Tamiya Ducati 1199 Panigale

[imster]

Hey all my first WIP on Britmodeller!

Ive been working on this one for a couple of months now and my updates have been on another site, it seems this site is a little more active so I'll copy and paste what I have done so far and continue afterwards with posting on both sites with updates:

So here are the pics of the build so far, apologies for the quality of the pics as with my modelling skills I also need to improve my photography skills.

Enjoy and any comments or pointers are most welcome

First off is the box shot, I did use some detail up items like the Tamiya front fork set, PE bolt heads and scratch built some wiring and hoses but overall its pretty much OOB:

Here is the rear swingarm which is one of the first parts I started on, I noticed on the actual bike that this part has a slightly hammered finish with a metal flake in it, I recreated this effect by mixing Tamiya X-18 with X-16 (matt aluminum), I didnt take note of the ratio as I did it by feel. Next I airburshed it at a high pressure (20) and from a distance to create the hammered finish:

Next I did the rear guard which is a black plastic on the actual bike so Tamiya X-18, you can see the very slight difference between the "plastic" guard and the "metal" swingarm:

Edited June 27, 2015 by imster

[imster]

next up is the radiator pretty simple to do, a little bit of weathering done on it for effect:

I tried using the PE hose clamps but couldn't get them quite right so I used some sticky back foil paper, cut to size and wrapped it around the pipes:

Front brake rotor holes drilled:

And completed:

Airbox which also acts as part of the motorcycle chassis/frame:

Rearsets and shock etc completed, I built the rubber tubes that feed into the shock absorber, its not an amazing job more of a quick job but the desired effect was achieved.

This first pic shows the holes drilled and metal wire installed:

Second shows the first tube I used before it was painted, this will give the "plug" effect:

Finally smaller guage wire used and its complete:

I completed the engine, I think I did an ok job of matching the goldish/silver colour for some of the parts. This was also my first try at heat staining exhausts and I enjoyed it although it could have come out better:

I also did a quick little plumbing job as I noticed on the 1:1 version there is a black cable (sensor?) coming out of the engine, I forgot to dust the parts before the photo so its a bit dusty:

I was considering doing a light wash but decided not to for this one, I will be building another one of these models so this one is a kind of "tester", the next one might be SBK themed

As always comments and criticisms welcome

Edited June 27, 2015 by imster

[imster]

And so I put all the above parts together and you get this:

Not completely happy with the finish of the exhaust, you can see here there are a few imperfections, also on the 1:1 you wouldnt get so much heat staining anyways:

With the rearset and shock installed (this is before I did the wiring on the shock absorber), also lots of details still to be added from this point, and still to touch up the kickstand bottom edge:

Front forks, I used the Tamiya detail up parts for this, and to be honest I wouldnt build this kit without it, the quality as usual is great and the everything from the detail up set fits like a glove, very impressed!

Once again apologies for the dusty pics

The tops of the forks have these black plugs, the standard kit doesnt tell you to run cables from it but in the 1:1 there are cables that run to the ecu to automatically adjust the suspension for different riding conditions, so I will add this. The gauge wire that I am using is very thin so i had to make the tips smaller with a scalpel this is why the tips look rough (they will be covered):

View from the top, still lots of detail to be added like PE bolts:

More progress (wheels and tyres not complete yet), to be honest I'm not happy with the otherside of the radiator, I know it probably wont show on the finished model but it would have been nice for tamiya to have made it with a grill texture (this so far is my only gripe on what is a very nice kit to build):

Edited June 27, 2015 by imster

[imster]

We have a problem!

So the front rubber tyre is not been manufactured correctly The centre bead is not in the middle, so the tyre sits on the wheel rim to one side (hard to explain but pics show it pretty well).

Shame on you Tamiya! Usually the kits are perfect and in all my times doing them never had a problem.

Anyways heres the pics:

This is the tyre turned inside out, notice how much extra rubber there is on one side compared to the other:

I tried to get some pics of the tyre without it being inside out, you can see that the centre ridge on the first pic is offset to the left hand side in this first pic:

And from the other side:

To rectify the problem I cut out some of the rubber so it all sits correctly now thankfully!

Next up is priming and painting the cowlings, I used Tamiya pink primer as apparently this is the best to use if you are going to paint red:

And base coat, I used Tamiya TS-8 Italian Red, I think the shade is ok, maybe a little bit brighter than the actual Ducati red. The finish came out ok, I might polish it down a bit before putting on the gloss coat:

Managed to finish off the wheels, they went together pretty easily other than the whole tyre incident above ^^^

I usually get the rotation of the wheels and tyres wrong but this time I was extremely careful and double/triple checked orientation before beginning! I took a few pictures but they were all dusty and now the camera battery has gone dead so only 1 picture reasonable enough to show.

As usual comments and criticisms welcome

Edited June 27, 2015 by imster

[Fazer]

Top dollar work, Imster, love it! I've got one of these to start myself so wil watch yours emerge before I start...

Mark D

[imster]

I put on some further details and wiring, the front fairing is yet to be CF'ed I am looking into a new technique (for me) that uses stockings and painting the carbon weave on rather than using decals, cross your fingers that it works please

Anyways here are the pics

I also did a little bit of extra work on the controls and added a starting switch, it came out alright but could have been better:

Before shot:

Creating the switch:

And complete:

This is pretty much how it stands today, more updates will come in the coming days

Top dollar work, Imster, love it! I've got one of these to start myself so wil watch yours emerge before I start...

Mark D

Cheers mate, seems like everyone is doing this kit and for good reason, such a beautiful bike and a breeze to put together so far, Tamiya have nailed it with this kit

Edited June 27, 2015 by imster

[jimmysze]

awesome build! i'm taking notes!

[heloman1]

Lookin' good, very good...

Colin

[Jfinlay]

lovely job, the exhaust is fantastic. Great finish on everything, switches like that are well beyond me!

[Delayar]

Gorgeous build!

It looks very accurate and detailed.

Markus

[Will Vale]

This makes me want one of these even more. Beautiful build.

Will

[Riggers]

Crackin build...but you're right....that zorst just doesn't look right.

Keep the photos coming mister.....

ATB

[imster]

thanks for all the positive comments!

[imster]

a very small update due to having very limited time on the bench!

I got a new setup for my bench to organise things better:

a few more additions to the chassis, I've got a new camera so still getting to grips with it, apologies for the poor quality snaps :

If anyone has suggestions on what I can do to get better shots and a recommendation on what kind of photo lighting setup/studio I require please do tell!

Although this one is almost complete, there is still alot of small detail and finishing work to go so a few more updates to come

Edited June 27, 2015 by imster

[Gobs of Espresso]

Fantastic build. I think it's great how you share your process and how you go the extra mile for the details. Cool workstation as well.

[Will Vale]

For model photography I find using a tripod and either a remote or self-timer lets me get good shots in cloudy daylight (which is nice and diffuse). This was taken on a sheet of white A4 paper propped up against a box on my dining room table just as the light was failing - I think a 3 or 4 second exposure? I tend to use smaller apertures (f/14+) to get more depth of field since it makes things look bigger.

(I bumped up the background in Lightroom to white it out and added text in Photoshop)

I guess what I'm trying to say is you don't need a lightbox or anything very complex. You can do without a tripod as well if you have a beanbag or Blu-tak or something else which will let you fix the camera in place.

I like your pictures a lot by the way, they're sharp, contrasty and colourful. I quite like the shallow depth of field look for WIP photos because they show off the detail you're focussing on. And the bike is stunning as ever. I picked up the box in my LHS recently and nearly didn't put it down...

HTH,

Will

[imster]

Thanks Gobs of Espresso, I think part of the fun of this whole process is being able to share and also getting tips and pointers from everyone

Will Vale, you're a star mate, I'll take your advice and try a few different settings on my camera. I've got a tripod and theres a built in timer on the camera so just a matter of working on the exposure and apertures

[Rickpadwick1801]

This is an absolutely brilliant build.

I am watching this with interest, I want to build a couple of bikes next year including this one.

Rick

[imster]

Rick: I find bikes very fun, with this particular kit you cant go wrong, its well put together and very enjoyable to build

[adamg1987]

Looks really good, keep it up!

[imster]

thanks adamg1987

[imster]

A few more updates.

Managed to get the rear completed, as you can see in the pics the fitment isnt great. the seat was done to give a suede look, and you can see the difference between the seat and the rear black part (the backrest):

These are pics with the new camera and in my excitement I once again forgot to dust the model down lol, so sorry about the dust!

A couple more shots on how its looking now:

Almost done, next update will be the front fender which I am putting CF at the moment.

Edited June 27, 2015 by imster

[Westracing]

Looking fantastic. I have just bought one with the detail kits also

[imster]

Looking fantastic. I have just bought one with the detail kits also

cheers mate, have you started building yours? put up a WIP on it

[imster]

The build is almost complete, I managed to CF the front fender albeit not to my liking but its done and I have just been waiting for it to release all the air out of the decals before I put a topcoat on it. I am thinking going for a semi-gloss or matt topcoat as the 1:1 version has a dull appearance to it.

After that I just need to figure a work around to the nasty looking phillips head screws that go into the cowling and then the build will be pretty much completed.