Building the Chopper

[edsreef@gmail.com]

Greetings again. Once again time to get a bit crazy. I am going to try to build a 1/12 version of a Chopper Motorcycle that my son has. I think I should be able to do it.... but, I have said that before. Hope for the best.

I got 2 Revell kits of Choppers, so as to have the basic chopper to work with. Got 2 of them as the parts are interchangeable and each kit has parts that are close some of the real components on the real one, so will be using pieces from both. That along with having to scratch build some of them, as it is a Custom built bike. He bought it second hand. It is an Ashcroft 2004 build. It had just over 3,000 miles on it so it had not been ridden much.

The builder was Lynn Ashcroft. A former Army general, who when retired, became a Judge here in Oregon. All the time while being either, he built Hot Rod cars. He figured if he could build from ground up hot rods why not give motorcycles a go. Anyway, he became quite well known for his custom motorcycle.

The only motorcycle model I have ever built was one about a little over a year ago, again making one to be like a real one my son had. It was Kawasaki ZX6-R Ninja, a sport bike. He had doe a few custom pieces on it, green tinted windscreen, green chain, aftermarket exhaust system and added a silly stuffed animal, as a Rider" on the bike - "Stitch"- a Disney character from the show "Lilo and Stitch". He has a crazy sense of humor. He belonged to a group of bikers - the "Fuzzy Moto Group". They would get together and some would wear full "Costumes" of at least Helmet covers. They would also help out the "Make-A-Wish" folks. They could contact the group and a group of the riders - usually 50-75 bikers, and would show up where the Make-A- Wish was going to occur. The kids would love it and so did the parents. My son would sometimes just go for a ride on his own, dressed up. Little kids and their parents would get huge smiles and wave to him and it at a stop light, he would be silly with the kids. He had a blast doing it as everyone would smile and wave and take pictures - "you are not going to believe what I saw"!

I am posting a couple pictures of the real chopper, the 2 model kits and a couple of the Ninja I did. Did not do much addition the the model, just green windscreen, green chain and of course "Stitch". Oh and one of the big goof on his Ninja, fully "dressed" of course and Stitch on the back.

The first thing I have to do is see if I can do the Flames that are on the fuel tank and front and rear fenders, as if I cannot do those, no point in doing it. I will keep you posted of my progress. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Ed

[edsreef@gmail.com]

Well, I figured out I cannot draw the flames as my drawing skills are ot able to do so, and I definately cannot airbrish them freehand. So the only other way I can think of is to make a stencil. The fuel tank is a whopping 50mm in length overall. Tried a couple different ways and they did not come out great. Then I decided to try a different "approach" so to say - instead of covering where the flames are, cover where they won't be. Came out much better. However either way would have to do one for the top view and 1 each for either side as due to curvature could not get a picture of the whole tank, same with the fenders. So here is a picture of on attempt to do the tank along with the small pictures I will be using to cut stencil from. Also a picture of both the front and rear fenders.

Once happy with how the stencils come out, I will paint them. Keep you posted.

Ed

[admin]

Hey Ed, Great to see this coming together. It's cool to see you're replicating a real world bike. Knowing how you went through the process to get those flames definitely shows. They look fantastic!!

As always, had a giggle at your son on the bike in the fuzzy-suit! I love the story and reasons for the suit. I'm sure that would give a lot of giggles and grins to people spotting him and his mates out for a ride!

Keen to see this build progress and what else you need to modify and scratch build!

[edsreef@gmail.com]

Greetings. Happy Fourth of July - for all the USA followers. Well, Got the fuel tank and the fenders flamed and gold. Took a couple of tries, first a couple of practice runs with a stencil and spraying with airbrush. But it did the job. Have attached a picture of all three of them with the flames.

Wish I had a bit more artistic ability but I am quite satisfied with how they came out. Now have to get going with all the other items that need some custom work. NOt sure if you could see from the pictures of the real bike, but the handle bars are slightly curved and conme together to form a point. So out comes the round rods, cutting knoves and sand paper. On I go, wish me luck.

Ed