Repsol Honda NSR 500 98 (Doohan)

[ace91]

Hi guys,

It's been a while since I've made bikes cause there are no more other bike kits in the market as I've made most of them. It just so happened that I went to the opening of the new hobby store & I happened to see this kit which was still there even before they moved from the previous store. So, I gave a thought about it & I was like 'Hey, why not make one?' Thus, I bought the kit in the end & started making this after completing the West McLaren MP 4/13 test machine.

Here are the photos of the naked bike in various angle.









Here are the photos of the completed kit in various angle.















First & foremost, though the instruction sheet suggested X-13 but the thing is, I do not have an airbrush to do the job & I am not going to buy the set just for one matter only as I do not intend to use it in the long run. Besides that, buying the set is kind of costly to me & the maintenance is a lot. I'm not sure though. The blue paint I used is TS-19 as the label is the same to the acrylic paint counter part.

Another part I've seen, just like when I made the '99 model, the decal at the side of the tail cowl is kind of hard to place them. So is the end of the tail. Notice the white part looks kind of awkward? Wish that the kit provides masking tape to make our job easier and not ending up damaging the decal. Also, I find that the set is brittle & breaks easily. Glad I managed to be as careful as I could when handling the decal.

Also I find it hard to put the cable down & not obstructing the view on the side as you can see here.

Now not sure what to make next year.

Adrian

[joelwideqvist]

Those were the days! Doohan in pole :-)

Paintjob looks good but if you've built most of the bikes on the market it's definately time for an airbrush! That seat rear end looks terrible, and that's not your fault, those seat decals are so hard to line up and get to look good. An ab is the best way so you can paint the whole section.
Try brake line shall be routed on the inside of the frame. Go down under the tank and then backwards.
/Joel

[stevenoble]

Nice job but like already said, to really do it full justice the white areas needed airbrushing.

[michel1973]

Nice bike, but as mentioned before the decals aren't that nice. You can also use a haidryer and decalsoftener too get them fit more nicely

[John18d]

Adrian - you have reasonable skills - the decals were not your fault, but I agree if you are going to continue building models it would be wise to invest in a few airbrushes and a compressor - your skills are much better than this result - because of bad fitting brittle decals.
I have this kit in the build process and have had nightmares with the decals - I am in the process of masking and painting it all with an airbrush.
John

[eugene78]

Looks like you haven't used a decal setting solution, e.g. Tamiya Mark Fit. If you don't have a clear coat over the decals, you may still give it a try. It wouldn't help the brittleness, but it would make the decals follow the body shapes better. May be too late though.

[John18d]

Originally Posted by eugene78

Looks like you haven't used a decal setting solution, e.g. Tamiya Mark Fit. If you don't have a clear coat over the decals, you may still give it a try. It wouldn't help the brittleness, but it would make the decals follow the body shapes better. May be too late though.

eugene - I might be wrong, but Adrian usually builds very nice bikes and doesn't have this type of problem normally - so I believe he knows and uses decal softening solutions -
I am in the process of building the 98' NSR and the Tamiya decals are crap - brittle and non-responsive to softening solutions
These kits are pre-cartograph era decals so they have very poor quality.

John

[eugene78]

Originally Posted by John18d

I am in the process of building the 98' NSR and the Tamiya decals are crap - brittle and non-responsive to softening solutions

I agree that Tamiya decals are not the best ever, but from my experience they react to solutions quite well -- at least to the Tamiya solution. As for the brittleness, I think they are just old. On my latest build (on the same page here in the Gallery) I had to use two sets of decals, because the first one was partly damaged in a masking disaster. The first set was fine, but decals from the second set (which I think was a few years older) were just falling apart during application. I managed to use them somehow, but if I have to use old Tamiya decals next time, I will give them a coat of Liquid Decal Film first.