Matchbox/AMT 1/32 Bugatti T59 1934 Spanish GP Tazio Nuvolari

[kyledehart5]

Ah, the red Bugatti! Built from the ancient Matchbox kit I had quite an enjoyable time during this very quick build. 

So I haven't been able to have much bench time of late, due entirely to work taking it all out of me. So I wanted to do a quick project that I could work on just a few minutes at a time while still feeling like I was accomplishing something. Feels good to get something across the finish line. These 1/32 Matchbox kits are exceedingly simple but I really had fun with this one. Nothing much to say about it. It is entirely OOB with the exception of Le Mans decals depicting the 3rd place effort of the Flying Mantuan Tazio Nuvolari in the 1934 Spanish Grand Prix. Nuvolari had walked out on Enzo Ferrari and his increasingly uncompetitive Alfa Romeos. He entered most rounds in his own Bugatti or Maserati but the works Bugatti team prepped a car for him for two of the 6 official Grand Prix events. They repainted his car in a red color instead of the traditional Bugatti blue and he turned in their best result of the year in Spain. All cars of 1934 ended up being overmatched by the Auto Union and Mercedes Silver Arrows so this was a great result. Nuvolari was one of the truly great prewar Grand Prix drivers. I hope you all enjoy this exceedingly simple build. 

[pntmachine]

Very cool little project Kyle. Turned out really nice.

[Calvin]

Very fancy car! I love the details.

You're already an award winning modeler

[alwaysindy]

Kyle:
A very nice job. For a “simple” kit, it sure has a lot of nice details! Nuvalori was one of the all time greats. 24 Grand Prix wins (major races), a LeMans win, 2 Mille Miglia’s and 2 Targa Forio’s. His greatest drive was in an Alfa Romeo in the 1935 German Grand Prix, the only non-German car to win a major GP between 1935 and 1939.
Keep up the outstanding work!
Tim

[hurtubise56]

Now that's a great build! Love Nuvolari and (at least somewhat) obscure is always appreciated! I'm a firm believer that those Matchbox 1/32 kits are some of the most overlooked kits out there.

[jamesharvey]

Wow, Kyle! There is just amazing detail from every angle. Glad you have the nimble fingers to work in this scale. Thanks for the history lesson about Nuvolari and showing a Bugatti in a different color than blue. Your finishing work is remarkable. Glad you shared this.
Jim

[indycals]

What a cool subject. Ever since I built the Monogram type 35, I have a much greater appreciation for Bugattis.

[kyledehart5]

Feb 28, 2024 22:35:17 GMT -5 pntmachine said:

Very cool little project Kyle. Turned out really nice.

Thank you!

Feb 29, 2024 0:57:33 GMT -5 Calvin said:

Very fancy car! I love the details.

You're already an award winning modeler

Thanks Calvin!

Feb 29, 2024 10:02:48 GMT -5 alwaysindy said:

Kyle:
A very nice job. For a “simple” kit, it sure has a lot of nice details! Nuvalori was one of the all time greats. 24 Grand Prix wins (major races), a LeMans win, 2 Mille Miglia’s and 2 Targa Forio’s. His greatest drive was in an Alfa Romeo in the 1935 German Grand Prix, the only non-German car to win a major GP between 1935 and 1939.
Keep up the outstanding work!
Tim

Tim, thank you!! Nuvolari was fantastic

Feb 29, 2024 11:14:19 GMT -5 hurtubise56 said:

Now that's a great build! Love Nuvolari and (at least somewhat) obscure is always appreciated! I'm a firm believer that those Matchbox 1/32 kits are some of the most overlooked kits out there.

Thanks very much. If I can, I like to go a different direction on things. Iconic cars are great and I'll build them too but it's nice to do something a bit outside the norm sometimes. Great little kit for sure. This is my first time building one but I have to say I'll be taking a look at the others in the lineup now. Believe I already have the old SS/K lying around here somewhere. 

Feb 29, 2024 13:55:24 GMT -5 jamesharvey said:

Wow, Kyle! There is just amazing detail from every angle. Glad you have the nimble fingers to work in this scale. Thanks for the history lesson about Nuvolari and showing a Bugatti in a different color than blue. Your finishing work is remarkable. Glad you shared this.
Jim

Thanks Jim!!, your support is always appreciated. Fingers don't need to be too nimble with these old Matchbox kits. It was a pleasure to build. 

Feb 29, 2024 15:10:02 GMT -5 indycals said:

What a cool subject. Ever since I built the Monogram type 35, I have a much greater appreciation for Bugattis.

Thanks! I have always been a fan of the Type 35 and Type 59. Beautiful cars. I'd love to get my hands on a Monogram type 35 and build Elisabeth Junek's yellow Bugatti from the 1928 Targa Florio

[indycals]

Thanks! I have always been a fan of the Type 35 and Type 59. Beautiful cars. I'd love to get my hands on a Monogram type 35 and build Elisabeth Junek's yellow Bugatti from the 1928 Targa Florio

The Monogram kit is nice. IMO one of the nicest kits they ever produced.

[arcticwolf]

Feb 28, 2024 20:45:07 GMT -5 kyledehart5 said:

Ah, the red Bugatti! Built from the ancient Matchbox kit I had quite an enjoyable time during this very quick build. 

So I haven't been able to have much bench time of late, due entirely to work taking it all out of me. So I wanted to do a quick project that I could work on just a few minutes at a time while still feeling like I was accomplishing something. Feels good to get something across the finish line. These 1/32 Matchbox kits are exceedingly simple but I really had fun with this one. Nothing much to say about it. It is entirely OOB with the exception of Le Mans decals depicting the 3rd place effort of the Flying Mantuan Tazio Nuvolari in the 1934 Spanish Grand Prix. Nuvolari had walked out on Enzo Ferrari and his increasingly uncompetitive Alfa Romeos. He entered most rounds in his own Bugatti or Maserati but the works Bugatti team prepped a car for him for two of the 6 official Grand Prix events. They repainted his car in a red color instead of the traditional Bugatti blue and he turned in their best result of the year in Spain. All cars of 1934 ended up being overmatched by the Auto Union and Mercedes Silver Arrows so this was a great result. Nuvolari was one of the truly great prewar Grand Prix drivers. I hope you all enjoy this exceedingly simple build. 

 Very cool Kyle. Fooled me it's 1/32, how do you do that? Especially being magnified in the photos, looks great.

[kyledehart5]

Feb 29, 2024 20:17:19 GMT -5 indycals said:

Thanks! I have always been a fan of the Type 35 and Type 59. Beautiful cars. I'd love to get my hands on a Monogram type 35 and build Elisabeth Junek's yellow Bugatti from the 1928 Targa Florio

The Monogram kit is nice. IMO one of the nicest kits they ever produced.

Excellent to hear. I will redouble my efforts. 

[kyledehart5]

Feb 29, 2024 20:17:47 GMT -5 arcticwolf said:

Feb 28, 2024 20:45:07 GMT -5 kyledehart5 said:

Ah, the red Bugatti! Built from the ancient Matchbox kit I had quite an enjoyable time during this very quick build. 

So I haven't been able to have much bench time of late, due entirely to work taking it all out of me. So I wanted to do a quick project that I could work on just a few minutes at a time while still feeling like I was accomplishing something. Feels good to get something across the finish line. These 1/32 Matchbox kits are exceedingly simple but I really had fun with this one. Nothing much to say about it. It is entirely OOB with the exception of Le Mans decals depicting the 3rd place effort of the Flying Mantuan Tazio Nuvolari in the 1934 Spanish Grand Prix. Nuvolari had walked out on Enzo Ferrari and his increasingly uncompetitive Alfa Romeos. He entered most rounds in his own Bugatti or Maserati but the works Bugatti team prepped a car for him for two of the 6 official Grand Prix events. They repainted his car in a red color instead of the traditional Bugatti blue and he turned in their best result of the year in Spain. All cars of 1934 ended up being overmatched by the Auto Union and Mercedes Silver Arrows so this was a great result. Nuvolari was one of the truly great prewar Grand Prix drivers. I hope you all enjoy this exceedingly simple build. 

 Very cool Kyle. Fooled me it's 1/32, how do you do that? Especially being magnified in the photos, looks great.

Thank you very much!! And I pretty much have to thank the kits on this one. It is quite user friendly despite its small size. Super fun little kit. But it is little for sure. 

[jj66]

I love unusual liveries. Very cool subject and very well executed!  When I was a kid I built all these matchbox 1/32 scale kits.

[pje]

I’m reading the Brock Yates biography of Enzo Ferrari and he describes Nuvolari and this era in great detail. Certainly a lot of interesting characters behind the wheel in those days. Lovely build.

Paul Erlendson

[kyledehart5]

Mar 2, 2024 9:27:48 GMT -5 jj66 said:

I love unusual liveries. Very cool subject and very well executed!  When I was a kid I built all these matchbox 1/32 scale kits.

Thank you!! I like the unusual stuff too. My first of these old matchbox kits but based off this one I’d for sure build the rest. 

Mar 2, 2024 14:48:55 GMT -5 pje said:

I’m reading the Brock Yates biography of Enzo Ferrari and he describes Nuvolari and this era in great detail. Certainly a lot of interesting characters behind the wheel in those days. Lovely build.

Paul Erlendson

Thanks very much. I bet that’s an interesting read. I’ll have to keep an eye out for that book. 

[indy]

Nice job, it turned out really well.

Jordan

[kyledehart5]

Mar 6, 2024 16:35:22 GMT -5 indy said:

Nice job, it turned out really well.

Jordan

thank you!

[Bugatti Fan]

A really nicely built model. I have one of these in the stash to build alongside a little 1/32nd scale Airfix 35B.

Matchbox made a lovely little range of 1/32nd scale car kits back in the 70's 80's. Revell now has the moulds and release the odd one from time to time.

1/32nd scale seems to have dropped out of favour a bit over the years having remembered the Highway Pioneers, Gowland, Aurora and Pyro kits from way back. Airfix have persisted a bit with some new and some repops of older kits. The scale carries on well in the slot racing scene and a good source of different bodies.

[kyledehart5]

Apr 24, 2024 9:06:59 GMT -5 Bugatti Fan said:

A really nicely built model. I have one of these in the stash to build alongside a little 1/32nd scale Airfix 35B.

Matchbox made a lovely little range of 1/32nd scale car kits back in the 70's 80's. Revell now has the moulds and release the odd one from time to time.

1/32nd scale seems to have dropped out of favour a bit over the years having remembered the Highway Pioneers, Gowland, Aurora and Pyro kits from way back. Airfix have persisted a bit with some new and some repops of older kits. The scale carries on well in the slot racing scene and a good source of different bodies.

Sorry for the delay in replying. I was out of town for work and totally swamped. Haven’t had time for anything.

This was my first foray into 1/32 and I really enjoyed the kit. I also have Matchbox’s Mercedes SSK to build at some point. A 1/32 scale type 35 would be a welcome mate to this Bugatti and I’d also like to build Monograms type 35. I also have a couple of the old Pyros in 1/32 and a beautifully molded Lindberg 1928 Lincoln. The small scale stuff is fun too even though I don’t dabble in slot cars.