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Harley-Davidson Dirt/Short tracker


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From Italeri 1/9 WLA model kit.

Changed the spokes on the wheels, got rid of brakes, battery and DC generator, rear wheel has two sprockets so if you want to go fast just turn it around. Chain and secondary drive sprockets are from some Protar kit (individual links), air cleaner is scratch built, magneto is from Revell's Drag Bike (yes, scale in that is 1/8 but that doesn't seem to be too much difference). I have to admit, it hurt a little bit to rob the magneto from that kit, but I thought that I scratch build better one for that kit. If I ever build it. Seat is from the Italeri kit, just cut it little narrower. Heat marks on the exhaust didn't come out very nice, but I didn't want to paint those again so left them as they are.

 

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I’ve got a part built Italeri WLA stashed away and I have been thinking about doing a bobber for years. You might just have given me the push I need to get it done! Love your build, and I might steal a few ideas too.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 6/10/2020 at 7:09 AM, peteski said:

Beautiful model Marko!

And plenty of nice touches like drilled head fins, respoked wheels, and the staining on the tire treads, just to mention a few.

What is you method for respoking the wheels?

Thank you! And thanks to all others too!

I respoke normally by cutting some of the old spokes, drilling holes to new ones and glue them in place. Then cut some more old spokes away. I don't have any close up shot of the progress, but here is one bad pic...

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Somewhat off topic, I participated in one "knife making class" many years ago. It was meant to teach you some basic blacksmith techniques, but I did some machining too... Among other things, other than hitting hot metal with a hammer... So, I did one hub and wheel for future build, this is meant to be 21" wheel for one of the Tamiya's 1/6 H-D's. Or was it 19"... Anyway. I made the bit myself for the rim, so I could get the basic shape with one pass. Finishing is quite rough but it's better than nothing. And drilling the holes to the hub (and the wheel too) was somewhat hard. Can't remember how many 1 mm drill bits I destroyed...

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Wow Marko, that looks good.

Looks like you made it out of steel?  I would have used aluminum:  much easier to machine, has nicer finish, and it will not rust (unless of course you used stainless steel). :D 

 

Thanks for the info on how you replaced the spokes.  That is the same method I have used in the past.  It is time consuming.  I was hoping you came up with an easier or faster way, but it looks the one-spoke-at-a-time is the most used method.

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3 hours ago, peteski said:

Wow Marko, that looks good.

Looks like you made it out of steel?  I would have used aluminum:  much easier to machine, has nicer finish, and it will not rust (unless of course you used stainless steel). :D 

 

Thanks for the info on how you replaced the spokes.  That is the same method I have used in the past.  It is time consuming.  I was hoping you came up with an easier or faster way, but it looks the one-spoke-at-a-time is the most used method.

Yes, it's basic steel. Had to use what was available.

 

I guess it would be little faster if you could/would remove all spokes at once, clean the hub and rim, drill the holes and assemble new spokes in the jig. This "one at a time" system makes sure that hub stays where it should be. But it is time consuming, that's why this build took several breaks. I started building this December 2007... At least the date at the first picture indicates that.

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This was taken in April 2011...

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And the pic in the previous post was taken in October 2017, when I finally did finish this project.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Fantastic Work!

I love all the little details you added. Your weathering is great especially the tires. So many times I see a supposed barn find, junker or dirt track racer with tires that look like they were mounted just minutes before the photo was taken.

David G.

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1 hour ago, David G. said:

Fantastic Work!

I love all the little details you added. Your weathering is great especially the tires. So many times I see a supposed barn find, junker or dirt track racer with tires that look like they were mounted just minutes before the photo was taken.

David G.

Thank you!

Only weathering that I'm partially satisfied is the oil stain on the oil tank. That was first time I used MIG pigments on anything and the result is not what I was looking for. But I didn't have any more interest to modify the weathering on the tires. I maybe should have added some weathering to the bottom of the tanks too.

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