Vespa Primavera on the way to North Cape

[Carlo.d]

The Vespa Primavera is a rather unusual motorcycle in the States. On the other hand, this small 125 cc scooter was very popular in Italy, about 220.000 were built from 1967 to 1982. Thanks to low purchase price, low consumption and simple mechanic many teenagers were happy to drive around town with their girlfriends.

I decided to build this model thinking to many brave souls who used this scooter for long voyages. My fictional teen actually is ready to leave from Bologna to North Cape, more than 8000 kilometers round trip.

The starting point is a kit from Italeri in 1/9 scale. The kit is quite simple, but the scooter itself is a simple machine: a pressed steel body, the majority of the mechanical parts are well hidden.

I completed the Vespa put of the box, sprayed with Tamiya Racing white. This is a light cream white, very similar to the original colour.

Once the kit is completed, I will begin to prepare the necessary equipment for a long trip.

 

 

[ChrisR]

Very nice!

[Carlo.d]

First of all want to apologize for my poor English, hope my explanations will be clear enough.

Now it's time to prepare some equipment for all the camping gear, clothing and so on.

I built two luggage rack, front and rear, based on autentical  vintage model. By the way, we are in the seventies. The racks are made with brass rod (1.5 mm) tin soldered. Now my Vespa is fully kitted.

 

 

[Carlo.d]

Proceeding with the model. I produced some bungee cords and a base . The base is made out of polistirene and Is engraved to reproduce a stone paved road.

Also I made some decals . A sign "Bologna - Nordkapp", the logo of Bologna Vespa Club and the logo of "Andrea Pinasco" well known seller of tuning parts for Vespa. 

[Carlo.d]

Now we are near to the end of this wip.

My Vespa is fully equipped, it's time to prepare the luggage. Of course, self built.

One bag go on the front rack and is covered with a nylon sheet.

One big waterproof bag plus some other items go on the back.

 

Other items are one small canister for two stroke oil and a bigger one for gasoline.

Near the scooter there is a backpack. My driver will keep it on his back during the trip. 

Under the plate I put a mud flap with the International Italy sign. 

That's all. My model was appreciated and received some medals in various national contests. I hope you too will like it.

[PatW]

Superb! We had similar to these in the 1960's, some of had the Vespa, some like me had the Lambretta! Some were standard, others had sports exhaust and chrome plated side panel and stacks of lights on the front! Great times were had as Mods, smart clothes, short haircuts.

[Carlo.d]

Patw, i am pretty sure that you are writing from the UK. I also am ready to bet that you have a copy of the "Quadrophenia" movie. 

The sixties.... We were younger and our hair were much longer....

[Bainford]

Very cool little Vespa, Carlo. Looks like a fun road trip for the thrifty minded. Nice work.

And by the way, your English is just fine.

[Sonorandog]

Great!  What a fun build, excellent job.

[Edward Gore]

Love the details!

[Brizio]

Nice job! I was hoping Italeri update the Protar kit, with some more detail. But it seems they kept every think like it was.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Pretty cool, great details and additions...but it sure would be nice if they'd made it in 1/8 so it could play with other models in that scale.

Edited June 2, 2024 by Ace-Garageguy
CLARITY

[TarheelRick]

Most excellent build. Your detail additions really make this little scooter come to life. Now I think I may need to go watch "American Graffiti" again.

[TNT]

Cool build and really like the added parts. 

[Carlo.d]

Thanks to all of you.

[PatW]

On 5/29/2024 at 9:20 AM, Carlo.d said:

Patw, i am pretty sure that you are writing from the UK. I also am ready to bet that you have a copy of the "Quadrophenia" movie. 

The sixties.... We were younger and our hair were much longer....

There were lots of us, those based in London mostly that were part of that movie!

[redscampi]

Great looking build! Very authentic. As always, the added details make it convincing.

Edited July 7, 2024 by redscampi

[redscampi]

On 6/2/2024 at 12:35 PM, Ace-Garageguy said:

but it sure would be nice if they'd made it in 1/8 so it could play with other models in that scale

This has always been one of my pet peeves. It's almost perverse how a company decides to create tooling in a scale that isn't compatible, sometimes even with their own products.