bootneck Posted February 13, 2022 Share Posted February 13, 2022 I did a search on Scalemates for motorcycles as described above (NOT Honda/Yamaha etc.) but only found a Tamiya [35316] British motorcycle and military police set. Virtually all the others were German BMW types. Anyone know of any British 1960s era motorcycle kits in 1:35 or 1:32 scale that might be available nowadays? I fancy doing a couple, one as a motorcyle and another as a motorcycle and sidecar, which will probably have to be scratchbuilt. cheers, Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Knight Posted February 13, 2022 Share Posted February 13, 2022 The only 1/32 British motorcycles I can think of were by Britains Not kits though You could 'Code 3' them maybe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bootneck Posted February 13, 2022 Author Share Posted February 13, 2022 Thanks BK but I'm rubbish with diecast, I shall get a couple of these sets and do some hacking and slashing with them. I used to work at the BSA in the 1960s, producing the gears, but I cannot remember the body colours; although, red or light green comes to mind. cheers, Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krow113 Posted February 14, 2022 Share Posted February 14, 2022 Other than the Tamiya sets shown above , the only other I can think of is the Airfix bag kits. I have an Ariel Arrow bag kit here but it has no scale on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcrfan Posted February 14, 2022 Share Posted February 14, 2022 I concur there are lots of British diecasts but very few kits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Knight Posted February 14, 2022 Share Posted February 14, 2022 21 hours ago, bootneck said: Thanks BK but I'm rubbish with diecast, Just drill out the tops of the rivets and the diecasts come apart, into pieces. Then think of it as a 'white-metal' kit 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bootneck Posted February 14, 2022 Author Share Posted February 14, 2022 Put it like that and it starts to sound interesting. I shall go and have a looksee what is out there. cheers, Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orso Posted February 14, 2022 Share Posted February 14, 2022 Most plastic kits are concentrated toward the WW2. So is the Bronco Triumph: https://www.super-hobby.co.uk/products/British-Triumph-3HW-Motorcycle-with-British-Military-Police-2-pieces.html 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Knight Posted February 14, 2022 Share Posted February 14, 2022 16 hours ago, krow113 said: Other than the Tamiya sets shown above , the only other I can think of is the Airfix bag kits. I have an Ariel Arrow bag kit here but it has no scale on it. The old Airfix kits were about 1/16 The old Airfix large scale BMW motorcycle kit did once, in error, have 1/72 on the box but it too was 1/16 Ariel Arrow; https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/airfixtributeforum/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=469 BMW R69; https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/airfixtributeforum/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=866 The Airfix/Heller Ducati, Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha motorcycles were in 1/12 and 1/24 but are out of contention anyways not being British iron-horses Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krow113 Posted February 14, 2022 Share Posted February 14, 2022 11 minutes ago, Black Knight said: The old Airfix kits were about 1/16 The old Airfix large scale BMW motorcycle kit did once, in error, have 1/72 on the box but it too was 1/16 Ariel Arrow; https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/airfixtributeforum/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=469 BMW R69; https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/airfixtributeforum/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=866 The Airfix/Heller Ducati, Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha motorcycles were in 1/12 and 1/24 but are out of contention anyways not being British iron-horses I have the kit and a dial indicator , the kit instructions state the wheels are 16" , may do some checking if I cant find anything I'd rather do...lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bootneck Posted February 14, 2022 Author Share Posted February 14, 2022 1 hour ago, Orso said: Most plastic kits are concentrated toward the WW2. So is the Bronco Triumph: https://www.super-hobby.co.uk/products/British-Triumph-3HW-Motorcycle-with-British-Military-Police-2-pieces.html Hi Björn, That Bronco kit is just the sort of thing that I am looking for, but that hefty price plus shipping is an off-putter. I shall see if I can get one here in UK. Thank you for pointing the kit out to me, I didn't see it on Scalemates when I did a search. cheers, Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orso Posted February 14, 2022 Share Posted February 14, 2022 (edited) I couldn't find it on Scalemates but I knew that there was another British cycle beside the Tamiya kit. Yes it is expensive, but it could be worse. It could be only one in the box for the same price. 🙂 Edited February 14, 2022 by Orso Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bootneck Posted February 14, 2022 Author Share Posted February 14, 2022 Thank you, I wouldn't have known about it if you had not mentioned it. Now for yet another possibly hopeless quest! cheers, Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Knight Posted February 14, 2022 Share Posted February 14, 2022 Just remember that those WW2 motorcycles are dated by their girder forks whereas by the 1960s motorcycles had hydraulic plunger front forks afair the rear ends of those WW2 motorcycles had solid swinging forks but by the 1960s they had double hydraulic shock absorbers on the rear forks 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bootneck Posted February 14, 2022 Author Share Posted February 14, 2022 If there's an emoji for "way over my head" then I haven't found it yet..... but consider it input here! Now I shall have to start googling and searching for even more data and close in images. cheers, Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veg Posted February 14, 2022 Share Posted February 14, 2022 The bsa m20, Norton 16h nd triumph had girder forks, the matchless g3l had telescopic forks. I only know of the two kits listed above, to my knowledge no one has done either the Norton or matchless. the triumph was also available as a ltd edition kit prior to the bronco version I did have a kit some years ago, but it wasn’t cheap. interestingly the Lancaster used a triumph twin as an auxiliary power plant the engine post war was used in the Triumph Gp500 racer used by Ernie Lyon’s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veg Posted February 14, 2022 Share Posted February 14, 2022 Also Atlas classics do a range of 1/24th British motorcycles they are ready assembled but include everything from a 1930’s Ariel through Vincent to Triumph bonneville 1968. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Knight Posted February 14, 2022 Share Posted February 14, 2022 56 minutes ago, bootneck said: Now I shall have to start googling and searching for even more data and close in images. Web searching is all well and good but can be even more confusing Books such as these are an excellent primer https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/302372659234?hash=item4666d0a022:g:~aMAAOSwjk9ZW1uY https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/231566863016?epid=88899908&hash=item35ea75eaa8:g:LbQAAOSwKrhVWwlL Once you have a certain version of a motorcycle to work on then the web photos really help 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bootneck Posted February 14, 2022 Author Share Posted February 14, 2022 Thanks BK, I've ordered three of those titles. Although I used to work for BSA, in the gears engineering section, it was nearly sixty years ago and have forgotten most of it. Plus I was too young to own a bike so never really took an interest then. I might also get one of those Ariel Arrow kits and scratchbuild/rescale to 1:35. I used to work on the Ariel Arrows but everyone called them lady-bikes because they had a shopping basket on the front! cheers, Mike 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Knight Posted February 14, 2022 Share Posted February 14, 2022 There is also this kit with a DKW 350 https://www.scalemates.com/kits/tamiya-35241-motorcycle-orderly--133173 I think it could be converted into, maybe, a Triumph Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bootneck Posted February 14, 2022 Author Share Posted February 14, 2022 I did see that, and it can be got for an attractive price, but I didn't think it could be done as a Brit. Now I am intrigued; probably have to get one now! Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Knight Posted February 14, 2022 Share Posted February 14, 2022 afair, end of WW2 DKW motorcycle designs went to JAWA/CZ, part of Skoda. But the British also got a share of the designs The round tank, the 'peanut' tank as the Americans called them, was fairly common across nearly all small capacity European motorcycles When you get your books you'll see a commonality through the basic designs I might have to get one meh-self now btw; there is kit of a Japanese Type 97 with sidecar- forget that one cos the motorcycle was a licenced copy of a Harley-D and the sidecar was a copy of a German civilian type Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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