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Jack Mugan
63 articles

Building the 1/8th Scale Tamiya Suzuki RGV-L

July 25, 2014 · in Automotive · · 18 · 1.9K

There is something to be said about building out of one's comfort zone. I know absolutely nothing about racing motorcycles (and still don't), but I have seen some built here on imodeler and thought they looked incredible. So when I ran across one at a model show vendor booth at a very reasonable price, I took the plunge.

Let me just say that when I opened the box I was a bit intimidated at the complexity of this kit. As it was a used kit, my only concern was if all the parts where still there. Aside from the decals looking a bit worse for wear, the rest of the kit passed muster, and we were off to the races.

I found that if I actually followed the instructions, the building process was pretty straight forward and everything fit as it was designed.As the build progressed I continued to marvel at how much I was enjoying the experience. I like detail and this kit had it in spades.

As it turned out the only difficulty I encountered was with thee decals. Due to their age I assume, I had a lot of trouble getting the decals to slide free, requiring me to slip a knife blade between the decal and the carrier to get things moving. This worked pretty well with the exception of the markings for the tires which broke up when I tried to apply them. I will try to get another set from .

The decal application took as much time as the actual build. The kit is designed in such a way as to allow the builder to remove the body panels to display the detail that is covered. I have chosen to glue the panels in place because I do not want risk damaging the model due to excessive handling.

Reader reactions:
5  Awesome

13 additional images. Click to enlarge.


18 responses

  1. Nice work, Jack. Nice to see something different, and done so well. It looks like you've been doing it forever !

  2. that's sweet

  3. Proud of you Jack. You are the first graduate of the "Work in Progress-Automotive" group.
    Excellent work here. Just goes to show that a good modeler can create an outstanding example of anything they set their mind to.
    Thanks.

  4. Your first bike, NEVER mate, that looks really sweet.
    Take a bow Mr Mugan.
    Well done sir.

  5. To quote a line from Dirty Harry, "...my - that's a big one..".

    And nicely built and photographed I may add. Looks like a ton of detail included.

  6. Excellent job ! ONce you have the "modeling skills" down nothing is impossible !

  7. Great to see it finished, Jack, and you've done a good job, especially with those tricky decals. I'm glad that you enjoyed it so much. What's next?

    • Thats a good question George. I have many "started" projects I'd like to finish of course, and several I want to start, so at this point, your guess is as good as mine.

  8. Very nice that Jack! Will you be building another bike?

  9. Nice work, Jack. Nothing like variety.

  10. That's exquisite, Jack. Hooray for you leaving your comfort zone and enjoying it so

  11. Jack,
    I am truly impressed and in awe of this build.

  12. Thanks Frank. It was fun and I thought it was an impressive kit. It was all I could do to stop from going out to buy several more.

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