Scale-Master Posted July 22, 2016 Posted July 22, 2016 Another Tamiya cycle, but this one is a little different compared to most of the other kits I’ve built from the line. It has suede-like material for the seat for one thing, and a few more metal parts than the others too. The latter is likely due to the unique steering/suspension set up. It also looks like many parts are molded as one piece so a good amount of hand/detail painting is in order before too much assembly can commence. The painting instructions appear to be comprehensive as well. I decided to focus on clean up and painting most of the parts prior to assembling it and just put them in the lid as I went along.
Scale-Master Posted July 22, 2016 Author Posted July 22, 2016 I followed the color mixing instructions for the pipe color, used X-11 for the chrome bands and made decals for the mufflers by spraying flat aluminum on clear decal paper.
mustang1989 Posted July 23, 2016 Posted July 23, 2016 Lot's of little parts in this one. I've always had a respect for anybody that can take on a bike kit so I'll be looking forward to how this one shapes up.
Scale-Master Posted July 23, 2016 Author Posted July 23, 2016 If you like the subject matter Joe, I'd highly recommend you try one of the Tamiya kits. For me they are like modeling candy. As fiddly as they may look, they are exceptionally well engineered and surprisingly sturdy. If you take your time they are a blast to build.
Rider Posted July 23, 2016 Posted July 23, 2016 If you like the subject matter Joe, I'd highly recommend you try one of the Tamiya kits. For me they are like modeling candy. As fiddly as they may look, they are exceptionally well engineered and surprisingly sturdy. If you take your time they are a blast to build.Tamiya kits are know for their fit finish and engineering placment of mold lines and pin marks. They are affectionately called shake'n'bake kits. Simply the best kits on the market. Looking forward to watching this WIP Scale-Master. I have this in the stash too.
Scale-Master Posted July 24, 2016 Author Posted July 24, 2016 A couple frame subassemblies and the engine.
Scale-Master Posted July 31, 2016 Author Posted July 31, 2016 (edited) I tried some new high fill primer to prep the “body” for paint. It sands great and over white looks like a cool way to color and shade a skull… Edited July 31, 2016 by Scale-Master
Scale-Master Posted August 3, 2016 Author Posted August 3, 2016 While the parts fit pretty much “normal Tamiya”, there are a couple that surprised me that they did not fit well. Plus there seems to be an error in the instructions regarding the length of tubing required for one of the radiator hoses. It is about half as long as it needs to be, and since I had cemented the piece to the engine it took a bit of work to remove and replace it. Also the water pump part with the tube that attaches to the radiator does not line up. I had to bend it a fair amount to get it close, then used CA as filler at the neck. The steering is supposed to work, and I guess if the parts were not painted it might, but even then I suspect a little bit of honing and adjusting would be in order. There is just too much load on the plastic parts and the primary bell crank sheared the second time I tried to turn the handlebars, and that is with less than half the linkages hooked up. They all moved freely individually.
Scale-Master Posted August 4, 2016 Author Posted August 4, 2016 The exhaust pipes fit as well as expected. The two rear pipes were a bit of a handful, but by installing individually and letting the cement dry, it was very manageable. I haven’t decided if I will touch up the joints, or leave them as is since they look a bit like weld joints now.
Scale-Master Posted August 5, 2016 Author Posted August 5, 2016 As the swing arms and wheels go on, it starts looking very unique.
Scale-Master Posted August 5, 2016 Author Posted August 5, 2016 I used Tamiya TS-26 for the white. I dusted on a few base coats and followed up with some of it decanted and airbrushed. I had to use the box again, too windy to trust setting the parts out.
Mooneyzs Posted August 6, 2016 Posted August 6, 2016 Mark... This is looking very nice so far. Keep up the great work on this. Looks like you are having fun with it.
Mike C Posted August 9, 2016 Posted August 9, 2016 Looking good so far. Last year I picked up one of those kits at the ACME Southern Nats. And there was also a built up one at the show too.
Scale-Master Posted August 28, 2016 Author Posted August 28, 2016 The decals are very workable and I have not had any cracking issues. I put the two side decals on first as shown in the instructions, unfortunately those two decals are about 0.030 too long and when the top decal was applied a ghost image of the stripes showed up in the Bimota lettering. Not terrible, but if I knew ahead of time…
Scale-Master Posted August 31, 2016 Author Posted August 31, 2016 Upon further inspection of the decals and instructions, my concerns about the ghosting of the decals through the Bimota lettering probably won’t be an issue because the kit provides extra lettering decals in white. Unfortunately where the red panels overlap on the tank darker colored blocks are created.
shaunmza Posted September 2, 2016 Posted September 2, 2016 That is an amazing bike and you have done a fantastic job! I have a Tamiya Suzuki Katana which is waiting to get built, going to need a lot more experience before I get anywhere near your level of quality
Scale-Master Posted September 3, 2016 Author Posted September 3, 2016 That Suzuki is a nice kit, but requires a little more effort than this one and the newer kits. I mixed Italian Red with Cream to try to match the color of the decals and airbrushed the bulk of the red areas. I hand painted the edges since I could not mask on the decals. Not perfect, but better. I still have to add the Bimota decals and then clear it.
Mike C Posted September 14, 2016 Posted September 14, 2016 It's coming along nice. I picked up one last year. Still unbuilt.
Scale-Master Posted September 14, 2016 Author Posted September 14, 2016 Now that the touch up and decaling is done I can move on to the final assembling of it. I painted the seat areas black in case the material doesn’t fit 100%. This is the “bad” side that took most of the effort to touch up. Certainly not perfect, but way better than it was, and acceptable for this project.
Scale-Master Posted November 15, 2016 Author Posted November 15, 2016 Turns out my earlier concerns about the seat material were warranted as it was just powder on the carrier paper, so I had to paint the seat areas. All done now…
Mooneyzs Posted November 25, 2016 Posted November 25, 2016 Mark... this turned out great... nice job on this one.
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