BMW E9 3.5CSL Group 5 Batmobile 1976 1/12

[Coors54]

I asked for some advice on this last year so I thought I would put up a few WIP pictures. 

It's the old Bandai/Doyusha kit of the IMSA US spec racer and as they are so expensive when available on eBay I bought a built model which was complete but a bit of a glue bomb, not a problem as I intended to strip it and convert it.

I managed to separate a lot of the parts as they were not put together very well (although there was copious adhesive it seemed to be superglue) so once everything was apart it was given a good dunking in oven cleaner to get rid of the paint and chrome. The main visual differences between the IMSA and GROUP 5 cars are the front air dam, rear wing and the vents over the rear wheels, they only built 4 Group 5 cars and these were converted from the IMSA spec cars and some of these were then converted back to the IMSA spec by US owners in later years so restoration pictures can be a bit misleading.

Anyway a few pictures:

Front air dam from plasticard with the kit brake vents grafted in.

The louvred vents over the rear wheels caused me some head scratching but some Plastruct laddering proved to be about the right size so some was procured and grafted into a hole cut in the arch extension.

The rear wing supports will be made of laminations of plastic card and I'll blend those into the boot lid.

The way the kit is put together means the chassis can be  built as a completely separate module so this has been started with the rebuild of the rear suspension.

Drive shafts have been detailed and oil lines added along with replacement hardware for most of the mounting points.

The front suspension has been detailed, the front roll bar replaced and the steering rack made a little more realistic.

The ride height has been reduced considerably so she should look low and mean once everything comes together.

 

Dave

 

 

[klubman01]

Ah, the Batmobile!  Great car.  Which colour scheme/sponsor, etc. do you intend for the finished item?  Will follow this with interest.

Trevor

[Coors54]

9 minutes ago, klubman01 said:

Ah, the Batmobile!  Great car.  Which colour scheme/sponsor, etc. do you intend for the finished item?  Will follow this with interest.

Thanks Trevor, thought it might pique your interest! It's going to the Quester/Krebs car from the Silverstone 6 Hours race, so Kermit green with M Sport stripes.

 

Dave 

[klubman01]

Ooh, nice! This one?

 

 

Trevor

[Coors54]

That's the boy.

 

Dave

[Sabrejet]

OOh another favourite! Good work. I hope you won't mind me posting these:

 

 

 

[keefr22]

That's the first time I've been blinded by an exhaust manifold - where's me shades....!!

 

Looking forward to seeing this one come together.

 

Keith

[Coors54]

Thanks Sabrejet, those pictures will help more than a bit with the engine bay although its layout is changed in details from the 76 car and his colour scheme is a bit out too but hey, what wouldn't I give to own that car!

Got any more?

 

Dave

[Vesa Jussila]

Very interesting subject. This will be followed.

[Sabrejet]

2 hours ago, Coors54 said:

Thanks Sabrejet, those pictures will help more than a bit with the engine bay although its layout is changed in details from the 76 car and his colour scheme is a bit out too but hey, what wouldn't I give to own that car!

Got any more?

 

Dave

 

Only this one unfortunately: this was the Goodwood Members Meeting a couple of years ago when it snowed and I took FAR fewer photos than usual!

 

 

[Coors54]

I'm a bit further ahead with the build than the first pictures indicate and prompted by @Sabrejet's photo's here are some of the engine and it's mods.

One other major area of difference between the IMSA and Group 5 cars is the engine orientation, the IMSA cars were inclined and the Group 5 cars were upright, the M49/2 engine?

IMSA car, compare to the pictures above, it's also got the stock front hinged bonnet, Gp5 cars had lightweight pop off bonnets and boot lids.

So this is the engine as supplied in the kit and built by the original owner.

Looks a bit anaemic and over chromed. Changing the engine to upright meant new mounting legs needed to be fabricated, the angle of the inlet manifold changing and the engine generally lacked detail in particular the front pulley system and the total absence of the Kugelfischer injection pump and its drive belts. So the spares and scrap box was raided for odds and sods.

 

 

Lots of plumbing to add once the engine is in the bay but it's coming along.

 

Dave

 

 

[Coors54]

Thanks to everyone that has commented, I really appreciate the nice things you have said. But don't be shy if you see any foobars!

Onwards we go with the dashboard assembly which also forms the top of the firewall in the engine bay and on the Gp5 car is again different to the earlier IMSA car which the kit represents, see the photo in the section above for how the kit sort of looks and @Sabrejet's picture what the Gp5 car looks like, sort of compartments containing the fluid reservoirs, no fan and a different wiper linkage. As commented this restored car is also much cleaner and tidier than it was in 1976.

So out came the plastic card and another dive into the spares box -

I filled the ventilation slots on the dash as the restored car doesn't have them - then recently found a period picture that shows them in place! They're not coming back....
So some paint -

Then the fluid bottles were added -

On the other side this is what we're looking to try and copy -

So BBK instrument decals were added to the dials then glazed with a clear artists medium -

Attention getters are Decalcas clear light domes tinted with Tamiya and Mr Paint clear tints. The red dash finish is very 1970's don't you think? The whole thing was then added to the floor pan -

This picture also shows the added fuel pipe along the firewall above the heat shield made from the top of an easy spread butter, the oil lines that will feed the engine, brake cylinders (ex Tamiya kit) from the spares box and a fuel pressure valve on the inner wing. I've got to make up a steering coupling from the rack to the firewall before the engine goes in.
I'll show the dash side in the next update which will show the cabin and roll cage.
See you next time.
Dave

 

[klubman01]

That dashboard is an impressive bit of work.  Great stuff!

Trevor

[Collectible Cars]

Stunning work going on here! A great subject too!

[Coors54]

Morning all, as I indicated last update I've moved on to the cockpit area which in all honesty doesn't need huge changes, just some extra detailing and a bit of bling.

The floorpan was sprayed semi gloss black then weathered with grey and brown washes to highlight the raised pressings, the cars looked well used in period photo's and not the pristine items you see today.

 

 

Centre console with added relay panel and wiring.

 

 

 

The drivers seat had some extra framing for the base and the lap belt slots cut and detailed, the belts came from MFH

 

The roll cage in the kit was the wrong pattern for the Gp5 car and was also oversize so replaced by brass tube and rod, epoxied together. The kit pick up points were also in the wrong place so were filled in and on the rear parcel shelf the shock towers were improved and the cage picked up there instead of the shelf.

 

 

Mmm, bit more work required here I think.

 

 

Not perfect but overall I'm happy with the look, once the body is on most of this will disappear from such close scrutiny.

Dave

 

 

 

 

[klubman01]

Great work on the cockpit.  Superb detailing.

Trevor

[keefr22]

11 hours ago, Coors54 said:

Not perfect but overall I'm happy with the look,

 

I would be well chuffed if I'd done that, it looks brilliant to me! It all looks superbly realistic, but that fire extinquisher.....

 

Tremendous stuff!

 

Keith

[silver911]

Stunning attention to detail all round...really does look the part

 

Ron

[bigbadbadge]

Oh my word,  this looks amzing the details are fantastic.

Chris

[Pouln]

22 hours ago, Coors54 said:

Not perfect but overall I'm happy with the look, once the body is on most of this will disappear from such close scrutiny.

From the pictures I would say it is perfect, however I realise that when you are doing stuff, one tend to see more clearly what is not 100%. 

Anyway, to me your interior tub looks fantastic.

[Sabrejet]

Lovely work: this is going to look very impressive

[Kitkent]

I have agree with everyone above,fantastic work going on here! Chris.

[Coors54]

I've been avoiding the bodyshell since I did the initial modifications, I'm still learning with making cars (long time aircraft builder here) so getting a good finish on bodies is an on going learning curve.

I don't help myself as I HATE airbrushing.

I'm an open minded, easy going guy happy to learn new techniques but I just cannot get on with using an airbrush. My modelling time is limited and the chore of masking, mixing, cleaning, de masking when getting a brush out can do the same job in the fraction of the time just kills it for me. So going into car modelling meant I had to learn to use rattle cans if I wanted a reasonable finish! Only making cars from the 70's and early 80's is a bonus as they were never totally immaculate and didn't have the knee deep shine that seems to be the go to standard for models of more modern vehicles.

Enough waffle onto what I have done with the body, at the start of this thread were some pictures of the main modification, the front air dam, here it is under a few coats of Kermit sorry Gosser green -

After imbibing the how to by @cmatthewbacon - excellent tips - I've used a can of spray paint intended for John Deere agricultural vehicles, this seems to an enamel, it's been applied over Tamiya Fine Surface Primer after a rub down with 4000 MicroMesh, it's got a good shine straight from the can and takes a couple of days to really harden but it is pretty cool here at the moment so the boiler cupboard is getting some extra use. I'll polish out any small imperfections, apply the decals and put on a coat of clear.
The other major mod to the body is the new rear wing, this is a big son of a gun and the wing mounts required some scratch work with laminations of plastic card, this view shows the boot lid in place and also the new louvres over the rear wheel flare.

 

The kit body has a waist trim strip moulded in, that isn't on the Gp5 car except across the doors, so I've carved that off and smoothed things out.
The boot lid and bonnet (trunk and hood for my colonial colleagues) are separate items on this car, no hinges and held in place by pins and R clips, the Gp5 car also had an extra hole cut in the boot lid to access the oil tank quick fill fitting.

And I just had to see what things looked like with the body on -

The modified ride height looks acceptable to my eye, low and mean.

The wheels got a bit of a makeover with MFH valves, some tyre bolts and balance weights, the Goodyear decals came from a generic decal sheet off eBay.

They're supposed to look race worn but I'm beginning to regret stripping the chrome now.

I'm waiting on a decal sheet that I've been helping out with sizes and details, I'm excited to see how this works out so next time there should be some colour to relieve the greenness.

Dave

[Sabrejet]

Those tyres are spot on!

[klubman01]

I agree - exactly right for a car that has been raced.  The finish on the body looks good too.  Not too shiny, just right.

Trevor