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Showing results for tags 'Italeri 1/9 WWII U.S Motor Cycle'.
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Good evening All, I don't have a good track record with starting and finishing WiPs, but let's give it a go. I eyed this model at the 2010 Salisbury Show, the first model show I ever went to, and to save my dithering my (much) better half just bought it. It was already started (mostly built or painted) but when I got it home and looked at it I knew I didn't have the skills to make a decent job of renovating it. Ten and a bit years on I may still lack the skills, but I am going to try and see if I can actually fix it and build a decent model. I know the clutch actuating lever is missing, but that is something I can fabricate, and as far as I can tell the rest of the kit is preent in one form or another. Right then, what I started with... Both wheels were cemented together at the hubs. Fortunately the rims weren't cemented so I could get in with the Airwaves (?) photo-etch razor saw and cut through the hubs to separate the halves for further refurbishment. The brake drums were cemented in position so the wheels couldn't rotate, which wouldn't have been too bad but the painting was bok and it all needed redoing. So it was out with the scalpel and the razor saw and with courage fortified with a cup of tea I set about breaking things apart. All in all it was a qualified success. I don't have any photos of the frame, forks, tank, battery and transmission all fitted together. Why? Because it was so bad and so much out of alignment that I started to break it up almost immediately. I tried to split the frame but the front half just wouldn't separate and I broke the head stock trying to get it apart to remove the forks. That was easily fixed with some liquid cement, and then I tried to split the frame upright to free up the seat support stem which should move but which was cemented in place and did not move. Alas I broke the frame trying to do this, and in the end I couldn't free the seat stem and had to cut the remains out with a scalpel. I did manage to separate the rear frame where the extra part was fitted to get the vinyl 'chain' in to place so that will need fixing later. Mmmm... the forks. They are supposed to articulate and spring, but they were all cemented in place and just didn't work as advertised. Once they were out of the frame I managed to split some parts apart but others needed to be cut or drilled out, but I managed to get most of them apart. There's nothing I can't fix without a bit of plastic rod, some plasticard and a few bit of wire. The original modeller hadn't done any cleaning up at all, just stuck the bits together. This photo shows the shavings taken off just the mould seams of the main fork sections. The engine was put together but was not great. Yes, you can see light between the cylinder head and the barrel of the left hand cyllinder. Not good. They are now separated and will be cleaned up and reassembled at a later date after the engine has been stripped, cleaned up and repainted properly. The previous modeller had made an attempt at 'priming' and painting. Into the bath of brake fluid went the first lot of parts. I reckon that fluid is still good enough to use in my Land Rover! I'll try and update occasionally, and hopefully I won't lose my way with this model.