Happy New Year everyone!
I had a nostalgia trip just prior to Christmas and splashed out on some Airfix Napoleonic figures, and 3 Matchbox kits I had built as a teenager. I enjoyed building them then, and wanted to see what could be done to improve them so the Bugatti 59, Aston Martin Ulster, and SS100 Jaguar joined my already too large stash!
I built the Mercedes SSKL from the same range a couple of years ago, and this will follow a similar vein. I had thought initially that not too much would be required, but as usual, the more I looked into it, the more I felt needed modifying!
So this is what I have!
I'm sure most here will be familiar with the standard Matchbox fare of 2 different colour sprues, plus a "chrome" one, which will be stripped and painted.
The plan at the moment will include (at least) the following 3d printed parts:
Wheel rims/hubs (spoked as per the Merc with monofilament fishing line), engine sump and gearbox, folded hood, headlights, sidelights, and taillights, radiator cap, seats, and steering wheel.
I'll probably scratch build new exhausts too.
There may be more.....
The plastic is quite soft and is not easy to sand smoothly, but a start has been made on getting sub-assemblies together.
First the engine.
This is what we are given
The bonnet will be closed so I'm not worried about accuracy or detail for the top end, but the sump and gearbox are visible from the side. First job was to strip the "chrome". Easy enough, an hour or so in bleach did the job nicely.
This is what it's supposed to look like...
and this is what we get
Hence the comment above that the sump and gearbox will be printed!
The sump has been cut off, and a new gearbox mounting plate made from .5mm sheet. The engine sits too high if built out of the box. The sump should be visible from the side, and should also extend below the gearbox mounting plate, so that has been corrected. The engine mounts on the chassis were also modified to remove the tree trunk look!
The chassis frame has also been cleaned up - there are a lot of mould joint lines on this kit, so those were removed and the ejector pins likewise.
The bodywork appears quite good, but I have sanded off the moulded sidelights on the top of the front wings. They will be printed later. The scuttle has been added and work started on fitting the doors. Unfortunately, the door mouldings are slightly rounded which doesn't give a nice sharp edge, so they were sanded flat (and straight!) and they are a work in progress at the moment. Plastic strip has been added as needed to give a sharp edge and restore the lost plastic.
I taped the body to pull it tight against the mounts for the scuttle as it was drying.
Other parts looked at so far:
The tonneau cover - useless!
I have no idea why it has a wavy lower edge, but I will print a new one without the top cover. Only the hood frame cover will be on it, leaving the rear seating/baggage area exposed.
Radiator - seen in previous pics. I removed the front grille, then thinned the frame to allow a piece of wire mesh to be inserted. Thinning was done fairly easily with my new toy, a rechargeable drill (recharged using a phone style charging cable) which rotates at only around 400rpm. I also bought some routinh bits for it and it worked well!
The fine tuning was done by paring with a scalpel blade. and the mesh was fitted.
A little off centre with the starter handle hole but I think it's close enough. The kit radiator will be fitted behind it, and the front side of that has already been covered with .5mm sheet. I'll drill a small hole for the starter crank access and once it's all painted black it should pass muster.
That's as far as I've got so far, and this will be taking second seat to my De Havilland pair over on the aircraft forum, but it's a fun build so I don't expect it to be sitting idle for too long!
Thanks for looking in!
Ian
