Pierre Rivard Posted February 17 Posted February 17 The last car engineered by Ferdinand Porsche before leaving Mercedes to start his own shop. The SSK was a shorter chassis evolved from the S line and only 33 were built. Some wore the Touring bodywork but most were outfitted or converted to the Sport body and intended for a racing life. Wit it's brutish 7.1 ohv supercharged engine producing up to 300 hp and 500 lb.ft of torque, the car could reach 193 km/hr but stopping was a challenging task with mechanically actuated drum brakes. A second brake pedal was added to the mechanic's side to help the driver slow down the beast. This formidable racing machine had a short but dominant racing career before leaving the stage to the lighter more advanced Alfa Rome 8C. This build started out with a Lindberg kit (tooling circa 1966) which depicted the car as a luxury coupe with whitewall tires. I took on the task of transforming it into the racer it was always meant to be. Pretty much everything was changed, modified or upgraded. This is not in criticism of this nice but simple vintage kit but more about the vision I had for this build. A WIP was produced explaining all the steps of the transformation. 12
1959scudetto Posted February 17 Posted February 17 Fantastic workmanship, Pierre ! Though I prefer postwar racecars, I can certainly appreciate one's efforts. This is an incredible transformation of the old Lindberg kit. Everybody should look into your WIP - there are so many things to discover and tips that can be used also for other models, too. Simply awesome !
Cliff W Posted February 17 Posted February 17 Excellent craftsmanship Pierre! I love the way it turned out. Your transformation of the basic kit is amazing!
Belugawrx Posted February 17 Posted February 17 All of the details you added really make this one pop Pierre ! Well done (2thumsup)
Nacho Z Posted February 18 Posted February 18 Well for once my timing was just about perfect! I read through the entire WIP thread yesterday during the Daytona 500 and here she is, all wrapped up! Truly a work of art, Pierre! Your scratchbuilding is top notch and I absolutely love your approach to figuring things out and making them a reality. Bravo, or as I like to say, Fandamntastic!!
bbowser Posted February 18 Posted February 18 Outstanding replica from a less than adequate kit! Truly well done.
Roger U Posted February 18 Posted February 18 Great build. The details and paint are beautifully done.
BK9300 Posted February 18 Posted February 18 Your WIP was a pleasure to follow and your results are magnificent. A person might think they were looking at a limited edition Danbury Mint creation, although you have more detail. A very well done build!
W-409 Posted February 18 Posted February 18 This turned out beautiful! Your attention to detail and all of the scratchbuilt parts make this one stand out. Also, the different metal finishes especially on the engine, and your subtle weathering are looking fantastic. Very nice build of a beautiful car. Interesting to see what you'll be building next.
maysula Posted February 18 Posted February 18 This is very very good! Nice attention to details , you have done great job here 🙂 What scale ? I belive 1/24
Mike 1017 Posted February 18 Posted February 18 This one great looking car. I have this kit in my stash. Your build gives inspiration to build it as a race car. Mike
Pierre Rivard Posted February 18 Author Posted February 18 18 hours ago, Jim B said: Beautiful Benz. Very well done. What scale is this? Thanks Jim, it is 1/24 scale 18 hours ago, 1959scudetto said: Fantastic workmanship, Pierre ! Though I prefer postwar racecars, I can certainly appreciate one's efforts. This is an incredible transformation of the old Lindberg kit. Everybody should look into your WIP - there are so many things to discover and tips that can be used also for other models, too. Simply awesome ! Thank you my friend. I too tend to prefer post-war race cars but the pre-war cars are very interesting to work on, they are really growing on me. 17 hours ago, Cliff W said: Excellent craftsmanship Pierre! I love the way it turned out. Your transformation of the basic kit is amazing! The kit is basic but the chassis, engine and body components are well cast and provide a good foundation to start with. For 1966 tooling this is a very good kit. 17 hours ago, Belugawrx said: All of the details you added really make this one pop Pierre ! Well done (2thumsup) Thank you Bruce, this project went in a surprisingly smooth way.
Pierre Rivard Posted February 18 Author Posted February 18 15 hours ago, Nacho Z said: Well for once my timing was just about perfect! I read through the entire WIP thread yesterday during the Daytona 500 and here she is, all wrapped up! Truly a work of art, Pierre! Your scratchbuilding is top notch and I absolutely love your approach to figuring things out and making them a reality. Bravo, or as I like to say, Fandamntastic!! Thanks John. I did not plan to do so many changes to start with but not hitting road blocks encouraged me to add more along the way. The design of these pre-war cars provide enough room to do these detailing jobs. 15 hours ago, bbowser said: Outstanding replica from a less than adequate kit! Truly well done. The kit is basic but cast with good quality and reasonable dimensions. A good foundation. 15 hours ago, larman said: Outstanding work and detailing! Thank you sir 14 hours ago, Roger U said: Great build. The details and paint are beautifully done. Thanks Roger. All paint finishes are brush painted using Vallejo acrylics.
Pierre Rivard Posted February 18 Author Posted February 18 10 hours ago, BK9300 said: Your WIP was a pleasure to follow and your results are magnificent. A person might think they were looking at a limited edition Danbury Mint creation, although you have more detail. A very well done build! Happy you appreciated the WIP. I am happy with the results as I tried a few new techniques on this one 9 hours ago, Bugatti Fan said: Beautiful model Pierre. Thank you Noel. Any Bugatti kits out there I should try. I'd love to build the tank 7 hours ago, W-409 said: This turned out beautiful! Your attention to detail and all of the scratchbuilt parts make this one stand out. Also, the different metal finishes especially on the engine, and your subtle weathering are looking fantastic. Very nice build of a beautiful car. Interesting to see what you'll be building next. Thanks Niko. I use mainly Vallejo Aluminium and occasionally Chrome (more a bright all than chrome look) and oiled earth washes to bring up features 5 hours ago, maysula said: This is very very good! Nice attention to details , you have done great job here 🙂 What scale ? I belive 1/24 Thank you Thomas. Yes it is 1/24 3 hours ago, ChrisR said: Looks great! Thanks Chris 2 hours ago, Mike 1017 said: This one great looking car. I have this kit in my stash. Your build gives inspiration to build it as a race car. Mike It looks good built as designed but it is fun to add more details.
Pierre Rivard Posted February 18 Author Posted February 18 Bonus shot, the old lion and the challenger 4
MarkJ Posted February 18 Posted February 18 There are no words left to describe this masterpiece you are sharing with us. Magnificence abounds with this latest build you have here. Looks like you took a real car and shrunk it to this scale which escapes me at the moment. The only thing I can possibly see that might be missing, and this is over the top picky on my part, is two pieces of luggage for the right short running board with maybe a shirt hanging out of a corner of one of the pieces. But that would just mess up the lines of this beautiful racer from so long ago, and that would be a travesty. Can't wait for what you have in store for us next. I'm waiting with bated breath. Model on Obi-Wan. 1
Dave B Posted February 19 Posted February 19 AHH Pierre, an exceptional build, and yours are always great!!! Keep them coming. Dave B
AmericanMuscleFan Posted February 19 Posted February 19 Absolutely fantastic build Pierre! You are a master builder, the photos and the WIP thread are proof of that. I'm not an expert on cars from this era but with the brick wall behind it, it's hard to tell that it's a model car and that's proof of total success, the illusion is perfect, hats off sir! 🎩
kensar Posted February 19 Posted February 19 Your conversion of the touring car model to this race car was most successful. The added detail transforms a mediocre kit into a true replica with great presence. Bravo!
Pierre Rivard Posted February 19 Author Posted February 19 On 2/18/2025 at 2:51 PM, MarkJ said: There are no words left to describe this masterpiece you are sharing with us. Magnificence abounds with this latest build you have here. Looks like you took a real car and shrunk it to this scale which escapes me at the moment. The only thing I can possibly see that might be missing, and this is over the top picky on my part, is two pieces of luggage for the right short running board with maybe a shirt hanging out of a corner of one of the pieces. But that would just mess up the lines of this beautiful racer from so long ago, and that would be a travesty. Can't wait for what you have in store for us next. I'm waiting with bated breath. Model on Obi-Wan. Thank you my friend. Your praise humbles me. As you can see I work mostly from styrene and putty, but doing the research and breaking it down to small steps allows me to actually do more than I thought I could. Obi-Wan I am not but with persistence I find little ways to improve with each build. 19 hours ago, Dave B said: AHH Pierre, an exceptional build, and yours are always great!!! Keep them coming. Dave B Thank you Dave. I am quite happy with it but it was a challenge and I need to recharge. For sure one more before I close shop for the start of golf season 18 hours ago, AmericanMuscleFan said: Absolutely fantastic build Pierre! You are a master builder, the photos and the WIP thread are proof of that. I'm not an expert on cars from this era but with the brick wall behind it, it's hard to tell that it's a model car and that's proof of total success, the illusion is perfect, hats off sir! 🎩 Merci! You are too kind Francis. The photos are the test. If the model comes out with a reasonable dose of realism mission accomplished. 4 hours ago, kensar said: Your conversion of the touring car model to this race car was most successful. The added detail transforms a mediocre kit into a true replica with great presence. Bravo! Sometimes they come out not quite as good as we wish, sometimes better. I did not bang my head too much on this one and I really like the way it came out. Thanks again for the advice about the steering wheel.
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