Tamiya 1:6 CB1100R Custom Build

[gt6mkiii]

Hello all, I've posted a few completed F1 builds on the site and thought I would build something different and add my first WIP as well. I bought this Tamiya 1:6 CB1100R about 15 years ago.

 

 

I started building the kit but was put off by a very yellowed set of decals and moved it into the stash to do something with later. Then I saw Lee's CB1100R:

 

 

I was really impressed by the quality of his build and thought, okay, I've now seen a great factory style build, maybe I can have a little creative freedom, ignore the yellow decals and try something different.

 

 

My plan is to do something along the lines of a café style bike - I've got a bit of building to do before I really have to nail down colours and style but something that removes pretty much all of the bodywork. You can see I had put the tank together and started with some foil on the wheels.

 

 

Since it's a big scale kit, I'm also hoping to be able to use my 3D printer to add a few pieces like maybe a custom seat and air filters for the carbs to get rid of the airbox. Still deciding whether to modify the existing rear subframe or just cut it off and go completely custom, maybe with a monoshock in place of the twin shocks on the sides. I'll probably be updating fairly slowly as I'm finishing the Tamiya SF70H at the same time and this will give me something to do while waiting for all the decals to dry.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Martin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Lee Chambers]

Great idea Martin,best of luck with the rest of the build.

[Ian T]

I’m in on this one, look forward to the updates.

[gt6mkiii]

Here's a quick stance check to see what it could look like:

 

 

The tank feels massive in these photos, but I'm hoping the proportions will look okay once all the other pieces are on. First things first though, and that was to get the tank to sit as low down as possible without bumping into the engine. I also took about 1/8" out of the front forks to adjust the overall rake:

 

 

That looks better in my opinion, next will be to decide whether or not to modify the rear subframe or scrap it altogether. The frame will at least need detabbing to clean up all of the mounting points that won't be used anymore.

 

 

[Mumbly]

Nice work, there are some real world tips on getting the look, I know of https://www.bikeexif.com/build-cafe-racer which talks about the tank and fork height to get the appearance right.  
 

You are a bit limited with its scale for donor parts at 1/6th so scratch building exhaust, seat etc. is your only option.  
 

I started a similar project with a 1/12 Z1, but got stuck at the seat, so hopefully you have better success than me.

 

Good luck, it looks great already.

 

Tony

[gt6mkiii]

Thanks, Tony. I remember reading all of the bikeexif articles when they came out - I managed to have a café style bicycle I built posted on their sister site, cycleexif.com a couple of years ago.

 

Anyway, I've made some more progress on some bits and the frame as well:

 

Here's the stock front fender:

 

 

and cut down and placed in the forks:

 

 

I debated shaving the little spoiler off, but I like the nod to the original bike.

 

Next was filling and detabbing the frame. I filled the bodywork mounting holes with some plastic tube and rod:

 

 

And then filed and sanded:

 

 

Next was the headlight - fortunately, the one in the kit was a nice, plain round headlight, but the surrounding bezel was the piece that transitioned to the square opening in the fairing. I needed a simple bezel to hold the lens in. This was the first piece I've modelled in Modo, a 3D program I'm familiar with, and then printed to my Anycubic Mega S 3D printer.

 

Here's the headlight from the kit:

 

 

And here's the printed piece:

 

 

And here's the piece in place after a first coat of primer and a bit of sanding:

 

 

Still a bunch of finishing to do, but it's a nice simple bezel that looks the part. Next up was a 3D print of the new part of the rear subframe. I've decided to keep most of the subframe and just add a new loop to the very back. Here's the 3D printed part:

 

 

And here it is, notched and fit into the back of the frame:

 

 

Looks a bit off on the left side there, but I've glued it in place with some CA and some clips to hold it there. After it's dry, it will be sanding/priming/sanding/priming and then a gloss black coat for the frame. I've only just started using the 3D printer, but I'm really enjoying measuring up the piece I need, building in the 3D program and then printing the part. A slightly more challenging piece is next - the seat and rear cowl.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Martin.

 

[Cooper645]

good work on the 3d printing, it's made a big difference to the appearance of that light. I like it!

 

What 3d printer do you use?

[gt6mkiii]

Thanks @Cooper645, the printer is an Anycubic Mega S - https://www.anycubic.com/collections/anycubic-mega-3d-printers 

 

Works really well for larger scale stuff and is quite affordable - I have also printed a full size Han Solo blaster for fun.  

[gt6mkiii]

Continuing with the new 3d printed pieces - I've tackled the seat and tailpiece. 

 

 

I printed 3 versions of this - the first was close enough to make small adjustments to get it to fit and the second to confirm size and shape. I then split the 3D model into 2 pieces and printed them separately so that I can paint them individually and then reassemble on the frame. I'm happy with the tailpiece, but I think the seat might need a bit more detail, just a little bit of stitching/piping maybe.

 

 

As with the other pieces, lots of sanding and finishing to go.

 

 

 

 

 

[gt6mkiii]

A bit more progress on the Honda. The frame is in primer and I've sprayed the rims and engine with coat of semi-gloss black. Now to paint all of those bolt heads.

 

 

 

And prepping to spray a coast of gloss black. All of the gold paint will be gone from the finished build so I'm doing the engine in a black on black theme with some different finishes to break it up a bit.

 

 

 

 

[One 48]

Great work so far, have this kit and the 1/12 one, will be following your build 👍

[gt6mkiii]

Some more progress here, including getting the frame painted in gloss black:

 

 

I tried painting this with my airbrush but couldn't get enough paint on fast enough to keep a wet coat flowing together. I ended up spraying it with a can of Tamiya gloss black.

 

I've done a bit of detailing on the wheels - which look huge at 1/6th scale:

 

 

And have started to assemble the engine parts:

 

 

I also modelled and then 3D printed some K&N style individual air filters to replace the stock airbox. I ended up printing the filter adapter and filter element separately and then making the chrome filter cap out of a scrap piece of styrene as the 3D printed part wouldn't be smooth enough. This was one of those cases where the 3D printer texture actually works as the filter elements are not perfectly smooth.

 

Here's the raw prints:

 

 

And mounted to the carbs:

 

 

Painted flat black, dry-brushed with grey and then some Bare Metal Foil for hose clamps and the chrome caps at the end of the filter:

 

 

Almost ready to start the main assembly as pretty much all of the small parts have been painted.

 

 

[JeroenS]

1) Yes indeed that is a huge wheel! I recently "complained" about not being able to build large scale vehicles because of lack of space, but now I'm thinking "hmm bike... might just work"...

2) Wow, those filters!

 

Carry on sir, I'll be watching this one closely! 

[Redstaff]

Great work

Following with interest  

 

Ian

[gt6mkiii]

Thanks for the comments and for following along. Got a bit more assembly done on the frame/engine:

 

 

On the rear wheel and brakes:

 

 

I chopped down the footpeg/brake mounts and resprayed with polished aluminum Alclad.

 

Other side with the kit chain - I really like the look of the photoetch chain kits out there but can't justify it on this build:

 

 

And the overall bike on its wheels with the tank, fender, seat and tailpiece in position - still awaiting paint. Lots of hoses to connect etc., but it's coming along:

 

 

Good comparison for scale for anyone who has a Vallejo paint bottle.

 

Martin.

[JeroenS]

It's quite the beast indeed. Looks great so far, the chain too as far as I'm concerned.

[gt6mkiii]

A bit more progress on the bike - mostly exhaust and some of the cables/hoses. The headers were sanded smooth and coated in gloss black and then Alclad Chrome:

 

 

And the mufflers were chopped down - I left them as long as I could but there were a lot of molded mounting points that had to be cut off, so they're pretty stubby but I think they look pretty cool. The body pieces are all primed and ready for body colour and the seat has been covered in a faux suede elbow patch - not sure about that yet, but it was a lot easier than smoothing out the 3D printed part. 

 

 

Tank, fender and seat back paint next and I've got some decals on order to finish it off.

[JeroenS]

I like this. Seat looks ok I think. 

[gt6mkiii]

Last details and paint and decals. I ordered some custom decals from Indycals in Colorado. Started with base colour for the body pieces:
 

 

 

Added the decals:

 

 

 

I clearcoated the decals with a gloss finish but decided to go back to a matte finish as I liked the contrast with the gloss black frame. I set up a small backdrop to shoot some studio shots against:

 

 

And took the finished shots that I'll put in the RFI section:
 

 

I've a got a large pile of leftover pieces after the build as I deleted so many bits of bodywork, lights etc:

 

 

Thanks for following along!

 

Martin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Alan R]

That is stunning!

 

Cheers,

Alan.

[Cooper645]

Great build, I like this a lot. Inspires me to think about doing a bike build. Lots of parts for the après box too I see. 
 

congratulations and I’ll look for it in the RFI 

[Eugene C.]

Hi, I'm new to this forum. I’m in the process of "restoring" my Tamiya 1/6 Honda CB1100R that I first built in 1982 (yes, 41 years ago when I was a 13-year-old kid!) and am impressed with your work and modification. Just a question though: I see that you have many unused parts and wonder if you still have them so that I could buy them to replace some damaged parts.

 

Regards,

Eugene

[Keeff]

That is a stunning result!  Your 3d printed parts really do lift the detail and quality. 

 

Keith 😁