which received a 3D printed distributor. Aftermarket details for the exterior were limited to a photoetched 3-pointed star on the trunk lid as well as USCP 3D printed valve stems. I'm debating adding a proper antenna for the car phone, which would be ugly but accurate. 

On to the (many) pics!

 

PXL_20241127_170021289.jpg.f4ad85521963e70978b47b0d19b5b6b1.jpgPXL_20241127_202801000.jpg.9f8861c1093e9e57ce61f146cba699d0.jpgPXL_20241207_013633387.jpg.5c847fdbb37a1235cf589e4029dad375.jpgPXL_20241211_141010748.thumb.jpg.fcb7210c16ad67fba1498157857c0278.jpgPXL_20241211_140944163.thumb.jpg.6c69803dfa3d2a0eeffff9cc45e3a2da.jpgPXL_20241211_140855047.jpg.d76c5fdc4f0bc4e36a5b3cd4a90bc0c5.jpgPXL_20241211_140825996.jpg.6654d10dbb26b945f4d6af4f1006a4d3.jpgPXL_20241211_140749016.jpg.03247f0a044812742864818b61baf911.jpgPXL_20241211_1408327472.jpg.4505f3cd98871beb577a6602c8f02bb0.jpgPXL_20241211_140757961.jpg.f2d242ace35e9fb2e309d1fc5e8b4288.jpgPXL_20241211_140731680.jpg.3bff444b3fe507786cc88532084a421b.jpgPXL_20241211_1407361192.jpg.a25a9a6ac27d77667055d7080ab880bb.jpgPXL_20241211_140720511.jpg.4b557d3c733100fc96542152bb05f5a5.jpgPXL_20241211_140716566.jpg.7fe64a610232c29a66cafa2c6a483bff.jpgPXL_20241211_140708088.jpg.a2698b4be0ea36985456147943a0345d.jpgPXL_20241211_140656128.jpg.949490b01d89907d9f6b28d4c5cfd138.jpgPXL_20241211_140635319.jpg.06191cb30b91b0632bd0ce9077062189.jpgPXL_20241211_140624578.jpg.8e2d66f8b519dc1c8b3ec0fed4c3a183.jpgPXL_20241211_1406120572.jpg.d0695617d51ebdfe9ba6fc21d0fad443.jpgPXL_20241211_140545445.jpg.16944ffcbb1ae229734e918c5c95b375.jpgPXL_20241211_1405417742.jpg.adfb874bd16839f5dacf0f8a148b234b.jpg

Edited by jaymcminn
  • Like 18
Posted
1 hour ago, bh1701 said:

Outstanding model. I especially like the interior!

Bart

Thanks Bart! I'd love to do another one of these up as a convertible conversion. The interior of this kit puts most modern kits to shame!

24 minutes ago, athlon said:

Very nice and clean build, love the colors. The SEC has always been one of my favorites every since I was a kid.

Agreed. I was in the market for a "weekend toy" a few years back and really wanted an SEC. Online research and common sense intervened before I did something expensive and stupid!

8 minutes ago, Rob Hall said:

Beautiful build...my favorite era of Mercedes. I have this kit in my to-build stash. 

Thanks Rob! You won't be disappointed when you get to it. The only thing I did fitment-wise was to take about 1/16 inch off of the hub/poly cap carriers to get the wheels to tuck in a little bit. The taillights needed a fair amount of sanding down to reduce the height as well. There's a lot of prep involved in getting the trim sharp and the body ripple-free but it is a 40 year old kit!

  • Like 1
Posted

Beautiful looking paint color and finish, almost looks like a candy red. The contrasting interior color and especially the seat inserts look great. Very cleanly detailed trim and engine. 

  • Like 1
Posted
2 hours ago, espo said:

Beautiful looking paint color and finish, almost looks like a candy red. The contrasting interior color and especially the seat inserts look great. Very cleanly detailed trim and engine. 

That Mica Red is an incredible color. I wasn't too sure about the pink primer but I think it really brightens it. 

2 hours ago, bbowser said:

Very nice!  I especially love the car phone, definitely a luxury status symbol in the day. 

I'm positive that this kit was modeled after a specific car. When I went down the 80's car phone research rabbithole I actually found the correct model of phone that Tamiya used here!

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