Mercedes 300SL Gullwing

[Cien1986]

I try to dry fit the bumper to make sure that nothing goes wrong and fit well...

[Ralph Torres]

Very nice.. good bodywork!!

[Biggie]

Legendary car and kit ! Definitely following your progress. Good luck with this beauty

[sjordan2]

1. The main thing wrong with the grille is that the nose star (grille barrel) sticks out way too far. You can try to cut out the barrel and move it backward.

2. As to the way the windshield and all chrome fits for the glass (mounted from the inside of the body), remember that the real car has very prominent black seals around all the window chrome, so you could just put a piece of black wire around the outer edges, which would fill it in and be accurate.

By the way, the shape of the cut-out on the door window is good, but the window chrome part is not –– like the windshield and back glass, it is too small for the car and makes it look bad. It would be good if you could find a way to keep the door window openings the way they are, and create chrome that fits on the outside of the door windows, instead of the kit's chrome that is fitted from the inside. You could cut out the proper trim shape from a styrene sheet, paint it with Alclad, and place it on top of the door.

Edited May 15, 2014 by sjordan2

[Cien1986]

Since you mentioned maybe going with a two-tone paint job (or maybe some other custom touches?), here are a couple of ideas for you to consider.

Many thanks for the references...

[Cien1986]

1. The main thing wrong with the grille is that the nose star (grille barrel) sticks out way too far. You can try to cut out the barrel and move it backward.

2. As to the way the windshield and all chrome fits for the glass (mounted from the inside of the body), remember that the real car has very prominent black seals around all the window chrome, so you could just put a piece of black wire around the outer edges, which would fill it in and be accurate.

By the way, the shape of the cut-out on the door window is good, but the window chrome part is not –– like the windshield and back glass, it is too small for the car and makes it look bad. It would be good if you could find a way to keep the door window openings the way they are, and create chrome that fits on the outside of the door windows, instead of the kit's chrome that is fitted from the inside. You could cut out the proper trim shape from a styrene sheet, paint it with Alclad, and place it on top of the door.

1. totally agree with that... no wonder it looks strange.... i will definitely fix that.... just afraid of destroying the star...

2. yeah the chrome part is so lame... remaking it totally make sense...

cutting styrene to form the window and windshield grill will be really challenging task... what do you think if bending the brass line to form the shape then a bit soldering work to eliminate the connecting part then paint it with alclad? will it work? instead of cutting the styrene....

[Cien1986]

Legendary car and kit ! Definitely following your progress. Good luck with this beauty

Very nice.. good bodywork!!

thanks for viewing and comments...

[blunc]

the edges of the grille seem too thick also, and the cross bar is not shaped like 1:1.

you could try to get another grille and possibly make a proper looking grille from parts of two.

[Danno]

Great observations. Modifying the grille and the window frames will go a long way toward making the model look better!

Thanks for the tips.

[sjordan2]

I assume you're still going to fill in the gaps of the body seams.

I think the grille would be helped by sanding the inside of the outer frame to 1/2 or 1/3 its existing width. Unfortunately, there is no inner lip around the inside of the frame to help with proper mounting of diagonal grille mesh behind it. Perhaps something can be done with L-shaped channel.

Note the following: If you create new window trim, using body openings for a template, you will also have to create new window glass from clear styrene, since the kit glass has recesses for the chrome to fit into and will be visible. In other words, everything involving the windows - chrome and glass - will have to fit on top of the body plastic.

Edited May 16, 2014 by sjordan2

[sjordan2]

Another solution for the small door windows is this:

The door windows on the 1:1 pop out and can be stored in a vinyl sleeve; The vent windows will remain. So, just cut off the trim and glass from the kit part and leave the vent windows.

[Cien1986]

I assume you're still going to fill in the gaps of the body seams.

I think the grille would be helped by sanding the inside of the outer frame to 1/2 or 1/3 its existing width. Unfortunately, there is no inner lip around the inside of the frame to help with proper mounting of diagonal grille mesh behind it. Perhaps something can be done with L-shaped channel.

Note the following: If you create new window trim, using body openings for a template, you will also have to create new window glass from clear styrene, since the kit glass has recesses for the chrome to fit into and will be visible. In other words, everything involving the windows - chrome and glass - will have to fit on top of the body plastic.

Now you said it... i just realize i must create new clear windshield...,

i think i will stay on stok... i found the chrome part on my kits

on the rear windshield and the door window formed quite well.. so i will stick to the stock part...

[Biggie]

How is it going Henry, any good progress made ?

[Cien1986]

How is it going Henry, any good progress made ?

Yeah still going for sure...

its a bit delay because my wife just giving birth to my first baby...

god bless us.... all things goes smoothly....

today i make some progress on sanding the front bumper and trimming the front grill

i make some sanding on the bumper... to remove excess plastic

Edited May 25, 2014 by Cien1986

[Cien1986]

Skip many thanks for your information and explanation earlier i really appreciate it...

here is some engine detail for references who need it....

this is what Skip said earlier the water tank reservoir position is just behind the air box

the pic below shows what is missing on the kit..... the air filter.....

[sjordan2]

While there are minor differences, your pictures are from the 300 SL Roadster and not the Gullwing. The difference can be seen in the two coils at the right side of the firewall -- not part of the Gullwing, which only had one coil on the firewall, pointing outward.

1. You will note in your first picture that there is a line going from the water tank, connected by a metal tube, going directly into the radiator.

2. Toward the top of the picture, there is a water hose coming from the firewall that connects to the radiator, and is joined by a hose from under the intake manifold.

[Cien1986]

After i do some fitting... i just realize why alot of people stop the building this kit... almost unbuildable...

[Cien1986]

For the water tank i think its impossible to move it... it will not fit unless i modify the intake position...

the intake pipe is just to long... so it will need to be cut down and the intake body need to be tilt abit.

To provide room for water tank....

[Cien1986]

To cover the seam line is big problem...

It will be easy build if i dont cover the panel line and the gap between the front light...

but the result will be rough...

[Biggie]

Congrats on the new born Seems like a lot of work still ahead of you but it will be worth it, wish you luck!

[Cien1986]

Congrats on the new born Seems like a lot of work still ahead of you but it will be worth it, wish you luck!

Many thanks for the support....

[sjordan2]

Apparently, there are a number of reasons why you can't fit the water tank in the proper position -- the kit's upper firewall comes way too far forward at an angle; it should be vertical and further back, and the same goes for the interior floorboard/bulkhead beneath it. If you can't make a smaller water tank that will fit, it would be better to leave it out completely instead of mounting it the way the kit shows it. Or you might be able to adjust the position or length of the intake silencer.

I think they must have mounted the tank on the oil cooler section of the radiator structure because part of its function is to cool the oil, but I've never seen such a thing on a 1:1. As mentioned, the tank should feed the cooler with a tube running from the proper position.

If you look at your engine pictures above, one of the easier things you can build is the radiator hose, which isn't in the kit. It goes directly from the radiator to inside the firewall, where it connects to a heat exchanger that can't be seen.

Edited May 27, 2014 by sjordan2

[Cien1986]

Wow this diagram explain it all...

very detail...

thanks for the help

[sjordan2]

I reiterate that I HIGHLY recommend getting either the Minicraft or Italeri 1/16 versions of this car for reference, which will answer many questions for you, such as what the firewall should look like (Minicraft will be cheaper, Italeri is a bit more detailed). Neither of them is totally complete, but I can fill in a lot of questions after that.

If you're going to devote this much time and effort to creating a beauty that's better than this kit has been built before, you should spend the money. Maximum for Minicraft should be $35 retail, not including shipping.

Edited May 28, 2014 by sjordan2

[sjordan2]

Just some minor notes before you get too far along...

1. DASHBOARD:

A.The 300 SL script on the face of the dash is about 2 times too big (it's the same as the script on the trunk). Either use a script from a smaller scale kit or use it from the PE stuff from FMD that I mentioned above.

B. The horizontal chrome control panel omits the air vent controls at the far right and left sides. You'll have to make these yourself.

C. The dash needs a padded and upholstered strip under the control panel strip. You can do this with 1/2 or 1/4 round rod.

2. Throw the shift lever away. This weird, snaky shape is based on a misunderstanding of the long, gooseneck lever from the first 50 production models that mounts over the bell housing. Just make a straight shift lever.

3. The U-shaped luggage bar on the interior rear deck should be in 2 pieces. Cut off the forward horizontal bar and place it just above the floor of the deck.

4. Like the nose grille, the hubcaps are way too fat and stick out too far. There are a variety of ways of fixing this, and I would like to see your ideas.

More to come as I think about it.

Edited May 28, 2014 by sjordan2