I'm back for one of my rare military builds. I suddenly got the urge to actually build the Revell re-box of the old ESCI BMW Sidecar kit.

Whilst the old molds meant that pretty much every part had to have cleanup along the mold lines, the actual fit was surprising near perfect. Well detailed, though a bit "soft" by todays standards.

The kits biggest drawback, apart from it's final size and where to put it, are the spokes. Even now no manufacturer can really mold in scale bike spokes. A really dedicated modeller would rebuild the kit wheels with wire spokes. But i'm not a dedicated modeller, i'm a lazy one- so i just built it as is and pretend that i don't notice the spokes.

Not a kit that you see built very often. It's completely OOB.








Andrew

Very nice looking bike! I love the way you finished the stock on the MG.

I have a 1/35 scale BMW with side car in my stash. A good looking build. How did you accomplish the wood effect on the mg stock?

Hi Andrew,
Great build & a good push for me as I am building the Zundapp version, and Yes, I am re-building the spokes & detailing LOL
Like to know how you did the wooden stock.
mark

Thanks for the comments.

The MG stock was done the same way i do all my wood on WW1 aircraft. It is base coated in any matt tan or yellow-it must be matt, not gloss (usually i use Tamiya Desert Yellow), then apply water colour using a damp torn piece of sponge. Then clean the spong and squeeze out most of the water and go back over the water colour to streak it- to represent grain. You can add small streaks of different water colours for extra effect- especially if you want a layered/laminated wood. Use whatever colour you like the look of- usually burnt sienna or something similar. At this stage you can wash the water colours off or change things in any way you want- just use water.
It's then finished with a clear coat for whatever final effect your after. For the MG stock i wanted a brand new clean MG fitted to a dusty used bike. So i ended up using clear orange to make the stock look pretty much shiny and recently varnished. Use ordinary clear or matt it down to suit whatever stage of wear you're after. Water Colours must be clear coated for protection though.

I use water colours instead of artist oils simply because i'm impatient- oils take so long to dry.

Andrew

Thanks Mark, is the Zundapp re-released by Revell.de the same as the BMW? The original ESCI versions are all hard to find! I believe Dragon also re-released some of the original 1/9 scale range as well? I'd like to know whats become of the remainder of the ESCI 1/9 range.

Andrew

Hi Andrew,
I wouldn't worry too much about the spokes - as a keeper of a 1:1 scale outfit I can tell you that the heavy duty spokes used on these vehicles are pretty substantial. But I would suggest to maybe add a bit of chipping to the spoke adjustment nipples, as the spokes require frequent adjustment, because on a combination they are stressed in a way that motorcycle wheels were never designed to cope with (twisting force during cornering) Although the back wheel suffers the most, because they are interchangeable sooner rather than later the nipples on all the wheels end up losing most of the paint/plating they start off with.
It pains me to say this about such a beautifully finished model - to a much higher standard than I'm currently capable of achieving, I might add - but the kick-start is fitted in the wrong position, it should be pointing to 1o'clock. In the position it is fitted on your model, it would suggest a broken return spring.
Still, outstanding work and thanks for sharing it with us.

I am also the owner of an original version of this vehicle. The spokes are oversized on the original bikes. I see that as a minor issue. My problem with this kit is that the version of the R75 depicted should have a rubber bellows covering the moving part of the front forks. It is clear to me that the bottom flanges ( part #94 in the revell kit ) are oversized and meant to support the covering bellows. I have seen photos of earlier versions of the kit that include the bellows. I guess they wanted to save a tiny bit of money.

Beautiful Job on this Andrew!! Love the tones of the paint and the the wood stock painting as the others! Well done!!