Update:

Swing arm and rear sub-assembly attached. Fairings painted with Tamiya 'Pure White' (TS-24) straight from the rattle-can. Three light coats then a wet coat to finish. They're just placed for now, just to get a feel of how the bike should look at the end of the build.

Not too impressed by the lack of positive fit of the fairings, but once the exhaust pipes and radiator / front fork assemblies are glued-in then it ought to fit better.

Have the rest of a great weekend everyone. Best from Middle Earth.

4 attached images. Click to enlarge.

Indeed, the white looks great, my friend @ij001!

Update:

Coming together now. Will need to take a break for a couple of days because I forgot to re-order some Mr Color 'Chrome', and I need it to paint the tips of the exhaust-pipes.

More later in the week.

3 attached images. Click to enlarge.

It looks like a racer now, Ian @ij001.

@ij001 WOW! Great build Ian! Looking forward to more 🙂

That's the bike frame finished - I was expecting a serious headache wrestling the exhausts into place, but needn't have worried as Tamiya's jaw-dropping engineering skills took care of everything for me ! - seriously one of the pipes simply snapped into place without need for glue... (is it just me or do those pipes look like a bunch of snakes having group-s*x ?).

Next, the fairings and lots, and lots of decalling. More later in the week, cheers for staying with me.

Ian.

4 attached images. Click to enlarge.

These are the well known and so beloved NSR500 exhausts and you have captured their looks beautifully, my friend @ij001!

Think this is the fourth session - do a little, let the decals fully dry, then do a little more. Always marking each decal on the instruction sheet with a highlighter as I apply them.

Not much different to a NASCAR build as far as decalling goes, some touch-up with enamels needed later which always happens in these situations... too many curves to navigate for it all to go perfectly, right ?

More next week, have a great weekend all. Cheers from Middle Earth.

Ian.

3 attached images. Click to enlarge.