mustang1989 Posted August 29, 2016 Share Posted August 29, 2016 (edited) I'm no armor guy and I'll admit that one freely but a couple of years ago I got the "hankerin" to build a kit that I used to have in my stash. In all the moves that my wife and I have been through over the years I lost some kits to damage and this was one of those. That's been about 15 years ago and I always wanted to build it, so I acquired one around the early August 2014 time frame and went right to work on it. This is my first ever "all out" attempt on a military vehicle and wanted to build it in the same scale as my aircraft builds. There are some things I need to improve on here and there to include the side car wheel retaining nut/ center cap but am still learning. I've recently acquired a Tamiya 1/48 scale BMW R75 so there will be a round 2 for this subject.The kit build was fairly straight forward and very detailed in this scale. One of the only things I really didn't care for was the size of the wheel spokes but hey, you gotta remember that this was the ONLY BMW R75 available for a LONG time, so allowances were made. I scratch built the spark plug wires from a GM fuel pump relay coil winding that I had laying around in my "spares" drawer of the toolbox (you know , that drawer that's got all the "good stuff" in it when you're looking for something last minute repairing cars) . I also scratch built the reverse/ low gear shifter rods on the right hand side of the solo bike from stretched sprue. I robbed the main machine gun, MP40 machine gun,(placed on the sidecar seat) sleeping bag(in the sidecar floor) and the tent ( on the spare tire) from the brand new Tamiya BMW R75 kit that I just recently acquired. The Bandai machine gun just sucked and the rest of the items were needed just to keep the motorcycle/ sidecar from looking too bare. I added two PE items from Hauler in the form of the machine gun ammo belt that's draped over the main gun and a sling for the MP40 in the seat.Paints were all Model Master to include the gloss coat for the original decals( how these didn't crumble is still a mystery given how old the kit is) and the flat coat with a couple of drops of light grey for a "sun faded " look. Finally I dry brushed some ground up tan pastel for a "dusty/ dirty" look. This build was far apart from my usual aircraft and civilian automotive subjects and was really fun to build for the most part. I do know need to work on my seam removal with wheeled vehicles because there are so much more surface variations than with aircraft.The pictures:and that last pic for scale reference: Edited August 29, 2016 by mustang1989 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reini78 Posted August 29, 2016 Share Posted August 29, 2016 nice work with that oldie 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzy Posted August 29, 2016 Share Posted August 29, 2016 Nice build. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billydick Posted August 29, 2016 Share Posted August 29, 2016 Considering its 1/48 - it's a little cracker ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celt Posted August 29, 2016 Share Posted August 29, 2016 Nice to see old kits still getting built,and built well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustang1989 Posted August 30, 2016 Author Share Posted August 30, 2016 Thanks for the compliments and the "likes" folks. While certainly not my best work due to experience level at the time , I did have fun with it and hope to build my 1/48 Tamiya BMW R75 that I've got in the stash sometime within the foreseeable future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Henry Posted September 12, 2016 Share Posted September 12, 2016 That is very nice work on the painting and weathering. WELL DONE SIR !! Bob H. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badder Posted September 12, 2016 Share Posted September 12, 2016 (edited) Interesting to see this kit as I myself have just built the Tamiya 1/35th version for the Vignette GB. The different scales obviously have an effect on detail levels, but I'm staggered that you managed to add the spark plug leads. Although larger, the Tamiya version stints on engine details and also doesn't include the struts for the mudguards. The struts were an omission that I was not able to ignore... so I scratched them using wire. So, all in all the Bandai kit is surprisingly detailed IMHO, and any 'oversized' parts can be forgiven. You've done a grand job with the upgrades. Well done. Rearguards Badder Edited September 12, 2016 by Badder 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustang1989 Posted September 12, 2016 Author Share Posted September 12, 2016 (edited) Bob: Thanks man! Badder: I appreciate your comments as well. Getting the spark plug wires in place wasn't too bad of job really. I think most automotive technicians have a relay or so laying around in their stash of electrical parts. I simply took the cap off of the relay and used the coil field wire, which is the perfect size, as the spark plug wires. You've got yourself a good lookin' R75 as well. You can pick one up at an auto parts store if you don't have one in the stash. Edited September 12, 2016 by mustang1989 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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