Motorbike modelling: advice requested

[Weaver]

Some friends of mine have decided that they want models of their motorbikes at their wedding in March. One of them is no problem to get ready made, but the other, a Kawasaki Zephyr, is only obtainable as a 1/12th kit by Aoshima. They've bought one of these, opened the box, had a nervous breakdown at the sight of all the tiny parts, and asked me to build it for them.

Now keen as I am on the real thing (possibly precisely because of that), I've never built a model motorbike, so I have some questions:

1. Does anybody here have exerience of building them, and if so, could you pass on any tips?

2. Where do model motorbike builders hang out on the web? I've found a couple of reviews/articles about this kit, but only one in English so far.

3. I'm particularly nervous about paint, since I mostly do military stuff where tattiness and imperfection only adds character, but civvie vehicles are generally expected to be shiny and perfect. Do you just paint them like the real thing, with real car paints, or are there other techniques?

Any and all input/advice greatfully received. It won't be a whiff, but I will post some pics anyway.

[Captain Canada]

Drilling out the holes that cool the brake rotors is uaually step one for me....

[Hobbes]

For painting tips, find a site that focuses on car models. The same technique applies.  Basically the paint is polished, then a glossy clear coat is applied.

[jcf]

Tips from Tamiya:
http://www.tamiyausa.com/articles/feature.php?article-id=294#5

Motos are a matter of building and finishing lots of sub-assemblies, and then assembling them all
into a finished object as cleanly as possible. It can get frustrating.

As to paint, make it easy on yourself and use whatever brand of model paint you prefer. Gloss of course,
and get all of the clear colours they have. 

Is this the build you saw? :
http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/t753852.html

Hmm, now where is my Matchbox/Revell Vincent lurking?

[Weaver]

Drilling out the holes that cool the brake rotors is uaually step one for me....

Noted - cheers!

[Weaver]

Tips from Tamiya:
http://www.tamiyausa.com/articles/feature.php?article-id=294#5

Motos are a matter of building and finishing lots of sub-assemblies, and then assembling them all
into a finished object as cleanly as possible. It can get frustrating.

Just like building the real thing then!  I noted one model site offering advice on how to get the engine in the frame without scratching the paint on the latter: could have been taken straight from a real custom bike mag....

As to paint, make it easy on yourself and use whatever brand of model paint you prefer. Gloss of course,
and get all of the clear colours they have. 

Trouble is, the only paint I'm really familiar with is Humbrol enamel, and I've had endless trouble with their rattle-can clear lacquers. Guess I'll have to get the airbrush out for the top coat.....

Is this the build you saw? :
http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/t753852.html

Yes. I'm not entirely sure yet what model my friends have bought: Aoshima do several Zephyrs in various trim/custom setups.

Hmm, now where is my Matchbox/Revell Vincent lurking?

You know you want to......

There was a real Vincent knocking around a few years ago that had been subtly updated with things like modern brakes and shocks, but without violating it's "classic" appearance. Really got the concours freaks (1:1 scale JMNs, basically) scratching their heads and arguing about when exactly Vincent experimented with disc brakes. Didn't have the heart to tell them they were Honda ones, stripped, de-logoed and polished....

[beowulf]

Trouble is, the only paint I'm really familiar with is Humbrol enamel, and I've had endless trouble with their rattle-can clear lacquers. Guess I'll have to get the airbrush out for the top coat.....

my method of bikes is to air brush the colour (i only use acrylics) and then air brush a few coats of Future/Kleer.........although a while back i did a Tamiya Honda CBR 400 purely using rattle cans for paint and clear coat just to prove to myself i could do it......only time i used a paint brush was for the red and orange clear for the tail and indicator lens

[Weaver]

Well I picked up the kit today, and had a look at the bike.

Good news: she wants it warts'n'all, so I WILL get to use those military weathing techniques (how many shades of rust can you get? )

Bad news: it's got lots of non-standard (home-made in some cases) accessories on it, including a screen, a rack, crash bars and handlebar muffs made from an old leather flying jacket fed with warm air through pipes from the engine....

I havn't promised to make all the extra bits since it absolutely MUST be finished on time, so what I will do is build it up standard to make sure it WILL be ready, then make as many extras as I can manage.

The kit seems nice, but has what seem to this novice car/bike builder to be some odd decisions. For instance, the shock absorbers are multi-part, and there are two chrome sprues in the box, yet the fork legs are cast in one piece with the grey plastic sliders, which means you have to paint the stanchions "chrome". There are no backs to the brake calipers, the switchgear is slotted to go on the bars rather than 2-piece,and the inside faces of the fork legs and swingarm are hollow.

Questions:

1. How do you paint something "chrome" - I mean really bright, automotive chrome, not "shinyish metal"?

2. Can you get detailing bits like brake hoses, cables etc...?

3. Can you get accessory bits like different mirrors, screens etc...

[Hobbes]

1. Alclad is pretty good for metal effects, but I haven't seen their chrome up close.

You could use chromed rod/tube instead, from e.g. http://www.albionalloys.co.uk/

2. At the electronics shop, you can get spools of thin wire that would work for this.

[jcf]

Try Hiroboy for detailing parts:
http://www.hiroboy.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=26

Alclad chrome truly looks like chrome, but you have to get down a super-smooth gloss black base coat in order for it to work,
lacquer works best.

[Weaver]

Nice one Jon!  

Classic case of be careful what you wish for: I could triple the price of the model buying stuff from that site, although frustratingly, 2/3 of the things they list seem to be out of stock...

Think I'll have to be more restrained than that though. Currently considering spiral pipe and wiring if I can't get it locally, and possible replacing the fork tubes with polished stainless tube: I really don't like the way they go together in the kit. They also have "soft tube" which looks good for making crash bars and racks and the like.

There don't seem to be any 1/12th aftermarket shocks or mirrors (which doesn't surprise me, really). Jo's bike has non-standard short shocks off an obscure Hyosung cruiser so that her little legs reach the ground, and she's already accepted the different kit ones, so I think she'll have to live with square mirrors instead of round ones too, unless I suddenly get confident with "chrome" paints. There are actually lots of minor differences because the kit bike is a Japanese market 400 while her's is a UK market 550. You can't see the capacity difference itself because it's the same engine bored out, but there are also lots of "off the shelf" things like brake calipers that are different. This might be either because it's a different model year, or it might be that the UK model spec is different: there was a craze for "grey importing" Japanese-spec bikes into the UK in the '90s, and people quickly realised how much better spec'd the Japanese equivalent of a UK model often was...  


Also found this site full of advice: http://pages.interlog.com/~khartlen/home.html

[Weaver]

1. Alclad is pretty good for metal effects, but I haven't seen their chrome up close.

You could use chromed rod/tube instead, from e.g. http://www.albionalloys.co.uk/

2. At the electronics shop, you can get spools of thin wire that would work for this.

I couldn't see chromed rod on there - am I missing something?

Good tip on the wire: they have very fine black insulated stuff that might make good control cables.

[Hobbes]

They have nickel silver instead, which has a similar high-gloss surface. Chrome plating would make the rods too thick, I guess.

[beowulf]

Good tip on the wire: they have very fine black insulated stuff that might make good control cables.

another option would be to visit hobbycraft...they do coated wire for making jewelry in a variety of gauges and colours.....i use it for wiring cars and bikes and cos its wire not tube you can make it conform to shapes

[Mossie]

Little Cars do a lot of detailing stuff, mostly aimed at 1/43 car builders but a lot of the stuff is generic & will work for larger scales, such as lenses, coloured wire, fine tubing etc.  They also do Alcad II, Vallejo, Pro Modeller, MiG Pigments as well stuff for buffing & polishing.  They're good attenders on the show circuit, attending all the big ones & many of the smaller ones too.  They don't do online sales, so you'll have to ring them or contact them at a show.
http://www.little-cars.co.uk/list2.html