SCALE MODEL NEWS

WE HAD A QUICK LOOK at the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL 1:24 scale Tamiya kit six months ago, and now here’s how we got on with building and finishing the model. Mat Irvine: Tamiya’s presentation is always excellent, and the Mercedes-Benz 300SL is no exception. When I looked at the kit in February 2015 ( click here to view ) I realised the build would have to wait a month or three, as there was going to be plenty involved. But it was worth the wait, and here’s how I got on. Opening the box reveals 163 components ( below ). They are moulded in silver-grey, black, white, chrome and clear. There are also vinyl tyres, mesh for the grill, conventional water-slide decals, and metallized decals. Cutting the runners from the door openings ( below ). I found it best to use the small razor saw seen at bottom left. Sorting out the hinge arrangements ( below ) for the gull-wing doors. The lift-up components are crucial for the appearance of the finished model, so do take care with them. Fitting the doors...

The Tamiya January 2015 announcement at the Nuremberg Toy Fair of its own 1:24 scale kit of the Mercedes Gullwing was a delight to hear. Mat Irvine: The Mercedes-Benz 300SL kit will be a fully detailed static display model, produced with Tamiya’s usual attention to detail. The real car was built around a ‘birdcage’ tubular space-frame, and the kit ( below ) mimics this form of construction. It was because of this birdcage structure that the car ended up with its distinctive lift-up gullwing doors. Conventionally-opening doors would have been more difficult to hang, so the top-hinged doors came about. On the Tamiya model, these can posed open or closed. The fuel-injected straight six engine is also fully detailed, as is the interior. Plus the under-body pan is moulded in clear plastic, and can be left as such, so not to hide all that glorious tubular frame detail. Metallized decals are included for wing-mirror glass, name plates and the distinctive Mercedes-Benz star. There is nylon me...