rtfoe
SMF Supporter
Hi, anyone wanting to scratchbuild Honda Cub C70 can do it as it is possible or get the Dio-Park kit now available.
In 2007 I wanted a local universal motorbike that is instantly recognize in an Asian environment set in the 70's. There were none in the market at the time except for out of scale toy metal ones. So I set about collecting research and photos of the real bike and started with a scaled picture profile of one.
Then I set about creating the skeleton framework and scrounged the right diameter wheels from an Italeri Harley Davidson...surprised it had almost the same diameter rim but I had to trim down the tyres of its thickness. If I had more patience and skill I would have thinned it further to scale and because of that the bike was scaled around 1/32. The figure came in handy to make sure I kept the scale between 1/35 and 32.
I made sub-assemblies of the parts that would be added to the frame just like parts from a sprue. Most of it were from plastic strip and rod carved and sanded to shape. I shaved off certain parts from the Harley that looked similar to parts on the Honda. The mudguards were two pieces of thin card sandwiching a thicker one bent around the tyre and sanded down. Putty was added where ever contours needed building up. I didn't bother with working parts and just glued where ever it needed connecting
The next image shows the state of art my camera was at the time...no macro. Anyway it's the shock absorbers and foot rest made from different sized rods and laminated with Tamiya tape. Honestly even with my optivisor on they looked just like this.
The next hardest process was the splash guard. To get the curve and slope, cuts were made at stress points and then a layer was laminated on the outer side. The little aperture for the choke and petrol mix levers was pre-drilled before attaching the splash guard. Bits of plastic simulated the levers and pipes.
At this point I was regretting not sanding the tyres thinner...I still pressed on. More to come later.
Cheers,
Richard
In 2007 I wanted a local universal motorbike that is instantly recognize in an Asian environment set in the 70's. There were none in the market at the time except for out of scale toy metal ones. So I set about collecting research and photos of the real bike and started with a scaled picture profile of one.
Then I set about creating the skeleton framework and scrounged the right diameter wheels from an Italeri Harley Davidson...surprised it had almost the same diameter rim but I had to trim down the tyres of its thickness. If I had more patience and skill I would have thinned it further to scale and because of that the bike was scaled around 1/32. The figure came in handy to make sure I kept the scale between 1/35 and 32.
I made sub-assemblies of the parts that would be added to the frame just like parts from a sprue. Most of it were from plastic strip and rod carved and sanded to shape. I shaved off certain parts from the Harley that looked similar to parts on the Honda. The mudguards were two pieces of thin card sandwiching a thicker one bent around the tyre and sanded down. Putty was added where ever contours needed building up. I didn't bother with working parts and just glued where ever it needed connecting
The next image shows the state of art my camera was at the time...no macro. Anyway it's the shock absorbers and foot rest made from different sized rods and laminated with Tamiya tape. Honestly even with my optivisor on they looked just like this.
The next hardest process was the splash guard. To get the curve and slope, cuts were made at stress points and then a layer was laminated on the outer side. The little aperture for the choke and petrol mix levers was pre-drilled before attaching the splash guard. Bits of plastic simulated the levers and pipes.
At this point I was regretting not sanding the tyres thinner...I still pressed on. More to come later.
Cheers,
Richard
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