What's on my desk? Part 15.
Hi all,
A short one this week, showing the progress on the Mercedes. It should be finished next week.
All the chrome parts have been installed now. These need to be scraped a bit to allow the cement to 'bite' into the part. The windscreen wipers also needed a bit of black paint to represent the rubber. The side mirror was a pain to install. First off, it's in two parts (plus a mirror sticker). Getting these together is kinda difficult when you have no grip whatsoever. I managed eventually, after dropping the parts once or twice.
At the front we have the grille, headlights, indicators (?) and bumpers. These were pretty straightforward. They fit nicely. The bumper is mounted on a non-chrome bracket, which needed some wiggling to get to fit deep enough, but no major issues. The license plate still needs the '300 SL' decals.
Moving to the back, we see the rear lights and indicators. Made up of two clear parts (painted clear orange and red) and a chrome part, they fit into small recesses in the body. I used Micro Kristal Klear again for these. Bumper was the same deal, a bracket holds the chrome part, and the whole assembly was wiggled in place. The '300 SL' title and Mercedes logo is a metal sticker. After some careful positioning and even more careful removing of the carrier film it sits nicely on the trunk cover.
Finally, the stripes on the side are very straightforward glues in place. The left side of the vehicle has 'Mercedes' title, again as a metal sticker. Something I didn't expect while putting it it all together was how deep the wheels sit in their wells.
Finally, the ground plate. Tamiya provides this as a clear part, allowing you to show off the tubular structure and the engine underside. Nice idea. The only gripe I have is there are just 4 attachment points on the tubes, and the sides need to be cemented to the body. This can get mess up your paintwork a bit if you're not careful.
Tamiya is releasing a full-clear body for the 300 SL this year (in 1/24), showing off the interior. If you're interested, let me know.
What's left to do? First off, the door handles need some paint, then I'd like to outline the trunk cover a bit. License plates decals will get attached. The exhaust pipe and muffler need painting and attaching, and then a final polish to get rid of fingerprints.
See you next week!