Mercedes Benz SSK

[Pierre Rivard]

I need a solution for the radiator grille which is so prominent on this car. The kit rad grille does not have the right mesh pattern plus an extra part for a stone guard with a pattern that appears a bit heavy to my eye. I'll definitely dump that part and and would prefer to apply steel meshing right over the radiator/grille unit. I have 40 mesh and 80 mesh in my tool box so I will test with both before making a more precise unit after choosing which of the two is the better candidate. Again here I aim more for realism than accuracy. Don't hesitate to offer ideas or opinions. This is work in progress.

 

Edited February 3 by Pierre Rivard

[1959scudetto]

The finer mesh looks better to me.

[MarkJ]

Either one looks better than the one in the kit.  Awesome way to get the mesh to fit using the masking tape. I personally like the finer mesh but whatever an actual race version looked like would be the way to go. Do you have a ref picture close up of the race version grille? 

[Pierre Rivard]

Here are period pictures of the car, preferable IMO to what we may see on big bucks restored cars. Top left corner is the actual grille without the stone guard and the other 3 have rather simple stone protection screens. I think the finer screen is a better fit.

 

[absmiami]

Fine pl … 

[AmericanMuscleFan]

I go with the family, I also prefer smaller meshes.

Even in the first photo, what makes up the cooling cells seems flush with the tanks, is there also a decorative grille on top?  Sorry for the potentially stupid question, I'm not an expert on cars from this era!

[Pierre Rivard]

46 minutes ago, AmericanMuscleFan said:

I go with the family, I also prefer smaller meshes.

Even in the first photo, what makes up the cooling cells seems flush with the tanks, is there also a decorative grille on top?  Sorry for the potentially stupid question, I'm not an expert on cars from this era!

It's a V shape radiator with the cooling cells flush to the front, perhaps what we see is a decorative grille but regardless the kit part did not reproduce that pattern and it is too fine to reproduce at 1/24 scale. Going with a stone guard as was commonly used for racing makes sense and is easy to reproduce.

The 80 mesh screen it is!

[Bainford]

Just catching up with this project again. Impressive work as usual, Pierre. Some top notch scratch building of detail parts. It's coming along beautifully.

 

[Pierre Rivard]

Spent time refining the grille fabrication and then installed the radiator which I should have done before the engine install... or not move the headlamp assembly back. Anyhow, found a way to squeeze it in.

 

[MarkJ]

Pierre, Wow. That grille is spectacular. The whole front of the model is as well. Really looks like the real thing shrunk down to scale. I guess that's what we all want from our builds. Superior work going on here.

[kensar]

As Mark said, that looks spectacular.

[Belugawrx]

Loving all the extra detail you're putting in this Pierre 👍

[Straightliner59]

Wow! This is really moving along! It looks marvelous, Pierre. Beautiful work.

[Pierre Rivard]

Thank you for the feedback fellows. Finally the last piece of chassis/engine fabrication: the exhaust system. I decide to modify the kit parts with styrene/putty/paint to improve the look. The kit parts have simplified the collector to a straight tube where the headers plug into but it should have leads reaching up to the headers.

First picture shows the initial design, then the rest are the modifications and painting process. The header and back end exhaust end pipe are painted 2/1 black/aluminium, muffler painted aluminium and headers are painted chrome with about 20% gold mixed in. I added a Vallejo oiled earth wash (my favorite) and just a touch of Tamiya burnt orange weathering master.

 

[1959scudetto]

Excellent, Pierre - most excellent ! the modified exhaust system looks fantastic and lifts the whole model up to another level.

Edited February 7 by 1959scudetto

[jaymcminn]

Absolutely phenomenal. It's great fun watching you beat this old Lindberg lump into an amazing replica of one of the all time classics!

[Pierre Rivard]

22 hours ago, 1959scudetto said:

Excellent, Pierre - most excellent ! the modified exhaust system looks fantastic and ifts the whole model up to another level.

Thank you Helmut. When I started this project my intent was on keeping the touring body, add better wheels and perhaps a bit more... but now 8 weeks later it appears I can't stop. I thought the exhaust was the last bit but now I am looking at the interior and don't like most of the parts. Looks like I'll be a it for a little while longer.

5 hours ago, jaymcminn said:

Absolutely phenomenal. It's great fun watching you beat this old Lindberg lump into an amazing replica of one of the all time classics!

Thanks Jay. This is my second pre-war build and I really like the looks of these chassis cars. Not a lot of kits them out there and most of them very old tools. It provides a nice challenge.

[MarkJ]

Pierre, I'm running out of words to describe the excellent work you have going on here. Those headers are a thing of beauty and so realistic looking. Like Jay said, No one would think this was a Lindberg kit when you get through with it. A lump into a replica.

[BK9300]

Beautiful modifications to your exhaust system - big improvement, Pierre!

[stavanzer]

4 hours ago, MarkJ said:

Pierre, I'm running out of words to describe the excellent work you have going on here. Those headers are a thing of beauty and so realistic looking. Like Jay said, No one would think this was a Lindberg kit when you get through with it. A lump into a replica.

Mark says it better than I can, Pierre. Just unbelievable.

[slusher]

Great work on your grill and you exhaust!

[absmiami]

What a save !!

[Pierre Rivard]

20 hours ago, MarkJ said:

Pierre, I'm running out of words to describe the excellent work you have going on here. Those headers are a thing of beauty and so realistic looking. Like Jay said, No one would think this was a Lindberg kit when you get through with it. A lump into a replica.

Thank you friend. It's kinda like this certain Camaro, when finished not much is left un-modified or not replaced with fabricated parts.

19 hours ago, BK9300 said:

Beautiful modifications to your exhaust system - big improvement, Pierre!

Not a big change but taking the time to improve all these not so accurate parts will add up to a better replica.

16 hours ago, stavanzer said:

Mark says it better than I can, Pierre. Just unbelievable.

Thank you Alan. I can't leave it alone, always something I want to change. Might have caught the Miami virus...😉

15 hours ago, slusher said:

Great work on your grill and you exhaust!

Thanks Carl, quite happy with the result.

2 hours ago, absmiami said:

What a save !!

It's that kind of build...

[Pierre Rivard]

Moving on to the interior. First job is carving up an opening in the floor to expose the top of the transmission, like the real car is. 

I then did a mock up to get the dash, steering wheel and  shifters locations marked up. It's a tight cockpit so better make sure. The steering wheel is not original... and the rest (apart from the seat) will also require some fabrication to look more like the real car.

I made the 4 pedals with little blocks of styrene, then glued meshing, which will be trimmed to size.

Next were the shifter and hand brake. Going with a pin from Michael's jewelry section for shifter and trimming down the BIG hand brake 

 

[1959scudetto]

Pierre, your controls are far superior to the original parts - be it handbrake, shifter or pedals ! Your speciality is turning a crude kit into a faithful replica, bravo ! Can't wait to see the next steps you are taking....