Thread: Mercer Raceabout 35J 1914 from scratch

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Wow!

Beautiful

Fantastic model

Fantastic work, what size, scale and timbers were used, PLEASE?
Kryn

Beautiful project and Love, Love, Love those wheels!!!

The size of the Mercer is 350mm x 180mm. The body is made of silver quandong that I bought years ago from Lazarides Timber in Queensland. They had a fantastic range of materials, with lots of rare Australian timbers a feature. I have since discovered that Silver Quandong is uncommon and used primarily in instrument making. It's a lovely timber, close grained but soft. It exhibits a lovely sheen when finished.
Wheels are Jarrah (again bits from years ago) whilst hubs are Tasmanian oak and spokes are cane. All the contrast accessories are made of Red Gum.
Being way out here in 'the middle of nowhere, the Riverina' finding decent timbers is very hard. Whenever we do get to a wood show, which is rare these days, I buy whatever I can find that is interesting.

The wheels on this vehicle are more complex than on previous models. They involve double-crossed spokes inside and outside the wheel. Quite a challenge, but worth the trouble. The vehicle looks very crowded with accessories, but each piece, apart from the bar across the dash is an integral part of the mechanical workings of the car. These are - magneto to start one bank of the engine, sight glass to see the oil is going to the motor, speedometer, a large searchlight, as well as the three gas lamps. There is a tank which held acetylene for running the lights. There are two pumps to pump up oil and fuel pressure, horn, crank handle. These cars were designed to be stripped back to bare essentials for racing The mudguards came off, the lights were removed and it was basically a chassis with two seats when racing. The wire wheels were an option, as were normal headlights. Our model did not come with those, hence only the gas lamps.
You can actually see a Mercer being started and taken for a spin by searching You Tube. Two different examples are there, one of which is Jay Leno's.

The great challenges here were twofold. Firstly to get the proportions of each section right. Secondly to produce these tiny embellishments. Without the right equipment, many of these things would be pretty nigh impossible. The Proxxon toymaker's lathe helps with all those tiny round pieces, and the scrollsaw is vital to producing a complex steering wheel, complete with advance mechanism attached. The only thing David baulked at making was the monocle windscreen, which I would have liked to see. Still, these cars by no means all have them these days.
One thing I like about the Mercers is that they were produced as a full package by Mercer. Unlike other manufacturers, they did both the body and the mechanicals. So, unlike other models, where different coach builders produced cars, Mercers are pretty much standard, apart from minor year to year changes and options like wheels and lights.

G'Day Lili, It's great to see one of David's master pieces again; he surely hasn't lost his touch; the model is magnificent indeed... TOP MARKS!! Cheers, Peter

Originally Posted by crowie

G'Day Lili, It's great to see one of David's master pieces again; he surely hasn't lost his touch; the model is magnificent indeed... TOP MARKS!! Cheers, Peter

Hi Peter
Good to see you still going onto the Forum. David has been fairly quiet in terms of building these days. He's pretty much run out of projects, if you don't include the big truck plans he has. He has completed the Mercer plan (a nightmare to follow and pretty ordinary result. Blind Freddy must have done the details), a Hummer, an F150 and the half track.
I have been lazy but will be putting these onto the forum sometime soon. The half track was an experience and was lots of fun for me to research. There was actually the real McCoy for sale, so I got lots of pictures to help in authenticity.
I think I should have posted on Scale Models not Toy Making, but it was so long since I posted, that I'd completely forgotten about the difference.
Cheers from both of us
Lili