Tamiya 1/12 Ducati Superleggera V4

Post by **MrBowcat** » Sun Oct 16, 2022 2:00 pm

Afternoon all.

So straight from one bike to another.

Started (as bikes tend to) with the engine. Turned this lot:

Into this:

Nothing to stressful so far, usual Tamiya build and only 4 colours. I'm about to make my life complicated though, I've decided to try and represent the carbon fibre on the frame (where it can be seen), swing arm and wheels. The first two shouldn't be too difficult, but the wheels are going to we fun. Its not just a case of draping a large decal over and making it fit as the weave runs in a particular way, as can be seen here.

To that end I've just ordered some Tamiya plain weave CF sheets from SMS. Until they arrive I can get the parts painted gloss black in preparation.

Post by **Twokidsnosleep** » Sun Oct 16, 2022 4:36 pm

Front row seat for this one

Post by **WordenB** » Sun Oct 16, 2022 6:29 pm

You don't hang around do you Mr B. Looking forward to those wheels especially!

Post by **Mpfiend** » Mon Oct 17, 2022 9:42 am

Seat pulled up and popcorn ready, looks like another top quality start.
I'll be interested to see how you achieve the carbon wheels.

Post by **digger303** » Mon Oct 17, 2022 11:05 am

Pulling out all the stops is BC.

Post by **MrBowcat** » Mon Oct 17, 2022 11:18 am

Welcome aboard chaps. Keith, I will also be interested in how I'm going to achieve the wheels.

Post by **MrBowcat** » Sat Oct 22, 2022 2:02 pm

Afternoon all.

So, carbon fibre. I decided to tackle the wheels first, thinking these will be the hardest to do (possibly famous last words).

So far I've done the front wheel. This began with some measuring, mathematics (I had to drag out Pi for the rim radii), thinking (the hardest part) and template making.

Many hours later (in excess of 10 over a couple of sessions) and 50 individually cut bits of CF decal, I ended up with this.

Now admittedly a little rough and ready, but this is zoomed right in and pre-gloss. At normal viewing distance it looks a lot better, in fact not even that obvious to the naked eye which beggars the question as to whether it's worth doing. For me the answer is yes, not so much from the viewing perspective, but from the pleasure derived from completing such a complex part.

Post by **digger303** » Sat Oct 22, 2022 2:19 pm

WOW.....thank the heavens it's not a Churchill

Post by **Twokidsnosleep** » Sat Oct 22, 2022 5:56 pm

Superb
But math

Post by **MrBowcat** » Sat Oct 22, 2022 6:30 pm

Cheers gents.

Post by **BigWall** » Sat Oct 22, 2022 8:09 pm

So nicely done!

Post by **MrBowcat** » Sat Oct 22, 2022 11:17 pm

Cheers Joe.

Post by **Mpfiend** » Sun Oct 23, 2022 9:20 am

Now that is something special right there.
I can fully understand the complexity of what you have achieved here.
With a coat of semi gloss over it this will be amazing.
Do you have a photo of the templates used?
I'm really looking forward to the next installment.

Post by **MrBowcat** » Sun Oct 23, 2022 9:47 pm

Cheers Keith.

I don't have a photo of the templates unfortunately, and I've binned them now.

Post by **MrBowcat** » Mon Oct 24, 2022 9:11 am

Morning all.

Did a bit over the weekend. Got the front wheel finished had a lot of trouble with the long tyre decals (they cracked and fell apart) and now don't have enough left for the back wheel. Will have to improvise might cut them in half and have shorter ones on the back.

Did some more CF decalling on the front and rear mudguards.

And just for fun put the pit stand together. The instructions would have this painted black but I decided to give the Zero paints Rosso V4 a test.

Post by **Mpfiend** » Tue Oct 25, 2022 5:09 am

More great progress.
A man with your skills could easily paint two red lines on a tyre.

Post by **Johnj** » Tue Oct 25, 2022 6:12 am

After those wheels, there is nothing you wont be able to C/F

Nice one !

Post by **digger303** » Tue Oct 25, 2022 6:17 am

Post by **MrBowcat** » Tue Oct 25, 2022 8:10 am

Cheers guys.

Post by **ForeverPlasticKits** » Tue Oct 25, 2022 1:04 pm

Carbon everywhere or almost ... beautiful work and paint!

Post by **MrBowcat** » Tue Oct 25, 2022 6:16 pm

Cheers dude.

Post by **MrBowcat** » Wed Oct 26, 2022 9:08 am

Morning all.

Welcome to another episode of "Who else is really bored of CF".

On that note, swing arm and engine cover. Both quite tricky, the swing arm has a cavity each side where the chain passes through that needed covering before the main flat(ish) sides. The engine cover is a mostly flat piece but had a lot of detail so took a while to get the decal to settle down everywhere.

Post by **digger303** » Wed Oct 26, 2022 1:01 pm

Never mind about the 3 foot viewing test your passing the close up camera shots with distinction.

Post by **MrBowcat** » Mon Oct 31, 2022 9:20 am

Morning all.

Some weekend progress.

Back wheel CF'd and glossed.

Swing arm completed.

Exhaust built and painted.

And the detail painting done on the frame. This involved some tricky masking but came out OK.

Next up is getting CF decals on the frame. I'm only going to cover the bits that will be seen, so to that end I've been cleaning up the various body panels so they can be test fitted to work out how far the decals need to go.

Post by **Mpfiend** » Tue Nov 01, 2022 5:08 am

Very nice work,
That rear wheel looks amazing.

Post by **MrBowcat** » Tue Nov 01, 2022 1:58 pm

Cheers Keith.

Post by **ForeverPlasticKits** » Tue Nov 01, 2022 5:49 pm

wonderful!

Post by **MrBowcat** » Tue Nov 01, 2022 7:41 pm

Cheers.

Post by **BigWall** » Wed Nov 02, 2022 1:37 am

I do believe you've mastered carbon fiber decaling!

Post by **MrBowcat** » Wed Nov 02, 2022 11:42 am

Cheers Joe.

Practice makes perfect. I'm nowhere near perfect with it, but I'm now happy to try and CF decal anything. Did the frame yesterday.

Post by **WordenB** » Wed Nov 02, 2022 3:14 pm

Beautiful work above and beyond the call of duty Mr B, well done man.

Post by **MrBowcat** » Wed Nov 02, 2022 3:39 pm

Cheers dude.

Post by **MrBowcat** » Fri Nov 04, 2022 10:41 am

Morning all.

More CF (yawn).

Got the frame covered where it will be seen, and a couple more of the covers, one for the rear part of the exhaust and another that fits on the underside of the frame at the front where the headlights go.

With the frame done I was hoping to get the rear end together and fitted, however I'm waiting for some tyre decals from Italy. I tried painting the tyre stripes with acrylic paint (was worried about using lacquers on rubber). To this end I made some masks, but on removal peeled the paint straight off the tyre.

Post by **Mpfiend** » Sat Nov 05, 2022 9:21 am

MrBowcat wrote: Fri Nov 04, 2022 10:41 am Morning all.
With the frame done I was hoping to get the rear end together and fitted, however I'm waiting for some tyre decals from Italy. I tried painting the tyre stripes with acrylic paint (was worried about using lacquers on rubber). To this end I made some masks, but on removal peeled the paint straight off the tyre.

More stunning CF work.

I can confirm that tamiya lacquer paint DOES attack the rubber tyres.Tamiya acrylic does normally work quite well, however I guess as the lines are so thin, there isn't enough surface area for the paint to grip.
How about trying a paint pen such as POSCA PC-1MR in red?
Or just wait for the replacement decals

Post by **MrBowcat** » Sat Nov 05, 2022 11:00 am

Cheers Keith.

The decals are on the way now so will just wait for them. There's plenty of other work to be getting on with.

Post by **MrBowcat** » Mon Nov 14, 2022 9:18 am

Morning all.

I'd taken a break from this build, all of the CF decals had sapped my mojo. One of my modelling rules is know when to walk away from the bench, and this was one of those times.

I got back to it this weekend with yet more CF, but the break had done the job and I enjoyed it. I got to work on the back end of the bodywork which is several small parts, all of which needed some CF.

I also decided to put the radiator together. I've overdone the dry brushing on the fans, but as these will be facing in toward the engine I wanted to give the detail a chance to be seen.

I'm still waiting for the wheel decals to arrive from Italy so I think I'm going to move on to the fairing next.

Post by **BigWall** » Tue Nov 15, 2022 3:37 am

I don't know what to say. The carbon fiber is just insane!

Post by **digger303** » Tue Nov 15, 2022 11:21 am

Love the radiators.

Post by **MrBowcat** » Tue Nov 15, 2022 6:50 pm

Cheers guys.

Post by **MrBowcat** » Fri Nov 18, 2022 9:23 am

Morning all.

More decals, although this time it's the kit supplied ones.

These still took a while, the two side fairings has 33 between them.

Post by **MrBowcat** » Mon Nov 21, 2022 10:55 am

Morning all.

I had a lazy weekend so didn't do much modelling. I did gloss coat the body panels, and matt coat the parts with CF, but not worth a picture. Other than that I painted the shocks and got the front end put together.

Post by **digger303** » Mon Nov 21, 2022 12:19 pm

Post by **MrBowcat** » Sat Dec 03, 2022 12:16 pm

Hi guys, long time no post.

I got tied up with some non-modelling projects so haven't been to the bench in a while. Got back over the last couple of days and pushed on. I really want to get this one done and off the bench, I'm still waiting for the tyre decals to arrive so for now will just have to build without them.

Started with getting the rest of the small parts together and painted.

Then had to deal with the rest of the carbon fibre parts which I had been putting off.

These winglets in particular were a PITA, 13 CF pieces each!

And finally the body panels were flatted and polished.

With that all done I could start putting it together. Just a couple of shots if it at the moment before all this goodness is hidden by the body panels.

Post by **MrBowcat** » Sat Dec 03, 2022 8:24 pm

Done. PICS.