A stellar piece is finally realized in pre-production images, this is the CMC 1:18 Mercedes-Benz SSK “Black Prince”, 1934. The level of intricate detail is legendary, and the brand CMC truly understands the meaning of 360 access. The level of undercarriage detail is overwhelming and welcomed. This model is available for pre-order. The suggested retail is about $695 CND.
Mercedes-Benz SSK “Black Prince”… “The “Black Prince” is considered one of the world’s most valuable Mercedes-Benz. Of the 30 SSKs ever built, Chassis 36038 has one of the most interesting stories to tell. It was first delivered to Japan without a body in 1930. From there, the chassis was shipped to Italy, where it got its first body. The new owner Carlo Felice Trossi was a private racer who first used the car in races. Then he decided to have his car outfitted with a low-flow roadster body in the style of the time. Scientific aerodynamics was still in its infancy during the early 1930s. Many of the streamlined vehicles of this era looked sleek but were lacking in any proven dynamic benefits. It can be said that under this fashion of the time, even the design of everyday objects was prone to be streamlined.”
Product# M-225
I hope they fix the exhaust first!
Pre-ordered directly at CMC-shop. Want me to write the review?
Yes, please!
Will do, and with pleasure
Sorry to get in on this discussion so late — I had to scroll back about 5 pages!
Is the grille perforated? Is the radiator shell metal or plastic?
On a positive note, it looks like the louvers are cut directly into the hood and fenders, rather than inserted in as pre-cut rectangles.
Other than that, these are very low-res images, so it’s hard to judge further.
Hope CMC team pay attention to the number of those louvers, especially on the right side of the engine hood. From the photo of black prince, the four groups of louvers are in a 7, 5, 5, 7 pattern. Based on the 6, 6, 6, 8 pattern of current SSKs, it’s not difficult to modify the number of louvers so that they can match the real black prince (I’m sure there is enough space to do this after examining the current SSKs).
Besides, a slightly more difficult modification may be the three exhaust manifolds. From the sample photos #5, it seems CMC directly copied the detail of three exhaust manifolds from their current SSKs. The three exhaust manifolds are not at the same height. The one on the left is apparently at a lower height than the other two. This is wrong when they model the black prince, because three exhaust manifolds should be at the same height. Since CMC team treats this black prince as their celebration of the 25th anniversary and their love of detail, I hope CMC can also make improvement on this detail.
Wish CMC would gradually remaster some of their early 1/24 car models in 1/18 scale.
Such as Horch 853 (1/12 is too expensive for me), 500K special roadster, 540K cabriolet, and wanderer W25.