BMW 507 Cabrio 1957 - Elvis Presley's one - Based on a Revell old kit 1:24

[CrazyCrank]

Evening guys

 

Initially, I would have chosen as new scale model build a 1958 Corvette Roadster, or a Jaguar E Type, that I have in my stash.

But there is actually some builds on the go for these iconic cars, so I chose to build a different  model, in order not to step on the toes of other modeler friends, and also because it I've never seen neither here on britmodeller.com, nor on other website I visit.

It's an old Revell kit 1:24 of another iconic car, the BMW 507 cabriolet. I bought it 1 or 2 years ago for cheap on EBay

 

This car was supposed to be the direct competitor and rival of the Mercedes 300SL Gullwing, but never really broke through. Only 252 examples were built and BMW lost a lot of money with this production.

Elvis Presley bought a pearl-white one during his military service in Germany and brought it back to the United States, where he quickly had it repainted in red, tired of regularly seeing the lipstick marks left by his fanatic admirers on its beautiful bodywork.... funny isn't t ?

His car had next a very complicated story and was abandoned during 30 years by his last owner.

Fortunately, it was found in 2014 by an automotive journalist in Jack Castor’s pumpkin warehouse near San Francisco, but in a ad state.

After many discussions, the car came back in Munich, Germany, where BMW Group Classic finally received in  2016 permission to restore it  to its original condition.

 

What's in the box ?:
A lot of clusters (not sure of word is appropriate ), with very well done and nicely detailed parts, except for the chrome parts one.

Clear parts are just good, a lot of burrs, but no distortion through them.
Obviously, this kit is at its time's standards (1991) and the quality can't rivalise with Tamiya's one, but is far better than the MB 300 SLR Mille Miglia one

 

 

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

I've decided to paint it Pearl White, as it was when Elvis bought it.

 

As this car has been recently restored, a lot of videos and photos or press articles is available, what will allow to improve the model by correcting any errors and adding as much details as possible in this scale  

 

So, let's go for a new adventure 

[Pouln]

Ah, that’s a real nice car. I assume that that a build out of the box is a nogo for you, so I’m really interested to see what you are going to do with this model.

[Neddy]

Beautiful car, unusual old kit - just what I like to build, great find.  I'll be following this one with interest!

[Hamden]

 

I'll follow along if I may? Looking forward to seeing what you do with this one

 

          Stay safe           Roger

[Vesa Jussila]

Once again beautiful car starting. This kit was not so common in shops, I wonder why. 

[CrazyCrank]

19 minutes ago, Hamden said:

 

I'll follow along if I may? Looking forward to seeing what you do with this one

 

          Stay safe           Roger

 

If you may ?... still a pleasure to have you on board, Roger 

44 minutes ago, Neddy said:

Beautiful car, unusual old kit - just what I like to build, great find.  I'll be following this one with interest!

Welcome in the party, Neddy

1 hour ago, Pouln said:

Ah, that’s a real nice car. I assume that that a build out of the box is a nogo for you, so I’m really interested to see what you are going to do with this model.

Build OOB.... My madness is strictly incompatible with this possible 

2 minutes ago, Vesa Jussila said:

Once again beautiful car starting. This kit was not so common in shops, I wonder why. 

Me too, Vesa !

 

[Fnick]

Book me a seat in the front row! I'm a big Elvis fan and wanted to build one of his cars and that is the one I went for. I can see your WIP being used as a reference when I get round to building mine.

 

Definitely looking forward to whatever mods you have in mind. 

 

Nick

[JeroenS]

Nice choice Thierry, I remember reading about this car just last week, as one was found in mint condition in Philadelphia recently and is expected to raise a large number at auction. 

[CrazyCrank]

Evening, guys

 

Another time, I begin with the bodywork

 

First job: cut off the boot lid 

 

  

 

Logically, the doors should suffer the same fate 

 

Follow me, if you want to know 

 

[Fnick]

1 hour ago, CrazyCrank said:

Follow me, if you want to know

And down the rabbit hole we go!

 

Nick 

[dbostream]

11 hours ago, CrazyCrank said:

Evening, guys

 

Another time, I begin with the bodywork

 

First job: cut off the boot lid 

 

  

 

Logically, the doors should suffer the same fate 

 

Follow me, if you want to know 

 

Excellent work. What tools did you use to cut off the boot lid?

Edited July 4, 2022 by dbostream

[Neddy]

That's what I'd like to know, too!  Neat bit of surgery, that. 

[CrazyCrank]

4 hours ago, dbostream said:

Excellent work. What tools did you use to cut off the boot lid?

Thanks a lot 

 

4 hours ago, Neddy said:

That's what I'd like to know, too!  Neat bit of surgery, that. 

 

I use to use sharp fine blades on a hobby knife handle: currently EXCEL Hobby Blades Corp #22-611 #11 (481 Getty Avenue, PATERSON, NEW JERSEY 07503), but also SWANN-MORTON Blades n° 3-6-10-10A on a scalpel handle.
You have to change the blade very frequently, as only the point is used to cut, and they wear out very quickly .
And when it's possible, a jeweler 's piercing saw with a 0.15 mm blade.

 

Since this morning, I use too Tamiya Fine Craft photo-etched saws, 0.1 mm thick, a fantastic tool !

 

And overall a lot of patience !

CC

 

PS:

- I used also a Tamiya engraving blade , but they are very fragile, break too easily and cost an arm (25 € each)

[Brandy]

I've not heard of this car before, but what a beauty. I'm looking forward to another great modelling adventure!

Beer and peanuts to hand....

 

Ian 

[CrazyCrank]

2 hours ago, Brandy said:

I've not heard of this car before, but what a beauty. I'm looking forward to another great modelling adventure!

Beer and peanuts to hand....

 

Ian 

I didn't know her either until I discovered this kit by chance while surfing on eBay

 

 

[CrazyCrank]

Evening chaps

 

second job: Cutting off of the doors.

 

It's been a difficult job, because of the particular cut of these doors, on a cabriolet in general, and on this one in particular.

It took me about 4 hours.

 

Not counting the hour I lost to fix a break !
Indeed, before cutting the doors on the body to obtain opening doors,  I had to check if the kit's engineering allowed to think that this surgery would be possible.
And so, I made a test, putting the tub on the chassis, and the body on the chassis.
It was not easy because of the protrusion of wheel  arches on the chassis,  and we had to spread  the lower part of the body to allow it to go in its place...and during this operation...crack !
The body broke just before the aperture of the trunk.
Fortunately, I managed to fix that with Tamiya extra-fluid cement and the addition of a thin sheet of plastic from the underside

This latter bridges the break and has allowed its edges to be perfectly aligned in both the vertical and longitudinal directions.

 

So I deduced that the plastic of this kit is very brittle, and decided to work very carefully.
To this end, each time I finished cutting a section of the doors' perimeter, I held this section with pieces of masking tape, to keep a maximum of rigidity

 

What explain the appearance of the body on this picture

 

 

You have seen the break, I've repaired it:

 

 

Visually, the repair seems perfect, and the finger doesn't stick when you pass it from one edge to the other.
Nevertheless, a little putty and sanding will increase the solidity and guarantee a good result after painting.

 

Unmasking :

 

  

 

 

As you can see, now, the body is very fragile, since the front and rear parts are jointed together only by the 2 thin portion of sockliner !

That's why I'm going to consolidate the whole thing, in a temporary way, by taping plastic strips inside, thick enough to be rigid, which will allow me to continue working on the body without worrying too much about a new break, which this time would be catastrophic. 

 

The trunk is now openable, so I've to detail it, and as a beginning, to fabricate a floor.

 

Stay connected if you like, and thanks foe watching and criticizing 

 

 

[Noel Smith]

Lovely looking car in its day. Surprised that BMW lost so much on it.

This should be an interesting build if your others are anything to go by.

[CrazyCrank]

1 minute ago, Noel Smith said:

Lovely looking car in its day. Surprised that BMW lost so much on it.

This should be an interesting build if your others are anything to go by.

Thanks @Noel Smith, but, sorry for my poor English , I don't understand "if your others are anything to go by"

[Noel Smith]

Hi Thierry

(This should be an interesting build if your others are anything to go by.)

Please let me explain

What it means is that I have looked at other models that you have built and I am very impressed by the number of extra details and work that you have put into them.

I am sure that this model will be a really superb build like your other models. It takes a lot of confidence to do some of the work that you do on your models.

 

All the best Noel

[CrazyCrank]

4 minutes ago, Noel Smith said:

Hi Thierry

(This should be an interesting build if your others are anything to go by.)

Please let me explain

What it means is that I have looked at other models that you have built and I am very impressed by the number of extra details and work that you have put into them.

I am sure that this model will be a really superb build like your other models. It takes a lot of confidence to do some of the work that you do on your models.

 

All the best Noel

Thank you, Noel, for this explanation  I have to enhance my English 

[malpaso]

4 hours ago, Brandy said:

I've not heard of this car before, but what a beauty. I'm looking forward to another great modelling adventure!

Beer and peanuts to hand....

 

Ian 

 

1 hour ago, CrazyCrank said:

I didn't know her either until I discovered this kit by chance while surfing on eBay

 

 

Surprised you hadn’t heard of it, the 507 had massive publicity when the Z8 came out.  Probably to BMW’s regret as the new car didn’t look as nice though obviously more capable!

[CrazyCrank]

48 minutes ago, malpaso said:

 

Surprised you hadn’t heard of it, the 507 had massive publicity when the Z8 came out.  Probably to BMW’s regret as the new car didn’t look as nice though obviously more capable!

 

I'm not interested in recent cars, so I didn't even know that a BMW Z8 existed 

[Neddy]

The break was obviously caused by the loss of structural rigidity when you cut the boot opening so you'll need to be careful of the narrow section over the firewall and front bulkhead as well as that where the break took place.  Will it be possible to strengthen it without affecting the fit of the dashboard and firewall?  (Silly question, I've seen your work so far.  Sorry!) 

[CrazyCrank]

8 hours ago, Neddy said:

The break was obviously caused by the loss of structural rigidity when you cut the boot opening so you'll need to be careful of the narrow section over the firewall and front bulkhead as well as that where the break took place.  Will it be possible to strengthen it without affecting the fit of the dashboard and firewall?  (Silly question, I've seen your work so far.  Sorry!) 

 

Yes, Neddy, it seems to be possible, and it was already planned, as I would like to hollow out the recess of the air intake aperture 

[Pouln]

I think you have to “weld” in struts to strengthen the body and get the required rigidity, while you are working on it. Just like the 1:1 “modelers” do.

Struts forming triangles will make it sort of impossible to deform the body.

 

One thing is certain, though. You are not afraid to execute risky operations