Mercedes Benz 300 SL Roadster (Italeri) AND Gullwing (Tamiya)

[Greasefinger]

 

Mercedes 300 SL was produced from 1954 to 1957 as a two door coupe (called "Gullwing" for obvious reasons) and from 1957 to 1963 as a roadster. A total of 1200 coupes and 1858 roadsters were ever built. The roadster came originally with a soft top, in later years an optional hard top was also available.

I built these almost back to back a few years ago. The Tamiya kit is still in production whereas the Italeri kit was harder to find. Both kits are quite accurate in detail, but the Italeri kit from 1988  had some frustrating fitting issues (warped bonnet, windshield fit not quite accurate). The Tamiya kit was one of the best, if not the best quality kits I have built so it was really a joy to just paint and put together.

The exterior colour of the roadster is Tamiya TS-8 Italian red and the Gullwing is Tamiya TS-42 Light Gun Metal. Kit chrome in the roadster, Alclad and BMF in the Gullwing.

 

Edited May 14 by Greasefinger

[SpikeSchumacher]

Very nice!

[Kit Basher]

Beautiful models! The interiors on both look really good, especially the roadster. I like the darker color for the gullwing, instead of the regular silver. I have both these kits, currently in "someday" status. I'll have a hard time reaching your standard.

[espo]

Beautiful looking paint finishes and colors. Interior looks great. 

[Roger U]

Two very nice models. The paint and interiors are beautiful on both.

[rrb124@sbcglobal.net]

So many details done well!!

[PappyD340]

Outstanding pair!!

[Dragonhawk1066]

Both look great!

[70 Sting]

Beautiful pair. Interesting colour choice on the gull wing. It’s like I’ve seen it somewhere before. 

[Perspect Scale Modelworks]

They both look great 

[ChrisR]

Looks great!

[Greasefinger]

9 hours ago, 70 Sting said:

Beautiful pair. Interesting colour choice on the gull wing. It’s like I’ve seen it somewhere before. 

Thanks, just realised where 😄 

[ncbuckeye67]

That looks amazing! 

[Phildaupho]

Congratulations for two museum quality models.

[drodg]

They are great looking builds

[Jim B]

Beautiful pair of Mercedes. Very well done. 

[slusher]

beautifully done!

[beeRS]

Side by side, these make the perfect pair. Both are fantastic 👍🏼. 

[Dragline]

Man do those look great together. Very nicely built both. Makes me want to dig out my Tamiya kit and have at it.

[Ragtop Man]

Super builds on both - I like the color selection, especially the slate on the coupe. 

Makes ya think... there was a time when you could have a show-worthy 1:1 Gullwing or Roadster for the price of a new Cadillac.  Now, literally, millions. 

I have always loved this particular car, and used to drag my father to museums just to see one.

One of my first "realistic" builds was the AMT 300 SL in the original art version. First metallic silver paint job without blotching, and I even went as far as cutting away the molded in exhaust on the chassis and replacing with a stick of plastruct.  For all the slagging over the years, mine went together pretty well, and if you are interested in the subect, early relases are not very expensive. 

Collection of things now includes the 1/12 Revell (ancient) and 1/16 Italieri (nearly as ancient) so I'll need to do some digging on YouTube to see who's taken a crack at them.

[cifenet]

Beautiful models!  Excellent work on both of 300 SLs!  
 

I also built Italeri version before Tamiya ever came out with their own and I must say Italeri kit does build into a nice replica!