Italeri 1/9 Triumph 3HW

[paddy]

Italeri 1/9 Triumph 3HW

Some time (about 8 years ) ago I built the little Italeri Triumph 3HW, WWII despatch bike widely used by the British. At the time I thought one day I will build a civilian version of this and like all planned “things to do” its taken me all these years to have a go.

The kit, much like Italeri s model classic cars started out as a metal and plastic Protar model in the 1960’s. Italeri bought Protar out and started producing their kits in all plastic. The problem here is component for component metal is obviously much stronger so some of their plastic parts are just to small to have the strength needed when originally designed in metal.

The cars rely on a lot of screws, and these are self-tappers, designed to cut their own thread in alloy, screw that screw into the same part in plastic and it usually results in a burst hole with the plastic part cracked or in separate pieces.

Anyway, the Italeri Triumph has no screws and although the original Protar frame was metal, the plastic one used now is well up to the job.

These Triumph motorcycles were 350cc and produced just before the outbreak of war as a civilian machine, those already sold were requisitioned and all future production was to a military spec until 1941 when the Luftwaffe bombed the factory ending production.

For this reason nearly all these bikes were in olive drab and after the war those that returned to civvy street remained like this so finding pictures of a civilian market model is not easy. Finding two the same is near impossible ….



Fortunately in the early 70s after Protar finished, this kit was produced by ESCI for a short while as a civilian model and as such it still has the civilian parts in the Italeri Military boxing like the head lamp glass.



As usual with motorcycle models smaller than 1:6 the limitations of plastic mouldings mean the spokes in the wheels are 1.1mm which scales up to about 10mm true size. Spokes are in reality 4-5mm so we need to start by re-spoking the wheels with 0.5mm rod. Having done one of these in 0.5mm piano wire and wrecked a load of wire cutters trying to cut the stuff I found my model shop had 0.43mm nickel silver rod which is perfect, still hard enough to be rigid but it cuts nicely.



So here is my original attempt from  years ago. This would have had large leather paniers but i cant paint leather so i scratch built the frames that would have carried them.















This also has the piano wire, impossible to work with spokes

So the new kit has arrived thanks Amazon , 25% cheaper than any online shop and ordered and delivered in just 7 hours....and they wonder why the shop is a dying relic.
First thing is to do something with the wheels. Now the  one above was my 1# attempt and now 8 years later attempt #2 having completely forgotten how i did the first...





So these are the kit wheels. I'm sure most with any interest in this thread will know how to spoke wheels so unless i get a request i will skip this bit other than to say the larger the hub the easier the job. Unfortunately this bike has two very small flanges as above and  as these are 40 spoke wheels you need to drill 20 holes in each




The first wheel i cut all the spokes out of one side which was a mistake and i had to use the other half to get the hub and rim position correct







Second attempt

and i just cut out half the spokes and then after fitting the new ones, cut the rest out









Long story short we now have the makings of a front wheel. at this stage the spoke nipples are lose on the spokes till i work out what to do with the rims ie: coloured, chrome alloy or black...

[406 Silverado]

The first one looked GREAT paddy but you're sure doing this second one in your typical "all out" style. Jeez man......you make this look waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too easy. This thread is now bookmarked.

[keavdog]

Great job 8 years ago. Looking forward to what you do with this kit. That spoke work looks like a nightmare to do - you are a patient man.

[406 Silverado]

Aug 19, 2024 16:33:21 GMT -5 keavdog said:

Great job 8 years ago. Looking forward to what you do with this kit. That spoke work looks like a nightmare to do - you are a patient man.

There aint no way.....no way I'd be down for something like this. Just unbelievable work going on here.

[kyledehart5]

Incredible!! What an undertaking and what a great upgrade.

[handiabled]

Bookmarked!  That looks fantastic! Great idea using the existing spokes to get the new hubs centered.

[paddy]

Well i got the hard work/foot slog done




As usual my planning is a bit adrift and not sure what to do now.
some motorcycle wheels of this era 1937-39 are all black including black spokes, some are nickel plate with a black band round the spoke nipples , some have a body work colour band some have a black hub and shiny spokes with body colour rims and so on










I am leaning towards  all black because i have backed myself down a blind alley by not painting the trims and hubs before i fitted the spokes.
I cant honesty see a way to apply a stip round the centre of the rim now the spokes are fitted  ....

[project510]

I always liked the black wheels and spokes of my XS over the Chrome that came on my CB. Good luck! And lovely job on the wheels. Cant wait to see more of the build!

[2whl]

I've thought about replacing the spokes on 1/9 and 1/6 scale several times, but have not been brave enough to try it yet. What are you using for spoke nipples, Paddy?

[kyledehart5]

Well those turned out just as amazing as I anticipated. Awesome stuff

[handiabled]

Your spoke replacement job looks magnificent!

[paddy]

Aug 22, 2024 13:02:48 GMT -5 2whl said:

I've thought about replacing the spokes on 1/9 and 1/6 scale several times, but have not been brave enough to try it yet. What are you using for spoke nipples, Paddy?

The spokes are .43mm nickel silver wire and the nipples are bits of 1mm od x 0.5 id mm alloy tube. the tube is really a bit oversize but smallest i could get in alloy but if you are going to paint them then brass tube comes in 0.8 x 0.4mm .
Not all wheels lend themselves to this, you need to make sure the original hubs have a flange  big enough to get a .5mm drill through so you can attach your spokes,
I just about got away with these hubs but you need to be accurate with your drilling to get your 20 holes even.
Most vintage bikes have a bigger hubs as they had drum brakes so providing the  kit makers are accurate and give you a flange for spokes its  more straight forward.
I suppose what i am saying is, plan ahead before you get the cutters out

[406 Silverado]

Aug 22, 2024 12:22:43 GMT -5 paddy said:

Well i got the hard work/foot slog done


I am leaning towards  all black because i have backed myself down a blind alley by not painting the trims and hubs before i fitted the spokes.
I cant honesty see a way to apply a stip round the centre of the rim now the spokes are fitted  ....

  I can't tell you how many times I've done this type of thing in modeling by not planning ahead. I'm very certain that you will get through this but you're right......it can be frustrating to realize something after the fact. Hang in there paddy as I know that you'll overcome this obstacle. 

[paddy]

Well i went with black rims and shinny spokes. Not the easiest option but its ok. I think i might need to give the spokes a semi gloss finish as maybe for a vintage bike they are a bit blingy. Again note to self .. "make a plan before you start"

Before and after









My research for original colours has drawn a blank
The best i have come up with is as Henry Ford said, you can have any colour as long as its black. The only option seems to have been a coloured petrol tank .
Most pictures that look original seem to be ex military painted in various colour schemes after the war. like this





this was not an option on the 350 single but has been copied from a factory option for the later twin cylinder shown below so this single is almost certainly ex military and painted after the war

[handiabled]

Great choice! They turned out awesome!

[406 Silverado]

Don't you just love it when all of the research leads you right back around to your original starting point paddy? lol

Been there and done that many times and it looks like you are headed in a good direction given the material that you've come up with. Dude.......the difference between the before and after pictures that you took of those wheels is just off the charts. That is some fancy foot work there buddy.

[kyledehart5]

Wheels look incredible. And I love that paint scheme even if not factory correct for that bike.

[buddho]

Those rims are beautiful!

[paddy]

Fiddling about last night with a few ancillaries
Carb is pretty good OTB given this kits origins are 60 years old



Kit headlight has a black out shield which incorporates the rim so i had to cut the middle out to salvage the rim. Luckily the kit still has the glass included but i will need to make a reflector

[handiabled]

That carburetor looks fantastic!

[paddy]

Holiday here today so did a bit of painting



We have MRP chrome over gloss black on the larger covers which sort of works for polished alloy
Molotow chrome via airbrush on small chrome parts and handlebars.
Tamiya gloss aluminium on cast case which will get a matt coat when hard
Semigloss MRP black on barrel and head which will also get a mat coat eventually.

[406 Silverado]

Nice 'n smooth paint application on each of those parts and those headlights are looking great. I had no idea that this kit was that old and you're right......that carb looks great for a kit of this age.

[moparman18064]

WOW WOW WOW! I am going to call my neighbor to pick my jaw up off the floor. Wheel work, just incredible. Love the carb details. Carry on!

[406 Silverado]

Aug 26, 2024 14:23:30 GMT -5 moparman18064 said:

WOW WOW WOW! I am going to call my neighbor to pick my jaw up off the floor. Wheel work, just incredible. Love the carb details. Carry on!

 Right??!! 

[kyledehart5]

Beautiful and utterly convincing paint work!! Everything is looking incredible.

[handiabled]

Your metallic paint work is masterfully done. The textures and appearance of each engine component looks spot on and the chrome work is perfect!

[paddy]

I got ahead of myself a bit to get the chrome on the tank so it has loads of time to dry. This is Revell rattle can chrome






I also had a look at the engine and made a couple of push rod tubes from alloy tube











I am trying to resist not weathering this as its not the plan but i already think i will build another of these and turn it into a rat racer with loads of wear and tear

[paddy]

Everything seem to be fitting reasonably well, i had a delivery today of a can of Tamiya Burgundy TS11 . i will spray a test piece first and see if its anywhere near the colour i imagined. The lid looks a bit strange but often the lids can be misleading and Dark but a white base might help.

[Steve Zuleski]

Wow, another great adventure, sorry I missed the start, Paddy. The chrome work turned out great, but the spoke work is tops. I was under the impression you could get a kit for those, but using the right sized wire seems more practical and much easier to be specific for your needs. I've never monkeyed with spokes either, but you've proven the difference is blaring.

This would go along with picking up the correct tiny screws, bolts, and wires, etc. I need a good variety, but I prefer to have them in hand rather than try to figure out the best scale needed from a list. Alex De Leon is really good at spoking it, among other things, but he does the bikes incredibly well. That's the first thing I thought of when I saw you doing the spokes. Excellent conversion, Paddy!

Ruck On!

[paddy]

Thanks Steve, had a few duff builds recently so wanted to get back to my comfort zone with a bike. A 1/9 bike is a 1000 times easier than a 1/32 aircraft :-)
Alex is a real inspiration but he scratch builds and thats way above my league , i need the basics to build on .