44 year old Entex 1/16 scale Mercer Raceabout kit found, suggestions sought ?

Thanks. The parts were cast of course in yellow plastic, Italeri kit.

I primed white Tamiya, then a couple of coats of yellow, then Future. At one point the assembly of the fender into the front forks forced them apart and the shocks didn't work. I soaked the painted part in hot water and put a clamp across it. That fixed the fit, but clouded the finish. However it buffed out nicely without damaging the paint.

I really like that car kit, what a find!

Don Stauffer

It is likely that any color photos you see today are restored, so the color may not be as first built anyway.  If you see a color you like in a photo, I wouldn't be too worried about an absolute match.  Same thing with the uphostery- do what looks nice to you.  Build it as if you were restoring a real Mercer.  I do that with airplanes too.  I do polished Alclad finishes representing museum aircraft, even though few planes of the time were polished.

A lot of cars of the pre-WW1 era came with gray or tan tires, but you don't see ones with those tires today.

 

The kit came with black tires, don't think I'll mess with that, especially given the tread pattern. Not sure the old buff colored tires ever had this tread.

GMorrison

I am working on a motorcycle model and am using Tamiya "Lemon Yellow". It sounded like the closest match to the original Norton yellow fiberglass color.

 

Hah ! Yes, I saw the lemon yellow in acrylic X8 at the store and bought some actually. I also bought some Model Master enamel gloss in Chrome Yellow that looks good if I want it a little darker or I could lighten it up with some white. So right now I have a couple of options.

Didn't see any lacquer there, I'd have to go online if I want that.

Nice paint on that bike GM !

Looking good GM, that would really be a nice color for the Mercer....

I am working on a motorcycle model and am using Tamiya "Lemon Yellow". It sounded like the closest match to the original Norton yellow fiberglass color.

I'm headed to the hobby store and looking for paint.

Greg

Can't help with the yellow, but I'm jealous.

For some reason I'm attracted to vintage larger scale car kits. It must be due to the two Pocher kits I tried to build as a youngster. First I'd heard of Entex or a Mercer Raceabout.

Whatever yellow you choose, I'd urge you to use a good lacquer of some sort. I pretty much ruined the finish of my first car model in 50 years with acrylic paint and stupid Future.

Have fun with that kit, and a pic of the box would draw more interest, show folks what you are talking about. I only researched because of my specific interest.

 

I always painted my old cars in scale hobby paints , usually enamels because I knew it wouldn't eat the plastic. I tried lacquer a few times back in the day and always ran into trouble, not so much these days but I prime now too, never did back then. This is old styrene though, so what ever I put down I'll test first. That said, Model Master acrylic over stynlrez is a no brainer to put down with my own thinner, it sprays pretty much like lacquer or enamel and even buffs up pretty nice. But well it's an old car, deserves old school paint lol !!

How do you get a photo up here anyway ? I took a shot just with my cell phone, emailed it to myself and stuck it in my computers Pictures folder. Can I go from there or does it need a photo hosting site that I don't have (unless it can come from Onedrives cloud) ?

Congratulations, also, on having the kit!

I'm guessing you'd be hard-pressed to find a proper color code for the original 'Mercer Yellow' shade, but period illustrations I've seen...and authentically-resored collector's cars, like Jay Leno's...universally show a 'canary' or 'lemon' yellow, without any hint of orange. Any good-quality paint in that range should do. As Greg advised, I'd be tempted to go with lacquers; but, particularly given the age of the kit, it's probably a good idea to test any paints used on a sprue section or unseen surface, first, just in case.

Whatever you do...please...share the photos of your work; it's not often we get to see such an uncommon old kit!

Cheers

It is likely that any color photos you see today are restored, so the color may not be as first built anyway.  If you see a color you like in a photo, I wouldn't be too worried about an absolute match.  Same thing with the uphostery- do what looks nice to you.  Build it as if you were restoring a real Mercer.  I do that with airplanes too.  I do polished Alclad finishes representing museum aircraft, even though few planes of the time were polished.

A lot of cars of the pre-WW1 era came with gray or tan tires, but you don't see ones with those tires today.

Can't help with the yellow, but I'm jealous.

For some reason I'm attracted to vintage larger scale car kits. It must be due to the two Pocher kits I tried to build as a youngster. First I'd heard of Entex or a Mercer Raceabout.

Whatever yellow you choose, I'd urge you to use a good lacquer of some sort. I pretty much ruined the finish of my first car model in 50 years with acrylic paint and stupid Future.

Have fun with that kit, and a pic of the box would draw more interest, show folks what you are talking about. I only researched because of my specific interest.