Yamaha TY 125, Heller 1:8

[Rakentaja]

The first model from my Heller Prestige collection of 1:8 motorcycles (one is still missing, I hope someone will kindly buy it to me).

There are only 140 parts here (+ spokes I will replace), all the other motorcycles have about 300 parts.
It comes with paints, a brush and glue. The brush and glue are ok. The paints are unusable because they have dried. Well, I have suitable acrylic paints. There is also a 0.5 mm rod for making springs. I use a genuine springs, which I have ordered.

 

[Rakentaja]

I have now painted all parts and the next step will be to change the spokes to the rims.

 

[afx]

Good looking bike.

[mustang1989]

Looking forward to the assembly process on this one.

[Rakentaja]

Unfortunately, I have to stop building this. It makes no sense to continue until I get new rims somewhere.

After removing the chrome and the varnish underneath it, the plastic was so brittle that a piece of the front rim broke and the entire rim was full of cracks.

I have read that others have had the same problems. The quality of the plastic is apparently such that it cannot withstand any substances needed to remove chromium and varnish.

The chrome actually came off quickly, about in one hour, but it took about a day for the varnish to come off. And it was too much for plastic, which became brittle.

 

Edited March 30, 2021 by Rakentaja

[peteski]

Sorry to hear about the problem. It is annoying to get a good start on a build (of an older kit) to have something drastically go wrong.

I'm curious as to what you used to strip the metal coat and the clear lacquer.

Am also curious how brittle are the runners on the chrome parts tree (without them being exposed to the stripping solution)?  Since those are not needed, can you test how easily they break/crack?

[Rakentaja]

If I remember correctly, I used these products: Oven and grill cleaner (pic 1), a substance used to open a clogged drain (pic 3), a bleach , that is the same as chlorite (pic 2). 
The chromium came off quickly, but it took at least 24 hours for the varnish to come off. I don't remember exactly anymore.
I have used the same fluids in the past without any side effects.

I don't have any chrome parts tree to test. All the parts are painted and ready to install, but no rims. (Pics 4-7)

[Rakentaja]

15 minutes ago, Rakentaja said:

I have used the same fluids in the past without any side effects.

 

However, this was the first Heller product. All previous ones have been products from Revell, ICM or Hasegawa. 

Does it matter then which manufacturer's plastic parts it is, I don't know.

 

[bisc63]

Man, that's a shame! Those are some very crisp looking moldings and should build up to a very nice display piece. You should post a request in the "Wanted" forum section. Best of luck to you on your search for new rims.

[Rakentaja]

8 hours ago, bisc63 said:

You should post a request in the "Wanted" forum section. Best of luck to you on your search for new rims.

Hello Rusty.

I've done it. http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/163650-rims-for-heller-52994-yamaha-ty-125-18/

 

[peteski]

Thanks for the info Jouko.  I forgot that you live in Finland and I'm in USA.

But your description and pictures seem to show that those products contain either Chlorine (bleach) or natriumhydroksidia  (Sodium Hydroxide) for clogged drains and oven cleaning.  I agree that those are considered safe to use on Polystyrene.

You don't keep any of the empty "parts trees" or "parts frames"?  You throw them away, and put the parts in those boxes?

[Rakentaja]

4 hours ago, peteski said:

You don't keep any of the empty "parts trees" or "parts frames"?  You throw them away, and put the parts in those boxes?

I will keep them until the model is ready, no longer. 

Could using too much glue cause that crumbling? That glue is the Heller tube glue that came with the model.

[peteski]

7 hours ago, Rakentaja said:

I will keep them until the model is ready, no longer. 

Could using too much glue cause that crumbling? That glue is the Heller tube glue that came with the model.

That is an interesting theory.  I have experienced thin Polystyrene strips getting brittle and crack into small segments as I tried to glue them using Testors liquid cement (the thin stuff, mostly made of Methyl Ethyl Ketone, or MEK).  But the same strip does not break up when using Methylene Chloride based liquid cement.  The strips are not old (freshly purchased Evergreen brand strips).  Maybe the chemical used in Heller glue did make the wheels brittle.  That to me would make more sense than Chlorine or Sodium Hydroxide making the Polystyrene brittle.

 

I didn't realize that you strip "chrome" *AFTER* gluing parts together.  I *ALWAYS* strip parts before gluing. That way I don't need to scrape the "chrome" from the glued surfaces.

[Rakentaja]

10 hours ago, peteski said:

I didn't realize that you strip "chrome" *AFTER* gluing parts together.  I *ALWAYS* strip parts before gluing. That way I don't need to scrape the "chrome" from the glued surfaces.

I haven’t said I glued the halves together before removing the chromium. Of course, the chromium is removed first and then glued. The picture shows the parts glued after chromium removal. I tried to paint the parts at that point, but that orange-yellow lacquer visible under the chrome on the other rim prevented the work from succeeding. After that, I tried again to remove that varnish. After this stage, the rims were already in the crumbling stage. If I hadn’t wanted to replace those plastic spokes with metallic ones and left the chrome rims, the motorcycle would have been ready months ago.

[peteski]

I mentioned that when I plan on removing all the "chrome"and varnish from parts, I do that  before gluing them together.

 

If I understand you correctly, you took the "chromed" parts, removed the plating from the gluing areas, them glued them together.Next, you try to remove the all the remaining "chrome" and varnish. It is possible that the combination of glue and "chrome" removing chemicals made the parts brittle.

[Rakentaja]

44 minutes ago, peteski said:

I mentioned that when I plan on removing all the "chrome"and varnish from parts, I do that  before gluing them together.

 

If I understand you correctly, you took the "chromed" parts, removed the plating from the gluing areas, them glued them together.Next, you try to remove the all the remaining "chrome" and varnish. It is possible that the combination of glue and "chrome" removing chemicals made the parts brittle.

No, you did not understad me at all. ?

Case closed!

What is done is done.