OK for my third ever model I decided I was competent enough to up my game…how wrong was I… So after weeks of patience and more patience I managed to get to this point… But have now realised I’m punching way above my weight and have no hope of being able to paint the colour scheme on the body work or indeed fit the large decals…
Has anyone ever scraped a build due to them being out of their depth or is it just a case of shelving it and coming back to it another time? …if anyone has built a vfr750r and has any advice on the body work I’d appreciate it… Don’t like half finished projects but don’t want to mess up the whole thing by bodging the body work…
Definitely don’t scrap it! It looks fantastic so far! At this point, you can do a couple of things. Either put it on the back burner until you feel more confident after getting a few more builds under your belt, or you can charge ahead and experiment with painting/masking techniques for the body pieces. Can’t really give you much advice on a motorcycle build, but I can tell you that you can start over if you screw up the paintjob. 91% or better Isopropyl alcohol can strip those parts down to the bare plastic, without damaging the plastic itself. If it were me, I’d go for it. The only way you improve your skills is by trying different techniques and seeing what works best for you.
Please don’t take this the wrong way, but if it’s only your third build and you’re talking about scrapping the project, then you will never enjoy this hobby.
It’s about the process as much as the result; that’s the same learning curve there is to anything. If you don’t like how it’s turning out…you could either put it aside until you experience or skills are more suited to the project…or [my advice] press on and use the build to learn and try out and have fun.
I’m not knocking your desire to do a good job – we all have that – but you don’t become a brain surgeon on day one (or three) of medical school.[:D]
But kudos to the fact that you’re asking for help and advice. This forum is a great ‘brain trust’ of experience and ingenuity.
I wish I knew enough about your ‘target’ to help you out with specifics. If it was a BMW touring bike…or a nitro-burning funny car…I might have some better advice.
BTW, Eaglecash is right…you work so far looks great! Can’t see why you’d want to ‘bin’ it at this stage. Take a deep breath…and figure out what ‘Plan B’ is. [Y]
Don’t scrap it, and if you shelve it you run the risk of starting that as a habit, losing parts, or having your soon-to-be ex-wife throw it away for you.
Yes, those decals for the fairings look hard. They may not have been the best concept in the first place. Think about just painting it. Paint it white, mask and paint the red.
Bikes are hard builds. Kind of like the real thing, it’s all a balancing act. Tighten this, and it distorts that. They can’t be handled, and parts just start falling off after a while.
A couple of times I’ve resorted to youtube to watch someone rev a Honda RC166 up to 20,000 rev.s. The sound gets your blood flowing again.
just trying to do the instructions paint job… But the instructions are not very detailed in my opinion… I’ve added some pics of the colour scheme to the album…
Thanks to everyone else for the words of encouragement… Like I say I’m pretty handy with an airbrush so spraying isn’t the issue I guess it’s just a case of getting lines straight between each piece for a constant flow… Like I say the instructions don’t seem to clear so it’s hard to distinguish which is paint which is decals… How much is a different colour to the rest etc… If that makes any kind of sense?
The good news is that it looks like any masking needed is mostly straight lines. Partly why the scheme looks so good to begin with…but a lot easier for we poor modelers to paint!
I would never toss out a partially built build. Just box it up and put it on a shelf for a while. Finish the build after you get more experience.
A couple of years ago I hit a huge snag on my partially built 1/48 scale B-58 bomber. I put it away on the “shelf of doom.” After six months I dragged it out and finished the build. I’m glad that I didn’t “toss it”.
Dude that bike is awesome. I definitely agree what others have said DO NOT TOSS IT! I‘m in the same boat as you and recently posted my third model. Stay the course. It might be finished now or later but you can’t give up on such a nice model. I can’t offer any more advice than that. I’m new and model bikes scare the hell out of me.
Corral the parts in the box, and pu the box up on the shelf.
Take a break and build somehing else.
You can always come back to something later and start from a good beginning, rather than from scratch.
One of the worst things to do are to just slap the parts together if you are not “feeling” it.
Then, everything will go sideways, and in not very repairable ways.
Stopping can be much more important than finishing. This should be about the process, the use of one’s skills to ake soething unique. Even if it looks like every other example of that kits (hey never really do).
As the others have said, don’t throw it away. You can do this, it looks a little intimidating, but it’s not. The surfaces you’re dealing with are fairly simple curved surfaces. The only complex cured surface to need masking will be the gas tank, but then all you have to worry about is making sure the colored band is uniform all the way around the tank. You make your own masks for this using the decals as a guide. Find a copier and make several copies of the decals. You can either transfer the shapes to masking tape by either cutting out the decal copy and putting it on some masking tape and cutting out your mask, or you can cover the decals with a piece of clear acetate (clear report cover) and trace the decal onto a piece of Kabuki tape and then transfer it to the model. I’ve linked a couple of videos to help you. You’ve come this far, you can finish it.
Looking good. I like the bikes and have a couple more complex paint jobs in the stash. I’d say put the base down let it cure. Then have a couple beers and mask as others have said and go for it. Worst case you strip it and try again. Good learning experience. Good luck!
Thank you all for the advice and help… I think I’ll come back to it in a few days with a clear mind set and see where I go from there… I will post a pic of the outcome once its complete.,hopefully whatever happens it won’t be to bad… And like was said it will certainly be a learning experience.
If you trash this you deserve a foot you know where!! I can see nothing that would warrant that kind of result. Life is pressing on you so your thinking is not as clear as it can be. Shelve it in the box and when you are really relaxed and calm go back to it. Never toss a kit that you’ve already done this well with !
Ok I’ve added a couple of pics of my masking to the album… If someone could look over it and see whether I’m somewhere near correct it would be appreciated… Especially the rear piece as I couldn’t figure that one out… I’m hoping that once it’s sprayed blue the decals will cover what it should just leaving the white along the bottom edge… Oh and I know the yellow around the tank doesn’t look straight but there is a strip of white curve tape underneath… Thanks again for all your help…
