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Honda NSR 500 1986 (Tamiya 1/12)


Delayar

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Hi!

 

I finally got around to start my long planned build of this motorbike. It is also a nostalgia build, since this bike was my first motorcycle build back in 1988.

I had the original Tamiya kit with the Rothmans decals in my stash, but I didn't exactly trust the old decals. Furthermore, the original boxing included only transparent cowling parts. Therefore I sold the kit and got myself the newer "factory color" boxing and Studio27 aftermarket decals.

 

I will build this bike as Wayne Gardners ride in the Rothmans livery.

 

I started with the bodywork. I opened the air vents on top of the seat cowling with a metal saw before glueing together the halfes.

 

spacer.png

 

The molds show their age. There is quite some flash for a tamiya kit, and the cowlings showed a little distortion, which required some tape during gluing up. It also needed a lot of filler:

 

Honda_NSR_02.jpg

 

After some sanding, the body parts are ready to be painted:

 

Honda_NSR_03.jpg

 

Honda_NSR_04.jpg

 

I started by painting the interior flat black. Then I masked the inside and started with the white basecoat. The new kit still features the fine lines on the body parts showing the paint demarcation lines for the Rothmans livery. I masked the white parts and mixed the blue to match the blue decal colour.

Not all paint demercations ended up being clean, but decals will cover these areas anyhow.

 

Honda_NSR_05.jpg

 

The parts were clearcoated with Tamiya clear. When the paint is cured, the decals will go on. In the meantime I will start the frame. I have yet to decide, if I add the missing weld lines.

 

Cheers,

Markus

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Decals are on. The yellow parts need some touch ups before I can add the number. decals are clearcoated with acrylics to protect them from the more aggressive 2K PU clearcoat.

The Studio27 decals were wery brittle, but conformed well in the end.

 

Honda_NSR_06.jpg

 

Cheers,

Markus

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hi!

 

I decided to add the missing weld lines to the frame. I used streched sprue and glued it on with Tamiya extra thin cement. after the glue had softened the sprue, I used the modelling knife to represent the weld beads.

 

Honda_NSR_07.jpg

 

I used black sprue for better contrast.

With a coat of Alclad Aluminium:

 

Honda_NSR_08.jpg

 

And the weld lines on the rear swing arm:

 

Honda_NSR_09.jpg

 

With brake lines and damper added:

 

Honda_NSR_10.jpg

 

I also started with the engine:

 

Honda_NSR_11.jpg

 

Honda_NSR_12.jpg

 

The hose clips are made from 0.25mm wire. I have yet to add the hose clips to the cylinder cooling pipes.

 

Cheers,

Markus

 

 

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Neat, I like your build, I too have the late version of the kit but missed out on the AM decals. I like the weld work, it looks in keeping with the era. Mine is a long way from being built, I have other ahead of it in the build queue.

 

Colin

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Motor and rear wheel attached to the frame. I had to shorten the "pins" on the chain part and the rear brake to insert the wheel after the swing arm was assembled.

 

Honda_NSR_13.jpg

 

Honda_NSR_14.jpg

 

Cheers,

Markus

 

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  • 1 month later...

In the meanwhile, I made the front fork parts, using bare metal foil to depict the inner fork tubes.

 

Honda_NSR_15.jpg

 

The most difficult part of the build are the exhaust. They are not molded perfectly, and it is very hard to get the exactly symmetrical on both sides.

I filled the gaps of the straighter tubes with milliput. I didn't bother to fill the gaps of the warped exhausts, since these gaps won't be visible even without the cowling.

To get the position of the endtubes right, I carefully heated the parts, and bend them into the correct position. It required a lot of dry fitting, and finetuning.

Once I was satisfied with the result, I added weld seams made out of streched sprue. To anchor the muffler springs, I attached lops out of thin wire.

 

Honda_NSR_16.jpg

 

Honda_NSR_17.jpg

 

The mufflers were wrappen in bare metal foil. The muffler springs are from Top Studio.

 

Honda_NSR_18.jpg

 

Cheers,

Markus

 

 

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The handlebar was assembled, using clear tubing painted green to connect the brake fluid reservoir to the brake lever. Also, attachment points for the throttle cables were added, using soldering lead and vinyl tubing painted silver.

 

Honda_NSR_26.jpg

 

Although the front fork has to be attached to the bike after the cowling is attached, I couldn't resist to assemble it without glue for some naked shots of the bike:

 

Honda_NSR_19.jpg

 

Honda_NSR_20.jpg

 

Honda_NSR_22.jpg

 

After making these shots, I made the final assembly, shoehorning the cowling on and attaching the hose from the fuel tank.

According to the reference pictures, the hose from the fuel tank goes to the left inner side of the front cowling. I attached two rings of thick vinyl tubing, which hold the hose in place. It cannot be seen in this firt picture of the completed bike, but I will add a picture where this detail can be seen.

 

Honda_NSR_27.jpg

 

More pictures soon in the RFI section.

 

Cheers,

Markus

 

 

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Lovely looking build. I have a thing for 1980s grand prix bikes. So many sporting heroes from my youth were around in that era to spice up the racing in a way that I've never had since. With Sheene, Spencer, Mamola, Lawson, Gardner, Rainey and latterly Schwantz all adding colour to the sport for me. They are the characters who made it interesting.

 

I'm looking forward to the RFI!

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