D1fuN0 Posted December 19, 2016 Share Posted December 19, 2016 Morning Chaps & Chapette's Its been a while since I've done a Bike WIP, and seeing as its nearly Christmas I thought, whyyyyyy not. Here is today's victim subject... Tamiya's GSX1100S Custom Tuned Katana. I absolutely luuuuuuuuuurv Katana's. They really are the sexiest beasts on the road. The kit is a re-pop of Tamiya's previous Katana, except this time round it gets a new sprue, with a 4 into 1 exhaust, new rear shocks and new disc brakes. Also in the box is a new decal sheet to adorn the natty new red and silver paint job. This kit first came out in 1994, and this is one of those editions because I purchased it when it was released, so basically its been sitting in my cupboard for 22 years! Onwards... I'm going to try and slightly modify this one... Just for a more visual prettiness. I've been going through my stash of bikes looking for an alternate set of wheels and finally found a set that might just fit, from a Yamaha YZR 500 old GP bike (obvious choice), and i'll be trying to graft a front mudguard from a Hayabusa onto the front end as well. Ok then, right into construction with the engine. The usual Tamiya quality is evident and 8 bits that make up the engine just fell together as usual. Engine has been painted TS 29 Semi Gloss Black (note the extremely expensive and very posh engine stand) I absolutely loath,(with a capital loa) chrome bits on bikes, and usually dull them down with Flat Clear, but on this one I might just go a bit 'out there' with the side covers on the engine and do them in Red. Frames have been cleaned up and basecoated.... Righto then, straight into the first bit of surgery... I'm removing the rear part of the mudguard at the back, for no other reason than it looks cool when its finished... Have to be careful when removing the back bit, because we still need to keep the slot for the light to fit into, and the two U shaped thingies that the rear indicator lights will fit into. (see second photo) I've done this mod before on a Katana and mistakenly cut off the slot for the rear light... Believe me, you don't need the stress in your life of trying to get the light to fit to another bit of the frame. I shall be off now, painting the bits of the engine and shall see you all later... Mad Steve 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbdesignart Posted December 19, 2016 Share Posted December 19, 2016 What happened to your entry in the Panigale Buddy Build? Someone in the Slow Town conned me into joining that! You're adding some interesting mods to this so I'll keep an eye on the progress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngstROM Posted December 19, 2016 Share Posted December 19, 2016 Hey now...! This is one of the loveliest things ever, and yet...still open to a little tasteful custom work. The 4>1 is a must; the 3-spoke wheels look waaay nicer than the original '70s design. Are you going to pimp the brakes any? Some big old discs and multi-pots belong on there... Can't believe the Katana is over 35 years old! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D1fuN0 Posted December 19, 2016 Author Share Posted December 19, 2016 7 hours ago, mbdesignart said: What happened to your entry in the Panigale Buddy Build? Someone in the Slow Town conned me into joining that! You're adding some interesting mods to this so I'll keep an eye on the progress. No idea what happened... I started up the original thread waaaaaay back, and then basically no one pitched. 5 hours ago, AngstROM said: Hey now...! This is one of the loveliest things ever, and yet...still open to a little tasteful custom work. The 4>1 is a must; the 3-spoke wheels look waaay nicer than the original '70s design. Are you going to pimp the brakes any? Some big old discs and multi-pots belong on there... Can't believe the Katana is over 35 years old! Yeah Angst, 35 years old I'm looking at doing the front brakes yes, if I can get the front wheel all dunky hoary. I still have some photoetch sets somewhere that I can use. Mad Steve 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D1fuN0 Posted December 19, 2016 Author Share Posted December 19, 2016 Evening all Right then. One of the first big issues that need tackling is the wheels. As the fitting on just about every Tamiya bike is different, we need to do a bit of logical thinking (On Holiday... Sigh!) So, here's the two sets of wheels, Grey being original Katana, black being new ones. As you can see, the attachment holes are waaaaaay different. Easiest way to do this. I took a piece of 5mm OD plastic pipe and added a couple of strips of microstrip to that... And hey presto, it fits exactly Added to this, a smaller diameter pipe is slid into the bigger one And everything is trimmed up and wallah, new wheel fits onto the Katana's swingarm. Now I could be all suave and say, oh I just knocked this up chop chop, bish bash bosh. But in reality it took about 3 hours of trying, and trying again and trying again... until it worked. Might not be the choice of champions, but it works and works for me... Righto. some more tomorrow then Mad Steve 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngstROM Posted December 19, 2016 Share Posted December 19, 2016 I can see this one's in good hands...! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roymattblack Posted December 19, 2016 Share Posted December 19, 2016 ...You mention that you tone chrome down with matt clear. Try a mist coat of Tamiya smoke from their rattle can. It's clear, but gives a lovely greyish tone. It's also great for instant weathering of engine parts and exhausts. Roy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D1fuN0 Posted December 19, 2016 Author Share Posted December 19, 2016 Hiya Roy Cheers for that, I'll give that a try. Sounds like a nicer finish than the flat chrome. Mad Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D1fuN0 Posted December 20, 2016 Author Share Posted December 20, 2016 Afternoon chaps Righto then. All the shiny bits have been redone in Gun Metal (TS 38) and then when dry, Flat Cleared. (sorry, I know my pictures suck!) I prefer the Flat Clear method on metallics, because it gives them a kind of Powder coated look. Frames have been sprayed Mica Silver (TS 76) because I don't want the bodywork and frame to be the same colour. Frame was also semi gloss cleared. The exhaust was all put together and I sanded off the mold seams. There's quite a gap where the branches join the pipe, so I wrapped a piece of microstrip around it, soaked it in Tamiya Extra thin and scored it softly to give it the appearance of a weld. Once the exhaust is painted it will hardly be noticeable, but better than a gap When I was getting the swing arm ready for painting, I noticed the rear wheel had a really nasty mold line running down the centre and my sanding sticks were a bit too big to fit in there. So to solve it i took one of those plastic coffee stiring thingies, superglued a piece of Tamiya sanding sponge (1000 & 1500) to it and had at the mold line, and after about 30 minutes it was gone. By now I was getting a bit antsy, and needed to glue stuff together, so I started on the engine and got all the covers on. I like the contrast of the flat gun metal against the semi gloss black The necessary tubing was attached, the blue plug wires are from the spares box. Instead of using the suggested thick tubing for the oil cooler thingie, I used some Hobby Design 1.5mm braided tubing. This stuff keeps its shape and is bendable, so it should keep its shape. I will tidy up the joint at the transmission later. I'm not going to replace any of the tubing with scale stuff on this build. That's it for now. Tomorrow I can start building the frame and getting things looking like a bike Laaaaaater Mad Steve 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D1fuN0 Posted December 21, 2016 Author Share Posted December 21, 2016 Morning Chaps and Chapettes Well after a furious storm here in Joburg last night and trying to calm the dogs (and Mrs Mad) down, I gave up on the sleeping idea and did a bit more on me bike. I masked off the muffler on the exhaust and sprayed that TS 88 Titanium Silver. I Like Titanium Silver more than the usual Chrome Silver as it has a nicer look to it, better than plain old silver, and I managed to put one of the Carbon effect decals on before the Mad Household started stirring again and the morning monsters started demanding coffee... Made a slight boob in that i broke off the hooky thing that connects onto to frame on the muffler, so I just made another one out of plasticard. I also got the engine into the frame and that just popped right in with no fuss. Looking at the frame together now, I think i made the right decision doing the frame in Mica Silver as it stands out quite nicely. Still have a little washing to do on the carbs and given the engine a final dry brush over with Humbrol Flesh. I've just popped the rear cover on to check the clearance with the rear light, and that's 100's Busy day today with all sorts of things on my 'to do lists', but I'm hoping to get the swing arm finished up by tonight. If you have a look at the photo below... On the right is the original rear spring that came with the first release Katana, (which really is a bit naff) and on the left is the new one included in the kit. Right then, people to see, things to do... Mad Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mpfiend Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 Nice progress Steve on what is an iconic bike. Regards Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D1fuN0 Posted December 23, 2016 Author Share Posted December 23, 2016 Morning Chaps & Chapettes Just a small update today. Swingarm and all its associated bumf have been put together and finally mated up to the frame. I am really chuffed that I did manage to get the wheels sorted to fit the swingarm. You don't often see Katana's with after market wheels fitted so its a nice change. Anyhoo... pressing on with the body work. More soon Mad Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D1fuN0 Posted December 25, 2016 Author Share Posted December 25, 2016 Morning Chaps and Chapettes And a Merry Christmas to you all Me being my usual self, I'm awake and up at 05h00 but the rest of the Mad Household is still half asleep so I thought I'd load this up quickly before all hell breaks loose.. For something as iconic as the Katana, the colour is very important. I love the red and white on the box top, but hey, who wants to do a box top job. If I do it in silver, Its just going to look like a normal Katana, so how about we go a little darker... Having a look through google, i came across the Yoshimura Katana again in all black and immediately fell in love again. Sprayed the bodywork in Tamiya Matt Black (TS 6) followed by Matt Clear and the seat in Rubber Black. Dont know if you can see on the pic properly but a section of the seat has been masked off and done in Matt Black, just too add some visual difference on the seat. Im not sure whether im going to add the suzuki badges on the tank (white), we'll see what happens as we go along. Ok then, how you all have a nice day and I'll be back with more soon. Cheers Mad Steve 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D1fuN0 Posted December 28, 2016 Author Share Posted December 28, 2016 Afternoon Chaps and Chapesses Well Im going to call this one done. I like the fact that the 3 spoke wheels give the bike a totally different look, and with the matt black paint job I decided to leave off the windscreen too. I've only used the small Katana logo's on the side covers, thought I had some Yoshimura decals in the drawer, but they seem to have legged it so I'll just leave this as is. I have a couple more Katana's in the stash, the 750 version and the Katana II, so might just see another one popping up soon. Thanks for watching Mad Steve 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billydick Posted December 29, 2016 Share Posted December 29, 2016 Nice job Steve. Like the black finish BillyD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Covjets13 Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 Great build 👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natter Posted February 19, 2017 Share Posted February 19, 2017 Nice job Steve, one very kool Black Kat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngstROM Posted February 19, 2017 Share Posted February 19, 2017 Killer Kat -beautiful work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now