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Richard Mcstay
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Ducati Desmosedici RR

May 21, 2023 · in Automotive · · 14 · 415

Evening all!

I know I said I wouldn't be building much for a while, but this one was already half built when I said that, and I've managed to bring a fair bit of modelling gear with me onto the boat.
So it's not all doom.

This is my butchered version of the 1/12 Ducati Moto Gp bike. The original kit is a model of the 2003 season Desmosedici I think, however there is a bit of back story on how it ended up looking like this..

I remember when I was new on imodeler back in 2012, I had just posted my first bike build of a Yamaha R1 and was fairly happy with it. But then I saw in the headlines, George Williams ‘model of the month' winning Desmosedici.
I was inspired by the level of craftsmanship and attention to detail from George, but also by the intricacy of the kit itself compared to the road bike I had just built. I was pretty hooked on the bike kits from then on.

I had this kit in the stash for quite a while, and finally got round to starting it last year.
When I was looking for reference pics of the actual bike, I realised that the tamiya kit livery is very different to the real livery because of tobacco advertising laws.
The actual bike looks like a very fast packet of Marlboro, where as the kit is plain red for the most part.

I found an aftermarket decal sheet on eBay with the accurate Marlboro livery, but.. it was bad. The decals were thick and hard to work with. They really didn't conform very well onto the fairings.
After looking at it several times, I wasn't happy at all with the result. And also realised that I probably preferred the look of the bike before I'd put any decals on in the first place.

I bought the kit again to rectify the damage, just purely for the fairings as the rest of the model was already compete. I had it out on the bench with the anirbrush ready, but after a bit of thought (and whisky), I decided to do something a little different.

The Desmosedici's are all one off racing prototypes, worth about a million quid, as with any Moto GP bike.
Bike enthusiasts will already know this, but Ducati released a limited run of a road going version of this bike called the Desmosedici RR, complete with lights, indicators and number plates. It achieved legendary status.
I've always loved the RR version, and have been lucky enough to see one parked up at the Isle of Man, and another in my local showroom.

So here it is, my Desmosedici RR, converted back into a track bike.
Well that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

Cheers!

Reader reactions:
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17 additional images. Click to enlarge.


14 responses

  1. Great version, Richard, and a believable story, it looks really cool in this livery, and is worth at least a million quid. Happy sailing.

  2. A superb result, Richard! Looks absolutely cool!

  3. @richardmcstay48gmail-com - Beautiful bike Richard. I like the idea of it being a street bike turned back into a track bike. Completely plausible.

  4. Excellent job, Richard @richardmcstay48gmail-com
    Great paintwork and lots of details.

  5. Thanks for sharing this showroom looking build.

  6. Nicely done Richard, looks different in black.

  7. Lovely work Richard! Don't show Ducati, they may steal your black idea which absolutely does the job and looks brilliant! I am fortunate to own a 2000 model 748... in yellow, as well as a 2017 Monster. I have various Ducati models in the stash as well.

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