BMW E30 315i Racer

[da_ashman]

Hey Guys!!

Heres my latest WIP, Ive been commissioned to build a replica of a Race car for a present.
So lets get started! Heres what the 1:1 race car looks like.




& heres all the graphics drawn up


This is the average Fujimi E30 BMW kit I'll be using



Sadly this is a very average kit, it looks like its had its top choped a few inches.





I started by opening the bumper holes, & spent many hours getting the panels flush with each other. the Mold on my kit was quite average.
Below is a pic of the included front bumper spoiler that i wont be using but does look pretty cool!!


Chassis


The interior builds up on top of the chassis, this used to be one of those battery powered motorized kits Fujimi did in the 80s & they include everything for that too. But subsiquently the interior suffers, theres no wheel arches either.


This is the built up interior from what comes in the box, yes it even includes the rool bar, this is also the interior for the E30 Racecar kit Fujimi released.


Upon dry fitting the interior i noticed there is a huge gap on the rear parcel shelf, so this had to go!!!


This is the base of the stripped out interior, more detail to follow


Much better!!! gap is now less than 1mm


I needed some wheel arches so an Enzo Ferrari kindly gifted me a pair...


The Sunroof also had to go!


Over here down in NZ we drive on the other side of the road so a RHD conversion is nessecary. Something i have never attempted yet


The Kit wheels are cool (even have streamliner panels!) but these 17" BBS rims match the 1:1s much better. I still have to modify them to fit & look more accurate.




Thats about it for now, theres still heaps to do, but the bodys primered & ready for some paint, the decals are underway & the interior is almost done. More pics soon
Thanks for looking!
Ash

[r33nz]

Awesome project, looks like you are off to a good start

[da_ashman]

Hey Guys

Some more progress pics

This is the interior coming together, an example of how wide the Enzo wheel arches are & how much needed triming!




This is the detail for the rear section


& Attached


The interior just needs some putty & sanding now, then to start building the rollcage!

The Dash - these are all the cuts i have to make to convert to RHD


All seperated out


& the Jigsaw puzzle ready to be put back together


Lots of work left to do on the Dash!!

Thanks for looking
Ash

[ChristopheB]

Interesting WIP and great work so far.

[da_ashman]

Hey Guys

Some more progress on the BMW racer!!

The Roll Cage - Out of the box
Did not fit well at all, it was far to low down & too far forward



The Completed Roll Cage
This monstor has taken me quite awhile to piece together, my local hobby shop was out of styrene rod but had brass in the right size, its nice to work with, holds its bends but breaks jewellers saw blades quite efficently. It does also add some weight to the model which is nice. In total theres well over 1m (3ft) of brass tube, which would be approx 24m in the 1:1!!








The Re-constructed Dash
Still abit to do but most of the major componets are back together & looking promising!


The Wheels
The centre caps needed removing so round to dads to use the drill press.
Pretty happy with the result just a little cleanup & some more detail then its good to go!



Paint - Finally ive managed to get some paint on (forgot to get a pic of the bright orange before it was masked up but that looks pretty damn cool)






Still abit to go with the body painting, Silver this weekend & body colour & black to go. Then semi gloss black & chrome.
After being stuffed around by a Decal printer in Europe for months I finally gave up & started searching again & managed to find someone who can print these locally (only a 10min drive from my house, which is a hell of alot closer than the otherside of the world!!) so should be picking these up next week, yay!

More progress soon, thanks for looking!
Ash

[tonioseven]

This looks great so far!!! That rollcage is awesome!!!

[potsie]

Agreed, that roll cage is a thing of beauty.

[da_ashman]

Thanks Guys!

Heres some pics of the half painted body, just body colour & Black to go.
Colours so far far Tamiya TS6 Orange, Lamborghini Grey Metallic & Silver






The Decals Arrived!!! & they look great, nice detail, nice & clear & Local!! The Postman did their best to try & damage them but they seem undamaged.
If your in NZ (or anywhere else) & need some custom decals printed check out www.electricdesigns.co.nz , Very helpful, very quick & competively priced.






Now comes the tricky part, signwriting the vehicle, which you would think would be easy for a signwriter, but its completely different!

Thanks for looking
Ash

[ChristopheB]

Great work. I like the roll cage.

[MagfedLove]

I can't wait to see more! Great work!

[r33nz]

Thanks for the tip about www.electricdesigns.co.nz, will check them out

[circuitR]

Originally Posted by r33nz

Thanks for the tip about www.electricdesigns.co.nz, will check them out

Yeah cheers for that! I'll bookmark them for the future. Although I have some blank decal sheet left over from ages ago.

[da_ashman]

Thanks Guys

Disaster struck. I was cleaning the roll cage ready to be painted when a moments distraction & it slipped off the counter & onto the tile floor. Turns out its not an overly sturdy roll cage... Good thing the driver wasnt in it!!!



So I'm working on piecing it back together & tweaking it slightly

Thanks for looking, more re-progress soon!

[D_Durst]

i hate it when that happens!
Why did I never think of using foil for masking before????? I am going to have to give that a try on the next car.

[malscar]

Ouch, I usually do that with ones in 1/43 scale.

A couple of questions regarding the decal printers -

What did he hit you up for cost wise?

How is the fine detail in their print?