Mark Posted March 8, 2013 Posted March 8, 2013 Sorry to the Hosts, I forgot that I'd signed up for this!! With the start of the Le Mans GB tomorrow, of which I'm proud to be co-hosting with Madmonk, I thought that I'd get started on finishing at least one entry for this GB. I started the kit last weekend and there are photos, which I'll start posting later this evening, but here is the kit that I'm making: There s a bit of sentimental attachment to this kit as it was, on my return to the hobby twenty odd years ago, my first attempt at a motorbike kit and I was blown away by the level of detail. There's even a real spring for the suspension!! Fast forward to 2013 and I got the kit off of eBay and have acquired aftermarket decals and some detailing parts from Top Studio, along with Zero Paints from Steve at Hiroboy I'm really looking forward to finishing this as, for me, it really is a case of seeing how techniques and my own skills (or lack of!) have developed over the twenty years since I last made this kit.
heloman1 Posted March 8, 2013 Posted March 8, 2013 That looks like a cracker Mark., welcome to the group of mad modellers. I'm sure you are going to stun us all with your modelling techniques. Colin
Mark Posted March 8, 2013 Author Posted March 8, 2013 Cheers Colin, as for 'stun'? Well, I'm doing the best I can with this kit and it really is a pleasure to build, as all of the Tamiya 1/12th bikes are. So, where to start? Oh yeah, the mandatory box and sprue shots! The above image was just grabbed from the Internet, but here's mine, along with the sprues. I can't remember the previous attempt at this kit having had a clear cowling though... I don't know who produced the aftermarket decals, but they are much better colours than the kit's decals and include the important sponsors logos. The Top Studio Hose Clamps Set is really worth getting as it not only includes the clamps, but also a load of rivet and bolt heads that detail the engine up nicely. So, assembly started last weekend with the frame and engine components. All parts were primed using Alclad's white surface primer. The engine block was painted Alclad II Burnt Iron and various other metallic shades were used for the cylinder heads, clutch etc. The cylinder head bolts look as if they are anodised and although the instructions call for these to be painted red, I chose to paint these with Alclad II clear red, which matches the photos I have quite well. More updates later!
Mark Posted March 9, 2013 Author Posted March 9, 2013 A bit more progress over the last two evenings. This kit is falling together nicely, as expected of these 1/12th Tamiya kits, but there are some areas that I've sought to correct, most specifically the use of the thick rubber hosing for everything from brake lines to ignition cables, so these were replaced by much more 'in-scale' cable from Model Factory Hiro. I think the Tops Studio brackets certainly add life to the water plumbing and this time around I had the advantage of using Alclad II metallics which give a much nicer finish than the paints I used 20 years ago! Here are a few photos to show how far I've got: The exhausts are just placed on at the moment to check the fit. Any ideas on colour? The instructions call for gun metal but photos show them to be more brown??
pte1643 Posted March 10, 2013 Posted March 10, 2013 Exhausts should be steel coloured with "Burn" bits at the welds and heat discolouration at stress areas (joins and bends). Loads of pics if you google. Just look for pics of ANY 2 stroke (YZR, NSR etc)
Mark Posted March 11, 2013 Author Posted March 11, 2013 Cheers Pte1643! A few shades of Alclad should sort that out then!
Riggers Posted March 11, 2013 Posted March 11, 2013 Looking good so far....... I'll follow this one with interest. ATB.......
wkennerley Posted March 11, 2013 Posted March 11, 2013 Cool welcome to the GB, nice to see this bike, looks a super kit
Mark Posted March 12, 2013 Author Posted March 12, 2013 Phew! A marathon session at the workbench yesterday resulted in me getting a long way on with this build as well as starting a Porsche 917K for the Le Mans Group Build. Thanks to Pte1643 I managed to look through some great images on the 'net for the very prominent exhausts and found that the colour that Tamiya state (Gun Metal) is far too dark. So I tried to match the colours from the screen as best as I could and used Alclad II Gun Metal, Dark Aluminium and Burnt Iron in an approximate ration of 45:45:10 respectively. This was sprayed over the exhausts after they had been primed with Alclad's own black primer. Once dried then the 'artistic licence' began with Pale Burnt Metal being lightly sprayed over the bends. This was followed by Hot Metal Sepia and Hot Metal Blue and I was quite happy with the result, but I'll let you judge from the photos. The clear cowling was a pig to get together so I 'borrowed' a standard cowling from another YZR500 kit in the stash with the ultimate intention to build the other as a naked bike alongside the race ready fully-cowled one. After all, it's such a shame with these kits to cover all the hard work up! One question though, are the rear exhaust cans painted black (as the instructions would have them) or are they made from a composite material? The front forks and brake discs need to be completed properly (the incredible tedious job of drilling out 60 holes per disc was done with the aid of a small hand held drill chuck, a micro drills bit and red wine...!!) and then the instrument panel attached along with a couple of 'black boxes' that sit behind the nose cowling. Once done that will basically complete the basic bike with just the bodywork to add and once the decals have been applied I'll be calling this one done; not long to go!
pte1643 Posted March 12, 2013 Posted March 12, 2013 (edited) Top work Mark. The "Spannies" look great. Re: cans... Matt (or Semi) Black would be fine, they were most likely Anodised Ali back then. Carbon was around, but not widely used on exhausts back in the day. Edited March 12, 2013 by pte1643
Mark Posted March 12, 2013 Author Posted March 12, 2013 Thanks for that! I'll leave them Semi-Gloss Black then!
Will Vale Posted March 13, 2013 Posted March 13, 2013 That looks fantastic, I love your hot metal colours. The yellow shock spring is a really nice accent too. Will
Mark Posted March 15, 2013 Author Posted March 15, 2013 OK, before I display the next set of photos there follows a public health warning: Viewing bright colours may be harmful to your eyesight; sunglasses are strongly recommended. Now the photos: All bodywork has now been painted, using the fantastic Zero Paints from Hiroboy. Great paints that airbrush straight from the jar, accurately colour matched and superb coverage. If only they did a military range too! The next step is to varnish over the paint once it has fully hardened, for this I will probably use Alclad's varnish as it is not as shiny as Zero Paints two-pack, then it's decal time!
pte1643 Posted March 15, 2013 Posted March 15, 2013 Eh? What? Sorry, couldn't hear you over that Orange.
pte1643 Posted March 15, 2013 Posted March 15, 2013 Yeah. Looks good though. Many, Many Moons ago, a friend of mine had an RD350 in Marl' colours... The Orange was sooooo bright it was "retina burningly" disturbing.
Mark Posted March 15, 2013 Author Posted March 15, 2013 I'm a bit worried as to what the images did to my camera CCD! They are not photoshopped, if they were I'd have got rid of the overspray on the rear, right hand side flank! Just noticed that, as well as the fact that the lower rear triangle, on the bottom of the body fairing, should really continue the line from the upper, rear fairing. Oh well, more work to do tomorrow...
Mark Posted March 15, 2013 Author Posted March 15, 2013 What I should have done was take my time... Anyway, the demarkation line between red/orange and white should be continuous from the rear panel to the lower, following the blue line:
heloman1 Posted March 16, 2013 Posted March 16, 2013 Lookin' good there Mark. I like your idea of Alclad varnish as opposed to Zero. The bikes in those days didn't have the toffee apple glass coat of the modern bikes where the graphics are trapped under the clear coat. There was a distinct difference in the gloss of the bike and the sheen of the vinyl graphics. You could even cut around each decal to remove the clear carrier to be even more prototypically correct. Yes it is bright/loud, isn't it! Colin
wkennerley Posted March 17, 2013 Posted March 17, 2013 Wow nice build, the detail on this kit is amazing Wayne
gunpowder17 Posted March 17, 2013 Posted March 17, 2013 (edited) Nice build! I painted my Rd350 in that colour scheme. I also used to ride around with the headlight on. I still had someone pull out on me and got the old "sorry mate i didnt see you!" Really? Edited March 17, 2013 by gunpowder17 1
D1fuN0 Posted March 17, 2013 Posted March 17, 2013 Hey very very nice Busdriver... That bright orange can sometimes be very difficult to get right but youve done a fantastic job. The exhaust's look superb. Steve
Iain Ogilvie Posted March 17, 2013 Posted March 17, 2013 (edited) Nice build! I painted my Rd350 in that colour scheme. I also used to ride around with the headlight on. I still had someone pull out on me and got the old "sorry mate i didnt see you!" Really? Exactly same here on my first tiddler RD125LC which I painted Marlboro' colours - that was in '87 and she's been in bits ever since. Same SMIDSY! Superb build so far Mark - iconic machine - and those colours nailed! Iain Edited March 17, 2013 by Iain (32SIG)
Riggers Posted March 17, 2013 Posted March 17, 2013 Exactly same here on my first tiddler RD125LC which I painted Marlboro' colours - that was in '87 and she's been in bits ever since. Same SMDSY! Superb build so far Mark - iconic machine - and those colours nailed! Iain Iain, the very same as my first bike! A669 OKO white Yam RD 125LC (21bhp version) in 1986!! She flew....I have the scars on my knees to prove it! Was in awe of the 500LC though!! As was everyone then I think.... ATB........ 1
pte1643 Posted March 17, 2013 Posted March 17, 2013 Was in awe of the 500LC though!! As was everyone then I think.... Not me... It was the RG500 for me.
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