Pierre Rivard

Thank you Chris. I enjoyed it very much and now looking for older group 5 racing car kits.

Bonjour Francis, Andrew's advertisement of your work has earned you another fan. I rarely check out the drag racing posts but I just finished reading the whole 30 pages of your's. You do amazing fabrication and the pursuit of accuracy even into hard to see components is remarkable. This is next, next level scale modeling and truly sensational. I just work on a small table with my styrene and paint brushes, never will I ever be able to do 10% of what you do but still, this is so inspirational. Pierre (Montreal)

Another gorgeous build from your productive factory Rich. At a time when all the attention was on the outrageous Countach this one was a bit overlooked, a shame because it is so beautiful. Darn you Chernosky, now I have to add this one to my build list. Will you slow down man! 🥴

That thing at the front with the curly copper pipe... is that a still? We should never drink and drive.... but you know... in between runs. 🥴

It is a cool subject. The build needed many upgrades to give it a more realistic look but I was lucky to start with a well proportioned body. I really enjoy these types of challenges.

Thank you Anton, paint has come out pretty good but the really scary part was the decals. I was happy to survive that part of the build. Thank you German. I love this car and happy with the results Thanks, I took my time with this one knowing it would be a one shot deal with all the various parts coming in. Too bad there are no modern kits of these wonderful silhouette race cars.

Hope you like? Are you kidding Chris. This build is absolutely glorious and I am completely awed by it. So you could say I really really like it. You always build these complex 1/12 MFH kits to perfection with the intricate details and the spot on finishes. I started following F1 in the mid seventies when they were not broadcasted or even made the news in Canada so getting results meant waiting for Gerard Crombac's Sport Auto magazine to make it across the pond. You bring back wonderful memories Mr. Smith. Thank you!

Amazing what you have done with this poor old kit. The combination of your great skills and the stash of MFH parts have allowed you to make it look really beautiful. Splendid job sir!

This is an amazing replica Jürgen. I've looked at this kit for a while but could not believe it could be transformed into such a splendid display of realism. Of course most of that is due to your amazing skills, but still it provides a bit of hope for the rest of us.

Thank you Dan... Thank you so much Dave. I don't believe for a minute you would not do something really cool with the Capri. I for one would really want to see that as it is one of the special cars I got to drive back then. Ford kept marketing the Pinto back then (in Quebec) but the better informed buyers skipped right by and got the Cortina or better yet the Capri with the sweet Cologne V6 and 4 speed manual. Superb little car.

Absolutely gorgeous build Ken. The work you have done with the chrome and substituting the kit wheels and tires have done wonders for this kit. Up to your constant very high standards.

This is as wild as it gets. Perhaps an even greater achievement was getting approved for the plates. 😆

Gorgeous car and an incredible replica rich with details. Up to your usual very high standards Chris.

Thanks my friend. At least I had a pretty accurate body to start with. This car deserves a modern Tamiya style kit but I don't think it's on their radar. Thank you Jim It was a pleasure to share the WIP. I can never get enough of WIPs, so much to discover on the kit as well as the builder's methods. Thank you Rich, much appreciated. You and I appear to like a lot of the same cars so I always look forward to your unveilings. This one was such an important build for me, knowing it would be a one shot deal so I took the time and very much enjoyed it. Thanks Dave. I love these as well. Now if I could just find a reasonably priced Lancia Beta Montecarlo... It is a beast. Something about these group 5 racers, strange but beautiful monsters. Thank you Larry Unfortunately unlikely to happen. Not many among us interested in building these. Yes it was, but a fun journey. I had wanted to cobble together one of these for such a long time.

I did it once on my Ferrari 275P. The windshield had a big multi-arm wiper. I taped around it and carefully removed material with a blade making sure I did not cut too deep and into the glass surface. I then removed the tape and wet sanded the area starting with 600 grit and gradually worked my way up to 8000. Next step was Tamiya fine compound and then finish compound. Final step was a good wash with dishwasher soap and then a coat of Future.

Bunch of guys with their 3D printers looking at this and scratching their heads. Making our own parts the old fashioned way is rewarding and so much fun... sometimes. 🤣

A holly grail for me as I have wanted to build this car for 5 years. I love the BMW E9 and especially it's ultimate expression seen in the group 5 3.5CSL of 1976. These rules allowed the touring cars to race with more extreme bodywork providing the hood, roof, deck lid and doors would remain in their original shape and location. The silhouette racers were born and the extreme looking BMW received it's BATMOBILE nickname. I started with the 1/24 Otaki kit (also commercialized under Scale Craft, Grip, ARII and others). The kit was tooled almost 50 years ago as a motorized model, not so unusual at the time with Japanese products. The body has pretty good proportions and a good foundation but much was needed to transform it from toy to a better replica of the race car. A proper chassis was needed and I used a very similar BMW M635 (E24 chassis) from Tamiya and modified it to better reflect the race car configuration. The kit's wheel/tires are poorly made and grossly undersized so I replaced them with Scale Lab resin/PE wheels and tires from a Tamiya Porsche 956. I also found an old Eduard PE sheet providing numerous detailing components for this build. Interior was mostly scratch built and decals are courtesy of Le mans decals. I also replaced the headlamps which were 30% undersized on this kit. The Batmobile fought valiantly in 1976 but was faced with an armada of Porsches 935 or 934/5 which were lighter and had 160HP more than the BMW. BMW tried to counter with a turbo variant with more than 750HP but it never ran reliably. Still the non turbo Batmobile managed to get a couple of wins with the Schnitzer team. So here are the photos. I could not resist showing it with it's nemesis on the first one.

Thank you Daniel. This kit looks more toy than replica if built OOB but the body has very good lines and lent itself well to the intended modifications. Thank you my friend. This was a holy grail build for me and I waited years to acquire the needed materials and courage to take it on. Thanks Mark, working on the photo setup this morning. Thank you Ken. Should be under glass by mid day.

And this one is done!

The final stretch on this enjoyable but challenging project

I think it looks really good Tim. So much fun (for me at least) taking a new run at these old kits.

Thank you for following Trevor. A bit of hit and miss along the way but it is finally coming together. I adore the E9 BMW and love group 5 racers, so I had to come up with a way to build this car. About time man... just kidding. I am honored that you took the time to cover my journey. When I finally found the Otaki (which was the one I really wanted) I was sure it was a 1/20 scale kit in a 1/24 box. Nope, it was the Airfix that was grossly undersized. Live and learn... Thank you sir. Support much appreciated.

You are a brave man... and skilled. This is not easy stuff.

Impressive transformation Mark. I too missed out on the HRM trans kit so I will be following your build with great interest.