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Quite some years ago - 33 to be precise here - and almost on this very days (it was 16th of February, a Friday), it was when I had my first motorcycle driving lesson. As it was mid february, I was a bit concerned about the weather, as I didn't want to have my first time on two motorised wheels on icy ground - but it was a moderately warm, rather beautiful February day, and from this on the 16th of February, or the 3rd Friday in February, is my very own private first day of spring. Apart from the first driving lesson, the year 1990 was a year of many firsts for me; not only did the hope for my own driving licence promise for a totally new level of independence and autonomy - my parents didn't have a car - it also was a childhood dream come true! Me, young (I was 20 then) CC, will be able to ride a bike. I was always infected by the motorcycle virus, and it wasn't the fast, sporty machines I was longing for, no Honda CBX or Kawa Z1000s, but the big Tourers, like BMWs or, of course the big American V-Twins, like Harleys or Indians. Also this year marked quite a change of lifestyle, while up to that I didn't really know what to do with my life, leading quite an "alternative" (isn't that a beautiful term for dying your hair colourful and living from day to day?) lifestyle. But as the ability to drive enabled me an possibility to earn my own money, it also enabled me to go to evening school and earn my engineers degree, while in daytime I worked as a whatever would pay the bills. While later on I worked as courier or cabdriver, worked in garages, selling Harley parts (how approbriate), later made my first steps in consultancy work - but in the summer of 1990 my "special skill" was working in areas which couldn't be reached by public transport, or working at times when no there was no tram or subway - which was in Vienna from midnight to dawn, more or less. So, young me spend a whole summer working at night, enjoying sunshine in daytime, and driving around on my used Kawasaki 440LTD, I bought from my first money - a juvenile decision to buy a bike instead of a car, but man, did I have a great summer. So, it was a summer of easy work and good money - working at night meant I did earn quite some more, which I didn't mind at all - and when I drove home from, say work at the postal delivery center at dawn, I met some friends at a place at the river danube, sharing a sunset whisky before going home and seleeping til noon. What a living! I have to stop here, not to post the entire playlist of this summer - from Alannah Myles Black Velvet, the Stones' Goats Head Soup, Peter Murphy's "Cuts You Up", and so much more. Once in this magical summer months I drove by a modelling store and saw a model of the venerable 1:9 ESCI Harley WL, the civilian version with the deep fenders (so it was labelled incorrectly, as the "A" designation stands for an "Army" model. The WLA had the side parts of the Fenders removed, among some other changes.) https://www.scalemates.com/de/kits/esci-6002-wla-45-harley-davidson--608810 It was great times, building this in this summer, not careing too much about the build - but I kept this crudely build model for quite some time, as it did remind me of this juvenile and carefree summer I had back then. But as it happens it got lost in some move to a new flat, which I kind of still regret. I did look for some time to find one for a nostalgia build of some sort, but failed. I did find the Army model, which is still in production from Italeri, who acqured the ESCI molds, but this is something different. But then, some years ago, I stumbled across this weird and wonderful Japanese company called Model Factory Hiro. By the times I came across them they had the Vincent Black Shadow (another favourite of mine) as an offering, among the Brough Superior. But soon after they introduced the Knucklehead in a 40 and 47 version - and this is to me maybe the most beautiful bike ever build, in line maybe with the Indian Big Chief, the forementioned Black Shadow or the BMW R75 "Elephant" sidecar. It took me some time to have the heart to spent the money, as well as overcome the fear of the unknown white metal work, as well as some other new to me. But fall last year I finally pulled the trigger on this and here it is; MFH's wonderful Harley Davison Knucklehead in it's 1940 incarnation. That's what inside the box - a lot of ziplocs with white metal parts in it, some chrome, rubber and wires: And, some looks at the instructions, which will lead me through the build: It looks good at first sight, but will it be enough to guide me sucessfully through this terra incognita? I expect dragons... But anyway, if you want to join me on this nostalgia-lead build, wipe your hands clean of grease, don't mind the chips and splinters and have seat on the barrel over there, or right here on the workbench. This will definitely not be a quick build, but the fridge is full with beer, there's whisky enough and if you don't mind occasional swearing, I'm happy if you join me on this journey.

"When the Hurlyburly's gone, When the Business Lost and Won..." (Lucky me more of the latter, less of the first...) ...I want to start a truly daring adventure! Yes, I got me my first Model Factory Hiro Kit and I want to start this for sure long and even more sure cumbersome endeavour in the days after the big madness we all call christmas (and in my case year ends closing). It's the wonderful Early Knucklehead, and working on the first parts a bit, like sanding and polishing some larger parts like the fenders already revealed the so different, but in a strange sense truly satisfying nature compared to the plastic kits we all know so well. What I already found out, but no surprise; sanding and polishing sticks, pads, you name it of all different sizes and shapes is key. And a lot of them! Oh, and of course some reference information on this topic. I plan to build this as close to factory specs as possible, so the internet alone might not be enough. But what else is needed or recommended for the build? The first recommendation I already received I hesitate to follow, is a magnetic tumbler. I get along quite fine with manual polishing, so I guess I can skip this. Or would you recommend it as necessary? What I consider is a drill stand, either generic or including the machine itself, as the Dremel I have is quite ancient. I'm pondering for quite some time now to move to a different ecosystem, if possible to one that uses rather a jaw chuck than a collet (is that correct? I miss a bit the vocabulary here 🥴) . What else would you recommend to consider? Obvious things I missed, or something I didn't think of? Oh, and of course not only tools but also colours or chemicals suitable for use on white metal, which I most likely I'm not aware? I would use the regular primers, but some other treatments for the metal to be considered? You see, many questions before the start here, so any suggestion is more than welcome! A big thanks in advance from Vienna, Guenther

US Soldier pushing motorcycle MiniArt 1:35

I recently got a GREAT deal on this kit and just couldn't pass it up. The reason is that this is quite a rare kit. This one isn't even listed on the Tamiya web site. This is due to some sort of a copyright infringement that was brought by AMF when they owned Harley-Davidson. However, this particular kit appears to have been re-branded as their "Police Special" motorcycle leaving the AMF off of the packaging. Even the instruction sheet is quite dated. But, since this IS the thread for posting completed models I won't delve into the construction aspect. Here is the completed model complete with working lights......

While searching for a release date for this kit I discovered that it is not listed any longer on the Tamiya web site. Also, I discovered that there is little information out there. I also found that, unlike models today, there is no bar code on the box. So I looked up the history of those. Going by that information that would put this model at 1980 or earlier as bar codes weren’t used regularly until after that. I give you photos of the sides of the box for reference. I did find out from someone that this particular model was removed from the shelves because, at the time, there was some sort of a “copyright infringement” being claimed by AMF. This is now the same bike that is being produced as the “Police Bike” in the Tamiya series. I reduced the size of these photos to help ease any loading issues that some folks might have. And away we go….. This is the front page of the vintage instruction booklet that came with the model. I did the frame in black. Now, I know it comes already molded in black but I have never been one to go in for the shiny plastic look that seems to be inherent if you just leave it alone. So I sprayed a flat white primer and then a coat of gloss metallic black over that. As with all of the Tamiya large scale models the engine went together seamlessly. I did something a little different this time as far as the lighting goes. I went with number 0402 SMD type LED’s throughout this one. These are amazing little buggers. About the size of a pinhead with wires smaller than angel hair pasta and the resistors are pre-attached AWAY from the base of the light at the end of the wire. Making installation a lot easier. These are shots of the test fit of the fenders and the front end as well as the saddlebags. As is usual, there were no fit issues. These show how small those wires on those SMD’s really are. You can clearly see the wires as well as the resistors here. I cut a hole in the back side of the right fuel tank to place the resistors as well as the extra wiring that came off of the front end. I was careful to NOT cut off the mounting points for the tank itself. And here is the tank after being mounted with the wires already installed inside. You can also see the lone lead wire coming out the rear (left side) of the tank. And, of course, after all of this work a lighting test is required. I test and retest often to make sure I haven’t pinched, cut, or otherwise disconnected any wires in the process. These are a couple of rather simple photos showing the gauges setup. And here is the completed model. This has been done in Star Spangled Blue over Flat Black primer. The white is Pearl White over Flat White primer. This is as close as I could get to any sort of original colors for this year bike without special ordering something directly from Harley-Davidson which would have been overly expensive. So I did some research to see what colors would have been available during that time period. There are a couple of engine closeups as well as one of the seat. The one of the seat was done simply because I though it was a cool way to mount it to the bike. Keeping true to the original that’s for sure. Hope that you enjoy these and, as always, please feel free to ask any questions and leave any comments!!!!! Here are the photos showing the 0402 SMD type LED's in operation.