In Progress - Tamiya Ducati Desmosedici

[Raikkobin]

By the way the colour of the rad hoses will not be a clear red anodized finish. It will be an almost oily finish orange red. The hoses are made of silicone and look alot like these. You can also see hose kits for bikes and cars on this site...http://www.hosetechniques.com/images...lage_large.jpg

hope it helps a bit

[mickbench]

Ah, thanks. I'll paint them flat red with a little orange mixed in. I wasn't too sure, so was following F1 hose colours, but easy to fix. It's only my first bike, so I'm still learning.. Thanks for the tip, very helpful.

[Raikkobin]

I'm blown away by this build!! Glad I could help...

[Nobbys Nuts]

Originally Posted by Raikkobin

I'm blown away by this build!! Glad I could help...

Ditto to the above from me.
I am at about the same place as you with this build but am hanging off from posting a progress thread as I know I am going to have a work induced holdup shortly ,so I am just storing up the pics for now and you are doing a fantastic progress description in your thread anyway so I wont have to try later.
I wondered about a couple of PE parts and sent off a PM and apparently, parts #27 and #29 are spare nuts and bolts for the chassis and engine as I have been told by Laurel (Crazy Modeller).
I assembled the chain by cutting the links off the PE tree but leaving them attached to each other like a string of beads. I carefully closed the gap up between the links by bending the little tag between the links in half and then laid the chain in place and glued it on with superglue. It was easier to get an even spacing this way and you cant lose individual links. I screwed up a bit going round the sprockets ( a couple stuck on a little off shape) but it is still better than the plastic one to look at.
Are you putting on the Marlboro decals or just as per kit? I just got the Marlboro decals from Hiroboy.com. awesome service - awesome decals. They go on beautifully!
Cheers
Tony

[mickbench]

I’m going to apply the Marlboro decals from CM to mine as well. I got mine from www.hiroboy.com, and the service was very good.

I noticed the spare nuts and bolts, and did figure out they were for the chassis etc.. you actually get enough to apply a few to the cowlings as well, so some clear paint will soon fix them once I get the cowlings completed. The CM P/E set is

The chain looks awesome by eye; my pictures do not do it justice. Its way better then the kit supplied chain, as it has the little holes etc were the links are. I just wish I’d given it some more study before I assembled, as I really did mess my spacing up in a few places. But its OK, and a wash helped it along, plus some dry brushing. I too stucj a few links off angle, but its so small that only the REAL eagle eyed would say – well that’s not totally correct.

Anyhow, I’ve never built a bike before, so little ambitious to build one with so much P/E etc..

I’ll keep an eye out for your build when you post it up. Thanks for the comments..

[mickbench]

I’ve masked of the body cowlings, and slowly sprayed X18. Surprised it worked, but worked just fine. Looks pretty good actually.



I’ve also now applied all the decals to the cowlings. (With exception to the rear cowling, as I’ve had to repaint that one, as the putty cracked….!!!). Seem to have been working on this for hours now, dunno if I was being thick or something, but the CM Marlboro decals for the side cowlings were too big.. I worked around it in the end, but I had to fold the decal for this cowlings around the edges. Not sure if I was meant to do something, but it looks OK. I pulled up some reference pictures, and as you can see, what I’ve done is actually correct, so I’m happy with this. The red is not as dull as what the picture I've taken shows. My camera lights are not good enough. The red looks more like the red in the picture of the one above.





I’m going to clear them, with X22 as the decals seem to have taken on some sort of orange peel. The paint was smooth before I applied them, but now I’ve got slight texture, and I’m going for showroom here, not used etc…

Anyhow, hope you like it, looks much better with the tobacco decals. The CM decals were VERY good. Very strong, and very forgiving.

[mickbench]

I’ve started to assemble the rear swing arm, and also starting to assemble the front wheel with its brake discs etc…

I sanded the tyres; decaled the wheels, applied the tire decals, and left till today. I then used some tamiya wax to put the shine back on them after sanding, and started to assemble.

I was literally shaking right after I’d completed the rear swing arm. It was like walking on egg shells. You basically dry fit nearly all of this, and screw it all together… One slip, and it falls apart, problem is the P/E is too fragile for slips. And yep, I slipped. Twice in fact. The large screw to hold the rear wheel in just wouldn’t line up correctly.

I VERY nearly walked away. I just thought, nah, its not going to happen tonight after I broke the rear discs brake off the wheel for the second time. But I decided, right, I’m going for it, and if it isn’t built this time, I’ll try again later.

Finally it went together.… And even though I don’t think it’s going to win awards, it’s built. I really do not think it’s all that challenging. I was just have a dumb moment, and then woke up on the third attempt. I can laugh now, next time I’ll try and be more alert.

I also washed many parts with black ink. I hope you like it.

[Hiroboy]

This is coming along real nice, I always enjoy bikes at there is soon many parts. Haven't built one for a few years now, but I do have a Tamiya Ducati Desmosedici on order now after looking at this thread and the Crazy Modeler parts I have lying around.

[americas911]

Looking good man!

[Raikkobin]

Man you work fast!! Good job!!

[klutz_100]

Originally Posted by mickbench

I hope you like it.

I do
This is a very interesting project - fun to watch it coming together so well.

[Merkava]

Loving every minute of this build Mick! I got myself into motorcycles last year, and now I am dying to build a kit like this... Your builds always inspire me to work on something, and this build is no different.

Thanks for sharing!

[mickbench]

I’ve now completed the bike stand. Important part, without this, the bike cannot be stood up when I’ve got it completed. How’s that for confidence. I didn’t pay for the Tamiya stand, as it was fairly expensive. It did however had chrome plastic replacements and 2005 decals, but I didn’t want the decals, so bought the Crazy Modeller version. Problem was, no new chrome wheels or jack stand. Not that this was a problem. TS14 base coat, and Alclad highly polished aluminum and it looks just as good. I used heated sprue to make wheel axles and painted them silver. Painted the wheels light blue, and it’s all done. Money saved..!!



I’ve also built the front wheel, basically CM P/E painted with a mix of black /silver and then Alclad magnesium for the brake discs. Washed with black ink, and detailed with enamel silvers. The wheel bolts that hold it all together, although I did glue it, were sprayed Alclad burnt metal. I’ve also added a shot of the other side of the rear swing arm. You can see the P/E chain, all washed with black ink, and dry brushed with X 11 silver. Looks OK. I’ll do better next time I build a P/E chain, as I learnt from it.



I’ve taken some advice I got, and repainted the hoses with a mix of red, orange and a small bit of black. The CM set did supply hose clamps. Try using them though. Impossible to cut off, I gave up. I went back to the idea of using BMF to make my own hose clamps.

I’ve also built the engine, I’ve sprayed the entire black with Alclad white metal, with the sump sprayed Alclad jet exhaust, also with the fly wheel housing. The fly wheel cover was sprayed Alclad burnt metal. I’ve washed with black ink, and dry brushed, heavy in some places X11 silver. Picked out a few bolts, added brake piping and that’s about where I am at the moment.

[Raikkobin]

do you use any sealer on the alclad finishes? I have troubles with it rubbing off...

[mickbench]

Originally Posted by Raikkobin

do you use any sealer on the alclad finishes? I have troubles with it rubbing off...

No. I never use a sealer, and I've never had it rub off. In fact it's very durable. And is very hard wearing. One of the reasons I like it. Strange you should say you have problems with it rubbing off.