1/8 Heller BMW R-75/5 1973/1974

[Lee Chambers]

Hi guys, well here we are again with another classic 70's motorbike build. This time I was given this kit by the brother of the owner of the actual bike in the pictures. I have carried out restoration work on the motorcycle and as the bike is almost finished, I have been asked to build a replica of the bike, so I will be painting the model black and adding the white pinstripes as their is no decals in the kit, wish me luck with that!

 

The kit is nicely molded but is really not designed to be painted as it asks you to add soft vinyl parts during the assembly, making painting an added chore due to having to mask up more parts which would have been fitted later. The instructions are hard to follow and vague to say the least, but I will muddle through the best I can. It will only be a loose replica, as I won't be scratch building the crash bars and the kit has chrome wheel rims and exhausts where the real bike has alloy rims and stainless exhausts fitted by the owner.

 

I may strip the chrome off the exhausts and add heat tarnish to the header pipes, also the fit of the rear engine cover where the carbs attach looks a poor fit, but the gaps are correct as the real bikes air filter housing was also a poor fit. Finally the carbs are a fiddle to fit correctly on the real bike, so I made sure they fitted correct on the model and true to the real bike, they were a pig to get looking right, too many angles to glue at the same time. Wish me luck with this build, I'm going to need it!

 

Edited August 23, 2017 by Lee Chambers

[Fazer]

Nice to see some bikes in this scale.....

Bring it on Lee 

Mark D

[Lee Chambers]

Thanks Mark,yes it's a nice size kit.

[Lee Chambers]

Hi guys, I've been building up the 70's BMW 750 for a mates elder brother trying to loosely replicate his actual real bike. I used 2mm Tamiya white fine line tape trimmed down with a scalpel blade to copy the hand lined white lines on the front and rear fenders and gas tank, a dab of cyno to keep them in shape, then a lacquer coat to seal them in together with the BMW tank emblem decals. I should have it all finished by next weekend.

 

Edited August 23, 2017 by Lee Chambers

[Natter]

What a fabulous build.

[Lee Chambers]

Cheers Natter it's not a kit for a beginner that's for sure but very satisfying to work on so far,it helps that i have worked on the real thing so i can get the finish on the engine components looking hopefully pretty accurate.

[Pete in Lincs]

Well they both look good to me.

Like the pinstriping too.

[Lee Chambers]

Hi guys, got a bit more work done on the BMW this weekend. I decided to try and add the tarnish on the headers of the exhaust, after adding the staining I clear coated the pipes, then I will add some dark iron over the pipes to tone the gold tint down a bit, they should look better once they've been buffed up a little. Also I have dropped a small amount of 2K clear onto the speedo bezel to make the clock glass, as there was no lens provided in the kit. I used sign writers white enamel paint on a cocktail stick to add the white piping on the saddle. Just have the cables and wiring to add and a little weathering to finish. I should have the final reveal done later this week.

 

Edited August 23, 2017 by Lee Chambers

[Lee Chambers]

Hi guys, well I have almost finished with this build, I have had to modify the centre stand a little as it wasn't sitting correctly. I dry brushed the headers with Mr Metal Color 219 buffable brass, then I polished it back with a cotton bud to give me that authentic tarnish look. Also I painted the engine and the wheel hubs with MRP Dark Aluminum and weathered the bike with AK enamel wash for wood AK 263, it gave the bike a more used look. I have a few more parts to add, like mirrors and rear number plate and the bike will be placed on a black base with a BMW logo. I hope to have the final reveal released early next week.

 

Edited August 23, 2017 by Lee Chambers