49 Mercury Custom WIP #5

The push to finish the Mercury is now on. My fellow club member Richard, has got his Ford Pick-up finished and he has done a very good job on it. So I cannot allow myself to be left behind in this Build-off I started within the club.


Over the weekend, the bodyshell and bonnet received a few more coats of clear. I am now leaving them for the week to harden before I get the micromesh out and polish the clear. But it already looks better now even with a little orange peel on the surface.


The following photos were taken tonight just after I finished the chassis off. My original plan over the weekend was to scratch-build a new exhaust system for the Mercury, of which I started with the rear box section that was to have four tailpipes coming out of it. Unfortunately, this would not fit together as I hoped, so I decided to go with the sidepipes that came with the kit. A little modification was done by drilling out the exhaust exits  and painting the plates. As there was no downpipes supplied, I made two from some plastic rod by bending them to get the shapes required. This took a few attempts on each side, but  I ended up with the right shape I wanted for them in the end.

The kit came with two sets of wheels, one set of chromed steels and these ones with white wall tyres. These looked the best for this model so the other wheels can be used on another model at a later date. I hope you agree with me on this choice? Once the wheels were fitted to the chassis, I noticed a slight twist in it, so hopefully once the chassis is glued to the under body it will sit flat and straight.

Now onto the lower body section. The interior is completed except for the steering wheel and column, these still need painting before fitting into position to the dash and floor. There is a little bit of detail painting to be done in the engine bay to finish that off. This is the battery terminals, steering column exit plate on the bulkhead and other small details. I might even add a couple of data plates to the bulkhead to finish it off. Once these little jobs are done, next step will be to glue the chassis to the underneath, add the radiator and front panel. Then to finish this off, the water hoses and side pipes will be glued into position then all of this stage of the build will be finished.

The next stage of this project will be to polish the body, add some chrome trim around the windows, fit the light, wipers, etc. So, I hope to have the Mercury finished in the next couple of weeks with luck.