Diorama Base

I had been trying to find some sort of base for my diorama for a little while now when I stumbled upon this piece of wood at a local art store the other day. A few coats of Tamiya spray paint and it looks perfect.

Tent

I assembled and painted a Tamiya WW2 German Afrika Korps tent. Constructions was simple and easy however the first color I selected was too dark and had to restart with a much lighter color. The tent was available in two types of configurations, closed as seen and open. While I would have preferred an open configuration there were no indications of what would go in the tent and the tent has no floor. Research of photos online also proved to be fruitless as all the images I found had the tent close probably to keep the sand out. The kit does not come with any cables as seen on the box art but I might try to add some to the diorama...

Gloss Coat

Spray painted in my garage the motorcycle with two coats of Testers gloss clear coat to prepare the model for weathering.

Dragon Deutsche Afrika Korps '39-'45 Series Unboxing

Here is a video of an unboxing of Dragon's "Deutsche Afrika Korps '39-'45 Series" in 1:35 scale. It will be used in a diorama I am working on with Tamiya's 1:35 scale BMW R75 motorcycle with sidecar.

Step 8 - Part 1 - Motorcycle Assembly Complete

Step 8 consists of completing the motorcycle where I added the last accessories and installing the front wheel to the chassis. Whats nice is that the wheel can be turned as it is not glued which is a nice extra for when I am ready to place it in a diorama. The light was easy to install but had issues to properly align the light cover so that the slot would be straight. I then used a black Staedtler pigment liner 0.05 pen to darken the slot.

Step 6 & 7 - Sidecar

The next two steps to assemble the side car went without a hitch with very simple trouble free assembly. The only issue I had was what color to paint the brakes? After checking several reference photos I decided to go with a metal look. I also opted to add two luggage compartments which were optional as I want to depict this bike as an Africa Korps in the desert fully loaded with gear.

Step 5 - Motor & Luggage

Step 5 comprised of adding the baggage compartment for which I filled in the hollow backing with white putty as the hole was visible through the rear tire and completing the engine.

Step 4 - Have a Seat

Completed assembly of step number 4, painting instructions are vague and am using several reference photos to guide me. Front seat was a bit hard to place and required trimming the plastic underneath as the guide pin would not align properly to the hole in the chassis of the bike.

Step 3 - Gas Tank & Stand

Step 3 was fairly simple, glue the two halves of the gas tank together which to my surprise went fairly well and install the stand.

Signature

Not knowing where to sign my name and date on this kit due to its very tiny size I decided to place it on the back of the sidecar seat.

Steps 1 & 2 - Start Building!

After a week or so of painting various parts I finally started assembly of step 1 the front wheel and step 2 the motorcycle chassis.

Tamiya WWII Germain BMW R75 Motorcycle with Sidecar Unboxing

Tamiya 1/35 scale BMW R75 German Motorcycle with Side Car purchased and unboxing filmed on March 21st 2016.