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Posted (edited)

You will probably find this on your own, if not already, but be careful of the body shell part under the doors that's part of the cowling. The sprue braces tend to bend it out of shape (I've seen that on all three brands of the kits I have, plus the partly built parts donor), so you have to make sure that it's all glued down with precision. This is important for proper door fit, especially on the right side.

Edited by sjordan2
Posted

Harry, I've had this kit for years. I did the wheels first and put it back in the box for "later". Periodically I'll take it out, look at it, and put it back. One day... in the meantime I'll just have to ogle yours. At least I know you'll actually finish it!

Posted

I'm starting the engine detailing. Block was sprayed silver, then Testors Transparent Black Window Tint, cylinder head brush painted satin black. The intake manifold was sprayed silver and then blackwashed with my Future/black acrylic wash. Spark plugs are scratchbuilt... the hex nut part is slices of hex-shaped styrene rod painted silver, the insulator is aluminum tube painted white, and the electrode is brass wire. The connectors are made by crimping aluminum tube flat and drilling a hole to slip over the electrode, then that flat end filed round, and finally the piece cut off from the aluminum tubing. I'll probably add "rubber" boots over the connectors made out of 5-minute epoxy and painted flat black.

The lower wiring manifold had to have the missing "lugs" added to it (styrene tubing). Wow... it's tough to do this kind of work at such a tiny scale! It's hard enough in 1/8... working with parts only half that size is a challenge.

MB12_zpsf5c4cd89.jpg

Posted

You do excellent work Harry.

Have you given thought to a color scheme? I'm feeling a olive-ish green with black fenders or maybe a yellow?

I haven't decided yet. At first I was going to do it like the car on the box cover... black fenders, white body. But now I'm thinking that's kind of bland. I saw a photo of one with black fenders and a sort of green colored body that looks kind of cool. Like what you suggested. Right now I'm leaning towards that.

black-and-green_zpsb456303b.jpg

I also like your idea of black fenders and yellow body. We'll see... I'm still far away from that point!

Posted (edited)

I haven't decided yet. At first I was going to do it like the car on the box cover... black fenders, white body. But now I'm thinking that's kind of bland. I saw a photo of one with black fenders and a sort of green colored body that looks kind of cool. Like what you suggested. Right now I'm leaning towards that.

black-and-green_zpsb456303b.jpg

I also like your idea of black fenders and yellow body. We'll see... I'm still far away from that point!

Hey, it's always good to plan ahead! That's pretty sharp... I was thinking maybe a few shades lighter on that green though.

EDIT: Looked at a few cars on the good ol' Google and found these.

mh58ns.jpg

e7zekx.jpg

m7stqr.jpg

6satea.jpg

5xu82f.jpg

kar12v.jpg

These are truly beautiful cars.

Edited by DynoMight
Posted (edited)

I haven't decided yet. At first I was going to do it like the car on the box cover... black fenders, white body. But now I'm thinking that's kind of bland. I saw a photo of one with black fenders and a sort of green colored body that looks kind of cool. Like what you suggested. Right now I'm leaning towards that.

black-and-green_zpsb456303b.jpg

I also like your idea of black fenders and yellow body. We'll see... I'm still far away from that point!

The color's way off in that photo. The car isn't green, it's gray – the color scheme I intend to use, along with the pinstriping. The green looks fine, but I think that's a color shift that happened when you lightened up the photo, which was dark and shot at sunset.

33SSCabALARGEcopy.jpg

Edited by sjordan2
Posted

I'm liking the black fenders/yellow body idea now.

yellow-and-black_zps940fe4f2.jpg

I want mine to have a little more visual impact. Gray and black looks too somber to me. But I'll decide that down the road. First I have to finish the engine and chassis.

Posted (edited)

The gray car has a rich red interior that really adds elegance and more color. Silver and black or red and black would also look good.

Edited by sjordan2
Posted

MB12_zpsf5c4cd89.jpg

The connectors are made by crimping aluminum tube flat and drilling a hole to slip over the electrode, then that flat end filed round, and finally the piece cut off from the aluminum tubing. I'll probably add "rubber" boots over the connectors made out of 5-minute epoxy and painted flat black.

You have my undying respect. Those ally tube terminal ends kicked my butt. :angry: But I had to do 12 of 'em. I'm surprised 1/16" tube still looks scale in 1/16 scale. They look tiny in 1/8... :wacko:

Unsolicited suggestion: With gloss black wheels, I'd do the tires in maybe a Nato Black or Testors 'Rubber' (a very deep brown-black) - for a bit more visual interest. I'd hate to see your wheel detail 'go away' as just a whole black area.

And Skip will want those chrome wheel weight thingies... :lol:

Minding my business now...............

Posted

And Skip will want those chrome wheel weight thingies... :lol:

I know. And I really don't want to bother with them. My defense will be that I have a lot of photos where the wheels don't have them. :D

Posted (edited)

Also in Harry's defense, this factory photo doesn't show those wheel weight thingies either (though the car probably hadn't been driven very far). The details of this shot overall are closer to the kit than any other photo I've found. The kit left out two details that seem common to most SS 2-seat cabriolets, and that is the decorative grille guard and the storage doors on the running boards. Running boards were special order options. Of course, the whole car was usually made to order by the Sonderwagen (Special Vehicles) works at the Sindelfingen plant, though there were standard catalog versions, which this appears to be.

MercedesSSLGarchiveADJUSTED.jpg

Edited by sjordan2
Posted

I made the spark plug boots by adding a little blob of 5-minute epoxy onto the connectors to give them a rounded look, then painted them to match reference photos:

MB13_zpsa1f69e90.jpg

Posted (edited)

So you actually mixed 6 separate 'little blobs' of 5-Minute? Did you thin it with anything?

Edited by Cato
Posted

So you actually mixed 6 separate 'little blobs' of 5-Minute? Did you thin it with anything?

No. Just mixed some up epoxy on a piece of plastic and then applied a little blob to each terminal with a toothpick to give it that "rounded" look. The epoxy forms a perfect little sphere once you touch the tip of the toothpick to the piece and transfer that little blob into place. The trick is to make all six of the blobs the same size!

Posted

Here's something weird. All of the right side engine details seen here are missing from the kit. The only details included for the right side of the engine are the exhaust manifolds. :blink:

MB15_zpsa31fd200.jpg

Posted

Also, of all the engine photos I have, there are only two that I can find of the right side of the engine. Weird. I guess the intake side was a lot more interesting to everyone! :lol:

Posted

Ok, now I see what's going on. Apparently there was some sort of rounded cover that hid all of those components; all that was really visible on the right side were the exhaust manifolds. Great! Less work for me then... :D

Posted (edited)

Here's something weird. All of the right side engine details seen here are missing from the kit. The only details included for the right side of the engine are the exhaust manifolds. :blink:

MB15_zpsa31fd200.jpg

The engine block has an outer shell that contains all that stuff you don't have to mess with. However, the kit does not indicate the access doors. You can see that at the Fine Art SS Tourer link.

In your earlier post, the tube that connects the intakes to the valve cover should be either black or wrapped in asbestos.

Edited by sjordan2
Posted

So there's a second set of spark plugs on the right side. That might be a good detail to add if you can Harry. Some good looking work.

Posted

So there's a second set of spark plugs on the right side. That might be a good detail to add if you can Harry.

I'm working on it now... B)

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