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Forum 18
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Topic starter
13/10/2026 5:57 pm
This 1/18 scale Maisto 1989 Mercedes 500 SL convertible (Thailand) was found loose at an estate sale with a unattached seat and a few nicks and scratches. Due to the dislodged driver's seat, I decided to disassemble the the model. Being an early Maisto release, I was impressed with the engineering build and the wholesome parts count. The biggest challenge I faced was getting the back tires off the wheels so that access to two hidden screws at the top of the wheel wells could be had. Since the car was old and unboxed for so long, the tires had become very hard and inflexible. Mounting them after the redo was easy when the tires were soaked for a short period in near boiling water. Twelve screws in all hold the chassis to a full-length platform that the interior tub rests on. This makes for a hefty model even though they are plastic. The coil springs on all four corners were a tad rusty but cleaned up okay. Since the original 1:1 car didn't have any chrome to speak of, I decided to enhance the look by adding chrome to the door panels, latches and some instrumentation buttons. Black carpeting, black seats and a black dashboard broke up the near all off white interior scheme. Underneath, the glaring chrome exhaust system was toned down with some blackwashing. Overall, I like the look of it much better than the original stock version. Thanks for looking...
13/10/2026 6:22 pm
Bravo and here I can't even attached what's supposed to be on my models.😞🫣😞
13/10/2026 6:26 pm
Nice work. I’ve used bleach to un-chrome parts before. Give them an easy clean-up, let air-dry and then paint the proper color.
steve
This post was modified 4 days ago by Steve Jacobs
13/10/2026 8:25 pm
Very nice diecast automobile from Maisto and fine work in bringing this one back into a great display form. Pretty cool car and a terrific find for your collection.
Topic starter
13/10/2026 9:45 pm
Thanks for the compliments.
And Steve, that is a good tip that is new to me. Those chrome pipes looked just too shiny for exhaust pipes. Do you know if the 1:1's were even silver color?
14/10/2026 5:07 am
"Mounting them after the redo was easy when the tires were soaked for a short period in near boiling water."
Nice job on your enhancements.... and yes, "boiling tires" is a great way to soften them. I've had to do this many times. It makes me wonder though.... just how "hard tires" are assembled at the factory since no one is "boiling them." 🤔 🤨 🤔
14/10/2026 11:24 am
Your Mercedes came out very nice. For the money, Maisto makes some decent diecast with some nice detail.
Steve Jacobs reacted
14/10/2026 4:24 pm
Unfortunately, I do not. I do paint exhaust tips in silver bottled paint. In 1/18 scale that looks fairly realistic to me. I’ve also used aluminum tubing on a 1/24 model to simulate side exhausts.
steve