1/48 Bandai BMW R75 w side car Finished!!

That's really nice. Really like the effects on the pannier at the back.

Ok guys I have the solo bike in a basic completed state here. I added the headlamp assy this morning, shot the dullcoat on the handle bars and applied some metallic sheen to some of the raised detail and highlghted the seat spring. When everything is together (side car and solo bike) I'll add some weathering effects to give a slightly more used look. Now to move on to the side car..........

Thanks Joe! Still have the sidecar to go and a few knicknacks here and there on the solo bike.

Well Joe, Despite the fact that it is an older kit with some associated flaws, you have done a remarkable job of producing an excellent looking replica. Some really great work from you Joe.

I think after I'm finished with this Bandai kit, I may try my hand at the newer Tamiya bike that I received a couple of weeks ago. I admire this kit because it was the only one available in this scale for YEARS but there are some problematic flaws in this kit. Things like the total lack of detail on the machine gun, some of the finer details on the solo bike that are missing and the overscale wheel spokes. I probably would have never brought this stuff up if I hadn't ever seen what was in the Tamiya box.............

It's update time! I managed to install the forks and handle bars this morning. I have a wash and a flat coat I need to apply on the handle bars but other than that....they're on! I also installed the gearbox shift actuating rod (made from stretched sprue). I applied a base coat of German Grey to the headlamp assy this morning as well.

What's funny  about this camera is it's amazing capability to pick up even the most finest particle of dust and make it stand out like a sore thumb! I can't even SEE this stuff with my eye.......but it sure takes a purdy pic and can take really close pics without a single blur.

Thenks RBaer! Yeah I still have a load of em in my spares electrical bin. I had .015" solder but it wasn't thin enough for scale so I thought "Man I wished I had some really thin copper wire!" and then I thought to myself "Coil windings!" After that I hit my toolbox up as I did a TON of electrical work in GM dealerships.

Coil windings! I'm going to go out and pop apart all those Chrysler/Bosch relays I don't need for spares any more. Great idea!

Spark plug wires in 1/48? My hat's off to you, sir.

Thanks Bish! Still pondering what I'll be working on tomorrow morning. I've gotta keep the strong forward momentum going as after tomorrow I won't be able to do much until next Friday morning. Mon-Thursday I only have about 30 minutes or so per morning to do anything before I have to take off to work.

Really nice there Mustang, that wire looks perfect.

Joe, I know what you mean. I am always looking at stuff wondering if it will be useful, and if there is the slightest chance it might be, it gets put in a draw just in case.

Thanks Joe. In the automotive field there's alot of stuff to choose from. I get the look everytime I'm holding something of potential use and I've got that, "You know............this just might work!!!" thought going.

Hey, that looks really good Joe. I find that one of the funner things about this hobby is finding all those odd items or things laying around the house that can become useful in model building. I spend time walking around second hand stores looking at items in that regard rather than what they were intentionally designed for.

 Ok folks. I've got the L/H cylinder spark plug wire installed. The relay coil wire I used is from a GM micro fuel pump relay. The idea came to me this morning when I was running out of ideas for spark plug wire replication. Anyways here is a pic of the installed wire on the bike and the relay next to it.

Ha ha!!!!! I know exaclty what you mean Bish!!!! lol

Some great detailing there. I know what you mean about close up pics. Every time I have taken pics of a 72nd pit I thought was perfect I then see flecks of dust that look like mountain ranges in the photo's. Very annoying.

Appreciate it Clemens! Just trying to correct some of the foul ups that I've caused along the way at this point.

Holy damn, Joe, that looks sweeet!

I hear ya about every flaw showing up. My old camera was really crap at taking detail pics but my new one excels at that, making every mess-up visible...

Ok folks it's time for a small update. I installed the exhaust system this morning after painting it with a cocktail of darkened gray to the point that it was just almost black but not quite too dark. I drilled out the exhuast tail pipe and dry brushed some ground up charcoal and applied to the inside of the outlet for a true flat sooty appearance. I still have to do some work at the muffler/ lead pipe areas in the matter of a clean fit from pipe to muffler.

 I do have a quick question here because I don't have enough or clear enough reference to tell if that's a brake light on the rear fender or not. Was there a brake light there? If so I'll get that going as well. I'm going to find a way to hide that nasty seam line that's irritating the bejesus out of me!!!  I attempted to remove the " up-armored license plate backing" to re-work it but that thing is on there for good! Good grief! If that aint an oversight I don't know what is. Will have to distract as much as possible in other areas.

 Here's the pic of the rear of the bike:

One of the distractions I'll be working on is the engine. Here's the spark plug wires I robbed from the winding of a fuel pump relay I robbed from a warranty fuse block at the GM dealer I used to work at. (Uh oh! I don't guess posting that  I tampered with warranty turn-in parts is a good idea.........lol ) . This stuff works perfectly. Anyhow they are shaped and painted. Will trim and install later. Still learning this new camera so that the future shots won't come out so "yellow".....

I am , however, able to take detail shots like I never could before!

P.S. That's a two edged sword now because ALL flaws show up too!   lol  

Thanks Joe! I'm really looking forward to building a Tamiya version of this motorcycle. I'm still having alot of fun with this thing but am noticing that the Tamiya kit I have is ten times more accurate in terms of scale and accuracy( the up-armored license plate and saddle bags are the main two items thus far).

The bike, well yeah, it looks pretty dad gum good. But, with that flashy fancy new camera it is fabulous.

This pic was taken with my new Nikon S9700 Camera. I applied the faded flat effect and will start shining the contact points of the seats up and touching up other areas that need it.

Thanks Joe and Bish. I applied a flat coat to what I have so far and spotted that scale 4 or 5 inch thick up-armored rear license plate frame. Will be taking that back off and thinning that down..........crap! There aint nuthin' like backwards building. lol

That's looking really nice.

OOOOOHH, Me liking. She be coming along splendidly Joe.

Thanks Clemens. I've got a couple of things in mind on how to weather this puppy up to keep it from looking like a plastic toy. I was going to do it today but had a doctors appt. Maybe tomorrow morning.

She's really starting to take shape now! Looking great, buddy!

Well I'm well underway with the solo unit and have applied washes and decals. The seats have some sanding dust from the fingertips but just a little clean up and that'll be gone. I had the exhaust painted the wrong color (rust) and then referred to my references and found that the exhaust has a dark iron look to it so I corrected that. Will be fading the paint and hiding some of the seams to clean that mess up as well as dirtying things up a bit on the engine and saddle box.

The latest:

I appreciate the vote of confidence Joe!

You are nailing it Joe. Great looking work. I'm looking forward to the weathering you are going to do on it.

Thanks Clemens! Yeah that seam on the side car is gonna be tough, do-able, but tough.