1/12 Tamiya Suzuki GSX1100S Katana

[Lee Chambers]

Hi guys, thought it was about time I got back to building another bike. This time it's an early 80's icon. "The Katana's futuristic styling may not be to everybody's taste, but it will always stand out in a crowd and that is more than enough for many buyers. Suzuki commissioned the German design team Target to produce this striking new look, and told them to base it on Italian styling with the essential flair this employs.". I intend to build this straight from the box however I have a plan for a new paint scheme rather than the boring all over silver that is on the box art. I will show more of my paint scheme later on in the build.

 

Edited August 31, 2017 by Lee Chambers

[Lee Chambers]

Hi all, been making some headway with the big Katana. I decided to go with the later models blue and silver paint scheme, I had lots of masking to do but I like how it turned out. I used Alclad candy blue for the top of the tank and the nose fairing, then I used Tamiya sky blue and sky blue overcoated with candy blue to give me the different shades of the stripes. I have finished adding all the decals on the tank and the side panels and they just need a final lacquer coat.

Before I lacquered the seat I added some grime to the rear passenger area, as on the real bikes these were always hard to keep clean. Once lacquered I used the new Flory green sanding sticks to give me a nice flat finish on the seat. I have loosely fitted the rear shock absorbers just to show you the work in progress, however they still need to be weathered and painted up to the correct finish. I hope to get this bike all done by this weekend.

 

[kpnuts]

Superb paint job mate.

[Lee Chambers]

12 hours ago, kpnuts said:

Superb paint job mate.

Cheers buddy !

[Kev The Modeller]

Nice build mate. I've always liked these bikes as you say they're not everyone's thing and very futuristic when they first appeared.