BMW Z1 Roadster

[Alan R]

Hi All, 

My first new model of 2021.

I have had this one for a very long time and it's been daring me to start it for a long time. I think that this is the original boxing from the late nineties (I think)

I have been hesitating to start this because I wanted to modify the wheels the same way a I did with the BMW Alpina B26 that I completed some time back. The thought of fabricating all the plastic rings to simulate the disks and trying to create convincing callipers was putting me off.

 

However, I was left with a number of spare bits from the completion of the GTR Nismo. These parts included the disk brakes for the 'normal' GTR. I decided that I would be able to adapt those brakes for this project.

More on that later.

So, here is the obligatory box picture:

 

I started by temporarily assembling one wheel, using PVA glue so that I could use that as my 'template' for fitting the modified wheels.

 

The wheel on the left is as Revell would have you build it. The one on the right has been modded by cutting out the disc by drilling a set of small holes around the periphery of the disc and finishing it off with a Stanley knife. Once the rim was smoothed off, but with a bit of rim left, I cemented the two halves together.

I assembled one front disc and one back disc from the kit and cleaned up the Tamiya discs, as can be seen in the picture above.

I then used a tool in my Dremel to smooth the interior of the wheel thus:

Not the best finish, but wont be visible when on the car.

 

In order to get the wheel offsets correct, I had to cement in a 30 thou disc of styrene to the inside of the wheel.

Finally for each wheel, I drilled out the centre of the wheel and cemented in a plastic pin, as the Tamiya brakes trap a poly-cap, I inserted a measured length of styrene rod and cemented it in place. The rod was a bit small in diameter (1/16th inch), so I wrapped some 5 thou styrene sheet around the rod melting it on to the rod with very thin cement until the diameter was sufficient for a snug fit in the poly-cap. I left the wheels to set completely so that the pin had a strong bond to the wheel.

 

I had to modify the Tamiya discs to fit the Revell Axles. This required me to create a small disc with a square hole in the centre. This was 'fettled' until the disc fitted the stub on the axle.

This disc was then cemented to the back of the Tamiya disc, thus;

These square hols were aligned so that the callipers would align correctly when fitted to the axles.

 

Here are the brakes, axles and suspension having been modified to use the Tamiya brakes:

Just to the right and above the fourth wheel is the old solid disc that I cut out from one of the wheels.

Here are some more parts prepared, ready for priming:

I primed all the parts with Zero Paints light grey primer, which took a while to do:

Once the primer was cured, I sprayed all the parts that I was going to paint aluminium or black with Zero Paints Semi-gloss black, this;

 

My plan is to paint the seats a satin black to simulate leather, so I painted them in the ZP semi-gloss black. I wasn't happy with the finish on the seats, as it was too glossy for me, so I stripped them again for re-priming.

I then cleaned up the body parts and primed them:

 

I re-primed the seats, ready for a satin black finish. I also primed the floor pan:

 

That's all for now.

Thanks for looking in.

 

Any comments are welcome.

 

Cheers,

Alan.

 

[Hamden]

 

Nice start Alan, will follow along if I may?

 

  Stay safe           Roger

[Alan R]

Hi Roger,

 

Be my guest.

Hopefully, this one won't stall like so many of my builds!

 

Cheers,

Alan.

[galaxyg]

I'll be watching. Rarely see this kit being built.

[Alan R]

Evening All,

 

I have been working on this car as well over the last few evenings.

The evening temperature in the Garage was reasonable, so I was able to do some spraying.

Here we are:

I decided that a metallic blue would be appropriate for this car. Besides, I had the colour in my stash...

This is the slide up/down doors and the seat backs.

The body and front/rear valances.

 

 

The windscreen surround and boot-lid. The bonnet has since been painted.

 

On the whole, the paint went on well, nice and smooth. Apart from a buffing with some compound, I don't think there's much to do before gloss-coating.

 

Thanks for looking,

 

Cheers,

Alan.

[Alan R]

Evening all,

 

I have been making some progress with this kit.

Here are the wheels painted in ZP Aluminium:

They don't look too bad, I think.

Various engine gubbins and brakes:

The brakes aren't quite finished and neither is the induction system at this point.

The thing on the top left is the air inlet and plenum (I think)

Here's the engine block:

I sprayed the block with Zero Paints Semi-gloss black (Not dissimilar to Halford Semi-gloss black in shineyness). I then hand painted the bottom half with XF16 I think this represents the sump.

I liked the idea of red disc callipers, so that's what I painted them. I also painted the edges of the discs metallic grey (XF56) to represent the raw iron of the disk.

Here's the completed induction system ready to mount on the engine. The detail is not too bad, and the fit, so far, is very good.

The engine and induction system together. Sorry, it's a bit fuzzy!

From a different angle. There's a diddy decal on the induction system. Suitably softened and set with Micro-Set & Micro-Sol.

From above. (Rather pleased with this little gem)

The seats, I resprayed them with a home-brew mix of 2 parts Tamiya XF1 to 1 part Tamiya X1, thinned by 2 parts Mr Color Levelling thinners to 1 part paint.

Even though it's thinned this much,  you don't gen runs. You do get through quite a lot of thinners this way...

I might try to put some shading in the crevasses to make  them pop. I'm not sure what colour, bark grey probably.

 

The underside, sprayed with the same XF1/X1 mix. 

 

I have been doing some clear-coating, a lot of clear coating. These are the seat backsL

They just need a bit of buffing with polishing compound. They do look a bit orange-peely, but to the naked eye , they look fine.

The body. I think that I have nearly cracked this clear-coating thing, apart from dropping bits that have newly been coated and are still wet! Baaahh!

Again, this just needs a bit of a buffing.

The rear valance, not looking bad.

The doors. They needed a slight sanding back and re-coat as I had managed to get dust on them while still wet!

 

Not pictured, but I have sprayed the interior and the dashboard with a very dark grey.

The next stage is either the underside assembly or the cabin. Not sure what I will tackle first.

 

Thanks for looking,

 

Alan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Alan R]

Good evening All,

This weekend was a very profitable one for the Beemer.

 

I polished up the bodywork using Halford's rubbing compound. I have had this for a long time and I am not sure if you can still buy it. This comes in an aerosol and produces a rapidly expanding foam.

So here are the shined up body panels:

The polish is good enough for me.

Here are the seats attached to the backs:

 I 

I used epoxy resin to glue the backs to the seats. I think that the epoxy is a bit defective, or I didn't use enough hardener. The resin took ages to cure (over a day). I'll try more hardener next time.

The dashboard:

The vents are decals. They look a bit wonky and I'm not sure that they work very well. They are a bit shiny, so I tried to tone them down, apart from the instrument dials, with some satin varnish,

It'll do...

All the blue painted and clear-coated parts.

Next section, floor pan and chassis.

 

More to come,

 

Cheers,

Alan.

[johnlambert]

Nice work on the BMW, I'm not sure about those vent decals either!

[Alan R]

Cabin and Floor:

This section shows how far I have got with the cabin and the floor.

The floor has had the gear-stick and hand-brake lever installed. There is a very small decal in the gear-knob. It was a bit of a bugger to apply and keep there. It probably needs some more Micro-Sol to make it settle further.

The dash-board and floor are a very dark grey.

The engine installed:

Seats installed:

 

So far, I am pleased with this.

More views:

 

 

 

I touched up the floor by the exhaust manifold, though I suspect It won't be visible.

Transmission & underside:

 

Differential and drive shafts. There are three different blacks (Matt, gloss and satin) here.

 

Installed on the floor-pan.

Next came the exhausts and rear suspension:

 

 

Front suspension and brakes installed:

 

 

 

These are the discs and callipers left over from the Nissan GTR Nismo Special.

The kit supplies larger discs, so these remain left over. Just what I needed for this car.

Finally, the wheels:

 

I haven't fitted them yet, as I want the cement to cure on the discs.

 

So far the fit of all the parts is very good. I am quite impressed.

 

More to come soon, I hope.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Cheers,

 

Alan.

 

 

[Mr Mansfield]

I’m enjoying watching this come together. I’ve got one of these in my stash & it’s great to see someone with your talent putting it together.

 

Not so keen on those stickers for the dash vents though, is it one of those things that doesn’t look so bad with a macro lense pointed at it?

[Hamden]

 

Coming together very nicely Alan, looking forward to the next update now!

 

  Stay safe           Roger

[Alan R]

13 hours ago, Mr Mansfield said:

Not so keen on those stickers for the dash vents though, is it one of those things that doesn’t look so bad with a macro lense pointed at it?

Neither am I too keen on them. If I was to do this again, I would just carefully paint the vents with matt-black. They look pretty rubbish to the naked eye as well.

The dash is installed now, so I'm reluctant to muck about with them. We'll see later.

 

Cheers,

Alan.

 

Edited March 23, 2021 by Alan R

[Alan R]

Hi All,

Finally got around to updating all my projects.

So this is where I have got with the Z1.

The door assembly goes together quite well. Each door panel consists of three parts. 

The Frame, the door card and the door skin.

They fit the cockpit well. So far, so good.

The other side.

Those decals don't look so bad when assembled into the cockpit... (I think...)

From the front.

Fitted into the body and attached to the chassis.

The eagle eyed amongst you will have noticed that the doors appear darker than the bodywork.
I don't think that I sprayed enough paint on the side of the body! I may try to correct that, but not at the moment, as I will explain later.

It doesn't look quite so bad here. The camera lies...

The engine compartment...

 

Unfortunately, this is where I will have to park it for the moment.

This is because I have lost the front valance and grille. I have contacted Revell and I am waiting a reply.

I am not sure where the parts went. I fully expect that if Revell ever do send me the parts, the originals will re-appear  

So, for the moment, I have packed this lot carefully in its box. and hopefully, either the parts will turn up or Revell will send me the parts.

 

So, until the next time, thanks for looking.

 

Cheers,

Alan.

 

[Alan R]

Hi All,

After a long hiatus, I found the missing part.

It had got lost in a storage box next to my pile of models.

So, progress has been made.

Her it is with grille and vents installed.

 Here it is fitted:

This looks fine to the naked eye.

The rear valance, being fixed in place.

The read after the glue has set:

The colour is quite different here.

The reflectors chromed with Molotow chrome 

The front lights chromed:

Rear lights:

The front with all lenses installed:

 

More to come.

 

Cheers,

Alan.

Edited October 5, 2021 by Alan R

[Mr Mansfield]

Nice to see how this goes. It’ll be a while before I start mine, but do both front and back bumpers need to be added after fixing the interior in place?

[Alan R]

I'm not sure, but I think that while the front and back valances don't hold the interior in place, their presence would probably prevent you from fitting the floor-pan into the body.

 

Cheers,

Alan.