Excelsior-Henderson Super X 1:8 Scratch Build

Started by Matt Minnichsoffer · 102 · 9 months ago · 1/8, Excelsior-Henderson, motorcycle, Scratch Build, Super X
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    Spiros Pendedekas said 10 months, 2 weeks ago:

    The engine looks awesome already, my friend @coondog!

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    Cricket said 10 months, 2 weeks ago:

    @coondog you had better luck with the AK Chrome than i did….what’s your secret?

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    Matt Minnichsoffer said 10 months, 2 weeks ago:

    @bikequeen Well, I think it was dumb luck. I think the trick is to blast it on semi-heavy in one coat and leave it alone. Multi light coats don't seem to turn out as reflective.

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    Cricket said 10 months, 2 weeks ago:

    @coondog mine came out all mottled. I used the AK Duraluminum on the engine it was gorgeous….to cold to mess with it now

    2 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Matt Minnichsoffer said 10 months ago:

    Happy Friday to the faithful who are still following this WIP. I took a big step in the last week—I got my own 3D printer. Now this is officially the longest and most expensive build I have ever attempted. But, I can print parts and re-print them if they are bad without bugging my friends.

    The printer, a Elegoo Saturn 2, is awesome. My brain is running all sorts of directions on what I can do now…anyway, the Super X. I have printed a bunch of arts and found that I need to doctor my tolerances a bit. Just because something fits together in 3D space, doesn't mean it fits together in the real world. Most of this I can accomplish by reaming holes with my pin vice, but I'm making notes for the next build.

    Anyway, here are some photos of parts in various stages of finish. Thanks for following along.


    Front End components after UV curing.

    Various parts awaiting assembly.

    Engine in frame with battery and OEM decals added.

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    George Williams said 10 months ago:

    Very impressive progress, @coondog.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 10 months ago:

    ABSOLUTELY STUNNING, my friend @coondog!
    Congratulations on your new printer, will give you endless possibilities! Your progress is awesome, as are the parts looks! Looking forward to your next steps!

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    John vd Biggelaar said 10 months ago:

    Wow, this is really impressive, Matt @coondog
    Especially those springs do look fantastic, well, the other parts do look great also.

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    Cricket said 9 months, 3 weeks ago:

    @coondog Holy smokes! That is freakin awesome! LOVE the springs! Great work!

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    Matt Minnichsoffer said 9 months, 3 weeks ago:

    We're getting very close to final assembly folks. Today I share the tires/rims and the sheet metal pieces.

    Tires/Rims

    These proved a challenge. At first Iw as going to pirate a set of spoked rims from a H-D SnapTite kit and use them. In fact it was the whole reason for the build beginning in 1:8 scale—that's the scale of the H-D Heritage Softtail donor kit. I really didn't think 3D printing a spoked rims was an option. So it was either use the Softtail rims, or hand-lace a set…

    Then a modeling friend said, "If you can model them, I'll bet I can print them." Well after numerous test prints we did figure out the correct combo of spoke diameter and print angle to achieve a favorable result.

    Tank/Fenders

    Oh how I wish someone sold 1mm pin striping…as it is I needed to paint the pinstripe, hand mask it, and paint two other colors. For paint I went to my favorite car color paint supplier, Scale Finishes. I tapped the Mustang colors for both the blue (1997 dark blue metallic) and silver (2015 Ingot Silver metallic).

    I had a near miss with 2015 Kona Blue metallic. It looks blue on a 1:1 scale Mustang, but it is indeed purple. Saints be praised I shot a test before laying it down on the fenders. All that mistake cost me was time. Currently everything has 3 coats of clear finish. the hopefully final coats will go over the decals to seal everything up nice and tight.
    Thanks for following along.

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    John vd Biggelaar said 9 months, 3 weeks ago:

    Really nice work, Matt @coondog
    Those printed labels on the tires do look very good.

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    Cricket said 9 months, 2 weeks ago:

    @coondog man your’e blowing me away here! Fantastic results! Still waiting for the kit sale 😉

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    George Williams said 9 months, 2 weeks ago:

    I’m colour blind, @coondog, blues and purples tend to look the same to me, your paintwork looks really good.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 9 months, 2 weeks ago:

    Fantastic so far, my friend @coondog!

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    George R Blair Jr said 9 months, 2 weeks ago:

    Your design and build is really spectacular, Matt @coondog. Being able to design your own parts is really next-level stuff. You will really enjoy having your own printer, although printing brings it own set of problems. I have had a Creality resin printer for a couple of years, and my wife got me a Creality Ender filament printer for Christmas. Now I have too many projects.