Monogram Bugatti T35B

This is an older build of mine. It's Monogram's 1:24 scale 1927 Bugatti T35B, a very successful Grand Prix racer in its day. I built it in 1970 and entered it in the IPMS Australia National Competitions, where it place second overall. There were no aftermarket industries or parts available in the seventies, and everything extra had to be scratch-built. The eight-cylinder engine is detailed with fuse wire and stretched sprue. Chrome tape was cut into thin strips for tension clips, and everything was detail painted. The cross-lace wire hold-downs along the sides were individually drilled and waxed thread was passed through each hole. They were the days, but I wish Paul's Detail Downunder had been around then.

The Bugatti was painted black as per a restored version in the USA.


This is a detail shot of the engine. No cottage parts industries back then. Fuse wire, thread, chrome tape, and stretched sprue were all we had to work with.


Looks good from the rear too. The exhaust pipes were made from ball-point pen ink barrels. The seat was covered with red corduroy ribbed cloth.