1955 Mercedes W196, Juan Manuel Fangio, Merit, 1/24, Roy Cross Tribute

[Matt Bacon]

Keeping with the tribute theme, and needing something to work on while Ferrari was stalled awaiting spare parts, I moved on to this "Kings of the Road" build, and there's none more regal than the legend Juan Manuel Fangio. This one is based on one of the Merit plastic kits of the mid-50s.

Here's the master at work. The W196 is a sturdy beast, as you can see.

Although it's billed on the box as a "1955 Grand Prix Mercedes", the Merit kit is actually the 1954 car. The main difference is that the 1955 car has the big full length supercharger air intake along the right hand side, which is just not there on the '54 car. In the background, you can see the Protar W196 kit. It's got more detail than the Merit kit, but is less accurately sized and shaped. To correct the Protar kit, you need to widen it by 2mm within the wheel base, and deepen the whole body by another 2.5mm. The Merit my be a simplified 1954 car, but it captures the bulk and character of the W196 better. Adjustments begin...

The basic shape of the intake is formed by a styrene tube with the underside sanded flat and glued to the body, firmly clamped down to follow the curve.

The rest is built up with Milliput epoxy putty and several rounds of sanding, shaping and smoothing.

Eventually ending up here. Eagle-eyed readers will spot that I've also filled and smoothed those vents in the cockpit coaming ahead of the driver.

Quick check that Juan Manuel will fit, using one of the Immense Miniatures generic "early driver" bodies, which are more upright with arms ready to hold a large wheel. There are specific Fangio 50s heads, which should be arriving shortly.

The 1955 body also has scoops each side of the cockpit, and vents on the tail alongside the spine (you can see the cutouts for the parts on the Protar body at the top). So, I've carved some balsa and plunge molded some blanks: large on the right for the tail, smaller on the left for the cockpit.

There are some nice resin wire wheels on their way from the Ukraine as we speak...

best,

M.

 

[Pierre Rivard]

The entertainment never stops. You produce so much interesting material to follow. Who needs a Netflix account? ?

[Dave B]

Looking good Matt, and you use my all time favourite putty, Milliput.

Dave B

[Matt Bacon]

1 hour ago, Dave B said:

My all time favourite putty, Milliput.

I think anytime you need to do anything that’s more than seam filling or surface smoothing, Milliput is unbeatable. Easy to work and apply when first mixed, easy to carve and shape when it gets to the “leathery” stage as it cures, and easy to sand (especially wet sand) to a very smooth surface and subtle curves when it’s fully hardened. I wouldn’t be without it by my bench… particularly when I’m working on a white metal kits, which it bonds to, unlike putties designed for plastic…

best,

M

[1959scudetto]

Fantastic to see another racing legend coming down the nostalgia raceway - great choice, Matt ! I will follow this one of course

[Matt Bacon]

With Willy Mairesse and his Ferrari 156 having taken the checkered flag, time to get this one back up to speed...

I think that's all the body modifications for the 1955 car, after a couple of rounds of filling and sanding. Let's see how it looks under an even coat of primer...

The front axle had lost one of its wishbones, and the mounting point of lower right one had also gone AWOL, so I had to resort to a bit of cottage-industry manufacture, the old-school way.

I've also removed the chunky axles from the unit and put the 3D printed parts from USCP in place, ready for the 300SLR wires that are waiting on the sidelines.

The dash was very badly damaged by the previous owner's over enthusiastic use of glue, so I've made up a new one, and printed a decal for it.

Juan-Manuel may look pretty 'armless, but at least he now has a head, which arrived from RS Slot Racing this week. I think it's a pretty good likeness. It's another of the Immense Miniatures range, in this case the "Late Career Fangio" which offers hard helmets instead of leather flying caps. There's also a bare head, which if I compare it to the young Fangio I also have looks genuinely older -- that's clever sculpting in 1/24! I lowered him a bit in his seat. Period pictures show that the "headrest" is more of a back-rest, but his shoulders want to be below a line joining the peaks of the rear fairing and front cockpit coaming

best,

M

 

[Matt Bacon]

Finally some progress to report here: I've been plugging away steadily...

Some very fetching upholstery from the decal stash, and instrument panel home made from an image I found online. I've scribed the fuel fillers as well.

JMF fully assembled and pose adjusted so his hands will (should?!) grip the wheel.

Nose finished, with teeny-tiny grille attached on the air intake. Not firmly enough, as we shall soon see...

Time to take it for a spin...

The winglets behind the wheels are in the original kit, but were missing from this second-hand one, so I've made some. Roy doesn't have them in his picture, but they were on the car in that race, so on they go...

Trying on the USCP wheels for size... they look pretty good to me. Now, where is that little grille...?

Not easy to see, which is kinda the point, but I've printed out some detail inside the "black holes" where the engine is. Note to self -- put something in the back to stop  that being see through...

Time to start painting JMF....

best,

M.

 

[Ace-Garageguy]

Really enjoying this one, nice work.  

One of the cars I want to do myself at some point. Thanks for posting the build.  

Edited October 24, 2024 by Ace-Garageguy
TYPO

[89AKurt]

Love the "vacuum-form" without the vacuum scoops.  I've never seen coaming, I'm used to cowling for cockpits.  I don't have any kits of this subject, but did get the 1950 Alfa Romeo Typ 158 by Druzstvo Prana (made in Czechoslovakia) that needs wire wheels.  Will be lurking.

[Pierre Rivard]

Another great one in the making. Your usual superb body work plus the printed wheels and driver figure really turn this into a winner. 

[Matt Bacon]

Thanks, all.... Juan Manuel is now pretty much done. Conveniently, Collector Studio has had some replicas of Fangio's racing helmet made, which provided excellent reference (https://collectorstudio.com/product/1955-7-juan-manuel-fangio-replica-helmet/)

 

The clear epoxy trick with the goggles has worked well again. I'm a fan!

Moment of truth:

Yes, he can climb aboard and hold the wheel with it on place on the dashboard! Phew....

best,

M.

[MarkJ]

Awesome build, Matt. Loving the driver figure and that silver finish on the car. Can't wait for more.

[Matt Bacon]

Back from holiday now, and moving forward (the Scale Model World countdown clock is ticking loudly!):

I was a bit worried about getting these home-brew decals to settle down around the curves and over the detail, but they've worked out OK, I reckon.

I've got a "recipe" for doing these bases now, so it's pretty much rinse and repeat -- helped by the fact that Roy uses a small handful of different points of view over the whole series, so once you've figured out the front to back slope, the side to side slope, and how low or high the front panel needs to be, they are all variations on a theme...

Until I've glued the wheels, it'll roll off, so this is the closest I'll get to the cover pic before Under Glass!

...and a couple of off-axis angles to give a clearer picture of how the base works...

Nearly there, now!

Best,

M.

 

[MarkJ]

I still can't get over how beautiful that silver is. Looking forward to under glass.