polybius Posted July 17, 2022 Share Posted July 17, 2022 Keeping up with the momentum of clearing out the works in progress shelf of doom, this build finally made its way to the display case. I started it a couple years ago and was mostly awaiting the body and trim work. It's an old Monogram tooling from the late 70s and early 80s that I believe was first tooled as a race or rally variant. With other "better" kits of this E24 BMW that were made by Fujimi and Tamiya, this one from Monogram is a bit underappreciated. It fits together mostly well but the instructions are vague with identifying attachment points of some parts. It seemed to me the tooling represents a 1979 or 1980 model year, with the absence of the passenger side mirror being period-correct for these early-ish 635CSi coupes. I regretted not fitting and gluing the sunroof closed before body prep and paint, and it turned out to not fit very snugly so the tilt-up position was represented and would have been accurate for the 1:1 design. This was one among three BMWs that was stuck on the WIP shelf, so it was nice to finally finish it up and move it along. Thanks for looking! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grodudulle77 Posted July 17, 2022 Share Posted July 17, 2022 Clean job !! 👍😀 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattilacken Posted July 17, 2022 Share Posted July 17, 2022 Beautiful build m8! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Classicgas Posted July 17, 2022 Share Posted July 17, 2022 Nice. Any engine and chassis pics? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Chernosky Posted July 17, 2022 Share Posted July 17, 2022 Nice color choices for both the exterior and interior. Nice to see someone clearing out their shelf of doom. I have one...I think we all do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
espo Posted July 17, 2022 Share Posted July 17, 2022 Beautiful looking build. This is a car I have always thought I would buy if I hit the lottery. The paint and interior look great together and all the body and trim detailing looks great as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polybius Posted July 22, 2022 Author Share Posted July 22, 2022 Thanks for the comments! This was a kit I tried building as a kid but it turned into a glue bomb and it likely met its fate in a scale model crash test 😵 Here are a few more pics as requested, and thanks again for the great feedback! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisR Posted July 22, 2022 Share Posted July 22, 2022 Very nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim B Posted July 22, 2022 Share Posted July 22, 2022 Great looking BMW. Well done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted July 22, 2022 Share Posted July 22, 2022 Beautifully done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89AKurt Posted July 23, 2022 Share Posted July 23, 2022 When those were new, thought they were super cool. Congrats on getting it done! Monogram did some decent kits, your comment about the sunroof should help anyone in the future, scrape down the edge for clearance. Came out nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Can-Con Posted July 23, 2022 Share Posted July 23, 2022 Very nice build. I remember doing this kit when it first came out in '80 or '81. It didn't seem to fit in with the other kits Monogram were coming out with at the time,, the first muscle car kits they would be doing like the Hemi Cuda, '69 GTO and '70 Chevelle SS. It may have been reissued at some point as a race car [I don't remember ever seeing one] but the first issue was definitely the same as your build. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polybius Posted July 24, 2022 Author Share Posted July 24, 2022 Thanks again for the great comments! I was curious about the tooling's lineage because there were two distinctive molded-in rivet looking things along the rear fenders that needed to be sanded smooth. It turns out the '88 release of the Exotic Car Series was the third issue of the kit, with the originals being in '81 with the stock 635CSi first and then the Group 2 version. It was certainly a departure from Monogram's typical US muscle car subjects. In the 80s as a kid any kits from Tamiya or Fujimi were much harder to get a hold of, so it was a real treat when something like this would pop up on the K-Mart shelf for under $6. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrm Posted July 28, 2022 Share Posted July 28, 2022 Love the car in real life. In my opinion on of the classiest and best looking cars BMW has ever made. And your model does it justice. Grey metallic on red- perfect! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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