danimalmagic Posted April 24, 2016 Share Posted April 24, 2016 (edited) Well that is the new workshop up and running with my first project completed, this kit was made in 1973 so the same age as me. I have never built a Heller kit before and it has some difficulties that is for sure, the instructions were somewhat vague for the exact position of some parts so quite tricky to assemble and quite fragile. It took two weeks to complete and here are a few images of the build up. There were a great number of chrome parts but the fork legs were not one of them, I used an old telescopic aerial to make those with some steel welding wire to give them some strength. Lower fork legs sprayed with Alclad Aluminium. I used some kitchen foil to replicate the jubilee clips either side of the Carb's The engine was also sprayed with Alclad Aluminium. The rear shocks came with no spring just a piece of wire and a mandrel to form your own, I decided that using a a proper spring would be the way to go with more welding wire for strength. Engine in. Handle Bars and wheels on. The exhausts were pretty tricky with tiny mounting lugs, I drilled these out straight away and mounted with some small steel pins. Body work painted, finished with Tamiya pearl lacquer, a big thanks to Tom Calbury for supplying the replacement decals. Final assembly. Job done. Thanks for looking.Danny Attree Edited April 24, 2016 by danimalmagic 19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Brown Posted April 24, 2016 Share Posted April 24, 2016 750cc two stroke, wobbly chassis and an open face helmet. What could possibly go wrong?! Fantastic build, love it! Rick. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stringbag Posted April 24, 2016 Share Posted April 24, 2016 Don't forget the standard Bridgestone tyres as well. Swapped mine for Avons and it made a huge difference. Thats a super result Danny Brings back so many happy memories of the seventies. Chris. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RODH2 Posted April 24, 2016 Share Posted April 24, 2016 I had one of these new in '72 and raced it in open production, where it beat everything else easily, and now in 2016, I am restoring one to near stock condition. I have been looking for a Heller H2 Kit forever, and am pleased to see this build, which is top class......... The exhaust ports exit the cylinders slightly too low, otherwise an excellent model. (Heller's fault, not the builder!) Don't believe the stories about the wobbly widow-maker, it did everything FASTER than anything else, at the time........ If anyone knows where I could find this kit, I would love to hear..! Hence my moniker, ROD H2! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickd Posted April 24, 2016 Share Posted April 24, 2016 A proper blast from the past I can smell the two stroke from here. Great build of a fantastic subject, nice one. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danimalmagic Posted April 24, 2016 Author Share Posted April 24, 2016 I had one of these new in '72 and raced it in open production, where it beat everything else easily, and now in 2016, I am restoring one to near stock condition. I have been looking for a Heller H2 Kit forever, and am pleased to see this build, which is top class......... The exhaust ports exit the cylinders slightly too low, otherwise an excellent model. (Heller's fault, not the builder!) Don't believe the stories about the wobbly widow-maker, it did everything FASTER than anything else, at the time........ If anyone knows where I could find this kit, I would love to hear..! Hence my moniker, ROD H2! A brave man indeed, I think I will stick with my SP-2. Thanks for looking. Danny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danimalmagic Posted April 24, 2016 Author Share Posted April 24, 2016 750cc two stroke, wobbly chassis and an open face helmet. What could possibly go wrong?! Fantastic build, love it! Rick. Don't forget the standard Bridgestone tyres as well. Swapped mine for Avons and it made a huge difference. Thats a super result Danny Brings back so many happy memories of the seventies. Chris. Beleive it or not the model has got Continental Branded tyres. A very trick kit to assemble but considering how old it is I am quite pleased with the result. Thanks for looking. Danny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natter Posted April 24, 2016 Share Posted April 24, 2016 Ying, ying, ying!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danimalmagic Posted April 24, 2016 Author Share Posted April 24, 2016 A proper blast from the past I can smell the two stroke from here. Great build of a fantastic subject, nice one. Thanks mate. Danny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siffo Posted April 24, 2016 Share Posted April 24, 2016 Lovely job Danny ! Got a die cast one by Polistil that was played to death by myself back in the 70's.Forgotten how cool that colour blue was. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billydick Posted April 24, 2016 Share Posted April 24, 2016 I do believe Kawasaki fitted a hinge somewhere on the frame Great job though Danny - is this kit still available? ( Can you angle that headlamp down a few degrees ? You'll be blinding the pigeons with that one as it is). In all seriousness though they were certainly an iconic machine and perhaps (arguably) one of the best looking Japanese bikes ever produced. Same goes for the Z1 when it superseded the two stroke triples. All the best.... BillyD Ps Did the helmet come with the kit ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spookytooth Posted April 24, 2016 Share Posted April 24, 2016 Great build Danny, a classic two-stroke multi, with a hinge in the middle somewhere. The electrics were not that good either as I remember. Still , it went like stinko. Simon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBC Posted April 24, 2016 Share Posted April 24, 2016 (edited) I had one of these new in '72 and raced it in open production, where it beat everything else easily, and now in 2016, I am restoring one to near stock condition. I have been looking for a Heller H2 Kit forever, and am pleased to see this build, which is top class......... The exhaust ports exit the cylinders slightly too low, otherwise an excellent model. (Heller's fault, not the builder!) Don't believe the stories about the wobbly widow-maker, it did everything FASTER than anything else, at the time........ If anyone knows where I could find this kit, I would love to hear..! Hence my moniker, ROD H2! RODH2, If you want to spend $139 USD plus shipping from Japan you can have the Nagano boxing. This is preferable because their boxing included springs for the rear shocks which are not in the Heller offering. Otherwise they are the same kit. The one on ebay is the 1972 H2 in Pearl Candytone Gold. http://www.ebay.com/itm/NAGANO-KAWASAKI-750-SS-MACH-III-1-8-scale-bike-model-kit-Vintage-/182093938114?hash=item2a65a4fdc2:g:lqYAAOSw1DtXEN5D Not to get off topic, but I'd really like to see Tamiya take what they did with their lovely RC166 kit and apply that to a 1/12 H1 or H2 or Z-1 kit. It would be amazing. Cheers, Tom Edited April 24, 2016 by TBC 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngstROM Posted April 24, 2016 Share Posted April 24, 2016 A quite exquisite rendering of The Beast; it brings so many memories with it -all the Filth (smoke!) and the Fury of a big 2-stroke plus that noise...a sink-grinder eating tin cans amped up through Hawkwind's sound system? A GAU-8 played at triple-speed? Or maybe just the End of the Universe! Thank you for this piece of rampant nostalgia, much appreciated. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
injidup Posted April 24, 2016 Share Posted April 24, 2016 Great build of a great bike. Love it! If only it was green. Or purple. :-) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danimalmagic Posted April 25, 2016 Author Share Posted April 25, 2016 Lovely job Danny ! Got a die cast one by Polistil that was played to death by myself back in the 70's.Forgotten how cool that colour blue was. I do believe Kawasaki fitted a hinge somewhere on the frame Great job though Danny - is this kit still available? ( Can you angle that headlamp down a few degrees ? You'll be blinding the pigeons with that one as it is). In all seriousness though they were certainly an iconic machine and perhaps (arguably) one of the best looking Japanese bikes ever produced. Same goes for the Z1 when it superseded the two stroke triples. All the best.... BillyD Ps Did the helmet come with the kit ? Great build Danny, a classic two-stroke multi, with a hinge in the middle somewhere. The electrics were not that good either as I remember. Still , it went like stinko. Simon RODH2, If you want to spend $139 USD plus shipping from Japan you can have the Nagano boxing. This is preferable because their boxing included springs for the rear shocks which are not in the Heller offering. Otherwise they are the same kit. The one on ebay is the 1972 H2 in Pearl Candytone Gold. http://www.ebay.com/itm/NAGANO-KAWASAKI-750-SS-MACH-III-1-8-scale-bike-model-kit-Vintage-/182093938114?hash=item2a65a4fdc2:g:lqYAAOSw1DtXEN5D Not to get off topic, but I'd really like to see Tamiya take what they did with their lovely RC166 kit and apply that to a 1/12 H1 or H2 or Z-1 kit. It would be amazing. Cheers, Tom A quite exquisite rendering of The Beast; it brings so many memories with it -all the Filth (smoke!) and the Fury of a big 2-stroke plus that noise...a sink-grinder eating tin cans amped up through Hawkwind's sound system? A GAU-8 played at triple-speed? Or maybe just the End of the Universe! Thank you for this piece of rampant nostalgia, much appreciated. Sounds like quite a machine, I think I will stick to my SP-2. Just been looking at the Nagano kits and passed the information on to the guy I built it for, may well end up with some others to do in the future. Thanks for the help. Danny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danimalmagic Posted April 27, 2016 Author Share Posted April 27, 2016 Great build of a great bike. Love it! If only it was green. Or purple. :-) Yeah, this did some odd colours in the 70's, its a shame the images don't bring out the pearlescent metallic finish, looks much better by the eye. Thanks for looking. Danny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarcococca Posted May 21, 2016 Share Posted May 21, 2016 Absolutely nice model. You did an amazingly smooth paintjob and a clean seemless assembling. A pleasure to watch the pictures. Thx for sharing. Dirk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Head in the clouds. Posted May 22, 2016 Share Posted May 22, 2016 Looks good enough to ride (or is that hang onto ?). A very fine model. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spad Posted May 28, 2016 Share Posted May 28, 2016 Fab build that captures the feel of that beast brilliantly. Great work and love that period open face lid. I don't think Kawasaki fitted a hinge, I heard they just made the frame from nicker elastic! And for added spice, in common with all Japanese bikes of the era, the brake disc was I believe stainless steel so it stayed shiny for the US market - hopeless though in the wet on UK roads! Now, where can I get one of these for myself! ATBRick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigglesof266 Posted May 28, 2016 Share Posted May 28, 2016 Amazing work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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