Franklin Mint mercedes.

[randyc]

I got this and a parts car for like $10.   Hated it at first but wife wanted to keep it for her eiffel tower display.   Took both cars to make one complete car.   And some paint detailing.   The blackwall version is how it appears - i llifted that photo from the net.   The whitewall version is mine and matches all the photos I could find of the real car - all have the whitewalls.  This was the first car released from FM I understand.   As such, it is pretty crude.  

Whites are a couple coats of tamiya white acrylic, carefully brushed on in place on car.   I should have foiled the fender edges, but decided that was farther than I wanted to go with it.  FM did scrape the edges, but they are  under clear so they won't polish up.

Wife made this little display up.  THe white and black cars were my dad's and she thought we could display them to honor his memory.   This is in our family room.   The white car is parked underneath a wine rack.  The black car is in front of her Eiffel tower - metal thing from WalMart - she loves Eiffel towers.  And the Mercedes is out in front.   They have been recently joined by a maroon Rolls.  All of this sits on an old microwave on a cabinet in the corner of our family room.   Everyone has that right?  LOL.   Makes movie night popcorn easy.   And anytime we need to have two microwaves, we're covered.  

the point of post is the difference the wide whites make on this car.  To me, it takes the car from awful to bearable.    And it is okay to mess with a "mint" car.  

[Gramps46]

Nice addition to your collection.

[randyc]

These three really don't fit in my collection , but the wife likes them and two were dad's.  Dad was a heavy smoker and the white car was a dark nicotine-stained tan.  I thought it was supposed to be beige!  After looking it up, I realized it was white. The wife & I worked for a couple days on getting it cleaned up.  Greased Lighting to the rescue.   Toothbrush and several applications finally yielded this, which is almost white. 

I enjoy restoring these back when I get something in really ugly condition.  Which is often because some folks won't take the chance on an ugly or dirty car and they can be had very cheap.   Usually a little cleaner and maybe a polishing works wonders.   Tough paint.  I use a cloth polishing wheel in the moto tool and turtle wax scratch remover.   I got an Auburn that looked like it was beyond repair.  Polishing by hand was not doing anything to brighten it up, so I thought "what the heck" and took to it with the moto tool.  First try taught me to be very light around anything not part of the main casting!   But now, I usually do the whole car, body, chrome, wheels, etc.  

Many of these look pretty good, but once you start cleaning them, you can see that the paint is dulled some, I think from finger oils where they have been handled over the years.  The glass gets a little less than clear.  And again, a little polish and the polishing wheel will restore them to a nice look.  

I'm hijacking my own thread now.   LOL

[Gramps46]

Thanks Randy for sharing your experience.  I have gotten several Franklin and Danbury diecasts via an estate sale but fortunately none in the condition you describe, or they weren't white.  Yesterday by coincidence I sorted through all my moto tool supplies and found several cloth wheels so I may carefully give them a try.

[randyc]

Be sure to use the cloth pads.  I have tried the felt wheels in the past and they burn through too quick.  The cloth pad looked like it was going to fly apart, but after it flung off the strings, it is a nice pad.   Please practice FIRST though!!!!  Not responsible for damages!   Realy does help if you are careful and patient.   And only on hard paints.  not sure they would work on hobby enamels.   Too soft although I may try in the near future to clean up some old models that have been painted for several years and need some polishing.  Also does a heckuva job on foil/chrome trim.   And a very fine abrasive polish like a scratch remover polish.  

[Gramps46]

Thanks for  the advice Randy.  I agree with  you on the hobby paints not being appropriate for buffing with a moto tool. 

[Hoffman]

On 9/18/2018 at 6:28 AM, randyc said:

I got this and a parts car for like $10.   Hated it at first but wife wanted to keep it for her eiffel tower display.   Took both cars to make one complete car.   And some paint detailing.   The blackwall version is how it appears - i llifted that photo from the net.   The whitewall version is mine and matches all the photos I could find of the real car - all have the whitewalls.  This was the first car released from FM I understand.   As such, it is pretty crude.  

Whites are a couple coats of tamiya white acrylic, carefully brushed on in place on car.   I should have foiled the fender edges, but decided that was farther than I wanted to go with it.  FM did scrape the edges, but they are  under clear so they won't polish up.

Wife made this little display up.  THe white and black cars were my dad's and she thought we could display them to honor his memory.   This is in our family room.   The white car is parked underneath a wine rack.  The black car is in front of her Eiffel tower - metal thing from WalMart - she loves Eiffel towers.  And the Mercedes is out in front.   They have been recently joined by a maroon Rolls.  All of this sits on an old microwave on a cabinet in the corner of our family room.   Everyone has that right?  LOL.   Makes movie night popcorn easy.   And anytime we need to have two microwaves, we're covered.  

the point of post is the difference the wide whites make on this car.  To me, it takes the car from awful to bearable.    And it is okay to mess with a "mint" car.  

Randy, I like what you did with this. I finished doing more of the same. I thought the front end sat too high, track too wide, and wheels too far back. So, I grafted in front suspension from a Monogram 540K. I adapted the better FM steering linkage to that suspension. I did paint the spare tires white, like you, but I replaced the other four wheels with Monograms instead. I wanted to be able to see the red painted brake drums through the spokes. I used artist acrylic oils to repaint the interior. Mine was missing the top boot and one spot light, so I adapted pieces from the Johan 500K kit. Their tail lights are better, so used them too. The front bumper brackets on the FM diecast were too clunky and put the bumper hanging out too far, so I made replacements from aluminum strip and pulled the bumper in closer. The chassis on the full size car I was looking at was body matching red, so I did that too. See what you think.

[Hoffman]

Oh, and I agree about the dull finish on the fender chrome. I bet it was bright when new, but dulling over time right under the clear. I went over mine with a Molotow pen.

[randyc]

13 hours ago, Hoffman said:

Randy, I like what you did with this. I finished doing more of the same. I thought the front end sat too high, track too wide, and wheels too far back. So, I grafted in front suspension from a Monogram 540K. I adapted the better FM steering linkage to that suspension. I did paint the spare tires white, like you, but I replaced the other four wheels with Monograms instead. I wanted to be able to see the red painted brake drums through the spokes. I used artist acrylic oils to repaint the interior. Mine was missing the top boot and one spot light, so I adapted pieces from the Johan 500K kit. Their tail lights are better, so used them too. The front bumper brackets on the FM diecast were too clunky and put the bumper hanging out too far, so I made replacements from aluminum strip and pulled the bumper in closer. The chassis on the full size car I was looking at was body matching red, so I did that too. See what you think.

 

 

 

 

 

 

MAN!  I was looking at your lead photo thinking WOW EXCELLENT model!   Then realized that was the REAL car.  Well I scrolled on down and must say you did a superb job of improving the model.   Much nicer and betterer.     Good job and thanks for sharing your improvements.   Makes that car many times better.  

[Hoffman]

Randy, you made my day!! ? Thank you so much, and Happy New Year!