Steve Noble Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 I built this one a while ago from the Tamiya Yamaha RZV500R kit, but converted it to a UK RD500LC YPVS with some home made decals and a few tweaks here and there. Exhaust end cans were plastic in the kit so I used real aluminium tubing instead to save sanding the seams. Paints used were from Tamiya TS Pearl White and Zero Bright Red.. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pte1643 Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 Nice job. Pretty rare beast in it's day, the RD500. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Brown Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 Very nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triumphfan Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 Very nice build. Brings back memories of my brother in law's 500 LC. When he first got it, he took me on the back for a spin. My Mrs thought we had been round the block but we had done about 20 miles....... Really quickly!! Awesome bike in it's day and a nice rendition you have there, the aluminium cans are very neat. Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roymattblack Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 (edited) I've never been into bikes much but - WOW - this one tempts me. I'm now looking at a few of the Tamiya 1/6 kits. Amazing build. Those lower-angle pictures look fantastic! Why not try a few pics on a sheet of wet and dry (looks like tarmac) on top of a table to give it height, against a distant b/g of trees or something. I bet the results would be awesome! Roy. Edited December 7, 2012 by roymattblack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stratcat Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 Very nice and very life-like Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwidave4 Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 Thats very nice. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOUSTON Posted December 9, 2012 Share Posted December 9, 2012 WOW!! When I first joined the Police Force, the motorcycle unit were asked which "bike" they thought was great. They said this was and fir a brief period they had this as the police motorcycle ...it roared and purred at appropriate times. This model of yours looks So realistic.. Love it.. IT LOOKS BRILLIANT... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 Ooh, looks ready to ride from the showroom! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Ogilvie Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 Magic - 500 Elsie brings back many happy memories! Lovely build Iain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fireblade Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 Hi, How did you do the rd500 decals as i am currently building my own RD500 kit to go with my real bike and you have done a great job with the kit. Can i be a bit anal and i do not wish to offend. The 47x or 1GE Uk models had a steel frame and the webbed area where the swinging arm bolts through is smooth. The rzv models had a alloy frame this is webbed as per the kit.The only thing i found was trying to keep the putty from shrinking in this area and cracking. I would realy love to know how you altered the decals or made new ones Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrandX Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 You pretty much nailed The Beast! Brought back a few memories too -anyone remember this jolly jape (April Fool) in one of the rags of the time: http://www.rzrd500.com/500phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=8597&sid=7de9b68a7026215166ed562fa877ca52...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Noble Posted December 11, 2012 Author Share Posted December 11, 2012 Hi, How did you do the rd500 decals as i am currently building my own RD500 kit to go with my real bike and you have done a great job with the kit. Can i be a bit anal and i do not wish to offend. The 47x or 1GE Uk models had a steel frame and the webbed area where the swinging arm bolts through is smooth. The rzv models had a alloy frame this is webbed as per the kit.The only thing i found was trying to keep the putty from shrinking in this area and cracking. I would realy love to know how you altered the decals or made new ones I made the RD500 and the YPVS on the tail unit by taking a digital photograph of the real bike. I was very lucky in that a local bike shop had one for sale a while ago and they let me take the pictures. I then loaded them into Adobe Illustrator and rescaled them to the correct size. I also left a portion of the red background colour around the edge of the logo's. They were then printed onto white waterslide decal paper using a colour laser printer. I then trimmed around the edge as close to the white as possible, but leaving some of the red background. Once applied it gives the effect of the white letters and the red background vanishes. The Yamaha logo on the belly pan was done exactly the same, but I used a vector image from the 'Brands of the World' website instead of a digital photograph. The only other change was the blue stripes on the seat unit and the lower fairing which were masked and sprayed with Zero Rothmans Blue. The upper fairing and tank stripes were the kit decals. No offense taken about the frame. I should have added either putty or plasticard to make that webbed area smooth, well spotted.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hawker stu Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 i remember when the 500 elsie 1st hit the streets i was at the bull dog bash that year and they chewed all the other superbikes up and spat them out on the drag strip from standard fantastic bike but the suzi 500 gamma just had the edge on it . lovely build there mate of a real classic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heloman1 Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 Hi Steve, lovely build I especially like the UK number plates they really set if a treat. Congratulations and thanks for sharing it with us. Colin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riggers Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 Hi Steve, lovely build I especially like the UK number plates they really set if a treat. Congratulations and thanks for sharing it with us. Colin Heloman1, If you like the plates, then have a PM with wagoneer. He has to be the best at the plates & is a perfect gent. He'll do the 'legal' ones & the not so legal ones!! Skinny's we have called them! ATB & happy new year......... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michaelvk Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 Proper scary bike from a proper era..Lovely job on that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spad Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 Excellent job - is the number plate significant to you? Loved reading all the reminiscences above - I only ever saw one in real life but it was beautiful and sounded stunning on song! cheers Rick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunpowder17 Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 Gorgeous. I had a 350 elsie and always wanted a 500. I bet the powerband on those was wicked! Fantastic model. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riggers Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 Gorgeous. I had a 350 elsie and always wanted a 500. I bet the powerband on those was wicked! Fantastic model. Like you wouldn't beleive! V4 at it's very best. Riggers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heloman1 Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 Heloman1, If you like the plates, then have a PM with wagoneer. He has to be the best at the plates & is a perfect gent. He'll do the 'legal' ones & the not so legal ones!! Skinny's we have called them! ATB & happy new year......... Hi, Thanks for the heads up re the plates but down here in South Africa we have some quite unique styles. Each province has it's own background design and then each has a different font. The ones up in Gauteng the old Transvaal being the worst to replicate. They used to be (after the change) three letters, three digits the provicial crest and the GP (Gauteng Province) or after the crime escellation Gangsters Paradise! Now they have changed again two letter, two digits, two letters then the crest and then GP all on a white reflective plate. It's easy to print in word type the letter/number combination' then add the crest from a star and a red line for the Guteng lettering and yellow either side of the star for the two animals in the crest. I'll see if I can find an example in the vilage to illustrate the problem. The if you add in the 'personalised paltes...... Colin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michaelvk Posted January 6, 2013 Share Posted January 6, 2013 ..but why would you even want a GP plate on there.. CA ones are much nicer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulali Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 I made the RD500 and the YPVS on the tail unit by taking a digital photograph of the real bike. I was very lucky in that a local bike shop had one for sale a while ago and they let me take the pictures. I then loaded them into Adobe Illustrator and rescaled them to the correct size. I also left a portion of the red background colour around the edge of the logo's. They were then printed onto white waterslide decal paper using a colour laser printer. I then trimmed around the edge as close to the white as possible, but leaving some of the red background. Once applied it gives the effect of the white letters and the red background vanishes. The Yamaha logo on the belly pan was done exactly the same, but I used a vector image from the 'Brands of the World' website instead of a digital photograph. The only other change was the blue stripes on the seat unit and the lower fairing which were masked and sprayed with Zero Rothmans Blue. The upper fairing and tank stripes were the kit decals. No offense taken about the frame. I should have added either putty or plasticard to make that webbed area smooth, well spotted.. Steve,could you do these decals for me?,i obviously will pay,regards Paul,or could anybody else do them for me? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natter Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 Ying - di - ting - ting - ting - yiiiiiiinnnnggggg................. Oh how this brings back nostalgia for the heady smell of burned Castrol 747. Fab model (understatement). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulali Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 anybody help me with these decals for the rd500,so i can make a uk version,also im looking for a set of 1/12 Tamiya Yamaha YZR500 1998 Norick Decals,please,anybody? 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