Natter Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 Hi All, I have been hovering and wondering whether to join the Group Build, but if you don't mind I'll dive in with this. It's Revell's 1/8 Harley FXSTB 'Bad Boy'. It is the Harely Davidson Springer Night Train, essentially a black softail with springer forks. I acquired it cheaply from e-bay about a year ago, cheaply because some of it has been removed from the sprue and painted. As you can see from the sprue shots it is well below 25% completed - in fact nothing has been glued yet. Most of this pre-painting will have to come off, and I intend to remove the chrome plating and Alclad instead. So, if you don't mind, I am in with this: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wkennerley Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 (edited) Nice bike, welcome to the GB, I look forward to seeing your progress. Is that all the kit consists of? Wayne Edited January 27, 2013 by wkennerley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krow113 Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 Cool! Springers are great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D1fuN0 Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 Welcome to the GB Natter.. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natter Posted January 27, 2013 Author Share Posted January 27, 2013 Nice bike, welcome to the GB, I look forward to seeing your progress. Is that all the kit consists of? Wayne Hi Wayne, The only bits not in the photo are the light lenses, which are moulded in clear coloured plastic, the other disc brake rotor and the handlebar bits, all of which are in a small plastic bag. That's it. Slightly fewer bits than in Tamiya's jewel like motorbikes. I have a couple of bits to do on the 'Davey' model and then it's full steam ahead at my usual snail's pace on the Harley. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natter Posted January 28, 2013 Author Share Posted January 28, 2013 (edited) No pics yet, but the chrome is in the bleach; some of the smaller parts have been done already. I couldn't find Fairy Power Spray on the way home so I am trying the remains of my brake fluid to try and shift some of the paint. It has removed some so those bits are back in to soak. I did a bit of an internet search to try and find some details about the kit and didn't find much, but the reason the kit has so few parts is it was originally a snap-together Monogram kit. The moulding on the kit and print on the Revell instructions say 1996. Hopefully more to follow soon, with pics I hope Edited January 28, 2013 by Natter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riggers Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Looking forward to the build Natter............ ATB.......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natter Posted February 2, 2013 Author Share Posted February 2, 2013 I have been spending most of my free time this week finishing Davey the way out cyclist, but now he is done I can get on with this. Alas I have a busy weekend with work commitments from this afternoon, so I may not get as much done as I want to. In between Davey I have stripped the paint with Fairy Power Spray and removed the chrome plate with thinned bleach. A selection of the stripped bits are below. When the chrome was off the pieces were all a yeuky yellow, and I thought that the bleach had affected the plastic. Then I found an entry in a thread on this forum mentioning that the chrome plating is laid over a layer of varnish. Another look and it was obvious the varnish on these pieces was thick and surprisingly lumpy, so into the Fairy Power Spray they went, and they came out nice and white after a quick scrub. Now to clean up ready for gloss black enamel and alclad chrome. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wkennerley Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 Looking good, I noticed some of my bits were yellowish, I will check whether mine have varnish on them, though they have been in the fairey power spray a few times already wayne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krow113 Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 The parts look decent with out he kit chrome on them. I checked my Harley kit stash , I have the Testors springer and an old Imex, they are the same molds and not the same as this kit. Simplified or not it will still make a good looking model. The spokes look fairly well done , that's a good thing. Lemme know if you have any Harley tech questions. Good luck with it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natter Posted February 3, 2013 Author Share Posted February 3, 2013 Hi krow, I am simply doing this one out of the box so I'm not too worried about any great detailing - though in this scale there is the scope to do as much as you want. None the less, thanks for the kind offer. After a seriously late night last night I haven't done too much today. I gave quite a bit of the kit a clean up to try and remove mould lines, including the spokes on the front wheel. Apart from the mould lines the kit is reasonably 'clean', but the mould lines are like rivets on an old Airfix kit; everywhere. You can see what they're like from the handlebars, grips and levers in the first picture below, or maybe I am just getting fussy in my old age. Speaking of the bars, I don't like them, so the next time you see these... ... they should be a much flatter set made from the plastic rod. The rear belt drive pulley is missing the outer plate so I cut one from sheet: I used a razor saw to open up the gaps on the cylinder heads, but with hindsight I should have used a scriber. The cuts need some liquid glue to tidy them up: Finally, internet searches show the bike looks better with a single seat. The kit seat looked like this... ... but now it lookes like this: Eek! The moulded strap will come off in the reshaping, but for now I need some miliput to build the back of the saddle up. The rivets and stitching will go and won't be replaced. Here's hoping I can get a bit done this week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wkennerley Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 Nice little bits of extra detail, this is coming on well unlike my build! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D1fuN0 Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 Looking good Natter, looking very good I love the solid rear wheels. Been trying to make solids for my Road King 1600, great ambition that turned into a dismal failure... This looks like its going to be a nice kit. steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natter Posted February 9, 2013 Author Share Posted February 9, 2013 I have managed a few bits through the week, and through today. Almost everything needs to be painted black, whether they'll be left black or alclad chromed. At the moment they're getting Humbrol gloss enamel, and the airbrush is being well and truly thrashed. Unfortunately it is in shortish sessions as the compressor needs the time to cool. So far the gloss has gone on well. You can see a little dust from he sanding in the picture below, but it is on the dried surface and not spoiling the paint. The reflection of the camera and my fat pinkies gives an idea that the finish is OK. The discs have been re-drilled so that all the holes are clear and the same size. The headlight inside was Bare Metal Foiled and I added a bead from my wife's collection to simulate the bulb. I know that the reflector would be a cone inside the headlamp shell, but I am not going that far with the detailing, so this will do. It looks OK now it is closed up, not brilliant but much better that just leaving it or painting the inside silver. The model comes with a big base, with a spigot which fits in a hole in the bottom of the crankcase. Yeuk. Unfortunately the bike's sidestand is a fixed moulding, so I cut it off and made a new one. It is formed over copper coated mild steel wire, and I thought I was using plastic tube for the outer which just needed opening out with a drill. It was actually rod, so I am glad I managed to go straight with the drill! I took the sole plate off the model sidestand and blended it in after fixing the wire into a groove I filed into the bottom section. I will cut the stand to fit when the rest of the model is built. I mentioned earlier that I didn't like the bars, so I cut the ends off, drilled through the centre section, and fitted some more of the wire through. Then I did the same with the bars as I did with the stand, but I did use tube this time. Once again I will have to cut these to the right size as the model is completed. I may have to extend the risers on the forks too, we shall see. Anyway, they all look like this... I worked some milliput in to the back of the seat this morning, so I may try to do some filing and sanding tonight. More to follow....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natter Posted February 10, 2013 Author Share Posted February 10, 2013 Well, I did the back of the seat last night. I should have taken a 'before' photo, but I forgot. In one of the earlier posts is a photo of the seat before milliput and shaping which will give you an idea of how much had to be taken off. It now looks like this: There was so much milliput I used a sweetheart file to work the initial shape. Unfortunately it took a chunk out of the milliput at the back: I won't repair this yet as I am not sure how much will have to be re-shaped to make it sit right on the rear fender when it is fitted. As it is now a single instead of a double seat it will need some more work as the rear mount was on the rear piece of the original. The gloss black has generally gone on well. The harsh direct light and the mean camera doesn't do it any favours, but I am generally happy with it. There aren't any really any progress photos to show. In between all sorts of other jobs (oil and oil/air/fuel filters change on a Landrover Defender anyone?) I have sprayed most of the remaining parts with the gloss black. As its enamel it has take a mist coat or two followed by a wet coat on each part - time consuming. They're now drying in the sideboard to keep the dust off! That's about it for a while. Off 'dahn saarf' tomorrow for a meeting on Tuesday morning, then away Friday for a week. I'm not so good at the travelling modeller bit as some on here, so things will go on a pause while the enamel dries hard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krow113 Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 Black good , me watching. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham77 Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 Looks good to me too, am slowly getting ready for gloss black lots of sanding and smoothing first. Looking forward to seeing it all come together Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natter Posted February 24, 2013 Author Share Posted February 24, 2013 (edited) OK, having been away for more than a week doing decorating, oh how life interferes with modelling, I am back to the Springer. Most of the black gloss went on OK, but for some reason it was rubbish on the exhaust; the paint seemed to be gritty and the finish was rubbish. While waiting for the paint to dry to be rubbed down I trawled t'internet for inspiration - and decided slashed straight thru pipes looked cool. Having taken the time to clean the mould seams, fill the gaps in the end trumpets and sprayed the exhaust I took a razor saw to it..... Then I made a set of straight pipes with various bits of tube and rod which telescoped together. The back of the model exhaust is hollow. I debated filling and reshaping, but decided not to as it cannot be easily seen. Now I am glad I didn't as it provided convenient mounting for the new pipes..... A bit of glueing, filling, filing, sanding and repainting followed.... Once that was done I set about the pieces which required Alclad Chrome. After a bit of masking I did the lot in two twenty minute sessions. The pipes will have to wait for a later date when the black has dried thoroughly, but the rest of the bits look like this... I will get as much done through the week as I can as life will interfere over the next couple of weekends again. More to follow. Edited February 24, 2013 by Natter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengalensis Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 That's a much more suitable exhaust system than the kit original. Looking like good progress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Vale Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 That's looking lovely, there's something magical about the before + after chrome paint pictures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wkennerley Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 Wow super build, at least some peeple will get their Harley finished Wayne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natter Posted March 8, 2013 Author Share Posted March 8, 2013 (edited) Unfortunately life is still getting in the way of modelling at the moment. I have done most of the painting and have started the build. The frame went together last night, but that will be it for another week. Tiling and decorating is still to be done at the weekend, then away next week with work and finally carpets being fitted the weekend after. That gives me a couple of weeks to get it done, so I should be OK. Back soon, I promise. Edited March 8, 2013 by Natter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natter Posted March 17, 2013 Author Share Posted March 17, 2013 OK, back again. More flippin' decorating and tiling has been done, and now it's back to the important stuff! Many apologies, this is a long update. I dry assembled the engine and exhaust to the engine but the balance pipe interferes with the engine, and it looks wrong with the slashed pipes. So, despite all the cleaning up and alclad I have sawn off the balance pipe, filled and repainted in gloss black. It will be a couple of days before I can re-chrome the pipes now. I am debating adding heat bandage to the headers. If anyone has any ideas about how to replicate that please let me know. The old exhaust looked like this: Today I have completed the two wheels. The front with its disc looks like this: The wheel was painted with Alclad chrome then the spokes were painted with GW Mithril Silver. The tension adjusters are Tamiya Titanium Silver. The disc was Alclad chromed, the centre masked and then the rotor sprayed with GW Chainmail. Other shades were used to darken the area swept by the pads, but it is too subtle to show in the pictures. The rivets were painted Mithril Silver. The rear wheel was glued, but the tyre wouldn't fit over as it was so stiff. I had to soak it in hot water to get it on. The cente of the wheel disc was painted GW Chainmail: The drive cover and gearbox casing were painted gloss enamel when did the original painting. The Harley black casings are quite rough, almost like a crackle. I replicated this by using matt varnish sprayed from a distance. The bolts are all GW Mithril Silver and I am sick of painting them! Each of these is a single piece, masked and sprayed to get the finish as you see here. I dry fitted the main bits for a bit of inspiration - and the bike looks like this now: If I get the chance tomorrow I will try and get some more assembled. With real life interfering I was getting worried, but I should be able meet the GB deadline now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Vale Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 That looks fantastic, and lots of good painting tips for the wheels, thanks! Masking the individual bolts might possibly be above + beyond the call of duty though - I take it you get a better result than using a brush? Will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengalensis Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 This is coming along very nicely. Loosing that balance pipe is a good idea aestethically. I'm not sure I would add any heat bandaging, to me it quickly turns the look to racing, which is a look I personally like very much, but this bike look more custom than racing to me. But then again, I can't say that I have very much knowledge of how this klnd of bike would look IRL. Go with what you like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts