Original-Teile Blue

Original-Teile Blue, the blue from a BMW circuit finish

The name of the shade comes from the German term for original spare parts. That lettering appeared as a bold oversized item on the flanks and hoods of the brand's circuit cars, and blue is the color of the lettering itself and of the accompanying areas in it.

Where the finish comes from

The motorsport division of the brand works with a trio of colors in which a light blue, a dark blue and a red sit side by side. This combination has accompanied the cars from Munich on circuits since the 1970s, and in the Group A era it reached the touring cars that fought for titles in Europe. The lettering mentioned was so large at the time that it became the mark of the whole finish, and modelers know it mainly from the decals for the touring kits of that period. The cars of that era came from production bodies and spectators recognized them by shapes they knew from the street, which gave the class its popularity.

What to use it on

• blue areas and edges on models of touring cars
• touching up places where a decal does not reach into the edge of a part
• rims and interior items matched to the same blue
• accessories for a pit diorama from a circuit setting

For which builders

Modelers of touring cars who do not get on with the tone of a decal and want to even it out with a sprayed surface will put it to use. It is precisely with three-color motorsport finishes that this comes up often, because a decal covers only part of a surface and the rest has to be painted in. It will likewise come in handy on broken-up small parts that a decal cannot be stuck onto at all. On the real subject the same blue also appeared on grilles, spoilers and fender flares, not only in the lettering on the flank.