Tamiya Kawasaki Ninja H2R, redo ;)

Started by Cricket · 83 · 9 months ago · 1/12th, Cricket, H2R, Hobby Design, Kawasaki, Kawasaki H2R, Tamiya
  • Profile Photo
    Cricket said 9 months, 2 weeks ago:

    @chinesegeorge thank you George…this bike fascinates me! I want to do another one 🙂

  • Profile Photo
    Spiros Pendedekas said 9 months, 2 weeks ago:

    Looks awesome, my friend @bikequeen!
    What an update!
    Loved the way you tackled those temperamental decals.
    Well done on your new airbrush!

  • Profile Photo
    John vd Biggelaar said 9 months, 2 weeks ago:

    Just amazing, Cricket @bikequeen
    This is definitely going to be one of your best bike builds ever.
    Thanks for sharing that decal trick.

  • Profile Photo
    Cricket said 9 months, 1 week ago:

    @fiveten @johnb thank you guys

  • Profile Photo
    Cricket said 9 months, 1 week ago:

    Front cowling done. I did the decals on the front cowling Friday and Saturday.

    32 decals in all, 9 underneath 23 on top, there are no side mirrors but instead tiny airfoils one on each side so when they are attached there will be a total of 46 decals on it plus the metal badge.

    They include that plastic mesh for the air intakes but I didn't like them so I cut my own out of some unused radiator PE

    The hairdryer method was nuts! Worked like a charm! Still had an issue with bubbles stubborn little things. I will let it dry well and hit the whole thing again with Walther’s and heat.

    Here are some pics…it’s not perfect but I like it. Took most of Friday and Saturday to do.

    This is one decal that went inside the front cowling. I have never had a decal conform to curves and angles like this….simply amazing. I would never have thought it possible. The combination of Walter’s and heat and a soft brush soaked in Walther’s made it lay down right where it was supposed. The heat kept it soft and kept the decal from melting as I worked it with the brush and also dried it quickly. It’s kind of a learning curve but I am impressed. I never would have attempted this 2 years ago. Still much practice to perfect it.

    The finished product (as stated I still want to try and flatten it some more). Some messed up but all in all I like it

  • Profile Photo
    George Williams said 9 months, 1 week ago:

    You’ve got on top of those carbon fibre transfers, Cricket @bikequeen, the hair dryer is an old trick that still works well.

  • Profile Photo
    Cricket said 9 months, 1 week ago:

    @chinesegeorge oh sorry I didnt know it was an old trick…was new to me. I’ll drop it

  • Profile Photo
    John vd Biggelaar said 9 months, 1 week ago:

    Seems like this technique worked perfectly, Cricket @bikequeen
    Looking really good.

  • Profile Photo
    Spiros Pendedekas said 9 months, 1 week ago:

    Amazing indeed, my friend @bikequeen!
    Great technique!

  • Profile Photo
    Cricket said 9 months, 1 week ago:

    @fiveten @johnb thank you John and Spiros

  • Profile Photo
    Cricket said 9 months, 1 week ago:

    @jagmkx @eb801 @j-healy @faraomike @pb_legend @airbum @ssgt @fiveten @anthonyricco @gblair @chinesegeorge @johnb @brithebuilder @coondog @billkoppos @atjoe @impisi @dion-dunn @chrisballard @jdtruby @clipper @tcinla

    Kawasaki Ninja H2R is finished
    Front cowling has 42 carbon fiber decals on top and 9 on the underside
    The fuel tank and seat side fairings are painted with AK Extreme Chrome, the front side fairing are painted with AK Extreme Stainless less Steel, that are great paints put vey thin and will scratch easy and seem to stay tacky for a couple days but I’m not complaining…I will use them again

    Studio 27 Decals, Hobby Design PE chain and other parts , AK and Tamiya paints

    Scroll through the rest of this post to see other details if you like

    8 attached images. Click to enlarge.

  • Profile Photo
    George R Blair Jr said 9 months, 1 week ago:

    Wow Cricket (@bikequeen), that model looks amazing. I have been using the Walthers on my current model, but the results you are getting with heat are amazing. I have never tried it before, but it makes sense that it would help everything conform. Something new to try on my next model. Well done.

  • Profile Photo
    Cricket said 9 months, 1 week ago:

    @gblair thank George! I amazed myself …. I was told years ago to never use a hairdryer on decals that have been set with Walter’s…they were wrong 🙂

  • Profile Photo
    Brian Mennenoh said 9 months, 1 week ago:

    @bikequeen - Amazing work Cricket. I'm amazed by the hair dryer technique. Never even considered heat to help decals lay down.

  • Profile Photo
    Spiros Pendedekas said 9 months, 1 week ago:

    Looks wonderful, my friend @bikequeen!