[superduty455]

Watch out! I'm on a roll here!
Testors Maserati Merak SS.
After so many Wheels of Italy pictures I had to break down and get this Testors kit. Pretty easy curbside kit, but looks fantastic when finished.
I purchased this and started in on it a day or two after receiving it. That's how excited I was to build it. I'm still debating on the mirrors(I'll probably add them) since the location is forward of the wind screen and over the front tires, ruining the lines of this car.

Paint: Cobra Colors Grigio Silverstone Metallic

Interior: Tamiya Red/Brown

Wheels: Tamiya Light Gunmetal with Testors gold in the centers.

Bumpers: Alclad Chrome

Tamiya semi gloss black accents with BMF chrome trim.

I'm a gaudy type, and added the spoiler, which looks great imo.
Couple pics and hope to have better out-door ones tomorrow. Sun setting here and was just catching the last rays. A couple indoor shots too.

Just a few more pictures at My Fotki.
Chris

 

[RUSSELL ZACHRY]

That looks great Chris, I like those colors.
Russell

 

[jingles]

that looks nice Chris. nice work on the details :thumbsup:

 

[Steve244]

Your treatment of the car is much nicer than this one.

Agree on the mirrors. Leave'em off. Probably goes fast enough in real life not to worry about what's coming up behind you.

 

[SoleSky]

Hey Chris. That looks awesome, sorry I haven't been on much still. Schools a killer. Still working on my boss though. Trying to perfect the shell =(. It's been taking awhile, a lot of sanding any such, hope it turns out 1/100 as good as yours

 

[steve123]

Don't sweat the mirrors, put 'em on the doors. it was a euro thing. I had a buddy who swore by the forward location, but they were murder to adjust...
Very nice looking Maser!

Steve

 

[Ohlly]

I just painted a 1:1 of one of these for a guy that sold it at Mecum

 

[Rolls]

Nice work, 310bhp! I'm a big Maser fan and that looks real good! It looks like it's lonely, though. I think it wants a Miura to keep it company.

 

[Dyonisis]

That looks great Chris, I like those colors.
Russell

This is moulded in this colour. I had one of these back in '86. I built it with the same colour right out of the box - the finish on the body is that smooth! There're no mould lines on it, and it builds up into an electric car if you want to put a motor in it - there's an access panel for this underneath the unibody. Mine eventually ended up in pieces in a box for years until last year when I saw it, I was heartbroken, so I let my cousins' boy smash what was left to pieces. It wasn't salvageable - otherwise I would've kept it and refurbished it to its' former glory. There are a lot of cars that I wish I still had, but that's what happens when you're too young to appreciate nice things!

~ The God of war

 

[superduty455]

This is moulded in this colour. I had one of these back in '86. I built it with the same colour right out of the box - the finish on the body is that smooth! There're no mould lines on it, and it builds up into an electric car if you want to put a motor in it - there's an access panel for this underneath the unibody. Mine eventually ended up in pieces in a box for years until last year when I saw it, I was heartbroken, so I let my cousins' boy smash what was left to pieces. It wasn't salvageable - otherwise I would've kept it and refurbished it to its' former glory. There are a lot of cars that I wish I still had, but that's what happens when you're too young to appreciate nice things!

~ The God of war

Not sure how to take your comment, but even though it is molded in color, it's not molded in the color I airbrushed it in. Thanks?
Chris

 

[Dyonisis]

Normally I don't reply to posts like this, especially after the amount of time that's lapsed since this thread was first posted. Here dude - this is for you:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170546146297&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

I found this while cruising down amnesia lane. I was going to buy this until someone else beat me to it. I want another one, but I won't be able to build it until I can finish the other ones I started.

I don't understand your concern. I used to have one of these - it should be appearant by my description of the car. I wouldn't make it up if it weren't true! I'm not trying to blow sunshine up anyones' ass, or impress them - why would I say something that was obviously untrue just to jump into this thread? I had this car for over a quater of a century - I wouldn't just forget what it looks like overnight. That would be like you waking up and forgetting what you look like tomorrow morning. I used to play with this even with a pro paint job on the small parts as they were masked and painted to perfection. If you're offended - don't be! I didn't say you didn't paint this, or anything negative about this car in any form - you're reading too much into it! I played with this same model car kit as a kid because it looked so cool, and it looked like it was an already built and a painted toy since it was so smooth and shiny - I don't know why you wasted your time and money doing so, it really isn't neccessary, nor does it look any darker than the car on the box which exactly matches the model car which it contains. If you look at the car from the front, with the headlamps, grill, engine guard, and bumperettes, it looks almost like face of a knights' helmet.

I played with this same car kit everyday until I was seventeen, then I put it away in the box it originally came in. I found it while digging through my moms' attic one day. I saw it was falling apart with a few pieces missing because I was never heavy handed with the glue. I figured that I couldn't do it justice by scratch making new parts for it, so I thought the only thing I could do was dispose of the rest in the most humane way I could until my cousins' boy came over for a visit. That's all she wrote as far as that car is concerned. Don't be pissed - you did an excellent job on a fairly rare kit that I wish I still had. Be proud of this Italian inspired beauty and enjoy it as much as you can since I'm no longer able to. <---- very sad and disappointed face

~ The God of war

 

[superduty455]

Not mad or disappointed. Like I said, Just wasn't sure how to interpret your post.
Glad to have spent money and time on the kit. More wrong with it than you may remember.
The front bumpers, while chrome in the kit, had to be stripped because of how they were attached to the sprue. I stripped them, sanded them and used chrome alclad on them. It was an enjoyable build and I would do it again.
I am surprised you haven't been able to pick one up. Are you looking for a certain price point?
I was lucky enough to get my kit for around $20 shipped. I plan on wrking on my Pantera too, same style. Painting that one just like the box art black and gold.
Thanks for clearing it up though.
Chris

 

[Dyonisis]

I'm sad and disappointed that I missed out on this auction.

I never painted mine, but I remember that I stripped the engine guard off when the car hit the ground and broke a chunk out of it! I didn't have to strip the chrome off the bumper, or the bumperettes on the front. I do remember having to be careful when removing parts from the sprue/parts trees, as they would take a nick out of the part you want to keep! I don't think any of this had chrome on it. I could be wrong, but - I don't remember it having any. The headlamp covers were supposed to be painted along with the spoiler and the rear frame supports. I didn't paint them for contrast.

To tell you the truth, if I ever got one of these again - I would do it exactly the same as far as the chrome parts and not painting the entire thing to match, only I'd use chrome foil for all the metal trim. The turn signals were all painted, but the interior wasn't, nor was the rest of the outside. It looked really good once I got it done, but I don't remember much else about building it - it just went together in the space of an hour and a half. I had to paint the wheels like you did on yours, but nothing else really needed paint other than what I mentioned before.

At the time I built this car, sport coats with elbow patches were all the rage - Dirk Benedict wore one in the A-team, as did so many other characters in T.V. shows of the day. I left the headlamp covers along with the spoiler and support struts, and bumpers black to resemble the contrast of the sport coat style. Everything else was the colour of the car, except the wheels, door handles, door trim, emblem, and exaust pipes. I liked this look, and I want to build another one, only this time store it inside a protective case. I would have to detail the interior. All in all, it would be my favourite model to date. I have others in the works, but I can't seem to motivate myself to finish them, so I start others to forget about the other models that still need paint. I got an airbrush for this, but it was crap. I got one for my birthday last year, but I still haven't used it yet. I want another Merak SS, but it'll have to wait. I missed out on the last one because I didn't know how much money I had in my paypal account. By the time I got to it - this kit was gone....

~ The God of war

 

[superduty455]

I'll try to keep my eyes open for another one for you. Simple but great kits.
Chris