That is a big improvement on the otherwise lackluster interior. Love the details you have added. The car certainly needed justice to be done to it.
The X-Clínic: Mercedes-Benz 540K Autobahnkurier
33
As I mentioned earlier, I finished modifying the interior of my Mercedes-Benz 540K Autobahnkurier from KK Scale some time ago and decided to leave here the step-by-step photos. The original car, chassis # 408336 and belonging to Prof. Ignacio Barraquer and his family for almost 70 years, has the interiors upholstered in red leather but, go figure, KK Scale thought tan was a better option ... I couldn't let it be that way.
So, this is what I did:
- Change the interior colour to red like the original car;
- Add chrome trim to the seats and door handles, as well as a wooden strip on the upper part of the door covers;
- Carpet the interior in red and black as in the original;
- Detail the suitcase behind the seats and include leather straps;
- Exchange the plastic pedals for metallic ones (Tremonia);
- Replace the steering column (in black plastic) with a chrome metal bar and change the steering wheel inclination (it was too diagonal, it should be more vertical);
- Add some detail to the chassis (braking lines, differential, crankcase, gearbox, exhaust line, some cables, nuts and bolts);
- Sand down the tire tread for greater realism;
- Improve the fixation of the front wheels in order to eliminate the play that generated excessive camber;
- Smoke the tail lights (the originals are almost black and not red);
- And anything else that I came up with!
This is the how it started like:
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This is what I aimed for:
Disassembling:
A bit of red and a bit of flock:
Added a bit of depth to the panel gaps, chromed the door handle and added a strip on the upper part to simulate wood. Not a fan of how the later turned out but I'm keeping it like that for now:
Added the black carpets:
Added some chrome trim to the seats and painted black the leather strips around the sides like the original.
Photoetched pedals (from Tremonia):
That "bulk" behind the seats should actually be a suitcase. So I painted it up, decorated it according to the original suitcases delivered with the car and added a couple of leather straps so the case doesn't sway side to side.
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The new metalic steering column. Since it really isn't attached to the front wheels, it doesn't need to be that long:
Finished interior. Looks a bit different IMO:
Will post some more WIP photos later.
So, this is what I did:
- Change the interior colour to red like the original car;
- Add chrome trim to the seats and door handles, as well as a wooden strip on the upper part of the door covers;
- Carpet the interior in red and black as in the original;
- Detail the suitcase behind the seats and include leather straps;
- Exchange the plastic pedals for metallic ones (Tremonia);
- Replace the steering column (in black plastic) with a chrome metal bar and change the steering wheel inclination (it was too diagonal, it should be more vertical);
- Add some detail to the chassis (braking lines, differential, crankcase, gearbox, exhaust line, some cables, nuts and bolts);
- Sand down the tire tread for greater realism;
- Improve the fixation of the front wheels in order to eliminate the play that generated excessive camber;
- Smoke the tail lights (the originals are almost black and not red);
- And anything else that I came up with!
This is the how it started like:
This is what I aimed for:
Disassembling:
A bit of red and a bit of flock:
Added a bit of depth to the panel gaps, chromed the door handle and added a strip on the upper part to simulate wood. Not a fan of how the later turned out but I'm keeping it like that for now:
Added the black carpets:
Added some chrome trim to the seats and painted black the leather strips around the sides like the original.
Photoetched pedals (from Tremonia):
That "bulk" behind the seats should actually be a suitcase. So I painted it up, decorated it according to the original suitcases delivered with the car and added a couple of leather straps so the case doesn't sway side to side.
The new metalic steering column. Since it really isn't attached to the front wheels, it doesn't need to be that long:
Finished interior. Looks a bit different IMO:
Will post some more WIP photos later.
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