Smoo's Tamiya 1:12 RZ250/RD250LC two stroke rocket

[TheSmoo]

I'll upload pics of the box art and sprues when I get a chance, I haven't started the kit yet but one of my Youtube subscribers told me to do a bike, so I will be videoing this too in my usual clumsy fashion...lol, I'ts a basic vintage really rare kit and I used to ride one in my younger days.

heres a quick video of the kit I'll be making, pics to follow

[youtube]He4XFmSLDjM[/youtube]

regards

Terry

[TheSmoo]

here is the boxart -



and here is the one I rode in my youth the UK version RD250LC



I'm going to do the white version, the tamiya one is the Jap version so the decals are a bit different, ideally I would love to source 1:12 decals in the same livery as above but don't know if I can. Also the UK version has round mirrors and the jap one has rectangular, I would love to scratchbuild round ones but don't really know how to get them looking realistic

regards

Terry

[TheSmoo]

I can't get photobucket to work properly yet, I am taking pictures and will upload as soon as I can. I have been asked to do an in depth build video for this of which the 1st part is available to view if your bored...lol

off to start the 2nd part of the build tonight

[youtube]mS6_JgP3BzI[/youtube]

regards

Terry

[TheSmoo]

Finally photo bucket is working so here are the sprue shots -


all the sprues, it's a really basic kit but a classic

getting the chrome parts ready for removing the chrome using bleach

a couple of hours in and the chrome is starting to come off. As this is a really early Tamiya kit the chrome effect is really really thick

around 6 hours in i replaced the bleach as it was starting to lose effectiveness

OK so all the chrome is off, some parts took longer than others and have put the time they took next to the parts, funnily enough the smallest thinnest part took the longest to strip, i think that is something to do with having a small surface area exposed to the bleach than the big parts

so thats all the parts prepped now off to start building stuff and do the second build video which i will also pop on the build thread

regards

Terry

[TheSmoo]

dang insomnia...lol 6 hours i have been dressing parts up....lol I hate the amount of seam lines on early Tamiya kits

[Twokidsnosleep]

Looking good with the stripping....does that sound weird????
I am a oven clean guy myself for that
Tamiya bikes build up,real nice, this will turn out super

[Paul]

Off to a great start Terry, thanks for taking part

[TheSmoo]

just uploading the build videos to youtube just now, I didn't manage to sleep much over the weekend due to insomnia so here is build video #2 and #3 and #4 are also being uploaded.

I hope to get the primer down later today

[youtube]MCHuznv26Fk[/youtube]

regards

Terry

[TheSmoo]

Off to a great start Terry, thanks for taking part

thanks Paul, dang insomnia...lol..good bit about it is a I get a lot done when I can't sleep...lol

[TheSmoo]

next two build videos up if your bored

[youtube]rNPY0ivoCLA[/youtube]


[youtube]ZEr5uXSkSAQ[/youtube]

regards

Terry

[Homerlovesbeer]

Great start Terry! The build vids are a nice touch. I'd probably bore everybody to death if I attempted one

Insomnia sux big time. It's 3am for me and after 1.5 hours sleep and waking around 1am I can't get back to sleep

[TheSmoo]

finally got all the black plastic parts in primer -


before


and after

time to glue and dress up the white body parts and get them into white primer and then start shooting some colours and detail painting

regards

Terry

[TheSmoo]

[youtube]_iXeILuhoY8[/youtube]

[TheSmoo]

White body parts glued together, a lot of sinkage in the really soft white plastic so will require a lot of clean up and sanding/filling before the white primer goes on later -




Terry

[TheSmoo]

Just another wee update - at the slow part just now, sanding and filing body panels and spraying all the parts prior to assembly (that should go pretty fast).


The fuel tank was not very well cast with poor alignment, lots of high and low spots and some sinkage of the plastic, spent a good hour sanding the tank but still couldn't get these little bits to go


So I decided to use Badger Stynylrez primer as it has self levelling properties, as a filler/primer on all the white body panels


I sprayed all the other parts in their main colours - Black X1, Semi-gloss black X18 and Aluminium XF16, all that needs done is some detail painting before assembly now


That horrible seamline that wouldn't dissapear is barely visible now the Badger primer has dried, going to go over with white primer on top before the semi translucent pure white gloss topcoat

and thats it for now, once the detail painting is done the bike should fly together pretty quick

Terry

[Kingdan]

Great work terry looks like it coming out nice


Dan

[TheSmoo]

Great work terry looks like it coming out nice


Dan

Thanks Dan

[TheSmoo]

time for another update, soon be time to build the thing, still painting stuff though -


so all the parts are painted their final colours, on to the detail painting now

Started on the next coat of primer on the body panels, unfortunately the white mig 2004 white primer decided to fish eye on me

so it was time to sand them back with 2000 grade wet and dry

managed to get rid of the fish eye but had to sand the white primer all the way to the black in places

detail painted in the instrument lights and coated with tamiya smoke to give the same effect as the actual bike

then on with the decals for speedo and rev counter

well under way with the detail painting now

all the aluminium coloured parts will be getting an oil pin wash

detail painted the rear shock absorber spring, it doesn't call for it in the instructions but looks better

detail painted the wheels and lights etc

yay tyres on at last, wheels all laquered up

gave all the aluminium parts an oil pin wash

close up of the effect of the pin wash on the crank casing and rear hangers

carbs look better with the pin wash

detail on the chain and sprocket picked up well also

so thats it up to date along with the next two videos in the build series -

[youtube]47RIrnX4MS0[/youtube]

[youtube]rVD-tAx4jjs[/youtube]

need to clear coat the pinwashed parts and a bit more detail painting then the build can start

Terry

[Homerlovesbeer]

Really nice detaining Terry. It's going to look amazing! I wish I could build that quick however I have to decal pretty much my whole group build in carbon cut and measured from scratch (McLaren F1 GTR).

[TheSmoo]

Really nice detaining Terry. It's going to look amazing! I wish I could build that quick however I have to decal pretty much my whole group build in carbon cut and measured from scratch (McLaren F1 GTR).

yeah I noticed the task you had given yourself, thankfully no carbon on this bike

[Twokidsnosleep]

You are flying along on this, making me an embarrassingly slow slug!!!
Really like the paintwork you are doing and especially impressed with the chain's details and wash...most folks don't make that look real in their bike builds....you did fantastic there
Keep plugging away

[TheSmoo]

right time for a wee update, this build is flying along now, was slow to start due to the way I build my bikes detail painting first then assembling but were at the really fast bit now so here are some pictures -























as you can see I'm flying along, next up spraying the body panels, then decals, then final assembly, theres a wee video for this (about an hour lol ) that i'm editing and will upload later

regards

Terry

[TheSmoo]

and the video to go with the pics -

[youtube]n7u7wKkiNHE[/youtube]

Terry

[stellamonster]

This is looking a cracking build mate, the chrome parts have came out a treat, looking forward to seeing the gloss coat on the fairings and tank

[Homerlovesbeer]

Wow that is looking superb!

[AlexBB]

This looked fab

I have just ordered one of these and the RZ350, RD 350 LC to us UK bikers and will be using this thread and the videos as a great reference.

I am just hoping I can make a better job of these builds than the ones I did on my 20's... I remember making a complete mess of the RD250 I did in about 1983, hopefully I have learnt a lot since then and can at least make a presentable attempt

Thanks for taking the time to upload all of this Just Love ISM