1/43 BMW E36 318i A. Heger '94

[Dr.AK]

Hey there!

A brief re-introduction: I did some scale modelling back in '02 when I was around 12-13 years old. I lost interest back then mainly due to not really being able to afford the hobby as poor school boy with no income. Now that I'm a grown up with a steady job, things are a bit different.

I decided to get back into modelling some time ago, but this time mainly in a smaller scale - meaning 1/43 of course. I feel this size offers more interesting subjects for me, as my main interest is european touring cars from the 70ies until the early 90ies.

So, seeing how I drive a BMW E36 in real life, I just had to snatch these up when I found them for 19€/each. Price-wise, perfect deal for someone starting out in 1/43, imho.



They are made by Gamma Models from Italia. Maybe not the ideal kit for someone to get back into things, but I'll make it work.

I chose at random which of the three I'd build first - my choice fell upon the Kattus sponsored car driven by Altfried Heger in '94.

As I'm just getting back into things, progress will be relatively slow.


Unboxed, I included 0.05€ for size reference:





The individual pieces look pretty good. There's some flaws on the body but the overall shape is quite good actually. There's a bunch of photoetch parts provided for the wheel inserts, wipers, door handles and other minor details like that.

Started removing the flash:




Test fit with the interior now that I could see how the parts line up:




Here you can see one of the defects in the resin casting... there's a piece of the front bumper missing. I'll have to remedy this.



Lastly, I cut off the dashboard from the piece of sprue, removed the flash and stuck it in for a test fit... fits pretty good.




That's it for now. Not much, I know, but I'll be taking all the time I need to not mess this up too bad.

[ianc911]

Nice looking kit. I have not built a resin kit before either, but have a resin 1/43 Gulf 917 in my stash that's next in queue, so I'll be interested to read your observations,

ianc

[lovegt40]

nice one dr.AK.
Bimmer too here (e36 of course).Congratulations for the nice touring there.
I also collect the e36 in scale, but prefer work in 24 scale.Dragon/revell/hasegawa models are wonderful bases to start awesome models.

will follow your one with great interest, keep on posting

[Dr.AK]

Originally Posted by ianc911

Nice looking kit. I have not built a resin kit before either, but have a resin 1/43 Gulf 917 in my stash that's next in queue, so I'll be interested to read your observations,

ianc

I'll be sure to keep sharing my observations! It's a bit different from a plastic kit from what I've gathered so far, and I still don't really have a clue what I'm doing here at all, lol.

Originally Posted by lovegt40

nice one dr.AK.
Bimmer too here (e36 of course).Congratulations for the nice touring there.
I also collect the e36 in scale, but prefer work in 24 scale.Dragon/revell/hasegawa models are wonderful bases to start awesome models.

will follow your one with great interest, keep on posting

Nice to see a fellow E36 owner! Thanks, it was a lot of work to get it to this point...

I'm familiar with the Revell 318ti Compact, was a pretty good kit iirc.

And I'll keep posting for sure.



Today's update, nothing much.

First, there was a small air bubble above the front window frame. I read somewhere that CA could fill such a small bubble like this, so I just tried it out. Let a drop of CA dry up there and then sanded it smooth.



Next some parts clean up:



Dry fit:









As you can see the chassis is supposed to be screwed in.

There's a small hole on the chassis underneath where the exhaust will be placed. I think I will use this. I will drill a small hole in the exhaust and insert a piece of copper rod or something, then glue it in place.

I also took my hobby knife and scribed some of the panel lines where they weren't deep enough. Not really visible on the photo, sadly.



I also discovered this: Mounting of the wheels is apparently supposed to be done via two simple axles being placed in the chassis with the wheels stuck on. Problem: The wheels have a smaller inner diameter than the supplied piece of rod which is supposed to be the axle - meaning I'll have to organize a smaller rod to build some axles. For this, I will also most likely have to make the holes for the axles a bit smaller, so the wheels will not slide around.




That was it for today.

My paint and some other misc supplies still has not arrived yet, but I'm hopeful that it will be here sometime next week.

[Dr.AK]

Hey there...

today, I first poked out some air holes in the side skirts, then filed them smooth with a round file.





Then I used some filler to, well, fill it again. Also filled the hole in the front bumper.
I used Presty Polyester Feinspachtel (Fine Filler) from the local car / hardware store.



Filled applied...





And sanded smooth.








And that's all for today.

[ianc911]

Keep it up. Instead of finding smaller rod for the axles, you could drill the wheels out to a press fit?

ianc

[Dr.AK]

That would also be a possibility, yes. Hadn't actually thought of that!

I'll have to see... like I said I'm not rushing it.

[Dr.AK]

Shot a quick coat of primer on the body, mainly to get some training in with the airbrush and also because primer often times reveals imperfections you didn't notice before...

[rgriffs]

good for you, we need more young people involved. it looks an interesting subject.

[dozman]

DR.Ak, you've started off really well - welcome to the world of 43rd and pin holes

I'd go with ianc's suggestion of making the insert in the rim bigger for the supplied axles. Whilst on the wheels, I usually start sorting out the ride height early in the build before you get too far with the body and chassis - you might need some adjustment, I learnt the slow way

Paul.

[Dr.AK]

Originally Posted by dozman

DR.Ak, you've started off really well - welcome to the world of 43rd and pin holes

I guess I'm doomed now, this stuff is addicting.

The primer showed me some spots that I needed to address, so yesterday I did some sanding and filling... and I also scribed the panel lines, as I finally received my set of photo etched scribing blades. No pics just yet as I'm still at work. Will post some later today!

I'd go with ianc's suggestion of making the insert in the rim bigger for the supplied axles. Whilst on the wheels, I usually start sorting out the ride height early in the build before you get too far with the body and chassis - you might need some adjustment, I learnt the slow way

Paul.

Yeah, it sounds like the most reasonable way to go. Now I'll just have to see about getting myself a drill vice and an assortments of drills...

[914joe]

Looking good!!! For those wheels & axles... If you can't find a smaller rod for the axle you could chuck the ones from the kit in a drill and turn the ends down using a file. I would'nt want to risk damaging that rim detail on those wheels.

[Dr.AK]

Also a very good idea!

As the axles are longer than necessary, I will try this solution first, I think.

I'm a bit nervous about working with the photo etch parts... any good advice for this topic?

[914joe]

For the p/e parts I like to scuff the backside w/ 600 grit befor removing them from the sprue(this is an extra precaution I like & if the part is too delicate or your not comfortable it's not necessary). I use scissors for cutting the parts. If you can't cut close enough you can hold those parts in a flat set of pliers and do final clean up with sand paper or a fine grit sanding disk in a moto-tool. Parts that are too small to hold or require pressure to attach use clear tape. I like epoxy... It gives you some time to work and once your familar with it's charactics it's cleanable and you can make some mess or redo if necessary.

[Dr.AK]

Thanks for the tips!

Here's the progress from yesterday: