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Tamiya's little RC166 GP motorcycle.

I think its quick release, the front is held on with magnets like their Aircraft engine cowling's

Its a bit like detailing the cockpit....never to be seen again :)
 
It wasn't good for me finding this thread. Just had to order the kit and the extras. And I don't even do motorcycles normaly!

It reminds me of my late nights in the garage working on the bike though. I can almost smell the typical motorcycle smell!
 
Good for you denstore. I look forward to your views on it. I have found it surprisingly do-able. even the front wheel is nearly done taking a third of the time of the back wheel,Once you know what you are doing its a lot quicker :)
I know i will regret not looking for some .5mm tubing instead of using the 1mm supplied which scale wise is huge. The front forks are nice being turned alloy and to be honest i really havnt found anything so far to pick holes in. Only real advice would be to study the wheel build pictures and practice a bit with a dry build just to get used to handling the very small parts. Important point they dont tell you and i missed at first is the holes in the wheel rim are drilled at an angle to match the angle of the spokes from the hub. Its easy to be one hole out so the spoke goes into the wheel rim hole sloping from the left and the hole is sloping from the right. Hope that makes sense ?? its only when you come to put the nipples on the spokes through the rim you realise you have to start again if you have the angles wrong
 
Thanks for the advice. Will probably not get going with it in years, but when seeing your build, I knew I needed to have it. Found a complete package with all the extras at HLJ marked down to about two thirds of the original price, so I couldn't resist it. Being unemployed, that is a bad strategy, especially since I have been having to answer to the wife about ordering Tamiyas new Yamato right before christmas....:D
 
Dont worry, i'm unemployed now as well :)

Front wheel completed.
frontwheel2.jpg


For scale comparison
frontwheel3.jpg


My method of picking up and fitting the spoke nipples through the rim. a sewing needle of just the right size so the taper fits into the end of the nipple without going to far in and hitting the spoke when fitted.
frontwheel1.jpg


I remember ages ago a guy at work saying if you are going to do this on line use a real part...and make huge scenery, much easier. So the picture above is a real wheel with a massive tamiya paint jar i knocked up this afternoon :)
 
There is not a lot of body work to this which is a relief because it needs to be 100% or its really going to let the model down.

_DSC4042.jpg


the parts all have a mould line around them that needs to be sorted. Poor show on a kit of this price. I have played about with the contrast on this picture a bit to show what i mean on th side of the fuel tank

_DSC4047-1.jpg
 
Maybe they decided that it was easier to take care of in that location.
Sometimes I rather have a mould or ejection mark in flat and easy to reach places than hidden in some completely unreachable spot.
 
I can barely see it... but I'll take your word for it.

How are you planning on painting this? What kind of paints and that sort of thing?

Tom
 
Quick blast of primer and four coats of red and now it needs a day or so to harden. Then cut it back , apply decals and clear coat,then cut back again and polish..... :) meanwhile a bit of fun watching the paint dry. :blink Tom, i have used humbrol rattle cans for this as i just need to get a thickness of paint on. I will sort the finish out later. There is no masking or anything as all parts are one colour either silver or Red

_DSC4055.jpg


Test fit of the front wheel and forks see,s everything is ok. They need to come off again now to fit the fairing. It is designed to be detachable with the forks and wheel fitted but it means bending it further than I would like :)

_DSC4058.jpg


Mean while research is under way for FE.2b's. I have just found that their is an original still in existence and its only 25miles away in the Bomber hall at RAF Hendon........Which is shut this week for its annual spring clean so next week i will go and take a 1000 pictures
 
Looks absolutly fantastic.
A small question. Is there only one decal alternative?
It looks so nice with the fairing of that I would like to build two standing next to eachother. The second one could be built straight out of the box, maybe.
 
You get a choice of numbers but the basic scheme is Honda's std racing strip from the 60's so its just the one scheme
 
This is the worst bit of any racing bike build out the way

_DSC4059.jpg


Trying to get a flat circular decal to conform to a double compound curve...ie: the front number board.
My method is to cut the circle into 3 parts, a top section and a lower left/right section and then very carefully work the thing into shape with a paint brush and Micro sol, set is not strong enough, has to be sol :) It takes half an hour to work the decal using a very soft brush to stretch it in to the shape you need. Its not perfect but once the number is on top it will look ok. the bulge in the middle doesn't help but its supposed to be there :)
 
PADDY ,

So far So Great !! It looks Awesome sittin on th stand ! Dy-No-Mite work ! Esp. on that Chain !! Lookin forward to seein yoy solve that front Number plate dilema !!

Keep on gettin it !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaRop_ZMwo0&feature=related​
 
Finished this last night, took an age for the paint to dry !
Overall impressions ? well its a great fun build :) One of those builds where you just know if you did it again you could do better but that comes from trying to many new ideas on one model. Were the extra bits worth it ? In my opinion they were worth it as they are fun to put together and for me a new experience but whether they really add much to the finished kit will be in the eyes of the individual. i had all sorts of problems getting the clear coat on as it lifted the first decals i used then refused to settle on the next. Probably a reaction the the huge amount of Micro sol you need to get them to conform to the various shapes.
As usual the photo's show up the errors here and there that you would never notice with the eye particularly as the whole thing is only 3.5" tall ;)
For those that are wondering, Yes the rear wheel turns and the chain does work however i would be satisfied with knowing it works and would rather not demonstrate it :laugh: I'm not in a rush to build any more wheels or chains in this scale !!AND it makes me realise how much i like building aircraft :)............pass me that WnW FE2b...
Thanks for the comments along the way (y)

RCfinished4.jpg


RCfinished3.jpg


RCfinished2.jpg


RCfinished6.jpg


RCfinished7.jpg


RCfinished1.jpg


RCfinished5.jpg


RCfinised12.jpg

:ro:
 
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