Kawasaki ZX12R Ninja

[stevenoble]

I made a start on the Tamiya Kawasaki ZX12R Ninja at the beginning of the week.After enjoying the Suzuki Hayabusa build so much I decided to stick with two wheels for a while at least.Here's a few progress photos of the build so far.

The engine



All the body parts are painted.Some are totally finished,some need decals etc.The paint is Zero Candy Lime Green and Zero Satin Black.The metallic flakes look quite large in the pictures but in reality are a lot smaller.The clear coat is Zero 2K again!!













I'll have more updates as I progress.

[Ole_L]

Good to see you on the 2-wheeler side... and nice start. This is another great Tamiya kit.

[jmwallac]

Hot damn you work fast! You're really churning out some nice looking bikes! How about a Ducati next... Or maybe a race bike?

opcorn:

BTW, how do you attach the parts to the toothpick? I use puffy double sided tape, but its a real PITA.

[stevenoble]

Originally Posted by jmwallac

BTW, how do you attach the parts to the toothpick? I use puffy double sided tape, but its a real PITA.

I use Blue Tack to attach the parts onto the toothpicks.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-tack

[janositamas]

It looks hot so far! I like this bike in lime green, I think it suits well. I may get one for myself...

[Decs0105]

here we go again

great start and once again the body parts painted with the zero colors look outstanding! At what air pressure do you spray them?

[stevenoble]

Originally Posted by Thesaint111

here we go again

great start and once again the body parts painted with the zero colors look outstanding! At what air pressure do you spray them?

Although they are pre thinned,I usually add a little more thinner and spray them at around 20 psi.

[mrceej]

Looks outstanding!! I have one in the box that's been sitting for several years now. You make me want to build mine now.

[joelwideqvist]

Sweet! That green and black combo is looking great. Engine detail is really clean.
Joel

[Decs0105]

Originally Posted by stevenoble

Although they are pre thinned,I usually add a little more thinner and spray them at around 20 psi.

thanks for the fast answer but I got one more what about the clear, 20psi too?

[stevenoble]

Originally Posted by Thesaint111

thanks for the fast answer but I got one more what about the clear, 20psi too?

Yes,the clear is sprayed at 20 psi as well.Again I add just a little more thinner than is recommended,but not too much.My usual mix with the 2K clear is 5ml of clearcoat,2.5ml of hardener and 1.5ml of thinner (this makes half a cup on my airbrush.)The usual amount of thinner is 10%,so on the above ratio's it should be 0.75ml but I find the little extra thinner I add just makes it flow a bit smoother through my airbrush.It may not be necessary for certain airbrushes.To do all the green parts on the ZX12R I used a full cup (3 coats on each part) So if you double the quantities above there should be enough to do a full bike kit.

[jmwallac]

Less typing. More building!





I'm actually learning a lot here! Keep it up

[stevenoble]

Another small update.I managed to shoe horn the engine into the frame.It was a pretty tight fit and was difficult to squeeze in but with a twist here and there it snapped into place.

Engine fitted to frame





I tried some Alclad chrome on the exhaust end can,but I really didn't like the look of it at all so I stripped it off and decided to go for a titanium finish instead of chrome.I am just adding some rivet details and may go for a touch of heat staining later on.The downpipe was left in the original Tamiya chrome plated finish.I checked some references and found that a Yoshimura RS3 exhaust can is available for the ZX12R in a titanium finish.The finish on the end can is Alclad Titanium.The Yoshimura logo is from a Dexter Models sheet.





The chain is also ready



More updates later.

[jmwallac]

Looks awesome! The Tamiya kit chrome is very convincing.

[Twowheelsrule]

The exhaust can looks so real! I think you need to add your rivets to the outlet end just like the inlet and it will be a little better yet. If it wasn't for the screw in the picture it could be a real fooler.

Good job on the bike overall!
Mark