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BMW 750 iL


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Hi All,

I must be a sucker for punishment. Yet another model that I have decided to finish along with all the others.

This one has for no reason that I can work out, been sitting on the back-shelf for an enormously long time.

I had built the engine, transmission & exhaust and had sprayed all the body parts in their final colour, then I put it away and forgot about it.

This is the Revell 'Premium' range of 1/24th kits. There weren't many models in this series, This, a BMW 850 a Mercedes 560 C, coupe and cabriolet.

I has many more parts than your usual Revell kit, and has a reputation for being difficult to build, almost to the point of being un-buildable!

That currently, has not been my experience. The engine and transmission (No piccies unfortunately. I had assembled the engine and transmission into the floor-pan before I realised I had no pictures) went together well, as did the exhaust system. A bit over-the-top in the parts count department, but engineered well enough.

 

I decided that mine would be black, so I sprayed it with Halfords' grey primer followed by a Halfords' Black (Not sure which one - there is more than one shade!)

So, this is where we are now:

y4mqFFZ5my0zE8DsRcGtvF198-IhXWRq6IVJ0xhA

The somewhat crumpled box. Looks impressive.

The body:

y4m_ZvtRkokeMkq3Xf-JaAx-G_tlKx2RkJpsn2Vf

There are some minor imperfections that will polish out. I use Halfords' polishing compound. It's a old can, and appears to be quite different from the newer Halfords polishing compound.

y4m_3KA8VmDE20bIQY_FJ4mxkhNOzsDkzJbyQA4B

y4mW8zKR68_zd5A9PY3bd2k7TQZK-f7r_q25UPoL

Sorry about the blurry rear-end, but I was using shutter priority on the camera in order to use flash, and it must have selected a very wide aperture, hence the shallow depth of field.

y4munlgENeVZpPbdKYgP6V4vcxEb6HXENYMby279

The wheels:

y4mqHkbSFCYCDkJ_n2KPLT81UbNwl7VIaj0kgKU9

Now, this is one area where Revell could improve upon. The tyres are that Vinyl stuff. It has a few failings:

  1. It appears to be 'oily' to the touch
  2. It doesn't look very much like rubber (too shiny)
  3. It can melt polystyrene, so you have to ensure the wheel is painted where the tyre touches it.
  4. It seems to age badly and become brittle. All but one of the tyres has split right across the tyre. I resolved it by using CA glue in the gap to hold the tyre together. I then filled the remains of the gap with High-tack PVA glue. That has the advantage that it dries clear, so appears to part of the tyre, and it also dries quite flexible, similar to the original vinyl (event when brittle).

It is quite difficult to see the splits now, so the repair appears to have worked.

 

This is where the new stuff starts:

y4mE3wMp1l-LxPEJ3qRxlXlOLY6_09mnirB0xggp

 

The rear suspension went in first. There are over twenty parts to make up the rear suspension, even more when you add the brakes and springs! Seems a bit like overkill.

Still for all that, it assembled well and it all fitted.

I highlighted all the pipe-work by dry-brushing aluminium on to the raised pipes. It needed a bit of clean-up later but nothing serious.

y4mzwp-bmqsv3MYX0-IwNIgZz8UtKppfOmuJCEUi

The exhaust system is also another example of a complicated break-down of parts. There are nine parts here. Fortunately it all went together well, like this:

y4mVgQ_sf1q4acm1ew0Ivw0iltV6UjGRrPQaIcdH

It all fitted well. No major gaps, just a smear of filler before the back-box on one of he pipes. The headers event connected to the manifolds. I was impressed.

Another view of the rear suspension with the axles attached:

y4m1yVAggldkL4gf_luqkHZgBZYl5eNTj3fC8uGw

Again, quite complex, but it all fitted well.

y4mZ76USsgHS2keBWhd1dYf-2fImk_sAaLukY4c_

This is one of the from suspension parts. Again the fit was well engineered, and it fitted well. This biggest difficulty was ensuring no glue got onto the revolving axle part. That's the bit in the bottom right corner.

So, this is where we are at present:

All suspension parts added, including anti-roll bars etc.

y4mRbnSWHJJsFlQZDVVz8V3W23mMAOlPIUTSJBHs

The exhaust looked a bit too shiny, so I used a mix of Humbrol matt black and gloss brown, highly diluted in white spirit to "grubby" it up a bit. The white spirit doesn't attack the acrylic already there.

It has stalled here due to a major cock-up on my part. The right suspension part at the front didn't want to stay in place. I thought perhaps that the strut needed to be pressed harder into the wish-bone, so I pushed a bit harder. Not a good idea. I managed to snap off the wish-bone and nearly lost it to the laminate monster (The carpet monster's close cousin).

I was not impressed (understatement of the decade). After locating the broken part, I used epoxy glue to fix it back in place. The end result is a bit more flexible than I would like, but it doesn't appear to be going anywhere. The problem still remains that the strut keeps falling out. No better (or worse) than before. I think that the only solution will be to glue the strut in place and lose the ability to have functional steering. Having said that, apart from posing it off centre, I never do anything else with it, so it's not a huge loss. I'll just set it slightly off centre anyway.

 

More soon, I hope.

 

Thanks for looking,

Alan.

 

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Hi Alan, nice work so far, I’ve never seen this kit before. With regard to the blurred rear end in one of the pictures above, rather than apologise you should have claimed that it was deliberate for “artistic” merit!!

Regards Ian

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When I see this car, I just think of Tomorrow Never Dies - shows the power of product placement I guess, or it could just be because I never saw many of them on the road.

 

I have to agree with you that Revell do seem to have gone OTT on the parts count, but looking at the assembled photos I'd never have guessed so you're obviously getting that right. Looking good so far, which is quite an achievement with black paint.

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  • 2 months later...

Hi All,

Another minor update. I hadn't realised how long since I last updated this topic.

I managed to 'sort' the front suspension out by cementing everything together so that the strut doesn't fall out any more.

On the negative side, I can't set the steering of the front wheels. A minor problem.

Anyway, I have mode some progress on the interior. I assembled the seats and door cards, then sprayed them with a mix of XF-19 & X-22 in a 3:2 ratio thinned with Mr Levelling thinners. This gave a very nice sheen, a bit like leather.

Anyway, here is the picture (a bit fuzzy for some reason):

y4mABkagRzDM1G2XU7hUZeOM4qrGtH9tbK0tcON8

There's quite a bit more to do, The floor needs to be dark grey, so I'll have to mask the seats and transmission tunnel and seat bases before spraying the floor with XF-63 (Tank Grey) to resemble carpet. 

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Alan.

Edited by Alan R
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Looking good so far. I am sure it'll be satisfying to complete something left undone for such a long time.

 

I have the same feelings for Revells's "tyres". Is it so hard for them to do what Tamyia etc do?  Can you find Taiya (or Aoshima, Fujimi) tyres in the same size to relpace them with?

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5 hours ago, galaxyg said:

Can you find Taiya (or Aoshima, Fujimi) tyres in the same size to relpace them with?

I think that the time for trying to remove the existing tyres and replacing them with Aoshima tyres is probably long passed. I think with a bit of application of abrasive on them, they'll look better. However, I might just take a look...

 

Cheers, Alan.

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  • 2 months later...

Hi All,

 

A small update.

I have just noticed that  the last time I posted was August!

 

Anyway, I finished all the masking and spraying the interior, and this what it looked like earlier today...

 

y4mV06-jPS31ZjSjIHXdp25FfSd_S6mWbj6eXF-N

 

It's a little blurry. Low light and not enough care in holding the camera...

 

It doesn't look it here, but the seat bases are satin black.

 

I have since removed all the masking tape and apart from a couple of minor mistakes, easily corrected, it came out rather well, I think.

 

I don't have a picture of this yet. I'll post that tomorrow. Light permitting.

 

Having got this bit done (I was betting a bit fed-up of masking, spraying, further masking, more ing, ad-nauseam,,,), I think progress will go ahead again. (I hope!)

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Cheers,

Alan.

Edited by Alan R
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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi All,

 

Another minor update. My workshop is the conservatory, which gets pretty cold at this time of year, which tends to inhibit my enthusiasm!

In my last post, I had completed all the spraying, but hadn't removed the many layers of masking. I finally removed all the masking, and the result isn't too shabby.

I have already glossed the panels that receive the wood-panelling decals but I haven't put the decals on yet.

So, here is the current state of progress:

y4m7vPJ-YwJgDZ1Sk1mH20-fHyxr5bnRHDVnZhir

There are a couple of places on the bottom of the read seats that need a minor touch-up.

Hopefully, I'll get the decals put on tonight, assuming 'His Dark Materials' doesn't get in the way...

 

Thanks for looking,

Cheers, Alan.

 

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Well all that masking seems to have produced a good result. I don't envy you modelling in the conservatory - if I had to use mine there's no way I'd be modelling at this time of year so you're doing well to have any enthusiasm for it I'd say.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi All,

 

A teeny-weeny bit of progress. I have managed to put the wood-panelling decals on!

y4mEeW__4pVG-Z3X8EgxzdqbVr_bbhWrYXGNa_UV

 

They are quite small and a bit fiddly, but with some care and patience they all snuggled down well.

I used Mr Set and Mr Softer to set them in place, followed by a bit of warm air from a hair-dryer.

Not sure whether to apply some gloss varnish on top or not. They are quite shiny as they are.

 

Thanks for looking, 

Alan.

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Nice work, I model out in the shed/office, I tend to go out and shove a little electric heater on, then back indoors to make a brew.  Usually warmed up by the time I get back.

 

This looks lovely, I really like the overall appearance of this interior and look forward to seeing this built.

 

Coops

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  • 3 months later...

Hi All,

I have just noticed that my las post was December last year, and now we are nearly at the end of March 2020!

 

Anyway, I have made some progress and this is where we are:

This how the interior came out after I had removed all the masking:

y4meG-ABWIux_29vqm34CzzsEtZ20QajWgAdeAoN

Note that one door card has been fixed to the floor-pan, and the instrument panel and centre console are finished, but not yet installed:

The rear speakers are decals, but don't look too bad, especially when they are in the closed up cabin.

y4mrz_0osyvuzv00AWAAxS8jHUHXSsJIhLWH4ogy

The same parts from a perpendicular angle.

 

y4mND41QsNTYOC86-uDvD4XKWTB6EhXZt7zdsO3P

Here is the cabin with all the parts fixed, including the steering wheel.

The dash-board is a mix on six parts matt black (XF-1), two parts gloss black (X-1) and  one part light grey (XF-19), thinned with 18 parts Mr. Levelling thinners.

I now have a huge supply of 'Satin Tyre black' as I had to make such a large amount...

y4mnf-LLbV3dZl8lVIVb__E2hzbDayL_me-Xn5Y-

Another (Three-quarter) view:

y4m4Md_0PwBB2q6XDBLrn2Y89H3ShOil20w3soiO

Here is the cabin just dropped on to the floor-pan. It's not looking too bad.

y4m-_x8KKMLDhwrtzlo62HotUfnl0FZVc44ucYJ-

The spare wheel and battery fitted.

y4m0nf-YagR5NBq7rBKhPreMSc0iGyuAMgMCApyh

The glazing fitted. 

The next stage is to fit the cabin into the body (Well, that's what the instructions say) AFTER fitting the boot lid.

 

That's all for the moment. More to come.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Cheers, 

Alan.

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Good steady progress 👍

 

Fully sympathise with your modelling facilities, mine is an outdoor shed/workshop without heating. It's been a long cold winter and even now it's still freezing! 

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  • 2 months later...

Hi everyone,

I'm back!

Some more progress. This model is so detailed, that event the tool-kit is hinged so that when you open the boot, it drops down. this what I achieved:

y4mUT2aaAqH9jEZ-9RjAbnU-WYUZ7gOk-f13CbbM

 

In this close-up, there appears to be a bit of overspill on to the box, but it's hardly visible in natural light. I think I touched it up a bit more before installing it.

I then chromed up the brightwork on the body using my Molotow chrome pen:

y4mkOPtWvlQkWFH-hkg1yyVbzYOJuKIq-0bkM1PR

Again, the camera highlights the imperfections, but in normal viewing it doesn't look too bad at all. It helped that I masked around the brightwork before doing the painting. Fortunately there was very little leakage under the masking. A microbrush dipped in Tamiya thinners remove the excess without damaging the paint.

 

I then assembled the boot interior:

y4mJ1LEPcAWEFxogZ03wdVrnlMDMiF-7hn_mLlsS

The interior is made up of five pieces, not including the spare wheel cover. Tamiya would have done this with two pieces!

 

That's all for the moment. More to come.

 

Thanks for looking,

Alan

 

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I didn't know this kit existed; I prefer relatively ordinary road cars to racing or "super" cars so the subject is right up my street.  Nice work on the paint, interior and chrome.  I've just discovered the Molotow liquid chrome pen and I think it's become one of my favourite modelling tools/accessories.

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Hi All,

 

Some more pictures. I ought to state here and now, all of these pictures were taken over that last three months during the lock-down and not all done today.

However, I thought that I would bring the updates in an episodic manner. So:

 

I managed to put the interior into the body as per the instructions. This did seem a strange way of doing it as you usually cement the interior to the floor pan first, then insert that assembly into the body.

y4m3l6k_sfpegdlIA0IMx_BkPYExS9nkgiOKns5L

 

No floor pan here yet.

y4mOB3QeDbMjPuKezhv4ydOZ1OL07fJgViGtKF4z

Ah, that's better.

To my mind, this looks like one of those scrap-yard finds with half the body trim scavenged and this is what's left...

 

The next stage is to attach the rear valance. I assembled the rear valance which consists of about four parts and then decided that using normal cement would not work. The parts would probably pull apart. I don't like CA glue and avoid it where possible, so I decided to use two-part epoxy which, whilst it takes a bit of time to cure can form a very strong bond.

So, I mixed up some two-part epoxy and very carefully spread it on the joint on the body and attached the valance. I used rubber bands to hold the parts together while the adhesive cured, thus:

y4ma1FWaF6hGvYc3fbdjZv4hIUbLqIqaUdlLQ-F6

 

y4mMN6-LYLw9B-eaeO5q7K0cWCixUCq8CuVq2fR9

 

I was worried that the strength of the bands would distort something, but after 48 hours (overkill probably), I removed the rubber bands and it was all nice and solid.

 

More to come.

 

Thanks for looking.

Cheers,

Alan.

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1 hour ago, johnlambert said:

I've just discovered the Molotow liquid chrome pen and I think it's become one of my favourite modelling tools/accessories.

Hi John,

 

It is a very useful addition to the modellers arsenal of tools. It can also be sprayed. Molotow do a 30 ml refill which is useful. It can be thinned with Mr Color levelling thinners according to a post here I read earlier. I find Mr Color levelling thinners my spraying thinner of choice these days. It works well with Tamiya Acrylic paints as well as the Mr Color acrylics (which one, I can't remember!)

 

Cheers,

Alan.

Edited by Alan R
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Hi All,

 

Some more pictures.

I then progressed to the front valance.

Before you put the front valance on, you need to assemble the grille and head-light assembly.

I painted the grille with Citadel Miniatures Abaddon Black which although it looks a bit thick but levels well. It also give a good matt/satin finish which I like.

Once that was set, I used my trusty Molotow pen to chrome up the headlamp reflectors before putting it the lenses. I always use a high-tack PVA glue to attach clear parts these days. It's flexible, doesn't fog like CA and once dry is completely clear. It means that you can be a bit liberal with the glue. Any excess can be wiped away with a wettened cotton bud.

So, once that was complete and attached to the body, I repeated the procedure of attaching the front valance using two-part epoxy. This time I didn't use rubber bands as there was less area to put them, and this time I was worried even more that they would really distort something, so I resorted to my really old clamps:

 

y4mNqSPEmGa_pknlETywRx5_JQCsTGhP0JLgI7PD

With care, they can clamp the body without damaging the paintwork.

y4mU6xTjI75-NAKn6dadOmI2TMcqESIZERmBrfOJ

Notice that the clamps have grooves which can hook onto the edge of the valance. This made the location of the clamps secure.

Again, I left it for about 24-48 hours before removing the clamps. The result was this:

y4mbzIvdh2DOS0xtHgLrGsIKh1fuEccEVzRyfrqw

There are a few greasy marks on the paintwork, but I will polish them out later.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Cheers,

Alan

 

 

Edited by Alan R
wierd sentence structure!
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Hi Again,

 

Wheels are on!

 

This is where it begins to come together as a representation of a real car.

y4mpV4K44rCu89rayKB-3HVRFqyZaIYfzELOLda-

From the front:

y4mSAzvqAzk1pTvqoDLQVc3VVHqKP4HYLLUZbe_v

There are two very small legend decals, one on the fan housing and one on the top of the grill panel. Small but important!

Finally, from the side:

y4m0jVjAO2ht0hWjZUN-rBnHaRA2pNjP7nBOPwBa

 

The wheels are almost an interference bit, but they are a bit too loose to leave that way, so I glued them in place. I thought that they would be right buggers to fit because of the studs on the axles, but I fact they located almost immediately.

 

More soon...

 

Thanks for looking.

Cheers,

Alan.

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Hi All,

 

Last stage and we are up to date with this.

Firstly, we nearly didn't get this far, because disaster struck!

On the front of the engine are two air filters or plenums (I'm not sure which) that need to be attached to the air chambers (plenums?) on each side of the engine.

It looks quite easy in the instructions. The parts assembled easily and painted up well. (I don't have pictures I'm afraid).

However, when I tried to put them in, they just would not stay in place!

Eventually, they looked a dreadful mess. The liquid cement messed up the paint, fortunately NOT the plastic. However after several attempts to get the tings to stay put (about 50, I think. No joke!) I gave up and tossed the damn thing on my work-bench. This resulted in one rear wheel falling off and the entire left hand suspension to break off on a former weak spot. Thus:

y4myI7xWj2aOqXh1lq5P8kpARUbYjCBjcoFJlbk5

The exhaust got a bit deranged as well.

At this point I nearly tossed the thing in the bin, but in the end I put it and the bits in it's box and shoved it on the shelf of doom, maybe never to be looked at again.

I left it there that night. I was so frustrated.

 

Anyway a couple of days later, I decided to take another look. (This must be the shortest residence on the shelf of doom!)

 

After a bit of fiddling about, I got the back wheel back on (Simple) and the front axle re-attached. That was a bit of a faff, but after some careful re-gluing with the dreaded CA stuff, the repair was solid.

 

So, on to these dreaded air filters. I tried again. Same failure! However this time the whole inlet system decided to come apart from the top of the engine. The process also caused the aluminium paint to get damaged (though, again NOT the plastic!). As it was all falling out, I just let nature have its way and let the parts fall off. This left me with:

y4mgVzNPQUSUovODowxzij8xRxAllZz3qwyY4Fg-

 

In the end this proved fortunate, as it solved my problem for me!

So, then I repainted all the bits. I was able to attach the air filter chambers to the plenums while they were off the engine. The attachment point was defined well enough that the part attached at the right angle. I was worried that having these parts attached would prevent me refitting the inlet system. However, this is where I got:

y4m0WZ85qsv7_GM_QG_h7DTL4nyNeoOd9gsLiMx3

Everything in the right place!

 

Just the last bit to fix back:

y4mJejaR43jXL1t-zJ4EO_4y8XNCpMbFzNDUe099

Before fitting this part back, I repainted it Abaddon Black and dry-brushed the aluminium highlights back on (I think that there is a BMW logo to go where he 'disc' is)

 

So, this is where it is at the moment. There are a number of ancillaries to put before I put the bonnet on and finally decal the last bits.

 

Thanks for being patient.

 

More to come soon.

Cheers,

Alan.

 

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It will be good to see this one completed! I like the 750. 

 

Good that you stayed with it. Did you take first place in the model throwing competition?

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