Total building time 233.75 hours

Begin date November 10, 2021 – June 14, 2022

Vendors:

Monogram

Kit #2234 Bugatti Type 35B Special Interest Series

Indycals

1930 Bugatti 35B set #22

My opinion

For such a simple kit this one took a long time, much of that spent de-simplifying it. It frequently felt as if I was building a Faberge egg (arrogant, much?) from small pieces. I don’t know if it was the age of this kit (Scalemates tells me it is of 1978 vintage (even though it’s not a wine, though I did supply plenty of whine) or the particular formulation of the styrene but it was VERY BRITTLE and things just kept snapping; frame, body, various bits (which is what created the sensation of trying to build something out of egg shell fragments) all had to be repaired before they could be used.

The fit of the parts were typical of kits engineered in 1967, which was the first year this kit was on shelves and presented no profound difficulties, just plenty of practice making things fit. Detail was probably very good for 1967 and was not the typical you-assemble-a-plastic-toy kit of the time as there were no “working features.” (To me, that’s a feature.)

I’ve wanted a model of this particular car (what with being a throttle-jockey and all) for a long time and I’m glad I now have one in the display case. I do wish that someone would produce a new-tool kit of this subject (I wish Tamiya were reading this) with all the bells, whistles, PE, and resin that implies.