discussion Tamiya Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR

[Hecky]

Despite saying I wasn't going to do another one until next winter I'd get nothing else done, I've gone and started this. Looks like another great kit. Hopefully I can do it justice.

 

[Hecky]

I've not done much yet. I glued the engine, frame and swing arm together.

I've also bought a pin vise so I've been drilling holes in everything I can. I've done the rear brake disc and the front chain sprocket etc.

 

[Hecky]

I've also been researching photos of the actual bike. The exhaust shading is going to be interesting.

 

[Hecky]

It looks like the carbon fibre is a kind of diagonal pattern on the rear mud guard and chequered on the front mud guard, so I've ordered some decaf sheets from Hiroboy.

 

[Hecky]

*decal sheets.

Autocorrect doing it's stuff again

 

[Hecky]

Not really sure how I'm supposed to paint these bits silver. Has anybody bothered trying? Should I do the silver first and then paint the bits around it? It's really tight to get into.

 

[pjgtech]

Tamiya Weathering set D..... job jobbed...

 

[Hecky]

Thanks Peter. I've not heard of weathering kits. I'll check it out. I've been using the Tamiya coloured lacquers

 

[Mr Bowcat]

I can attest that this is a really nice kit to build.

For the silver bits, I paint them first then mask them off. You can get Aizu masking tape in .4 and .7mm which works well for this.

Edited to add:

Completely up to you of you want to heat stain the exhaust, but bear in mind only the tips are visible once the belly pan goes on.

 

[Hecky]

Thanks Bob. I'll give that a shot with the tape. I don't have any thin tape but I can cut thin strips by holding two razor blades together side by side. I've used this technique for masking the welds on my last motorbike exhaust.

I quite like heat staining the exhausts. It's one of the most fun bits. I have my Ducati displayed with it's clothes off so you can see them.

 

[Hecky]

I feel like I've made a bit of progress tonight. I've tried to batch paint the main colours as much as I can so I've spent the evening cutting bits off the sprues and cleaning them up before sticking them to cocktail sticks with blu-tack and airbrushing. I think everything other than the fairings will be brush painted from here.

 

[Mr Bowcat]

Fair play, if nothing else it's good practice.

 

[Hecky]

A pal of mine has loaned me an airbrush to try. I'm going to give it a go tonight on the exhausts. It's a decent one I think, a Gaaleri Mobius with a 0.2mm nozzle. It looks far better quality than the unbranded thing I've got and hopefully a bit smoother and more controllable. If it's any use then i might get one myself.

 

[Hecky]

It turns out that purple is a really difficult colour to mix. I thought it would just be clear red with clear blue but I can't get it right.

 

[HAWKERHUNTER]

You are not far off with that effect George. From my seat it looks very effective.

 

[Hecky]

Thanks Steve, I'm not totally happy with it yet. The purple on the real exhaust is really bright and vibrant. By mixing the Tamiya clear blue and red it looks dull in comparison.

 

[Hecky]

This stuff looks the right colour. If I can't mix it with the paints I've got then I might give it a go.

 

[Hecky]

I've had a break from painting exhausts badly and got the engine stuck together tonight.

 

[Airborne01]

Looking good, not all heat staining looks identical mate -yours looks fine!
Steve

 

[Hecky]

Got the stripey carbon fibre decal on the rear mudguard and some chequered stuff on the heel plates as a nod to the real bike.