Tamiya Suzuki RGV-r XR89

[MrBowcat]

Morning all.

I'm building this for a GB on another forum.




Progress so far.

[ForeverPlasticKits]

It looks very nice! The paint is fabulous!

[Twokidsnosleep]

Cool, will follow along

[Mpfiend]

looks like you are off to a good start already.

[SmilesPerHour]

That looks really smart so far.

So much mechanical detail and small parts to be coloured different

[MrBowcat]

Cheers guys.

Some progress over the weekend. Got the airbox and radiators together, painted and mounted on the engine, then got the whole lot mounted in the frame. The HT leads should be black, I went with red just to give it some interest.

[digger303]

Ha .....two timing us for another forum

Looks very good as usual

[MrBowcat]

Cheers Digger.

[Mpfiend]

coming along very nicely.
Your paint work is very sharp on all the small details.

[MrBowcat]

Cheers Keith.

I cleaned up and primed all the other parts (other than body panels) yesterday, but not worth a photo yet.

[ForeverPlasticKits]

Amazing paint, you made the good choice with this Tamiya kit!

[MrBowcat]

Merci mate.

[MrBowcat]

Morning all.

I've been working away on all the little bits (forks, foot controls, front wheel and brakes, etc) but as most of these require multiple colours so I've not taken any pics yet.

I did get the exhausts finished and installed though. I'm still learning how to do convincing heat staining so still not great, but most of it's going to be hidden. I also screwed up one of the kit CF decals for the two pipes that go under the saddle so had to improvise. Again, these will be hidden once the rear fairing goes on so no major problem. I am slightly worried about the decals though, they are very thick and brittle, and as most of the blue parts are decals I may run into some issues. I've scanned the decal sheet so if it comes to it I will have to make some masks and spray the blue.






In other news I've also been prepping the bodywork. The rear fairing, tank and undertray were all two parts so needed glueing and filling, but now ready for paint. The age of the kit showed again with these parts, not the perfect alignment of modern kits but easily fixable.

[Mpfiend]

Really nice progress.
I always look forward to every update.

[MrBowcat]

Cheers Keith.

[Garion77]

Amazing as always ! so stunning that it looks like the real thing

[MrBowcat]

Thanks Francis

[ForeverPlasticKits]

The paint of the metallic parts is so realistic ...

[MrBowcat]

Cheers.

[digger303]

Very nicely airbrushed getting the heat staining done.

[MrBowcat]

Cheers Digger.

The mechanical parts of the bike are now mostly done, just need to put a couple more colours on the handlebar grips.





The forks aren't permanently attached yet as the mudguard has to go on.

So onto the bodywork, I don't think I will get this done before Christmas, and as a dining table modeller I will have to pack everything up for a few days, so will be a little while before I get this completed.

[gpz900ra7]

Looking good, just make sure you place the front wheel facing the correct way, its going backwards at the minute.

Shaun.

[digger303]

Looking good, just make sure you place the front wheel facing the correct way, its going backwards at the minute.

Shaun.

ah you mean the wheel rim not the tyre.

[Mpfiend]

Very nice,
Have a good Christmas and get back to this as soon as you can

[MrBowcat]

Cheers all, and thanks for the heads up Shaun.

[gpz900ra7]

Cheers all, and thanks for the heads up Shaun.

No worries.

Shaun.

[MrBowcat]

Good afternoon all, and a very Happy New Year.

Got my bench back after the Christmas break so cracked on with the decals. As predicted these were horrible, very thick and brittle. I'm usually fairly good at decals (see my Ducati build if you don't believe me) but in some places these beat me. They were fine on flat or slightly curved surfaces, but introduce a bend or complex double curve and they either cracked or creased. I did the best I could with them and this is how they look under a gloss coat.




Normally I would flat this back before polishing, but I'm worried about going through the gloss on the creases so will have to live with an abrasive polish job this time. After that it just needs putting together, then it will be done.

[digger303]

Good afternoon all, and a very Happy New Year.

Got my bench back after the Christmas break so cracked on with the decals. As predicted these were horrible, very thick and brittle. I'm usually fairly good at decals (see my Ducati build if you don't believe me) but in some places these beat me. They were fine on flat or slightly curved surfaces, but introduce a bend or complex double curve and they either cracked or creased. I did the best I could with them and this is how they look under a gloss coat.




Normally I would flat this back before polishing, but I'm worried about going through the gloss on the creases so will have to live with an abrasive polish job this time. After that it just needs putting together, then it will be done.

Decals are a bit of a let down and that's a bit of a downer after going through all the steps of a build. Then detailing it more only to have the decals at the end let go a sucker punch .....

[MrBowcat]

Cheers Digger. Yeah, not ideal.

To be fair I'm probably being over critical of my own work, unless viewed up close it's not too obvious. I'm almost done with it so will get some pics up soon.

[Mpfiend]

The body work looks fine from here!
What method do you use for the decals? heat or chemicals or both?
These older kits with "Tamiya decals" I tend to only use chemicals as the heat method can be a harsh and cause the decals to crack.

Happy new year

[digger303]

The body work looks fine from here!
What method do you use for the decals? heat or chemicals or both?
These older kits with "Tamiya decals" I tend to only use chemicals as the heat method can be a harsh and cause the decals to crack.

Happy new year

I was told the Mr Hobby decal solution works best with Tamiya decals. I've not tested this theory as I gifted my Mr Hobby solution away...

[MrBowcat]

Keith, I was using Ultimate extra strong. I only used heat on the exhausts, two of which failed so didn't use the heat after that. Even the extra strong needed multiple liberal coats before the decals started to soften.

[WordenB]

Cheers Digger. Yeah, not ideal.

To be fair I'm probably being over critical of my own work, unless viewed up close it's not too obvious. I'm almost done with it so will get some pics up soon.

Yes Mr B, over critical! Looks absolutely fine, I can't see any cracks or creases, only you would ever know.

[MrBowcat]

Cheers Worden.

All finished now. Pics - viewtopic.php?f=46&t=30639

[Mpfiend]

Keith, I was using Ultimate extra strong. I only used heat on the exhausts, two of which failed so didn't use the heat after that. Even the extra strong needed multiple liberal coats before the decals started to soften.

I also use the Ultimate Extra strong solution, I also have the Mr Hobby Mr mark softer. both seem to be fairly similar however the Mr hobby product does seem to work better with Tamiya and Cartograph decals.
In the past I have also used Tamiya X20A thinners to "set" decals, how ever care must be taken with this as it will dissolve some paint types.

[MrBowcat]

Cheers Keith, if I ever do an older Tamiya kit again I will get some Mr Mark to try.