e30lover Posted July 12, 2022 Share Posted July 12, 2022 (edited) Hi everyone, Here’s my latest finished build - 1/24 BMW E34 M5. This is a reissue of old Fujimi curbside kit. Mold quality is pretty subpar with sink marks, holes coupled with shallow, irregular panel lines which I spent good amount of time correcting them before doing anything else. The biggest issue with this kit is that the front and rear bumpers are much thicker than real car and if you build box straight it will look terrible. To fix this I had to grind a lot of materials from the top and inside so they fit more flush to the body. As for the build concept, I wanted to simulate my favourite BMW colour (Daytona Violet) with a clean OEM+ look, so a set of period correct wheels, Ground Control or KW coilover, smoked Hella + all red MHW tails on otherwise stock exterior was the goal. For the interior I opted for popular E34 M5 interior color which is silver grey. The kit doesn't provide 3 spoke m-tech steering wheel so I picked up something that resembles OEM Nardi 3 spoke from my parts bin. Here’s the full build details: - Filled all sink marks and holes, scribed body panels and sanded the body with 600 > 1000 grit - Sanded the slits on side grilles as they were too thick and fixed the side skirt as the kit body comes with non-M5 version - Flocked the carpet with embossing powder - Added surfacer and wet sanded the body with 1500 grit - Painted silver as a base coat - Painted a mix of Mr Color’s GX103 and GX102(deep clear blue and deel clear red) on top of silver - this way the shade of purple will show lighter as it reveals the base silver under natural light but otherwise appear very dark. - Painted clear (Mr Color Super Clear III) - as usual, I applied 3 coats with 2000 grit wet sanding in between the steps, and let the paint fully cure for 1 month - Polished the paint wiht 3000 grit sponge and Tamiya compounds - Masked the side trim and painted with silver to simulate “chromeline” - Masked again and painted all the rubber bits - Painted headlamp parts with smoke clear - Masked rear tail and painted clear orange, masked off the reverse light to paint rest in clear red, then removed the masking and lightly painted the area with clear red to get pinkish look - Painted windows with mixture of clear, clear blue and clear green to get the 90s factory tinted look - Painted the centerpiece of BBS rims (Scale Production 17") to nogaro silver (BMW’s slightly greyish silver) - Made muffler tip with styrene tubes (The kit muffler looks incorrect and it doesn't have holes) Overall it was an easy build after fixing the body issue. Thank you for reading! Below photos are shot with iPhone - I think these feel like better representation of what it actually looks like. When I take photos with my camera the colors appear slightly darker. Edited July 13, 2022 by e30lover Increased text size 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StanGlover Posted July 13, 2022 Share Posted July 13, 2022 Beautiful! The E34 is definitely BMW’s best looking car, and you picked their best color. Stunning work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JollySipper Posted July 13, 2022 Share Posted July 13, 2022 Such pretty work! That paint, both color and finish....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ea0863 Posted July 13, 2022 Share Posted July 13, 2022 Considering how fantastic that paint job looks, I think you forgot to add the last step where you sprinkled fairy dust and poured magic potion on top to get that luster! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TransAmMike Posted July 13, 2022 Share Posted July 13, 2022 Great and realistic looking BMW Chang. Please increase your font size tho, my old eyes had a hard time reading your text.. All kidding aside, if I recall, all your models are high quality!! 👌 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Can-Con Posted July 13, 2022 Share Posted July 13, 2022 Just,,wow!. 👍 beautiful paint and clean detail work. I might suggest though that you should finish off your glass with clearcoat and polishing in exactly the same manner you did the paint on the body. It would eliminate that pebbly look of the tinted glass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kah puts Posted July 13, 2022 Share Posted July 13, 2022 That FINNISH blows me away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
e30lover Posted July 13, 2022 Author Share Posted July 13, 2022 2 hours ago, StanGlover said: Beautiful! The E34 is definitely BMW’s best looking car, and you picked their best color. Stunning work. Thank you! If I had to pick one car to drive all season it would probably be the E34 M5. 2 hours ago, JollySipper said: Such pretty work! That paint, both color and finish....... Thank you! 2 hours ago, ea0863 said: Considering how fantastic that paint job looks, I think you forgot to add the last step where you sprinkled fairy dust and poured magic potion on top to get that luster! I did spent too much time brushing off the dust! Darker colour is always pain in the ass to shoot 😅 1 hour ago, TransAmMike said: Great and realistic looking BMW Chang. Please increase your font size tho, my old eyes had a hard time reading your text.. All kidding aside, if I recall, all your models are high quality!! 👌 I noticed that too. Just fixed now - appreciate the compliment! 47 minutes ago, Can-Con said: Just,,wow!. 👍 beautiful paint and clean detail work. I might suggest though that you should finish off your glass with clearcoat and polishing in exactly the same manner you did the paint on the body. It would eliminate that pebbly look of the tinted glass. Great point! I might have to increase the thinner & clear ratio and give more generous coat to eliminate that - the clear is probably too thin to do any serious polishing but I'll give it a shot next time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
e30lover Posted July 13, 2022 Author Share Posted July 13, 2022 1 minute ago, Kah puts said: That FINNISH blows me away. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanL Posted July 13, 2022 Share Posted July 13, 2022 I've been driving BMW's for over 40 years and I wish I could add that one to my stable. Paint job is beautiful and the build is nicely executed Cheers DanL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grodudulle77 Posted July 13, 2022 Share Posted July 13, 2022 (edited) Outstanding build !! Your paint work is absolutely stunning , great respect Mister !!! 👍👍👍 Edited July 13, 2022 by grodudulle77 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisR Posted July 13, 2022 Share Posted July 13, 2022 Awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
e30lover Posted July 13, 2022 Author Share Posted July 13, 2022 11 hours ago, DanL said: I've been driving BMW's for over 40 years and I wish I could add that one to my stable. Paint job is beautiful and the build is nicely executed Cheers DanL I've had the e30 for 10 years and I too wish to add that to my garage one day! Thank you! 7 hours ago, grodudulle77 said: Outstanding build !! Your paint work is absolutely stunning , great respect Mister !!! 👍👍👍 Thank you! 4 hours ago, ChrisR said: Awesome! Thanks a lot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Bentt Posted July 13, 2022 Share Posted July 13, 2022 Beautiful build of car (maybe not always the M) that once seemed everywhere, and is now a rare occasion to see on the road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
espo Posted July 13, 2022 Share Posted July 13, 2022 I agree with everyone ekse on the paint finish and the color looks great. Glad your hand is in a few pictures, reminds you that it is a model and not a real car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koellefornia Kid Posted July 13, 2022 Share Posted July 13, 2022 Nice! Love the flawless paint job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy124 Posted July 14, 2022 Share Posted July 14, 2022 Great work as always Chang! Beautiful work all around, great classic choice of colors. Beautiful wheel and stance too. The improvements on the front and rear bumpers show in the overall result! One small thing though, the front spoiler lower lip is not correct either in the kit. It should have one open „vent“ on each side (one of which is only functional): Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ulbo Posted July 14, 2022 Share Posted July 14, 2022 Amazing Amazing simply Amazing and paintjob and realism is just unbelievable👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
e30lover Posted July 15, 2022 Author Share Posted July 15, 2022 On 7/13/2022 at 10:42 AM, Michael Bentt said: Beautiful build of car (maybe not always the M) that once seemed everywhere, and is now a rare occasion to see on the road. True - I definitely miss seeing them on the road! On 7/13/2022 at 12:03 PM, espo said: I agree with everyone ekse on the paint finish and the color looks great. Glad your hand is in a few pictures, reminds you that it is a model and not a real car. Thank you very much! On 7/13/2022 at 1:06 PM, Koellefornia Kid said: Nice! Love the flawless paint job! Thanks a lot! 18 hours ago, Tommy124 said: Great work as always Chang! Beautiful work all around, great classic choice of colors. Beautiful wheel and stance too. The improvements on the front and rear bumpers show in the overall result! One small thing though, the front spoiler lower lip is not correct either in the kit. It should have one open „vent“ on each side (one of which is only functional): Good point! I should've at least carved some slits there. You've done a great job at getting the vent holds in there! 11 hours ago, Ulbo said: Amazing Amazing simply Amazing and paintjob and realism is just unbelievable👍 Scale Production's BBS wheel helped. Some of these wheels from older Fujimi kits are pretty bad! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PappyD340 Posted July 16, 2022 Share Posted July 16, 2022 OUTSTANDING!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted July 16, 2022 Share Posted July 16, 2022 Stunning! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattilacken Posted July 16, 2022 Share Posted July 16, 2022 Great build!! I have the same kit and saw some of the kit flaws! Great fixes the finished build looks super! Will need to take a second look at some point to do the mods you did to make mine better as well, did not like how the bumpers lined up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
e30lover Posted July 17, 2022 Author Share Posted July 17, 2022 On 7/16/2022 at 7:44 AM, PappyD340 said: OUTSTANDING!! Thank you! On 7/16/2022 at 8:37 AM, slusher said: Stunning! Appreciate it! 18 hours ago, Mattilacken said: Great build!! I have the same kit and saw some of the kit flaws! Great fixes the finished build looks super! Will need to take a second look at some point to do the mods you did to make mine better as well, did not like how the bumpers lined up. Thanks! I removed a lot of material from top and inside of bumpers - also cut out the mounting dowels and glued straight to the body so they fit more flush. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matthijsgrit Posted July 18, 2022 Share Posted July 18, 2022 Superb build!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragonhawk1066 Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 Outstanding!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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