¹⁄35

Mercedes Benz G4 1939

Assembly

I followed my method which served me quite well during the assembly of more complicated kits: to build by sub-components, prime, paint, glue. The method is tedious, sometimes details have to be retouched, other times the paint has to be scratched off for glue application or because of tight fit or incorrect alignment. But if you like great looking details, perhaps is the only way…

Engine

Replicated in great detail, the engine is a small model itself. Here I encountered the first problem (already!): when cut from the sprue, one radiator fan blade broke… I corrected it and carried on. After this I added the transmission, I painted the engine block and sub-assemblies steel color, the fan belt matte black and the transmission and the fan semi-gloss black. I didn’t detail the engine too much, as the only visible part was going to be just the oil pan from the underneath…

Sub-frame, steering, transmission, exhaust system

Well, this is a complicated job. A few seam lines to be removed, plenty of dry fits and glue… the result is a square-shaped futuristic spider (brrr!). The transmission incorporates very finely detailed parts, together with the suspension and the steering system. The exhaust system is intricate and I gave up following the instructions for it. I just kept adding parts as the build progressed… the last one after the body was attached! Upon the completion of the undercarriage, I painted everything in steel enamel as primer, topped with semi-gloss black acrylic. The exhaust system was weathered with corresponding rust color, following the same method as described.

Wheels

This car has plenty and all of them are different! Front wheels are different from back wheels and the two spare wheels are different from the two before. This is not a complaint! According to photographic evidence, they were so! The wheels are molded one piece, with very fine engraving showing the Mercedes star. I primed them flat green, then painted over with glossy black. Finally, I painted the tires with matte acrylic, a very dark shade of gray. I focused mostly on a subtle contrast between textures: “hard” shiny black and “soft” porous black.

Body and interior

The rear part of the kit’s body is made up of three parts, to be glued on the bottom plate from the back, left and right. Those who are building a model with a body molded as a single piece are very lucky! I have primed all parts with oil based gray primer, then temporarily assembled the kit and airbrushed the exterior with gloss black enamel. After the paint dried, I dismantled the parts and painted the interior, piece by piece. I had the doors painted with brown leather from inside, followed by further detailing, adding the chrome parts and so on. The bottom plate and the rear I painted mouse gray, to replicate fabric / suede. The same color I have applied over the inside of the front, although not visible when construction complete.

The seats are another ICM engineering feat! Complicated enough to assemble and with very delicate parts; especially after being painted on the sprue, the thin styrene components soften. To my luck (and my surprise!) I managed to break none. I couldn’t avoid the fitting problems, though… I had to clamp down the arm rests to the car body while the glue hardened.

Once all seats in place, I added the handles for the handbrake, the gear shift and the pedals, all delicate parts and I prayed for another streak of good luck. Somebody didn’t answer my prayers: the smaller gear shift, the one between the front seats, broke upon removal from the sprue. I handcrafted one from a stiff wire and improvised the rounded end from a blob of glue. I hope you like it.

The dashboard went quite easily: I primed it with steel enamel, followed by semi-gloss black. By dry brushing with silver color I picked out the dial frames and the switches. I added the six decals and sealed everything under clear gloss coating.

Finally, I was able to attach the body to the chassis… or I thought so, because soon I ran into trouble. First, the assembly instructions for the steering wheel shaft are wrong. The leaf shaped part that supposed to fit into the dashboard does not go through the opening. I had to unglue the steering shaft and try to fit it from above: what a nice surprise: of course it did not fit. Curses! I had to sand down the end connecting to the steering box (less conspicuous) and do it again. This time it worked. Great relief.

Well, short-lived relief. Because the skirts connecting the doors’ thresholds to the running boards gave me the worst of the headaches yet so far… basically I had to tear apart the doors and rebuild the middle section of the body. Not to mention the additional glue marks and all kind of specks from handling. Oh, boy, the chrome dry-brushed trim along the body was completely gone! It was the first time in a very long while that I wanted to give up on a project. But a good night’s rest was a good counselor and I restarted the following day with renewed patience and crossed fingers. It worked. I had to use elastic bands and clamps to make the whole model look like an actual car, but it worked.

During all that battering handling, the windshield frame collapsed completely. I hesitated between scratch building another upper frame or letting the window frameless. Exhausted, I decided to go for the frameless version. It looks better actually, if anybody asks me.

The folded roof (unique option for this kit) comes in only four parts (I think something went wrong at ICM with the seven folded canvas designers). I primed the whole assembly with gray primer, then I painted the chrome parts with enamel and the canvas with semi-gloss acrylic, adding some shadows using wet on wet technique. Geez, that was so easy!

To my surprise, the whole front fitted almost without problem (I only needed to slightly reposition one of the exhaust tubes). I can’t tell the same about the lights… the front assembly is very difficult, the fit being only approximate. Finally, after three-four repositioning of the parts, I managed to get a decent look…

Happily enough, I added up the last few details: taillights, extra lights and the license plates.

All was followed by a general cleaning of the model prior to varnishing and a deep, very deep breath!