First WIP: Honda VFR750R

Hi,

After spending many years browsing modelling forums I've finally decided it's time to give back, so here is my first WIP.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2740/4149326283_33e1f846d9_o.jpg

It's Tamiya's 1/12 VFR750R. I originally started it about 6 years ago, only the main engine assembly and frame, and then stopped. In the mean time I lost the instructions and then found them again recently!

Hopefully posting here will encourage me to finish this model, it's been a few years since doing so and I have too many in a half completed state!

My skills are average, I can put together an okay model OOB, but I'm going to spend a bit more time on the clean up than I have done in the past and also add some detailing. I've been working on it over the past few weeks and will post up some more pics later today when I have a bit more time.

Here is some of the progress I've made so far...

I've added a back to the rear caliper and a few extra bolt heads from stretched sprue.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2781/4150084052_6b2daa8ba0_o.jpg

I 'carefully' drilled and removed all the plastic where the holes are, I can't believe I managed it :)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2692/4150084292_d59a2fcde3_o.jpg

This link had some holes to fill and a few bolt heads added.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2788/4149325453_bcc6fa06be_o.jpg

This discs were drilled.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2652/4149325605_fdae7d3d82_o.jpg

I added a back to the caliper, a pad retaining pin and bleed nipple (not shown). I also filed the massive void on the inside of each leg (and inadvertently the front mudguard locating holes, which luckily opened up again easily.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2681/4150084752_3a4274c545_o.jpg

I added a scratch built rear brake master cyclinder. It's not fantastic, but better that none, although it may never be seen! I also changed the fitting the master cylinder connects to as I prefer the look of this and it wasn't to much work.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2719/4149326103_13968a4068_o.jpg

Finally, for the moment, I scratch built a new piggy back for the rear shock as the kit one was a bit basic and I wanted to try a little more detailing. This might not be seen but was fun to make. I've still to add the jubilee clips to it.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2725/4149325807_52b7e48ab0_o.jpg

Let me know what you think.

Super start and a super welcome!
/Joel

Excellent progress. I remember building this kit many years ago and I made an absolute disaster of the decals.

Thank you for the comments!

To give you all an idea of where I'm hoping to go, here's a few of the photos I found to inspire me.

First up, the one that really got me thinking about detailing this model. Lots going on here, I'm not sure how busy the finished model will be as I've not attempted anything like this before, but I guess we all need something to aim for.... no laughing at the back if it ends up nothing like this!

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2754/4150401331_56e3fa887b_o.jpg

That got me looking further and after some time searching with Google I came across a site that had the whole bike split into exploded diagrams. This one is the speedo etc, and got me thinking about adding some extra wiring.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2801/4150401419_f7b7515c72_o.jpg

I not sure how I'll approach it yet, or if I have the skill to be happy with the results, but I'll give it a go. There might be a little artistic license if I can't work out where all the wires go, but I'm the kind of modeller that likes it to look right rather than be a 100% perfect scale model.

Wish me luck!

Those sites are the ones you hope for with every build, I never find them though. Lucky you :-)
/Joel

A great start! Hopefully in 6 years I'll have the courage to start posting my own work!!!

Ah, cR@Zy!NgLi$h, come on. You are among friends here. Just post your work!
/Joel

Nice start so far, I guess this will be rather detailed

cR@Zy!NgLi$h, try posting some stuff!

I'm hoping this will be detailed, but I've only ever built out of the box before so I'll see how far I get! I don't plan on using any aftermarket PE or anything like that, so I'm limited by my scratch building skills, and I don't really know how good they are yet.

Now, I have question about primer. I've primed the fuel tank with white auto primer, Halford's own (UK), as it seem to be generally recommended by various modellers. It leaves a very slightly bobbley texture, should I sand this smooth before the colour coat, or will this cover easily like it is.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2665/4154482001_048f0120a5_o.jpg

Also, for the first time I've bothered to prime some of the smaller parts. Do most of you bother, or paint straight on to these.

I was also wondering if it might be worth trying a different primer, something like Alclad using my airbrush, although I like the convenience of a can for covering large areas or lots of parts.

I don't sand the primer if I have a nice even surface (although a bit bobbly as you say). I know a lot of people do though.

I prime parts that is to be painted with laquer paints and if the plastic part has a color that is much darker than the paint I will use, e.g black plastic to be painted white, red or yellow. Otherwise you get much duller paint.
/Joel

After a small painting error (painting is the part I dread, but I'll get there one day) I cheered my self up by completing a slightly fiddly task.

I wanted to improve the stock ignition system with some blue wires instead of the over-sized supplied vinyl tubing.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2595/4156511596_5ea9556360_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2671/4155749337_8f5fb48442_o.jpg

I cut off the part that the tube went over, sanded smooth and then very carefully drilled a small hole to accept the wire. Only one hole went slightly off, but the mistake will hide with paint.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2552/4155749457_e4d396eee1_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2640/4156511484_e39dcb500f_o.jpg

Great work! I love this bike, it is my dream bike, I have two of these kits (one still plastic wrapped-never to be opened!) keep up the great work.

I would sand that primer.

It looks like you are doing a fine job on the bike so far!

Mark

I've improved the radiator today.

I've cut the original hoses out and replaced them with hoses made with heatshrink tubing as these will look realistic being a rubber type material and are a better size. I put a piece of wire in and formed the tubing over it to give it some rigidity to make bending it to the right shape easier.

The part of the radiator it fits to was made by drilling a small hole into the radiator and fixing a small length of plastic rod into it. This will give a more realistic step to the join between the hose and the radiator.

I've also added the mount for a wire that attaches to the radiator (water temp I guess?) and the clip on the side. The clip is a little over-scale, but it's the smallest I could get to work.

I hope you're enjoying the build so far, let me know what you think. (Am I going into to much detail describing what I've done, is it interesting?)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2746/4160617358_222c4803dd_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2624/4160618048_b6b4292c40_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2542/4159863129_dc199130e5_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2502/4159863791_3098587fc4_o.jpg

Okay, I've haven't shelved the project and gone on to something new! Here are a few updates.

I've added a few bits of plasticard to the rear mudguard to make it more like the real thing. I'm not that happy with the finish, but it's the first time I've attempted any re-working like this so I shouldn't be too hard on myself. Here are the before and after pics. Sorry about the poor light on the first one.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2709/4257256132_4048d437ab_o.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4066/4257257744_e01d29934f_o.jpg

I've also managed to get a reasonable finish on the fuel tank with the help of Tamiya's polishing compounds. There's more paint to go on this part yet.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2564/4257257476_858d8e28dd_o.jpg

The wheels I'm quite happy with.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2696/4256496547_c839eaa296_o.jpg

I might give a light wash to the chain.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2786/4257256984_ab37f6db1a_o.jpg

The main frame.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4063/4256496031_8ae1d81986_o.jpg

And this is the engine so far....

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2679/4256495533_92370a9f56_o.jpg

I'm currently working out how to get some of the extra cabling in that Tamiya have missed (like the throttle), there might be a dose of artistic license here!

Well done so far. I'm a big fan of the VFR (I own a VFR800Fi) and I will be following this thread for sure.

OH B*GGER!

I put the second colour on the fuel tank and in my rush to dry it (near a heater) the Tamiya masking tape reacted with the white paint (Halfords) and somehow ate into it ruining the finish. My fault for rushing!

The rest of the build is going well, so I did a pre-assembly of the parts to check the fit and to see how I can add extra detail........ and to see how it's looking of course :iceslolan

There's lots to be done yet, but here's the picture so far...

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4045/4271959435_0effe82783_o.jpg

Great job. Keep it up.
And the bike itself is just plain gorgeous (yes, I'd love to own one as well) :D
As far as I can remember one year it was even voted "The Sexiest Bike In The World" (those crazy bikers :D ). Quite an achievement, considering those were the times when Duc 916 ruled supreme.

Can't see pics. Use photobucket, or fotki as they are a reliable online hosting place.

Thanks, should be fine now.

I changed a setting in Flickr and have changed it back now but there might be a delay before it shows.

I've finished the exhaust pipes for now. I sprayed Vallejo silver first followed by a coat of future to seal it in. Then I sprayed clear humbrol red, yellow and blue for the heat staining. This is the first time I've attempted this and the results aren't too bad. Once this was dry I masked off the pipes, sprayed gloss black over the silencer and then Alclad chrome over this. The effect shows very well in the picture, although there are a few imperfections I could have avoided by spending more time preparing the surface.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4066/4306263669_832ac81b6a_o.jpg

I've also been working on the radiator. I think it's almost finished.

I've added electrical wires to the fan motors, a wire for the temperature sensor and then another that will go up to the meter panel.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2780/4307006138_7d82b08146_o.jpg

Finally, I made some jubilee clips by carefully gluing a thin strip of foil from a wine bottle around the hose and then gluing a small piece of (0.4mm diameter) wire to the band.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4027/4307006686_8ce15e9509_o.jpg

What do you think, any other good ideas for making these clips?

I call "jubilee clips" hose clamps. I think you did a wonderful job making them! I will have to try that sometime.

Mark

Here's the completed drivetrain.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4041/4308800464_25a9f8300f_o.jpg

I made the clips with more foil from a wine bottle. I wrapped a thin strip around the end of cocktail stick and glued it, then I attached it to the kit part and then trimmed off the excess with a fresh scalpel blade.

You can also see the protective tube around the rear end of the brake hose. I used 1.6mm clear heatshrink tubing, carefully heating it to fit it snuggly. You can find it easily on eBay.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2735/4308800558_8ef22b076a_o.jpg

This is how the model is looking so far. There's a bit more wiring to go yet, and I'm also making another part of the air filter system that's not in the kit.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2797/4310038714_abcca4e0e5_o.jpg

Nearly done now!

Here are a few more shots. I still need to apply the red decals and add a few finishing touches.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2710/4349207639_24330a1c55_o.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2682/4349207861_3aac8eec92_o.jpg

I love this bike, you´re doing a great job. I have one to be done, which blue is this one?

Nice and clean work!

Very nice work so far. Take your time with those red decals, they are a little tricky to apply on the rear seat unit. I speak from experience of totally messing a set up when I built this model many years ago...

Very nice,just so on!

wooowww - didn't know there's a kit of that loveley bike!

if you need detail images of some parts i can make some close shots for you

i got a NC30, though it's a bit smaller, things look the same (most)

here's my little girl

http://home.arcor.de/h3ll.driver/nc30/my_nc30.jpg

Well, it's been a while and not much more was done. Anyway, I like my bike naked! Here a couple more pics. I've started a 1/12 Tamiya Yamaha YZR500, look out for WIP later!

http://i1296.photobucket.com/albums/ag20/Beakster-/IMG_0120_zps4aee84ef.jpg (http://s1296.photobucket.com/user/Beakster-/media/IMG_0120_zps4aee84ef.jpg.html)

http://i1296.photobucket.com/albums/ag20/Beakster-/IMG_0121_zpsed50400b.jpg (http://s1296.photobucket.com/user/Beakster-/media/IMG_0121_zpsed50400b.jpg.html)

I love the vfr range, got the rc46 myself. I could marry that rear rim!!!

Really nice work on the VFR RC30 Beakster
I would like to see it finished with the bodywork on
How did the decals work out on the rear?
John

Thanks for the comments.

John, the decals didn't really work out, hence the naked bike. Getting them to line up at the rear just wasn't happening for me and the front cowling was going to be left clear.

I'm not too bothered as my intention was to display the bike with the cowling off alongside the bike.

I'm now working on a '83 YZR500, going for the Marlboro livery, should be easier.