Beyond The Sprues
Current and Finished Projects => Physical Models => Land => Topic started by: Frank3k on February 16, 2022, 12:44:38 PM
-
I've always liked motorcycles... but the two times I've ridden one I've come close to having to use my organ donor card.
While doing 3D printer janitorial work, I grabbed the Thunder Models 1/35 US Military Motorcycle Indian 741B (https://www.scalemates.com/kits/thunder-model-35003-military-motorcycle-indian-741b--1024002) to pass the time. The box has two motorcycles in it and I had the vague notion of turning one into a Tuktuk or three wheeled cargo motorcycle. The kit is so nice I decided to build one as a civilian bike. Maybe not as The World's Fastest Indian (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_World%27s_Fastest_Indian) but just as a nice generic bike.
The kit has some PE (two parts - the spokes - are critical) and many tiny parts with small or vague attachment points. Unlike Bronco or some Hobby Boss kits, the PE and the parts engineering is well thought out. There's a tool to bend the soften brass spokes to shape (the brass must be softened by heating first - I learned that the hard way) but it's been a straightforward and enjoyable build so far.
I don't enjoy working with PE and superglue, but all this brass was pretty easy to attach. Very little swearing has been done during this build. The upper rear headlight is pointing up - I've since fixed it:
(https://i.imgur.com/151UjoQ.jpg)
The gap between the fuel tanks is there on the real bike. I think the gap is still too big, especially at the front. The brake and speedometer cables are copper wire, supplied in the kit:
(https://i.imgur.com/liqvNva.jpg)
There's a PE and a plastic drive chain in the kit (barely visible in the picture below) I went with the plastic one because it was better detailed and it seems slightly more realistic:
(https://i.imgur.com/9ZmctI7.jpg)
There are still a few bits to add, but I want to start painting. I think I can remove the wheels without too much fuss. I may paint it red overall.
-
Now you need to find a 3D print file of a young and in shape Brando to create a scene from The Wild Bunch! :smiley:
-
Looking good! You should do the second one as a tuktuk. That would be cool!
I had a Yamaha FZR400 way back in 1988. This was my second bike though. My first one was a Kawasaki Ninja but my friend crashed it and totaled it. He was OK! I used the insurance money to buy the second one which is shown below, the Yamaha FZR400. I ended up selling it sometime in 1991 or 1992.
(http://i.imgur.com/sExl2NF.jpg) (https://imgur.com/sExl2NF)
-
Thanks guys - Jeff, I went down a rabbit hole of Marlon Brando links. He was riding a Triumph in "The Wild One", though.
Ramba, that Yamaha looks great!
-
I went down a rabbit hole of Marlon Brando links. He was riding a Triumph in "The Wild One", though.
And? ???
This IS Whif World! ;)
-
And? ???
This IS Whif World! ;)
I know. Besides, Brando would probably be riding an American motorcycle, anyway.
-
Terrific work Frank. There is such a wide range of choices out there now.
These new era motorcycle kits are really nice, fiddly, but nice. I have recently done a <insert groan> Bronco Triumph and whilst fiddly it certainly came up very nice.
Compared to the old style Tamiya motorcycles like the venerable BMW and Sidecar and Zundapp out of the 88mm Flak kit this new breed really are much better representations out of the box.
-
Compared to the old style Tamiya motorcycles like the venerable BMW and Sidecar and Zundapp out of the 88mm Flak kit this new breed really are much better representations out of the box.
I was looking at my collection of motorcycle parts and found the parts from the Dragon Light Infantry figure set. To quote Marlon Brando: "The horror... The horror" And to think I considered the Dragon figure sets of the 90's to be very good - at least compared to the Tamiya figures from the 60's.
The Zvezda Dnepr M-72/BMW (with sidecar) is pretty nice, though.
-
I was going for a color scheme similar to this one:
(https://www.yesterdays.nl/site/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Indian-741-2910-1-2.jpg)
All hand painted. It was going pretty well until I managed to screw up the touch-up work badly. Now I'm stripping this version. I'll turn it into the tuktuk. Meanwhile, I started on kit #2, and I'm going to paint the sub-assemblies first; it's very difficult to paint some of the nooks and crannies without screwing up the fender and engine colors and vice versa.
-
Finished the second one. The in progress steps were less interesting than the first version, since I built it in sub-assemblies that were painted before coming together.
Rear view, with a 1950 California motorcycle plate (2F22 02 - Feb. 2022): The kickstand was a major PITA to get it to stay attached. The little brass kick stand holder matches the one on the 1:1 motorcycle
(https://i.imgur.com/fLeijjx.jpg)
All the chrome is Molotow, painted by brush:
(https://i.imgur.com/OmYUJgz.jpg)
The Inspector and a rider, going over their book club choice of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance:
(https://i.imgur.com/qABgIeb.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/P5vPKbH.jpg)
The kit Indian head decal was a disaster. It completely disappeared against the red fuel tank, plus they wanted you to add the Indian text as a separate decal. I printed a new Indian head decal with a white background that matches the colors of the 1:1 fairly well:
(https://i.imgur.com/jCjPZXE.jpg)
Here's from the same angle as the 1:1. The kickstand is a little high. I added some thin wire to the spark plugs and added some of the leftover copper wire as fuel lines:
(https://i.imgur.com/SzqV4kf.jpg)
Overall it was an enjoyable (if fiddly) and challenging pair of kits. The engineering is good, attachment points are a bit small, but OK. The PE adds to the finished model and was easy to apply. The only letdown was the crappy decals.
-
Nice job, Frank! Pretty good match to the real thing! :smiley: :smiley: 8)
-
Great job! That's a nice color, looks sharp.
-
Wow! I forgot about the gear shift lever and how it featured so prominently on the side of the bike. You captured that feature perfectly in scale. Excellent work as usual Frank.
-
Thanks guys. This was a surprisingly fun build. I just put on some 50's Noir and SF movies from Youtube and built away.
-
Really nice work!
What's the rider carrying for self defense on his right leg?
-
You're insane.
-
What's the rider carrying for self defense on his right leg?
Cue Marty Robbins' singing "Big Iron on his hip." :smiley:
Most often that big iron was one of three revolver types: Webley, Colt, or Smith and Wesson and it could have been chambered in 45 ACP or 38 S&W.
-
Well, my mind is reeling. Beautiful work! I never got around to watching The World's Fastest Indian when it was in theaters - how was it?
-
The tanker figure is from the Miniart British Tank Crew (https://www.scalemates.com/kits/miniart-35078-tank-crew--107762) so the guy is probably packing a Webley or Enfield revolver.
"The World's Fastest Indian" was a good movie - Anthony Hopkins played a lovable, single minded wierdo well.
-
Frank, just marvellous. Neat as a pin