Monkey Business...on a grand scale!

[Mence]

Hello.

Without an area to model properly, this will bump along a bit but I should eventually get there.

Having owned a few of the real thing in my time, this odd little vehicle has a special place in my heart.



Hopefully it won't look like the one on the box ;D

[Mence]

Thanks CS, nearly is the word!

[Mence]

Bit of background for you.

These bikes nearly didn't happen, they were originally very small, 5" wheeled runabouts used as a novelty ride at Honda's Tam Tech amusement park back in 1961.



They proved so popular that Honda put them into mass production in 1967. They still had small wheels and no suspension or indicators but over a period of time they evolved and grew bigger with a few more of the creature comforts we expect today.
Honda remained loyal to the near bulletproof 50cc engine which has powered many of their range including the 'Cub', the most mass produced vehicle in history...

[TRM]

count me in on the Prof!!! Looks to be a really fin build for you!! Nice way to "keep it in the box" on the size things while your world get straightened out!!

[Mence]

Thanks T.

It's a bit of an oddball but they do look quite nice if they're done properly.

Being 1/6 scale, finish is very important as any imperfections become pretty obvious!

Then there's the colour, hmm...

[robbo]

Build away Mence, good to have you back at it mate

[Mence]

Cheers Robbo, don't get too excited, it's gonna take a while!

[Mence]

I know fella, its not much but I need something new to show at Lancing next year!

[Mence]

True enough mate, finished, it's a touch larger than a 1/24 car so not too bad.

need to sort the frame, trying to get the right finish is going to be challenging!

[bullardino]

Sept 23, 2012 13:46:13 GMT -5 Mence said:

Having owned a few of the real thing in my time, this odd little vehicle has a special place in my heart.

Wow, it looks very small, so small to be hard to sit on it...

Never seen one except in pictures, I'm sure you'll turn this kit into a wonderful replica

[eastrock]

Im also up for the stroll prof

[Mence]

Thanks guys, I appreciate your company on what could well be the least viewed blog on the forum! ;D

[`Boots`]

Seen a couple of these little chaps recently when i been out working!!!, i`m in!!

[Mence]

Sorry chaps, more on this soon, at the moment I simply have absolutely nowhere to do anything...

[TRM]

All good bud!! Life...amongst other things can certainly get in the way from time to time!!! Still here waiting!!! Be that patiently!!! ;D

[Mence]

Thanks T, at the moment it's both exciting and frustrating, exciting because we are finally doing something to the house that has been planned for a while, frustrating because it means other things like modeling take a back seat.

Anyway, in the spirit of things, a brief 'What's in the box?'

What you get is all very nicely done and belies the age of some of the kit sprues.

You get:-

3 Sprues finished in Chrome
2 Sprues in red
1 Sprue finished in Aluminium
2 Sprues in black
1 Sprue of clear parts
1 Bag containing vinyl parts including seat, footrests, handle bar grips etc. and coloured clear parts for indicators and tail light.
1 Bag containing 2 fantastic looking rubber knobbly tyres, vinyl tube, 2 yellow suspension springs and 2 chrome suspension springs.
1 Small bag containing metal axles, nuts, screws and small springs.
1 Decal sheet
1 Further sheet containing foil decals.
1 Destruction booklet broken into 23 stages in Tamiya's usual, easy to read style.

All in all, 260 parts with super detail, no flash and no sink.



Let battle commence....

[Mence]

Thanks CS

Here goes. Predictably enough, building starts with the frame.

In reality a simple design and Tamiya have done a neat job of replicating it.
Lots of parts which due to their age need a little cleanup but nothing to bother you.

Next I will try to get this lot together...




Thanks for following.

[Deleted]

Prof,with any build,you've gotta start somewhere!!!...In your case,it seems to be a minor miracle,you started at all!!!!...I'm with ya mate! ;D

[Mence]

Cheers CB, great to have you along buddy!

[WigWag Workshop]

This looks like a fun build, I may have to find this kit, as I really like the look of that bike.

-Steven

[Deleted]

Hi Prof,
Great kit! I'm sure you'll make a real nice job of this, even with your limited build space

[Mence]

Chaps.

Dicky, yes chap, pretty much everything you need is there including the extra sprue with some modest tuning parts to make it look a bit different!

Steven, they are fun and Tamiya have three distinctly different minibikes in 1/6 so a great choice too!

SteveM, thanks fella. It's something which I am managing tomodel pretty much on my lap at the moment, don't know what's going to happen when it comes to paint

On the subject of paint, it originally came in three colours, red and white with a red frame as on the box top, 'Fighting Red' with a black frame and my chosen colour scheme, 'Candy Graceful Purple' with a black frame. Problem is Tamiya never got round to releasing the Purple paint for it. So, I have decided to find something as close as I can which proved difficult due to lack of photographic evidence of the actual vehicle in a decent light.
Finally, a trip to the motor factors yielded an aerosol tin of Ford 'Purple Velvet' which to my eye is fairly close.

Back soon I hope...

[Mence]

You got it Dicky, reminds me of my 2.0 Cortina GXL, how I wish I still owned that!

[Deleted]

an old mate of mine had a 2.0 GXL, I was so envious it was a beautiful car,

'til the compliance bushes went then I just sat on the pile of wheels, drank beer and listened to him swear as he changed them ;D

[Mence]

Aaaah the good old days of home maintenance eh Steve, these days you plug the damn thing into a computer and it tells an overcharging garage how much to shaft you for!

Ok, frame went together as only Tamiya does but as I mentioned earlier, it's an older set of molds so some degree of filling is to be expected.
The filling was done using Cyano as when dry it has a similar density to kit styrene so sands down uniformly.
At this point I also tackled assembly and prep of the footrest hanger, sidestand and swinging arm.

All then primed using the usual Halfords Grey Primer.

Apologies for fuzzy pic but I'm sure you get the idea



Next will be paint, I have decided to go with a tried and tested paint which produces a finish between semi-gloss and gloss and looks very similar to the finish on the real thing.
Only slight setback is that it takes days to dry hard enough to handle

[TRM]

Nice seeing you getting to have at this a little!!! Primer coat looks good there Mence!!

[Mence]

Cheers T, its nice to be gluing stuff albeit not as much as I want to!

[TRM]

In do time, there will be more time for you!! You have more patience than me my friend...I would have the "travel box" out at the local pub every night!!!

[eastrock]

Great progress prof, would also like to try a bike soon
maybe a ducati

[Mence]

Chaps.

T, Your idea of heading to the local with my model has crossed my mind more than once I can tell you, only problem with that is red wine, lots of red wine ;D

ER, do one fella, Tamiya do some really nice 1/12 Dukes, they are really good builds and are great when finished.

Dicky, thanks chap, prep on something this scale is soo important as it can really be obvious if you try to take shortcuts. The black has gone on but I have resisted checking the finish yet which will no doubt show if I have missed anything!

Tried out the Purple today on the tank, a fair bit paler than what I believe it should be but quite nice all the same, should look fine under a clear coat.

Try to update tomorrow...