Mercedes Benz SSK

[Pierre Rivard]

The formidable Mercedes Benz SSK. The last Mercedes engineered by Ferdinand Porsche was produced from 1928 to 1932. Only 33-37 were built and more than half of them went racing. The car is most famous in it's SSKL (for Super Sport Short Light) guise winning the 1931 Mille Miglia. There were some variations on the body configuration (mostly fender treatment), mainly a Touring & Sport styles and sometimes a combination of elements from both.

I plan to do a racing version of this car (as many of them were) but the body configuration is open for discussion. Suggestions from forum members are most welcome. The starting point is the old Lindberg kit but I aim for a more "racy and somber" look. So nothing started yet, at this point showing some possibilities and accepting input from other builders.

 

[Straightliner59]

I am going to love watching this! It will certainly become a beautiful work, in your hands. I used to have one of the Johan coupes. I always thought one of those would have made a great-looking salt flats car.

[Cliff W]

Looking forward to this!

I will be very interested in seeing how you modify the fenders.  I’m a fan of the Dorothy Paget SSK at Revs Institute which has bobbed fenders as well as storage bins for running boards.

Good luck on your project! 

Cliff

p.s. I do have some “hoods open” pics of that car if you are interested. 
 

 

 

[Dave B]

This will be interesting, a little early for my tastes but I'm sure you'll do it justice.

Dave B

[Bugatti Fan]

Nice classic built to follow.

[Gramps46]

Great project choice.

[Pierre Rivard]

22 hours ago, Straightliner59 said:

I am going to love watching this! It will certainly become a beautiful work, in your hands. I used to have one of the Johan coupes. I always thought one of those would have made a great-looking salt flats car.

That would be cool and a good fit for the Johan coupe kit. I'm always looking for something different to try. Never done a salt flats car. But first this SSK road racer...

21 hours ago, Cliff W said:

Looking forward to this!

I will be very interested in seeing how you modify the fenders.  I’m a fan of the Dorothy Paget SSK at Revs Institute which has bobbed fenders as well as storage bins for running boards.

Good luck on your project! 

Cliff

p.s. I do have some “hoods open” pics of that car if you are interested. 
 

 

 

Yes Cliff, please post the engine pics. Timely because that's what I plan to start with. The Dorothy Paget SSK looks stunning.

16 hours ago, Dave B said:

This will be interesting, a little early for my tastes but I'm sure you'll do it justice.

Dave B

Not as sexy as the Alfa 33, but variety is the spice of life!

6 hours ago, Bugatti Fan said:

Nice classic built to follow.

Thanks Noel, and if you have good ideas for this one please share, I'm still quite undecided about this one.

1 hour ago, Gramps46 said:

Great project choice.

Thanks Gary. I don't have a firm path for this one, if you got any ideas...

[Cliff W]

Happy to help, Pierre!

Here you go - 

 

[Cliff W]

And the other side!

[Cliff W]

The Revs website also has great photos. 
 

https://museum.revsinstitute.org/the-collection/

Hope this will help, I’m really looking forward to watching this one!

Cliff

[stavanzer]

My Thoughts on this build.

I'd say build it totally fenderless. An Open Wheel Racing look. A more Brutal, Stripped down Race Car.

For paint, glossy Battleship Grey bodywork, and red wheels.

What ever you do, it's going to look great!

[1959scudetto]

Pierre, have you checked the Mercedes Benz publich archive? SSKs racing with or without (different) fenders - here is the link: 

https://mercedes-benz-publicarchive.com/marsClassic/en/instance/ko/Mercedes-Benz-SSK-1928--1931.xhtml?oid=6796&relId=1001&resultInfoTypeId=172

Will be interesting to watch your work (as always) !

[rattle can man]

If you go with cycle fenders, some older kits had them. Monogram '32 Ford, Black Widow pick-up, and Model T come to mind. Or you could use the tire covers from continental kits.

[rattle can man]

AMT double T kits too.

[Big John]

A while ago I acquired some of these flashlight/laser pointers with a chrome steel flex stalk that I think would be ideal for Deusy and Mercedes exhaust but don't have a comparison.  The flex stalk is 4mm diameter 7cm long (.157 in. x 3" ) would they work on this car?

Edited December 17, 2024 by Big John

[Pierre Rivard]

Thank you guys for bringing all these great ideas. Cliff, the engine pics from Revs will be very helpful when I attempt to add a bit of detailing to the engine. Alan & Harry, I like the suggestions, just letting it sink in and delaying that decision a bit. Thanks Helmut for the link to MB archives, lots of details info about what these looked in race trim and exactly what I need. John, thanks for the idea, I'l see if I need to go that way.

This feels like a new concept group build. Your ideas, my fat fingers. If I fail, you own half of it... 🤣

I decided to start with the heart of this car. The big 7 liter lump. I like this period picture of it and the first step is taking stock of the starting point and seing possibilities. A simple kit engine, so at first a mock up to see how it stacks up to the reference.

 

[Matt Bacon]

If it's any help for reference, Pierre, I have this hefty chunk of metal in the stash

Personally, I'd say the cycle fenders are pretty essential for a "race-look", though I could understand if you don't want to go to the trouble of drilling out the chassis rails! I think the white, black and burgundy colour scheme is one of the most  purposeful looking, and black wheels hid a multitude of sins (in this case that the rear spokes are cast on to the drums, and you just wire the front face of the wheel...

I shall be watching the master at work with interest!

All the best,

Matt

[Pierre Rivard]

The plan is to review components to see if some details need to be added and eventually get into added external components like fuel lines, actuators etc. I'm not very good at this but I'll add within my capabilities.

First simple change is adding a horizontal fin to the compressor to carb casting. Second element is the big 2 piece oil pan leaving that ugly seam in the middle (I hate that). After sanding that off I added cooling ribs to reflect how the engine really was. Using Evergreen 0.5x1.0 mm and sanding off the edges. A bit oversized but a good improvement still.

 

[Pierre Rivard]

7 minutes ago, Matt Bacon said:

If it's any help for reference, Pierre, I have this hefty chunk of metal in the stash

Personally, I'd say the cycle fenders are pretty essential for a "race-look", though I could understand if you don't want to go to the trouble of drilling out the chassis rails! I think the white, black and burgundy colour scheme is one of the most  purposeful looking, and black wheels hid a multitude of sins (in this case that the rear spokes are cast on to the drums, and you just wire the front face of the wheel...

I shall be watching the master at work with interest!

All the best,

Matt

I've seen what you can do with these white metal kit so I hope you will entertain us with this one soon. I see you favor the SSKL 1931 Mille Miglia look and concur it is a winner. We'll see where this one goes, in the meanwhile focus is on the engine/chassis

[absmiami]

that Auto-Kit Merc is super rare

have fun finishing the cam cover ....

[Bainford]

Very exciting project, Pierre. I have been curious about this kit, too. Nice work on the engine fins/ribs. 

 

[Pierre Rivard]

On 12/17/2024 at 4:30 PM, absmiami said:

that Auto-Kit Merc is super rare

have fun finishing the cam cover ....

My thoughts were... outsource engine turning operations  to Miami... backup plan is the proletarian version of the M06 engine...

 

[Pierre Rivard]

On 12/17/2024 at 9:10 PM, Bainford said:

Very exciting project, Pierre. I have been curious about this kit, too. Nice work on the engine fins/ribs. 

 

Thanks Trevor. That was the first of a long list of fabrication/mods I plan for this build. I have a list of 30 items so far. Not sure how many I'll be capable of doing. Stay tuned!

[MarkJ]

Almost snuck one by me again, Pierre. I have a feeling this will not be as OOB as you had originally planned. Looking forward to more and more of this one.

[1959scudetto]

3 hours ago, MarkJ said:

Almost snuck one by me again, Pierre. I have a feeling this will not be as OOB as you had originally planned. Looking forward to more and more of this one.

I think Pierre meant his recently posted Lancia Stratos as the OOB build.