Italeri 1/35 scale BMW R 75 with sidecar

 

I began building and detailing this 1/35 scale Italeri BMW with sidecar many years before the latest-generation kits were available. The etched nickel parts are from The Show Modelling, one of the very first companies to produce aftermarket sets back in the day. Unfortunately Show Modelling's offering only provided enough etched spokes for two wheels and so for the sidecar wheel and spare wheel I have adapted some etched brass spokes intended for a WW1 biplane.

Annoyingly, it was well into the build before I got my hands on some decent reference, Wings & Wheels Publications photo book on the subject.

After the wee beastie had spent some y-e-a-r-s in a box I picked up (or more precisely ordered off the internet, which had been erm, invented in the meantime) the new Great Wall kits, but somehow I knew that I had to complete the Italeri kit that I'd started all that time ago. I therefore determined that I would complete the model and do so without looting any parts from the more modern BMW kits that I had acquired.

I was originally planning a Fallschirmjager crew for the bike but changed my mind and decided on an Eastern Front theme and have also partially sculpted the rider. The legs and head are from a Dragon figure set, my usual Green Stuff/Milliput mix for the rest of him.

I have a bunch more 1/35 scale projects in the pipeline which I hope to get stuck into between my 28mm sculpting duties.

A big thank you to my friend Vinnie who took the photos in this post. He usually shoots much more action-packed scenes and you can check out his photography site  here.