Something You Don't See Everyday, A Mercedes Benz Sprinter in 1/24th.

[oldcarfan]

With the heat, I've lost my ambition to build. However, sitting on the couch in the house with the A/C is not doing my ADHD any favors. Plus my wife is binge watching Friends, first to last episode. She has a few left so I escaped to the shop. It's not too bad if you start the A/C early and minimize opening the door. I did some of what my dad would have called piddling around. No real plan, just seeing where my boredom would lead. 

I really need to clean and organize my work spaces, but that involves moving around in the heat so maybe later. What I did instead was start on the MB Sprinter van that I ordered a while back. It's a 1/24th toy from Tigres in the Ukraine.     https://www.amazon.com/Tigres-Mercedes-Benz-Sprinter-Ambulance-Stand/dp/B0CCW1YD48                                                                                                                                           I got mine through Walmart online and it was cheaper than the Amazon price.

For a toy, the body works out close to scale, and is decently detailed except the side sliding doors are not depicted. The interior and chassis are not detailed, but I'm just happy someone makes a modern day van and for the price it's a good option. The body is thick ABS plastic, and the markings are all paper stickers which come off pretty easily. As you can see the body is in two parts and that's because Tigres does cab and chassis versions too. Everything is assembled with screws so I took it apart and this is what body looks like. Notice the body is close to an 1/8th inch thick, built sturdy for play, probably. The front and rear doors are hinged much like a diecast. 

I cut the back out of the cab to open it up more like a real van, then glued the two body parts together this afternoon and puttied the seam. Tomorrow I'll start some body work and see how it goes. Just a note, the plastic is tough. I can't imagine trying to open the back of the cab up without a Dremel. It took two batteries to get it done. I want to add the side door lines, but that's gonna take some serious scribing work! I'm actually feeling a little excited about this thing.

Below are a couple of 1:1 vans I'm using for inspiration. I think I'll go for a rally tow van style thing with a roof rack and bumper guard like the second picture. I'll probably keep the curbside chassis and add some detail inside. I may order a Heller car trailer to go with it. 

That's all for the moment, I'll try to stay on task and update as I go. Sorry for the picture sizes. Still haven't gotten the hang of that!

[oldcarfan]

I got a little more done today starting with gluing the cab to the rest of the body and filling the seam. In case anyone wants to build one of these, the body is made up of a cab and the rest of the body. That way they can also sell a cab and chassis toy for wreckers and stuff. The seam is right where the front of the sliding doors starts. I scribed the doors on both sides and it would have been easier if I didn't have to scribe through the putty. I started with Duplicolor gray sandable primer because it make it easier to see flaws and got the body about where it needs to be. Was planning to use Tamiya fine gray primer to finish up but both my cans were empty. That's what I get for putting them back on the shelf instead of throwing them away. Since the closest hobby shop is 2 hours away, I ran to Hobby Lobby to get a can of Mr. Surfacer. Guess what the only paint they were out of was? Luckily I came across a can of Tamiya pink primer on the shelf  I forgot about. I love the smooth finish of the Tamiya products. As for the body, here's what it currently looks like. The scribed lines are a little ragged but straight. The opening doors on the rear don't quite close all the way. I tried heating and bending them but this is ABS plastic and it doesn't seem to respond to hot water. I'll figure something out.

In the meantime I've been checking out paint schemes. I love the Rothmans and Marlboro liveries so maybe I can do something similar but with different colors? 

 

Another possibility is something like the late Ken Block's service vans.

If you want to go down a van rabbit hole try googling 'Rally team vans' or 'Dakar Rally support trucks' for some cool, different stuff. I didn't know that some European teams used GMC or Chevy vans for their support trucks. I may have to dig one of those AMT vans out of storage and give it a try. Wonder if any one makes the later style front grill?

 

 

 

Edited June 29 by oldcarfan
Reason for edit? Because most of my proof reading seems to happen after I push 'Save'

[OldNYJim]

Huh, I never saw a kit of one of these before!  Cool! 

Is there any detail on the underside at all?  Or just a flat plate?

Edited June 30 by OldNYJim

[oldcarfan]

19 hours ago, OldNYJim said:

Huh, I never saw a kit of one of these before!  Cool! 

Is there any detail on the underside at all?  Or just a flat plate?

Sadly no, the underside is basically a curbside with a vaguely done drive train. One could probably built up, but I'm just happy to have an accurate curbside to do! lol

I'm doing this one as a combination travel/rally van. I'm thinking of getting another to do a camper van. Now if only someone would do a current body-style Ford Transit and Transit Connect. 

[oldcarfan]

I'm making small progress on the van. Last night I primed it in Duplicolor white sandable and this morning the primer felt a little soft still. No problem, our high today was 97, with bright sun and low humidity. A couple hours in nature's dehydrator and the primer was good and cooked. 

This afternoon with the primer dry I went ahead and did the gray side trim and started thinking of  paint. I'm leaning towards a Marlboro scheme or something like the yellow van as I like yellow.

[OldNYJim]

3 hours ago, oldcarfan said:

Sadly no, the underside is basically a curbside with a vaguely done drive train. One could probably built up, but I'm just happy to have an accurate curbside to do! lol

Agreed - and it looks surprisingly well done!  Thanks for the heads-up on this!

[Vessey]

Looking good so far. I've been wanting to make a sprinter van conversion but haven't been keen to chop up an expensive resin kit or do a full 3D print. This toy looks like a good place to start.

[oldcarfan]

I always like to create a backstory for my builds and this is no exception. I decided this would be the tow van for a small racing and car restoration team. I've also started a trailer for the team. 

Now back to the project. The original plan was to use Tamiya Camel Yellow, but I don't have enough. I did have Krylon's Sunrise Yellow and Citrus Green though. Plus, both are the old school quick drying type of Krylon. I went with the Citrus Green over white primer and wow!  It's more yellow than green, and is close to the safety yellow of a worker's vest. It's also slightly transparent so it works best over white primer. 

Since the Citrus Green doesn't cover well, I used Duplicolor white primer over the pink Tamiya the other night. The next day I put in the sun to dry. This morning we were supposed to have light showers and clouds, but they held off and it was hot and sunny. I got impatient and made a rookie mistake. I shot the paint forgetting to fine sand the Duplicolor primer. That 'Sandable' in the name is more than just  suggestion! 

Anyway I rushed the paint, put it back in the sun, and it was dry to the touch within three hours, right before the rain. That's when I noticed the paint was a bit lumpy due to the primer. After cooking in the sun I took a chance and broke out the Micro Mesh sanding pads. It's not perfect, but it'll do. Before taking these pictures, I masked the plastic side trim and reshot it in Duplicolor Hot Rod Primer because there was some overspray. The Hot Rod Primer is a dark gray. I like using this primer on plastic trim and on resin tires as it looks like rubber that's been used a bit. 

Anyway, this is today's progress, hope you like it.  

Edited July 4 by oldcarfan

[oldcarfan]

In looking at the pictures on screen, I see some rough parts and some sink marks I missed but I don't want to start over. I'll finish polishing the paint this weekend.

Edited July 3 by oldcarfan

[89AKurt]

Great, another kit *I need*. 🙄  Hope there isn't an Overlander 4X4 version.  I see those around town and drool.  Hippie van, there's something different. 😜  So this better be good.....

[oldcarfan]

18 hours ago, Vessey said:

Looking good so far. I've been wanting to make a sprinter van conversion but haven't been keen to chop up an expensive resin kit or do a full 3D print. This toy looks like a good place to start.

If I were more detail oriented right now, I'd rehinge the front and back doors as they are done diecast style rather than prototypically correct. However I meant this to be a relatively simple build so I'm happy to ignore that issue. I originally looked at an 3D printed kit, but the price was not in my range. I came across these toys by accident and decided to take a chance and am happy with what they are. I may buy another someday and do a camper van of some sort, or use just the cab and do a Class C Motorhome.

 

 

Here's a shot of a Cab and Chassis setup.

[oldcarfan]

My wife's family is in town for the holiday and she spent the day with her sisters, so it's been quiet around here. She just called and wants to go to the Fourth of July fireworks if the weather clears up. 

Since the rain put off painting any future projects, I started on parts for the Rally Van. Though not the best at casting, I managed to get a few decent sets of lights out of the open mold I made. The square lights look like they may have come from a Monogram F-350 kit and the round ones I have no idea. The only problem is over the last year I've developed an allergy to either the silicone or more likely the casting resin. Either way, I have a stuffy nose and headache. 

The bumper and winch are from an old Monogram Hummer kit. It should fit on the the front of the van as a sort of push bar. If the guys are going to be out digging up new project cars, they'll need a good winch to drag them out of the dirt. I scratched up a skid plate for the front underside of the van. Since the Tigres toy I started with doesn't have much chassis detail, a skid plate should help hide the lack of detail a little. I stole a decent set of offroad truck tires off a diecast truck that should make the van look tougher. I bought a bunch of cheap Jada, Maisto and M2 1/24th diecasts last year when our Walmart was clearing them for out for a reset. Some of them make good parts donors.  

The decals are from a project I made and printed for a failed Porsche and Volkswagen combo idea a few years ago. I found a free font generator and used a Porsche style which looks pretty good. The bottom letters are a grunge font style that's supposed to look distressed. I tested the decals and they're still good plus the blue should work well with the Citrus Green paint. It'll sure stand out at least!

No picture, but I dug out a car trailer I started building years ago and got bored with. It should fit well behind the van or any other truck I come up with. 

On a personal note, I mentioned the rain and you may have heard that Texas has been hit by some heavy weather the last few days. Our town has been touched by it a little, but we've only had minor flooding. Nowhere near as bad as San Angelo, Kerrville and the rest of the Hill Country a couple hours south of us. If it's your sort of thing, spare a thought for those lost or injured.  

[oldcarfan]

Not much progress this weekend but I did find out something interesting, We had a couple hours of sun so I thought I'd try to paint. Shouldn't have pushed it as the humidity is super high. The paint went on well, but it clouded over within a few minutes and ended up looking like a 1:1 car's paint would look after a few years of sun exposure. I may keep that body without stripping the paint and do a weathered build someday. 

As for the weather, the rain has been relentless since Thursday, coming in waves every little while. It makes me lazy and a little achy. We are safe as we live on a high part of our town, but some roads elsewhere in town have been closed due to flooding. If you follow the weather, you'll know there's been some horrible flooding and casualties a little further down into the Hill Country. They've had steady rain since Thursday. In some places they got 11-14 inches of rain in less than 4 hours.  My son's father in law is a police officer in the affected area, but he's safe. 

[meechum68]

5 minutes ago, oldcarfan said:

Not much progress this weekend but I did find out something interesting, We had a couple hours of sun so I thought I'd try to paint. Shouldn't have pushed it as the humidity is super high. The paint went on well, but it clouded over within a few minutes and ended up looking like a 1:1 car's paint would look after a few years of sun exposure. I may keep that body without stripping the paint and do a weathered build someday. 

As for the weather, the rain has been relentless since Thursday, coming in waves every little while. It makes me lazy and a little achy. We are safe as we live on a high part of our town, but some roads elsewhere in town have been closed due to flooding. If you follow the weather, you'll know there's been some horrible flooding and casualties a little further down into the Hill Country. They've had steady rain since Thursday. In some places they got 11-14 inches of rain in less than 4 hours.  My son's father in law is a police officer in the affected area, but he's safe. 

A friend of mine has gotten 18" this weekend and it's still raining.  Stay safe man! 

 

[oldcarfan]

Well, first of all, a weather report. we had clear skies today and the ground is practically steaming in the sun. It seems the rain has finally passed our area. It was hot and humid, but that's better than what we had the last few days. I did have a leak somewhere in the shop yesterday. I was working and looked down to find a stream of water at my feet. I think it probably built up outside and found an entry point. No damage really done except for a box of old magazines. 

With the A/C running full blast today, the shop was comfortable so I got a few hours work done on the van. Being the impatient sort, I had to do a test fit to see how things looked and am pretty well satisfied. The chassis is a simple flat casting with rudimentary drivetrain details cast in so it'll stay a curbside. I did raise the ride height to sit more like a 4x4 Sprinter. No big deal, just lowered the axles in the chassis. The wheels are a set of Pegasus Spiders found in a box and stripped of their chrome. They were painted white to look like something you might see on a rally car. The label says they are 22 inch and they fit perfectly on a set of off road tires from a totaled Maisto 4x4 diecast.

The push bar on the front and the roof top cargo are about where I want them. I'll need to scrounge up a ladder somehow. By the way, the roof rack is a 3D print by Hooligan Scale Models from Etsy. They have some good products at a good price. The rear box is an Apple Airpod box repurposed. The auxiliary lights are made from a mold I made. I tried some UV resin and they aren't perfect, but not bad for a first try. Definitely need something stronger to cure it than a small UV flashlight.

I hope to have the van finished soon. Still looking for ideas for the headlights, but everything seems to be falling into place. 

 

[Bugatti Fan]

Just shows the potential of some 'toys' if they happen to be reasonably accurate representations.

[oldcarfan]

Here's the latest. I took inspiration for the color and name of the team from Carroll Shelby's Terlingua Racing Team. Hence, Pecos Racing Team. The blue Pecos decals I made a few years ago for a Mustang project wouldn't work for this so I went another direction. A few hours on Word delivered some stuff that should do the trick. I remembered the 'Porsche Font Generator' from the last time I tried making decals.  https://fontmeme.com/porsche-font/   You put in any text and it comes out in Porsche style letters. By the way, they also do fonts for other famous brands. I considered the Rothmans or Marlboro font but the Porsche style looked the best for this project.

I didn't have any decal paper left from the last attempt so I printed them out at the UPS store on plain white sticker paper. Not the best option, and not having clear sticker paper is limiting, but it should work. I'll give them a coat of clear to seal them soon.

Word isn't the best platform for designing decals, but years of college paper writing left me familiar with it, so there's that. I did some screen grabs and sized them to make other stickers as well. The Cannonball one came out pretty good. 

 

Next up is the front bumper guard with a winch and three big lights and the steps for the sides. Those look simple but took forever to get done. 

The next step is to find some seats for the front. Probably going to leave the cargo area empty for not. The paint is frustrating me as it chips very easily. 

That's it for today, as we're doing a Jurassic Park/World marathon in preparation for the new movie. Oh, and I noticed in the second Jurassic World Movie, there are a couple MB Sprinters used by the commandos.

 

 

Edited July 12 by oldcarfan

[oldcarfan]

Small progress to report today as I got distracted by another Jurassic World movie and then started on a Bburago Polizei 911 restoration.

The Sprinter started as a toy so the interior is pretty sparse. The molded in seats were out of scale unless you have a six foot torso and three foot legs. Those got cut out and I built a new front floor. A little parts box scrounging delivered some replacement seats from an unknown pickup. I painted them blue, added the the plaid and then sprayed them with flat clear. I was aiming for a 70s German vibe. About the time I finished the paint, we got hit with another rain storm. The seats dried in the shop and when I went to check on them, the clear coat and the humidity had reacted to give them a faded blue jeans look. I kind of like it.

For a toy, the company added some of detail kids won't ever notice. The steering wheel has a nicely done MB symbol that needed only some Baremetal foil. The dash is straight from the original toy and is decent if plain. I painted it and it needs some knobs and other stuff.

I've decided not to finish out the rear interior of the van for now as I can't decide whether to do it as a work van or camper. The van screws together so no big deal if I want to do it later. That's all for now. 

[oldcarfan]

I got the interior in the van and got it all screwed together this afternoon. How do you like the accidental denim seats? I added a matching backpack for the guys' road snacks.The roof rack and cargo box are glued on and the ladder is in place. I like the look. Still need to detail the headlights and cut some rear window glass. Maybe find some cargo for the roof rack. As for the headlights, the company went to the trouble of doing separate clear lenses with some detail and put a paper sticker behind them.

 I started adding decals, trying to keep it looking like something a local shop might be able to put together for a tow vehicle. A lot of these Sprinters are hitting the used market as they are retired from fleet service and they are usually cheap with a good service history, perfect for a low budget. I almost painted it Amazon gray but the yellow felt right. The only problem is the yellow chips pretty easy. Going to be hard to touch it up. I'm thinking it might need stripes or something across the middle, as it feels a little empty. There's a lot of empty real estate on the side of a van like this. Maybe an idea will hit. 

The exterior door handles are more like vague suggestions, so if anyone has any ideas, let me know.

[slusher]

  Those wheels was perfect for your van project.  I think it Looks great! 

[oldcarfan]

9 hours ago, slusher said:

  Those wheels was perfect for your van project.  I think it Looks great! 

Thanks they were a happy accident. I wanted to order some Braid rally wheels, but I came across the Pegasus wheels which looked pretty close.