1929 Mercedes SSKL 1/24 Conversion

[Plastheniker]

Hi,

the Mercedes SSKL was one of the most versatile and successful racing cars. It is also one of the best-known cars of automobile history, even after six decades presumably every car enthusiast remembers its striking appearance. Nevertheless there was never any 1/24 or 1/25 plastic kit.

The only way to get an SSKL is converting Lindberg's SSK. The essential difference between SSK and SSKL were numberless holes drilled into the chassis in order to lighten it. You can find information and pictures of SS/SSK/SSKL in this tread http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=74925

The Lindberg kit of the sixties looks odd. Most finished models I have seen resemble this one: http://www.modellbau-jemb53.de/MB-SSK-1928.htm

Nevertheless the Lindberg kit can be used for a conversion. Its odd appearance is mainly caused by the clumsy "wire" wheels, the absurd white wall tyres without tread and the fenders with running boards, which are atypical for a works coachwork. All measurements of the kit are correct, only the coachwork itself is some millimeters too low.

Number and location of the characteristic drilled holes vary from car to car. I chose the one with the highest number of holes as Hans Stuck used it in 1929.

I made these major modifications:

1. I cut up the massive one-piece frame into crossmembers and two side rails. I milled these two side rails down to approximately 1 mm thickness. I made a sliding jig for marking the center of the holes to be drilled. I drilled these holes very cautiously in 0.1mm steps. This prevented the brittle styrene from cracking and secured that the original center of the holes was not left. After drilling all holes I added thin strips of styrene in order to get the authentic U-channel. Finally I reassemled the frame.
2. I heightened coachwork and radiator.
3. I made real wire wheels.
4. As the tyres were unusuable I made new ones.
5. Exaust and exhaust manifolds were incorrect, so I replaced them completely.
6. The brake drums of the kit had no cooling fins. I made new ones.
7. The front shock absorbers were simplified, so I made two detailed ones.
8. I rebuilt the interior including the dashboard.
9. The indispensible additional mesh radiator guard in front of the radiator grille was simulated with a clumsy plastic part in the kit. I replaced it with real mesh with a frame of halved (i. e. U-shaped) hypodermic needles.
10. Many small parts had to be replaced. Since there was no Alclad when I built the model, I made e. g. the spare wheel retainer, the filler inlet and the hood latches from real metal.

This is the result:

[Connor01]

Nice build ,its looks so clean and smart

[sjordan2]

Bravo! Great to see more shots of this superb piece of work. Everything is just perfect, especially the dash, and it's one of the few models with correct copper brake drums.

Is this a curbside, or do you have engine shots?

[Plastheniker]

Skip, you are right, I built it as a curbside. Whenever I want superdetailed engines and chassis I use Casadio/Revival kits as a basis.

[Cato]

Uh-you glossed over a few facts; how did you make the wire wheels, how do you mill a channel into a hypodermic needle??????????

Other than that-it's just spectacular.

[sjordan2]

I want to see you build the 1/16 Mercedes SS Kabriolet so I can steal your techniques.

PS: The gauges you posted in another thread are too small for my needs for 1/16; do you have larger files?

Edited June 4, 2013 by sjordan2

[Plastheniker]

Cato, I took it for granted that the making of real wire wheels is well-known. Anyhow describing it would have gone beyond my presentation, but if you are interested I could PM you a copy of a 2-page illustrated article I wrote for another American modelling magazine in 1995 called "Making Real Wire Wheels". Since some months ago that magazine did not give me the permission to show this article in a German forum, I should not post it here in the public area either.

The issue of the hypodermic needles is a misunderstanding obviously caused by my bad English.

I halved those hypodermic needles with a cut-off wheel in a rotary tool in the sense that I modified their

original O-section into a half-round U-section (I hope this is more understandable).

[Plastheniker]

Skip, I am sorry, but I searched my oldest CDs and USB sticks without finding any further relevant file.

[ChrisR]

Really great!

[peekay]

Amazing conversion, really impressive - I would have guessed 1.16th or bigger.

[southpier]

..... I halved those hypodermic needles with a cut-off wheel in a rotary tool in the sense that I modified their

original O-section into a half-round U-section.....

I cannot imagine that to be any easy task. great looking model!

[Danno]

Spectacular!

[Cato]

Cato, I took it for granted that the making of real wire wheels is well-known. Anyhow describing it would have gone beyond my presentation, but if you are interested I could PM you a copy of a 2-page illustrated article I wrote for another American modelling magazine in 1995 called "Making Real Wire Wheels". Since some months ago that magazine did not give me the permission to show this article in a German forum, I should not post it here in the public area either.

The issue of the hypodermic needles is a misunderstanding obviously caused by my bad English.

I halved those hypodermic needles with a cut-off wheel in a rotary tool in the sense that I modified their

original O-section into a half-round U-section (I hope this is more understandable).

Thanks for the kind offer; PM sent.

That method is far beyond my level for cutting hypodermics...

[bondo bill]

wow beautiful work

[PARTSMARTY]

SIMPLY AMAZING

[Paul H]

Wow. Don't know what else to say, other than it's really great to see this beautiful model of such an iconic car. It could pass for the real thing in those excellent photos!

[PeeBee]

Superb.

[Harry P.]

I can't believe that's a 1/24 scale model! The level of detail you put into such a small model is amazing! It looks better than many 1/8 Pochers I've seen. Stunning!

[Plastheniker]

for your comments. More classic racing cars to follow ...

[Ace-Garageguy]

Stunning indeed. :wub:

[Chris White]

Great build, I admire your skill