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1990 BMW 850i-------Update! She's now clearcoated! 6/19/16


MrObsessive

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I'm worn out from superdetailing for a spell after finally finishing the '59 Impala! So, next on my WIP list is Tamiya's (nee Revell of Germany) 1990 BMW 850i. This is a car that I VERY seldom saw when they were new in these parts, and in fact, I think I've ever only seen two of them around here. A pearly white one, and a metallic red one. That's it! Very exclusive these cars were mostly due to the price which IIRC, was somewhere around $80,000 for the 850 V12. :o

The one I'm starting on is an eBay rescue as I already have two other kits--------a pristine, never touched, unopened one, and another "Alpina" version I got from Gerry Paquette (ExoticsBuider) a number of years ago. This one I got off the 'Bay had a cracked windshield pillar and loose parts. I felt sorry for it, and the price was right (less than $30) so I snatched it up on a "Buy it Now" and now it's on my worktable. ;)

Here are a few pics so far.............

BMW 1

Engine is done.....no wires, linkage or other filigree. Just right out of the box just as the instructions say.

11483217451227-vi.jpg

BMW 3

This kit was originally a Revell of Germany manufacture. Tamiya must have liked it so much that they got the tooling from Revell and reboxed it. However, this kit is not of Tamiya quality.............the body had noticeable ripples in it, and I went over everything with a sanding block and 400-600 grit sandpaper. 

I also rescribed the trim and door panel lines as they were quite faint IMO and will get lost in my paint jobs. Speaking of paint, the color will eventually be "Laguna Green" (German: Lagunengruen Metallic) with a contrasting interior. 

Despite this being a box stock WIP, this kit has a LOT of parts and not everything is spelled out as clearly as it should be. Boo-boos were already made on my part, so I'll be combing the instructions with a fine tooth comb as it is MUCH needed!

40483217420726-vi.jpg

BMW 5

BMW 6

The only thing that I may stray from as far as box stock is concerned...........the front and rear bumpers are in dire need of a more positive location. As I was test fitting things as I was block sanding, things were slipping and sliding around a bit too much for me, and I don't want any surprises when it comes time to paint. I'll add some kind of tabs or stops inside the fenders to give the bumpers something more to rest on.

I also may cut the quarter windows out from the molded glass as this car looks best in its pillarless hardtop form. 

Right now, I'm at the point of doing chassis work, but I'm at a stopping point at the moment as I do want to completely paint the chassis body color. My paint guy is closed today, but after work tomorrow, I'll stop by his place and see if he can mix a touch-up amount of the Laguna Green. 

I have to keep reminding myself of one thing though.......this is box stock----this is box stock-----this is box stock.............

That's it for now fellas...........updates will come as time allows, but you can best believe this won't take four years! :P

Thanks for lookin'!

Edited by MrObsessive
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You're building box-stock? Well, at least we know it's gonna be the cleanest box-stock build ever, that's for sure. I've never seen one of these outside of pictures, I always thought it was a gorgeous car.

Edited by Custom Mike
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You.re building box-stock? Well, at least we know it's gonna be the cleanest box-stock build ever, that's for sure. I've never seen one of these outside of pictures, I always thought it was a gorgeous car.

Who'da thunk it?? :P Box stock IS rare for me! I think the last time I built out of the box was this one..............

P3041192

According to Fotki, I put this on there back in July of '07! My how time flies!

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Just a spoon test to see how the color coat will sit over gray primer. My primer of choice is Plastikote T-235 Gray Sandable Primer. I've found it to be the most user friendly for me as I've never had any problem with crazing, it covers well, and it dries fast! However, I hate surprises with paint so despite the fast drying time, I still like to let my primer coats sit for at least a day or so before I put on any color coats.

As I mentioned before, the color I picked out for the 850i is Laguna Green which to my sight looks more like a nice shade of Teal (Aqua) which was popular in the early '90's. 

Take a looksee here..............

35:483401255793

Looks good so far, and I specifically asked my paint guy could he mix the paint in the smallest metallic flakes possible. He mixed it mostly with the finer pigments as the original mixture called for a "coarse" mix.

NO! That's too big for a 1/24 scale model! What he did here looks good to my sight, and after I let the primer on the chassis sit for a day or so, I'll color coat that and then after that dries, get the front and rear suspension fettled together and keep on going! :)

02:483402722163

.............And here's the can. You can see the ingredients which go into making this color. What I like best about going to a paint shop to have color specially mixed is that the paint is unthinned, as I like to thin my own according to how I paint and how my airbrush works. Sure there's plenty left over (it's an 8 oz. amount), but there's always other cars it can be used on, or simply give some to your friends. :)

Hope to have another update before the end of the week.....certainly over the weekend with a hopefully done chassis, moving on to the interior.

Stay tuned!

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why do you go through a paint store when there is model paint suppliers like Gravity Colors, Zero or ScaleFinishes?  I know ScaleFinishes has Laguna Green, as I've ordered it.

That's a fair question and it's an easy one summed up in one word----------economics.

The place you ordered your paint through is charging $6.99 for a one ounce bottle. I got eight ounces unthinned for $14.31 including PA sales tax. Those same eight ounces if I were to order it for instance through ScaleFinishes would come out to roughly $56.00. :o

Granted he gives free shipping with each order, but the folks I deal with are literally two miles from my house. Another fly in the ointment is that most if not all of the online paint sellers pre-thin their paints. I'm not a big fan of that as in the past (I won't mention names), I ordered paint from an individual and I found it to be woefully runny. Not to mention that it was not especially durable around edges as it seemed to chip easily.

Another part of the equation is that since the paint is not thinned from my local seller, I determine how much thinner I'll need for my airbrush and compressor. The paint you see on the spoon was airbrushed with acetone as a thinner, and sprayed at about 20 P.S.I. Not every paint job I do comes out well, so I'll have more than enough to go back and repaint if necessary, and not go through the hassle of re-ordering paint all over again because I spilled it, or just simply had a bad paint job for whatever reason and don't have enough to go back and redo a paint job with multiple coats.

Since I was there in person at the paint shop, I was able to let the fella know that I wanted him to use the smallest metallics flakes as possible. I've seen paint jobs that while nice, the metallic flakes are a bit "big" and out of scale for a model car. He understood that and you can see where he made all of the mix out of the smallest flakes, and didn't add the "coarse" metallic which would have been just too much IMO.

I've been doing this since the '90's ever since I had the above experience, and while I'll have usually a good bit of paint left over, I can always use it on another car, or later on maybe give some away to my modeling buddies in the clubs.

Edited by MrObsessive
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That's a fair question and it's an easy one summed up in one word----------economics.

The place you ordered your paint through is charging $6.99 for a one ounce bottle. I got eight ounces unthinned for $14.31 including PA sales tax. Those same eight ounces if I were to order it for instance through ScaleFinishes would come out to roughly $56.00. :o

Granted he gives free shipping with each order, but the folks I deal with are literally two miles from my house. Another fly in the ointment is that most if not all of the online paint sellers pre-thin their paints. I'm not a big fan of that as in the past (I won't mention names), I ordered paint from an individual and I found it to be woefully runny. Not to mention that it was not especially durable around edges as it seemed to chip easily.

Another part of the equation is that since the paint is not thinned from my local seller, I determine how much thinner I'll need for my airbrush and compressor. The paint you see on the spoon was airbrushed with acetone as a thinner, and sprayed at about 20 P.S.I. Not every paint job I do comes out well, so I'll have more than enough to go back and repaint if necessary, and not go through the hassle of re-ordering paint all over again because I spilled it, or just simply had a bad paint job for whatever reason and don't have enough to go back and redo a paint job with multiple coats.

Since I was there in person at the paint shop, I was able to let the fella know that I wanted him to use the smallest metallics flakes as possible. I've seen paint jobs that while nice, the metallic flakes are a bit "big" and out of scale for a model car. He understood that and you can see where he made all of the mix out of the smallest flakes, and didn't add the "coarse" metallic which would have been just too much IMO.

I've been doing this since the '90's ever since I had the above experience, and while I'll have usually a good bit of paint left over, I can always use it on another car, or later on maybe give some away to my modeling buddies in the clubs.

... and there you go.  Bill, you are killing me with this one, as I have one started in the basement. I am thinking of doing it in a dark metallic red, with a light saddle interior.

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Ron, dark metallic red with that same color interior was among the color contenders, but the Laguna Green won out. I want to get away from red cars for a spell, and in fact I can tell you.........the next WIP won't be red either! ;)

Can we say Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz?

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Love the 8-series. Can't say that I've ever seen a kit of one. I guess there's another I need to add to my want list!

Colour is perfect. I worked for a local BMW dealer in the late 90s, and it seemed like every 8-series we had come around was either this green or dark blue.

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Good luck, these kits are not hard to come by for a decent price, there are several listed on Ebay right now for three figures

That's why I jumped on this one as soon as I saw it-------body damage notwithstanding. I have a pristine kit I got from the 'Bay a few years ago and yes, I paid three figures for that one, but the kit is pristine and never touched, and I didn't have the heart to build it just yet. Likewise, the kit I got from Gerry Paquette is also quite nice as it builds the tuner "Alpina" version that was sold when this car was new. 

If you see these for a reasonable price grab 'em quick! They don't last long on a "Buy It Now", and I happened to be at the right place at the right time. I also have to say that this is probably the first time I built a kit I got off eBay so soon as I've had this less than a year. There's kits and builtups I've bought from there that I've had for YEARS, and they're still on the "someday" list. 

Edited by MrObsessive
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Bill, in my build I'm planning on removing the lip on the body where the rear bumper meets it.  One, the real car doesn't have that lip and two, the bumper doesn't sit right. Tamiya points out plenty of corrections to Revell's original instructions, but doesn't call for removing this lip. Oddly enough, Revell corrected this on the1/18 version of the car.

Edited by BVC500
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Bill, in my build I'm planning on removing the lip on the body where the rear bumper meets it. 

You're talking about this section here.................

55483217435228-vi (2).jpg

Yeah, that was Revell's attempt at some kind of stop or "positive location" for the bumper cover, but it's not very effective at doing so. I noticed this right away as I was block sanding and test fitting things out, and mentioned that when I made the initial post. ;)

And yes, the bumper sticks out on the sides a bit too much where it should be flush.

I'll try to put some .020 strips or something inside the front and rear fenders on both sides to give those covers some more real estate to sit on. I'll have to keep checking for clearance issues though as there is a separate trunk compartment that goes in the body among other things. That's a bit down the road before I get to that as it'll be the one thing I check before I paint. Painting the body is always (for the most part) the last thing I do when I'm doing a WIP. I hate having surprises when it comes to final assembly because there was something that got missed beforehand--------I want to make sure everything fits well and have a method of getting the body/chassis together with as little drama as possible!

Well as of now folks, the chassis is all painted and now it's just a matter of getting the front and rear suspension done, and then moving to the interior. In a rare move for me, I'm pretty much following the instructions to a T. While the instructions are pretty clear, as I mentioned before there's a LOT of parts to this kit, and I'd say it about rivals Fujimi's Enthusiast Series of kits namely their Porsche and Ferrari ones as far as parts count.

Hopefully more to come with some pics before the end of the weekend.........

Stay tuned!

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