BMW 320 E21 (Revell) WIP

Hello folks, merry Christmas to everyone!

I finally found the time to take some pictures of a model I started about a week ago.

http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/4122/25873748.1d/0_95ec3_77f7ec0c_orig.jpg

Box contents:

http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/6440/25873748.1d/0_95ebe_efafb53e_orig.jpg

http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/5636/25873748.1d/0_95ebf_e55f3d24_orig.jpg

http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/4115/25873748.1d/0_95ec0_28f1f656_orig.jpg

http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/5642/25873748.1d/0_95ec1_b1afa0c0_orig.jpg

http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/6441/25873748.1d/0_95ebc_cfc2e373_orig.jpg

The kit, obviously, has no real prototype. It includes a fuel injected M10 engine with a turbo, along with a rollbar and some strange-looking bucket seats for the interior:

http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/4127/25873748.1d/0_95ec2_dd4be15f_orig.jpg

My build is going to be different. I will convert the engine to a naturally aspirated one with twin Webers. The seats will probably be replaced with stock Recaros – I'll have to make them myself, using the seats from a Revell 635 as a starting point. Here you can see some other goods I have prepared for this build:

http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/4123/25873748.1d/0_95ec8_828d7b30_orig.jpg

The wheels come from an Academy 635 (with different tyres), the brakes – from a Tamiya Celica, and the battery – from a Fujimi 635 (which had 2 batteries in the kit).

Here's what has been done so far:

http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/4121/25873748.1d/0_95ec4_cc398879_orig.jpg

I cut off the rear part of the underbody, including the spare wheel well. The underbody behind the rear axle must be flat, not lowering. The spare wheel well was undersized and had a completely wrong shape. The main wheel wells also had little resemblance to the real ones, so I replaced them with appropriate pieces of a Revell 635 underbody. The molded-in exhaust had to go, too, along with the front longitudinal members, which didn't match the new front body. Oh yes, the new front body – the kit was not only incorrect in this part, but it also had the tanks, wiring, coil and fuse box molded-in, so rather than removing all these pieces one by one, I chose to replace the wheelhouses and the firewall altogether, using the Academy 635 as a donor.

http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/4117/25873748.1d/0_95ec5_981c092c_orig.jpg

Considering the scale difference and the fact that the E24 is much larger than the E21, I had to trim the new front end a lot before I got it to fit inside the body.

http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/6440/25873748.1d/0_95ec6_fecaa9e2_orig.jpg

Now I would say the front is about 60 percent complete. The white areas are made of sheet styrene and epoxy putty.

http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/4121/25873748.1d/0_95ec7_da5c7a24_orig.jpg

That's it for now!

This looks like it has been well thought out.
It looks like you are a technical thinker about things too.
I like it so far!
Andy

A little update - a picture of the model body (green silhouette) overlaid on a photo of a real car:
http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/6426/25873748.1d/0_9602b_aa975309_orig
As you can see, there are some inaccuracies, but they are mostly impossible to notice without the help of Photoshop. The only thing I'm going to correct is shown with a red line.

(Source of the original photo (http://forums.pnwfahren.com/showthread.php?543-1981-BMW-E21-320i-in-Alpinweiss-my-plans-to-go-from-rough-to-tough&p=53671&viewfull=1#post53671))

I really like these aera BMW,s Ill be watching this one closely!

The progress has been very slow, but the project is not dead!

In the meantime I have almost completed the underbody and the engine compartment, only some small details to add.

http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/6440/25873748.1d/0_9d4e3_4f0a19d7_orig.jpg

http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/6426/25873748.1d/0_9d4e4_d2c701a7_orig.jpg

Had to make a new front panel – the old one did not look like the real thing at all, and you can see it well when the hood is open.

http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/4125/25873748.1d/0_9d4e5_3eb252a0_orig.jpg

http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/5636/25873748.1d/0_9d4e6_bd6b3f99_orig.jpg

I have only kept the radiator from the old part – it seems a bit small, but may still be usable.

http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/4126/25873748.1d/0_9d4e7_6980edb_orig.jpg

On the underside I have added an imitation of fuel tanks, a new spare wheel well and a central tunnel. Not everything looks as good as I would like: some lines lack parallelity, some proportions had to be sacrificed in favor of compatibility with kit parts. A more accurate reproduction would have required building the complete underbody from scratch, and I'm not up to that challenge yet.

http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/6701/25873748.1d/0_9d4e8_238cd92e_orig.jpg

http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/6446/25873748.1d/0_9d4ed_390ba06c_orig.jpg

http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/6431/25873748.1d/0_9d4ec_187e4106_orig.jpg

The model also got new wheels. I was unable to obtain tyres with sufficiently low profile for the rims I had intended to use, but Roman (Romik505) kindly offered me to use the rims they made for the Lada VFTS. I've seen very similar wheels on an E21, so these look like a good fit, and I also have suitable tyres for them (sourced from the same Celica that gave the brakes). The Lada wheels were cast directly from a 3D printed piece, so they needed some sanding on the inside.

http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/6426/25873748.1d/0_9d4eb_897f133f_orig.jpg

Couldn't resist chopping the engine apart. I'm going to make separate pieces for the oil filter and the starter, that won't take much time compared to the other modifications I'm doing and will improve the look of the engine greatly.

http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/4126/25873748.1d/0_9d4ea_da6072a6_orig.jpg

Next step: the suspension.

impressive!

nice details you've added on

Hi,

great built so far! take a look at: http://www.scaleproduction.de/index.php?cat=c10_Reifen-Felgen-1-24-Reifen-Felgen-1-24.html
they have many good wheels for the e21

Frank

Thank you Frank! I was unaware that Scaleproduction also makes smaller (13-15") wheels, I'll have to check them out. The rims I have now are quite good, but I could use some lower profile tyres - and they are really hard to find in this diameter!

The main suspension components are ready. I still have to make anti-roll bars, steering rack and diff mount, but that can wait until later.

http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/5634/25873748.21/0_9f1a2_d9c4fa55_orig.jpg

http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/4124/25873748.21/0_9f1a3_4f0ba328_orig.jpg

Now we can see how the car looks on wheels:

http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/4130/25873748.21/0_9f19d_43c2b904_orig.jpg

http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/6442/25873748.21/0_9f19e_751b0a68_orig.jpg

http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/6701/25873748.21/0_9f19f_89ea4c85_orig.jpg

http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/5638/25873748.21/0_9f1a0_d320381a_orig.jpg

What would you say? Are the tyres too thick? I wish the sidewalls were a bit lower (these are about 225/55/15 in scale), but can't find any better options. How about the stance – haven't I lowered the front too much?

Very nice work, and great pics !
IMHO, I don't think you lowered too much the front but not enough the rear ! :)
Car seems a bit high to me...

Thank you Phil!

I can't lower the rear any more without cutting out the arches, and I would rather keep them intact. If I find thinner tyres, there will be more room for adjustment, of course, but probably I'll have to be happy with this. 80s cars were pretty high, after all.

This is high-quality work! Did you buy the springs, or did you make them yourself out of wire? Regardless, excellent job making something lifelike from this kit. I have two of it and had planned to give them away before seeing your inspirational thread.

Thank you Zak!

The springs are made from wire, it does not take much time. This particular wire came from an Ethernet cable.

Great work. As you've already pointed out, 80's cars were fairly high so I think the stance is perfectly fine.

Thank you Phil!

I can't lower the rear any more without cutting out the arches, and I would rather keep them intact. If I find thinner tyres, there will be more room for adjustment, of course, but probably I'll have to be happy with this. 80s cars were pretty high, after all.

You're right, keeping it like it is now is fine, stance isn't inaccurate for such car.
I had the feeling that rear was higher that front but it's part of the agressive look. :)

Nice progress, bmw wip are always nice to follow.

great work, looking forward to seeing more & completion! bravo!

Thank you guys! I have very little time for modelliing now, but here's a small update:

I made the front grille! It is probably going to have been the hardest part of this build, and the least perfect one as well... Anyway, the solid kit grille just had to be redone, which I did to the best of my abilities. Hope it will look better once painted flat black.

I also started the work on the front valance (the early Euro type). It is far from completion, the pictures show just a quick test fit.

http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/6719/25873748.21/0_9fcf7_ee73fe5_orig.jpg

http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/6712/25873748.21/0_9fcf8_b0527f44_orig.jpg

http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/6721/25873748.21/0_9fcf9_e47da9f5_orig.jpg

Lookin good.

The work you've done here is just stellar. I have so many questions that I'm not going to ask any. Construction of the grille must have been an exercise in patience, to say the least.

Thanks for the comments!

Feel free to ask as many questions as you want, I'll try to answer them as much as I can.

It is so fantastic !! Why not considering Roman to release it as a Modelling Master kit ? (I dream of the rally/racing group 2 versions in fact...) :iceslolan

Thank you Chris! I don't think there is demand for such a kit, especially considering that this is 1/25 and not 1/24. I also think my work is not good enough for copying. I may change my mind later, but first I have to finish the modifications I've planned -- and I've done nothing in almost a month. :(

Well maybe the chassis/engine bay as a small-production transkit? It looks terrific and would be a pity not to copy all this work.. I would get one to update mine for sure. In the end though, i guess the whole kit will be worth copying!

+1
I for sure would be very interested by one or two copies of such a kit/transkit. As far as the scale is concerned, well, I don't know... I've always thought the Fujimi kit was a bit overscaled...
By the way, take your time, keep up the excellent work!

The front grill look very good. What is the diameter of front lights?

Thank you all for the kind words.

The diameter of the front lights is 7.14 mm. It's a K&S aluminium tube, here's a picture:
http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/6705/25873748.21/0_9fd3d_46c756a6_orig

And the Fujimi kit is overscaled in fact (and also very inaccurate).

It was a long break, but now the work continues.

I made the front valance (early type) with the Alpina air dam. The kit part looked nothing like what I wanted, so I had to scratchbuild the whole thing.

http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/6705/25873748.22/0_a4cae_3a124865_orig.jpg

http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/9346/25873748.22/0_a4caf_35fd981f_orig.jpg

http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/9323/25873748.22/0_a4cad_d69994af_orig.jpg

I also made the rear spoiler. This was a lot easier: I just took the spoiler from the Academy 635, cut it into pieces and glued them back together, adjusting the width, curvature and angle.

http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/9516/25873748.22/0_a4cac_235e11aa_orig.jpg

http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/9491/25873748.22/0_a4cb0_b3e4d368_orig.jpg

Inside the headlight openings I installed thin metal rings, cut from a smaller tube, to support the reflectors and the lenses. The reflectors were then heat-formed from thin styrene. The lenses, however, are still to be found: the ones I planned to use (Revell 635) are too small, so I have to look elsewhere. If you know of a kit that has the proper lenses, please let me know. They should be about 6.3-6.5 mm in diameter.

http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/9152/25873748.22/0_a4cb2_62ecded1_orig.jpg

And the last little thing was opening the vents on the hood. Just one side for now, the other will follow soon.

http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/9506/25873748.22/0_a4cb1_f6cafe7a_orig.jpg