CrazyCrank

I'm in awe of the quality of your work, not only in the love of detail and its accuracy, the 3D design work and the printing, then the painting. You are a true artist. I'll send you a private message. Congratulations

Afternoon, guys Not a big progress since a few days. I went on working on the bonnet, and finally it has received 3 coats of automotive filling primer, just to fix the little defects. Obviously, sanding stages between each layer. And now, the surface finish is correct for the outside. A little wrk is still needed for the inside. I've also begun to work on the seats: - First, because of my modifications of the cabin, the seats didn't fit anymore. I've had to strongly sand them, where the plastic touched the edges of the cabin, in order to allow them to fit correctly. - Second: the shapes of the seats's profile wasn't correct, and, taking inspiration of the photos below, I modified the profile using Tamiya UV Light curing putty - Third: I re-scribed the grooves between each padding of the bottom and back of the seats, to deepen them a bit more, otherwise they'd fade away with the paint layers - Fourth: I've begun to prime the seats with the same automotive filling primer, to reveal the defects. A lot of work is still to be done to get them satisfying . As I'm still waiting for the delivery of the material that will allow me to build a windscreen washer fluid tank, I killed time by studying again and again the available photos of the engine bay of Elvis' BMW 507 as restored, and I noticed some little things that could be added or corrected: I've numbered them in red on the photo below: - There is, along the left side of the bonnet aperture, in front the brake master cylinder, a little silver cylinder, from which run 2 cables (1). I scratched it using 2 mm styrene rod and 2 short pieces of black electrical wire (0.3 mm) - There is also, running from an appendix situated over the right piston housing of the brake master cylinder, a thin hose or cable, that goes towards the left side of the engine bay (I don't know what it is...) (2). I scratched it with the same electrical wire - The steering box place above the left wheel housing is not black but actually aluminium color, so I painted it. I also took the opportunity to paint the screw heads on this box black, as is the case on the real car.(3 ) - Running out from the radiator cap underside, there is on the 1:1 car a hose that runs over the right edge of the radiator and ended somewhere in the lower part of the engine bay (I think it is a cooling radiator overflow breather ?): I scratched it using 0.8 mm electrical cable (4) - At last, I noticed that there is, on the top of the aluminium steering box a big red "knob" (n° 5 on the photo below). I don't know what this part is and serve. The same part exist on the right side of the car on the right wheel housing. I scratched them with short sections of 1.0 mm red electrical wire, whose top section were painted red as well.(5) And hereunder is the result: That's all for now, mates. I've received my new white paint bottle, so the new bonnet will be painted in the next days, if weather allows

You're too kind with me, @Pouln, much appreciated compliment

Thank you so much Ian for the compliment. And thanks too for the comment... I do think that you're wright for the parts 1 and 6 Coming from you, this huge compliment is even more appreciated, Thank you very much, @nick Your great and kind compliment about the overview is very appreciated, Nick 😉 The 3D printer and the skills to 3D drawing (mine are poor in comparison with Nick's ones), aren't everything, Nick ! Without wishing to boast or put myself forward, what counts above all is the sense of observation, the quality of the documentary research, the long cogitations to determine which methods you are going to use to reach your goal. I would also say that the determination, if not obstinacy, to achieve something out of the ordinary is crucial. That said, I've had an issue while priming the new bonnet with Gravity colors Light gray primer. I had, however, scrupulously cleaned my airbrush, dismantling it completely to clean deeply each part, before doing this job. Actually, I noticed that the light grey surface was spoiled with darker stains ! I cleaned thoroughly again my airbrush and redid the job.....Same result ! And finally I think that it's the bottle of primer that is contaminated with dark dust particles...because when I tried again to prime a white spare part with a new bottle of the same primer, there result went clean ! So, I'll redo, the job in the next days... Modelling is a school of patience and self-sacrifice 🙄

Good noon guys A little bit of progress in the engine bay: Taking inspiration of the picture below, I decided to improve the bulkhead/engine plumbing ... On this picture, I've placed RED numbers from 1 to 7, to indicate the stuff I mean. FIRST, I modifed the engine plumbing that starts from the bulkhead : - Revell supplies only one only stiff plastic part for this plumbing - but we can see on the photo that there is a more complex system, composed of 3 systems (1,2 and 3) SECOND, I added: - The throttle cable (4) - The cables that actuate the 2 bonnet lockers (5, twice) - a cable running from the firewall to the connector on the central hose system, which probably acts on some kind of flap, but whose exact function I don't know (6) THIRD: - I connected one of the negative battery terminals (engine ground), with the engine (7) Fabrication: 1/ Hoses system 1: - 2 hoses with their clamps - 1 central connector 3D drawing and printing of the connector I used 0.4 mm steel wire to cross through the connector, in order to get 2 pins on which I could connect the hoses The hoses were made with 0.8 mm electrical black wire The clamps with fine strips of Hasegawa Mirror finish 2/ Hose system 2 3 D drawings and printing After painting job: In place: 3/ Hose system 3: Made only with the same electrical cable, bended to shape and glued in place. Almost invisible on the pictures, so.... 4-5-6/ Throttle cable 4 , cables for bonnet lockers 5, and cable for the hoses connector 6 I used the metal wires I'd stripped off from of the previous cable, 0.15 mm diameter, bended them to shape and glued them in place with droplets of CA gel And now some overviews of the almost finished engine bay What's missing in there ?..... 1/ The wipers fluid tank and its plumbing I've ordered some stuff to fabricate this part, because the kit's one isn't accurate and unusable. 2/ The heater system cover, that I've already painted white, and I'll put in place after clear coating it. So, I have, and you too, to wait a few days more

I do love those old kits, almost impossible to find in France, except by searching abandoned attics and cellars ! What happened to me last July. And I found a Matchbox 1/32 Mercedes SSKL Mille Miglia Mille MIglia April 12&13 1931. Luckily, the kit is in perfect state and complete. It was released in 1978. You can find a dozen of old PYRO model car kits in OLD MODEL KITS website (US), following the link: Pyro model kits

Thank you very much for those comforting words, @Spiny That's debatable, @Spiny ! The pins won't be very visible once the bonnet put on the body, so I'm not so far interested in the symmetry That said, your comment regarding the room to manœuvre the bonnet with thinner pins is possibly right, but, drilling the frame and inserting a steel pin remains a risky task, not to mention that one of the pin as to be either short (as is at the moment the plastic right one), either retractable, to allow inserting the bonnet into the body. I've managed to do that on the first bonnet, but I'm not sure to get it right for the second one. 🤔 .

You did this splendid car justice with this neat and stunning build

Evening chaps Not a big progress today, I spent all the morning and half of the afternoon in my AUDI Garage for an AD Blue malfunction diagnosis ! But I got to achieve the brake master cylinder plumbing : Up close: Awfull, isn't it ? Not so close, it's better And I've finished to prepare the new bonnet, what was a big deal, because with the recent additions in the engine bay, it didn't close properly ! AGAIN 😡 And at the moment, (before the painting job, that will add a bit of thickness everywhere), the bonnet closes correctly It's now ready for priming. You can notice that the left pin the inner frame has been replaced by a steel pin: indeed, I broke the plastic one while sanding 🙄 And I've already added the metal pin which allow to articulate the bonnet lifting system. See you tomorrow

Thank you so much for your nice comment. I do think of everything but oftently don’t know how to /or can’t fabricate most of them ! You’re too kind with me, Roger 👍 thanks a lot 😉

Evening guys Just to show you where I'm at the moment: I've glued in place: - the toolbox - the bonnet lockers - the wipers motor - The steering shaft - The Brake master cylinder, without its plumbing, which will be added later. The battery and the heater box are just put on the engine bay, not glued I've painted black some electrical parts on the right of the engine bay, painted blue the fuse box, painted black the mounting plate of the retaining system of the bonnet and place 2 decals, particularly the manufacturer plate. It remains: - to fix the battery terminals and to connect their wiring - to add the brake master cylinder plumbing - to clear coat the heater box and to fix it - To scratch build, paint and glue in place the windscreen washer fluid reservoir - To add some engine plumbing and to scratch build the missing parts of the engine plumbing - to add the cables of the bonnet lockers - And....and ????. ..I have to look closer at my ref. pictures ! That's all for now, folks 🙄

Thanks so much Andy for this kind comment 😎 The terminals arena wired and painted: I've also painted the heater box, using the same white as on the body, as on the true car. This part must be slightly sanded to get smooth before clear coating And I've achieved the paint job for the tool box, spraying Alclad Aluminum over the black undercoat It just remain to emphasize the letters with a little touch of Black Panel Line It's time now to fabricate the plumbing of the Brake master cylinder, what's not an easy job at this scale. I've planned to use 0.4 mm nickel-Chrome wire, which is not too stiff, and as a nice shine ! See ya later

Painting job done for battery, brake master cylinder, steering column, bonnet lockers and wipers motor ! What was the most difficult is to paint the battery caps yellow and then put on the yellow a micro-droplet of red, whitout covering entirely the yellow paint, to get finally about the same aspect than on the true car Obviously, for the hawk's eyes of the camera, it's far to be perfect, but at the naked eye, and from a reasonable distance to look at it, that seems nice to me. As far as painting the two brake fluid reservoirs is concerned, to get the impression that the bottles are half-filled with fluid, I used the following method: - paint both tanks with an off-white, then dry - and then apply Panel Line accent colour Brown, from Tamiya, to the lower part of the tanks There's nothing complicated about painting the windscreen wiper motor: - After cutting off the thingy that was sticking out, perhaps supposed to represent the electric cables that run from it... - Satin black paint (Tamiya lacquer), then masking and acrylic silver paint on the rear part Nothing remarkable for the bonnet lockers: Some Tamiya Lacquer Semi-gloss black, 4 droplets of Silver for the bolts...and that's it ! And at least, the final touch on the steering shaft, with a little touch-up of Molotov Chrome: Thanks for watching

Thank you so much, @hendie, for this huge comment , much appreciated, coming from you 🙏

Afternoon, gentlemen Not a big progress this last two days, my grand-daughters staying at home Nevertheless, I've found some time to 3D print some parts: - The battery - The brake master cylinder - The end of the joint that comes from the steering box - The bonnets lockers that are much thinner and realistic than the kit's one. I assembled the now 3 parts of the steering column and box, and primed then painted it semi-gloss black It remains to paint some sections in polished inox steel, and to fix the column in the engine bay I primed and painted semi-gloss black the Brake master cylinder and it remains to paint dirty white the 2 reservoirs, yellow their top and steel some nuts on it. Then I'll add the plumbing for the brakes and glue it in place I primed and painted black a battery, but shall redo the job with a new one because the first one hasn't been perfectly printed You could see the lettes BOSCH raising from the front face Later on, I'll peint the yellow, silver and red details I've also 3D drawn and 3D printed some terminals for the battery, and they fit perfectly on the dedicated pins It remains to add the wiring on the terminals and to paint them silver I'm still working on the new bonnet. Getting rid of the round mould ejection pads is no easy task 😡 One mist sand, the prime, to highlight the defects, then sand again and so on. I'm far from having achieved the result I want ! See you soon

Utterly gorgeous painting job on this one 😮

Good evening guys I've done some preliminary tasks on the new bonnet and frame: sanding, priming, filling etc. Tomorrow evening, all should be ready for glueing the two parts and priming. Awful, isn't it ? I've begun to 3D drawing some parts of the engine bay: 1/ The kit's battery isn't correct, with its terminals and wiring directly molded on the case, so I'm working on mine The terminals and there wiring will be scratched. I took inspiration of this picture: A Fusion 360 session: 2/ The bonnet's lockers provided in the kit are very basic, so I'll made mine I took inspiration of the true car with the same picture as above: The kit's part: And my drawings 3/ The Revell kit's brake master cylinder is absolutely wrong So I've drawn mine, taking inspiration of the true one My drawings 4/ I decided as well to improve the articulated part that joins the steering box to the column, by cutting the kit part in 2 and articulating them together using a metal pin. As you can see, I've damaged the end of the joint that comes from the steering box, so, I've 3D drawn a new one: 5/ I've cleaned and primed some other parts: Wipers motor, heating box, tool box and windshield washer fluid tank The heating box and the tool blow don't need any improvement. In contrast, the wipers motor can be improved, and I've to sleep on it ! And regarding the washer fluid tank, I'm not satisfied, because: - 1/ the kit part shows a lower appendage, which I don't know what it represents - 2/ This part should be made of clear plastic, as it is a transparent reservoir through which the blue colour of the washer fluid can be seen ! I'm thinking about the way to scratch it ....🤔 As say the lawyers, "the devil is in the details" ! Have sweet dreams

😮😮😮 My jaws on the floor ! Hats off, my Lord

You're right @Spiny. I've already ordered the same white from Gravity colors (It's BMW Chamonix white and not Pearl White as I wrote mistakenly) The bottle will be delivered within 7-15 business days, so I've all the time to think about that ! Obviously, I've planned to use the same primer than previously for the white parts and, and of course, I'll test the new bottle on scrap white Revell kit's parts, and I'll use the same 2K Clear from Zero paints, the same airbrush and the same settings. Regarding my Covid, I'd partially lost the sense of taste, but it seems to get better since yesterday

This frame 😮 is a very nice construction 👏 Very well done and very realistic ! Congrats Andy

Thanks for the advices and encouragements @Fnick and @Neddy Yes I'm gonna use the spare and make the job again. Once done, I'll use the bonnet that shows the best rendering, in terms of fit and paint. Hopefully the second one would be better ! 🤔🙄🙏 In the meanwhile, I'm gonna work on the last parts of the engine bay, the parts to paint chrome, doors's inside, and the cabin with its elements (ashtray, seats, gear shift, car pedals) 😉 And also to fix a broken part, which is used to attach the rear bumper. I should as well 3D draw a new battery with its terminals, and a new brake master cylinder, because the kit's one does not match that of the real car. See you later

Thanks guys for the warm welcome I've noticed a new problem with the fit of the parts: The bonnet closes properly, but then its front part is raised by about 0.7 mm, as you can see from the photos in my previous post, which is very unsightly and unacceptable! What's more, while I was trying to find the reason for this, the left-hand hinge finally broke off as a result of raising and lowering the bonnet too much times. I tried to identify the cause of this maladjustment: - First, I tried to fit the spare bonnet from my second kit, without fitting the spare metal frame that stiffens it on its inner side: and then, this bonnet fitted on the body without any misfit. - Then I taped the frame to the inside of the bonnet, and tried again, and the same problem as with the painted bonnet appeared! It seemed to be the frame that was causing the problem at the front of the bonnet when you wanted to close it. One thing leading to another, I was able to determine that only a small part of the frame was responsible, so I removed it from the spare frame and tried the operation again.... And then, miraculously, everything went well, the fit was perfect and the bonnet didn't stick out once it was closed! I then carried out a risky and delicate operation on the painted bonnet, namely removing this same part of the frame. Once the operation was done, with no damage other than to the paint on the inside of the bonnet, the fit was better, as well. All that remained was to make a hinge on the left-hand side and hide the misery on the paintwork on the front of the inner part of the bonnet, what I did using semi gloss black paint (because it would have been tedious and risky to sanding the damaged part of the bonnet, moreover without having certainty to obtain a perfectly smooth surface) That's done, and finally, the fit is better : the bonnet raises now with only about 0.3-0.4 mm at the front, while I've not yet fixed the hinges, what could reduce a bit more the defect. That said, I'm not frankly happy, because the bonnet isn't still flush with the body, and obviously, there's not such a black paint on the inside of the bonnet on the 1:1 car. Furthermore, the spare bonnet with its cut frame fits perfectly on the body.... So, I could consider to use my spare bonnet/frame to make a new painted one, what will probably need I purchase a third bottle of Gravity pearl white, and in any case, to go again through the stages of sanding, priming, painting white and finally clearcoating. Actually, all these accumulated setbacks are annoying the hell out of me, and at times I'm not far from wanting to blow it all off and move on to something else. Thanks for any comment or advice

Good evening gentlemen Back home since 2 weeks, I haven't be able to work on my BMW, due to the jet lag and the fatigue following the COVID I caught in Montreal. Today I'm back to the bench and I've already put the body on the chassis. These parts are not glued yet, because I've still a lot of work to do on the inner junctions, particularly at doors's level. Actually, the fit between these elements is correct, except for the rocker panel under the passenger door, and I need to find a way to fix that. Fitting the body to the chassis wasn't easy, as I completely reworked these parts and "it doesn't work like the kit plan". And during the process, a few parts came off the engine. I had to glue them back together, and unfortunately, despite all my precautions, a bit of glue got on one of my fingers, and this b......d touched the body at the front-right wing, ruining the varnish. I did my best to repair it, sanding lightly with 3000 grit, then repolishing with Tamiya compounds, which did improve the damage, but not as perfectly as I would have liked. Unfortunately, I can't do anything about it now. The bonnet is of course hinged to the body, and the mechanism that goes with raising and closing the bonnet has been fitted and is operational. There's a lack of lubricant : Over the next few days and weeks, I'll be painting all the ornamental parts that need it with Chrome, and painting and fitting the parts of the engine bay that are still missing, such as..: - The steering system - The master cylinder - Some hoses - The battery - The BMW tool box - etc. Then I'll finish adjusting the body/chassis joints, and finally I'll start decorating the interior of the cabin and doors. At least, much later, will come the most difficult job, namely : - painting the windscreen frame, whose vertical uprights are pearl-white on their rear face, and for which I must also try to simulate a black rubber seal between the windscreen and its frame, on the front part, - Finally, the dashboard is glued to the windscreen, before the whole assembly is glued to the body. All this to say that it's been a laugh so far, and that the most perilous part is yet to come! Thanks for watching

Incredibly awesome color and stunning painting jo 👍

Stunning build and gorgeous photos. you’ve managed to give live to this car kit and in a very respectful way . Bravo 👍