Neil Merryweather
SMF Supporter
Well that’s not for the faint-hearted!
This has really tested my mettle, my experience, my nerve and my patience. And I’m not even halfway through.
Stage 1 of the destructions is adding PE details to the main frame, which is moulded in one piece. My first impression was ‘wow that’s amazing’ , because I know a thing or two about mould making. But as I removed the flash -which was minimal, to be fair (and unavoidable with this type of mould), - I began to feel that maybe it was a bit ambitious to do it all in one like this. I got there in the end but there was some mould damage, which is evidenced by the presence of extra resin where it shouldn’t be, usually in crevices, but there was actually a big hole on the cylinder at the front (silencer?).I won’t bother filling it, it can be smothered with mud, but it’s a bit poor. There was also a bit of misalignment which is evident especially in the cylinders, and I think it’s really going to show up once I paint it. But life’s too short, and I’m planning a rider so his legs will hopefully hide (or at least distract from) most of it.
Then came the PE and all I can say is ‘Thank God for the internet’, because I would have really struggled about where to place anything without pics of the real thing-especially restored ones.
So this is the result of the first stage, and at least an hour, possibly more, of my time.
Stage two is the mudguards and front forks, and this is where I really started to shed follicles (you were so right Mike).
Again, thank God for the internet! There’s no real idea of where to actually locate things; I had to use the wheel as a guide for the rear mudguard, and there’s no locator for the spindle so it’s all eyeballed. The mudguard only touches the frame at the rear forks, so that’s just a drop of CA in four places (unsatisfactory to me)to hold it in place. I want the wheels separate for painting, so I have to hope for the best. The mudguards are not symmetrical but it’s not clear which way round they should fit.
The front forks were an absolute nightmare there ARE locating holes in the PE part but the pins on the steering assembly don’t fit and made the forks too wide for the slots in the front mudguard....After several attempts and many bendings of the forks I finally slimmed down the steering assembly and fitted a wheel in place(that did at least fit) to position the mudguard .
The attachment for the saddle was very unclear, especially as it was left off the assembly photographs. And the bloody kickstart pedal kept falling off, so I left it off until later. I had to add a little pivot for it as there was nothing to attach it to.
So, first day:- not impressed, really, but forewarned is forearmed, so on we go.
In other news, however, the revised 3D printed wheels were mostly successful.
I lost the 0.2mm spoke one completely but the 0.3mm spokes seemed to survive. Bizarrely it’s the one with less supports that looks better.
I tried another two variations on positioning, but it’s the upright on that works best so, although it’s not PERFECT it’s what I’m going to use. Hopefully I can insert them without breaking the spokes!
Thanks for following everyone- there won't be much more done today or tomorrow, Granddaughter's birthday party and other stuff to deal with-hopefully I will have regained my composure by Monday!
This has really tested my mettle, my experience, my nerve and my patience. And I’m not even halfway through.
Stage 1 of the destructions is adding PE details to the main frame, which is moulded in one piece. My first impression was ‘wow that’s amazing’ , because I know a thing or two about mould making. But as I removed the flash -which was minimal, to be fair (and unavoidable with this type of mould), - I began to feel that maybe it was a bit ambitious to do it all in one like this. I got there in the end but there was some mould damage, which is evidenced by the presence of extra resin where it shouldn’t be, usually in crevices, but there was actually a big hole on the cylinder at the front (silencer?).I won’t bother filling it, it can be smothered with mud, but it’s a bit poor. There was also a bit of misalignment which is evident especially in the cylinders, and I think it’s really going to show up once I paint it. But life’s too short, and I’m planning a rider so his legs will hopefully hide (or at least distract from) most of it.
Then came the PE and all I can say is ‘Thank God for the internet’, because I would have really struggled about where to place anything without pics of the real thing-especially restored ones.
So this is the result of the first stage, and at least an hour, possibly more, of my time.
Stage two is the mudguards and front forks, and this is where I really started to shed follicles (you were so right Mike).
Again, thank God for the internet! There’s no real idea of where to actually locate things; I had to use the wheel as a guide for the rear mudguard, and there’s no locator for the spindle so it’s all eyeballed. The mudguard only touches the frame at the rear forks, so that’s just a drop of CA in four places (unsatisfactory to me)to hold it in place. I want the wheels separate for painting, so I have to hope for the best. The mudguards are not symmetrical but it’s not clear which way round they should fit.
The front forks were an absolute nightmare there ARE locating holes in the PE part but the pins on the steering assembly don’t fit and made the forks too wide for the slots in the front mudguard....After several attempts and many bendings of the forks I finally slimmed down the steering assembly and fitted a wheel in place(that did at least fit) to position the mudguard .
The attachment for the saddle was very unclear, especially as it was left off the assembly photographs. And the bloody kickstart pedal kept falling off, so I left it off until later. I had to add a little pivot for it as there was nothing to attach it to.
So, first day:- not impressed, really, but forewarned is forearmed, so on we go.
In other news, however, the revised 3D printed wheels were mostly successful.
I lost the 0.2mm spoke one completely but the 0.3mm spokes seemed to survive. Bizarrely it’s the one with less supports that looks better.
I tried another two variations on positioning, but it’s the upright on that works best so, although it’s not PERFECT it’s what I’m going to use. Hopefully I can insert them without breaking the spokes!
Thanks for following everyone- there won't be much more done today or tomorrow, Granddaughter's birthday party and other stuff to deal with-hopefully I will have regained my composure by Monday!
), but the general appearance is better than the kit version.
