Tamiya 1/12 Moto Guzzi Centauro

[Guest]

Having come to a total stop (lack of interest) with my Phantom build I thought I would have a go at a bike to see if I could get the juices flowing again. I have never done one of these before, nor have I done a Tamiya kit. The kit seems to be very well thought out and so far everything fits. I though the best way to tackle it would be to do sub assemblies, then paint, then assemble. Very impressed with the little pack of screws and screwdriver to put everything together, it even comes with a little spring for the suspension. I meant to take a few more photos during the construction but before I knew it it had fallen together. This is the progress so far. Any hints/tips or criticism is most welcome especially in the matter of the chrome parts. Do I bleach all the chrome off and try and repaint, especially the exhaust. I'm not sure it will look right just gluing the parts together as I think the seam will show. It might end up with a mat black exhaust and aftermarket carbon fibre cans.

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[PaulTRose]

cant go wrong with a tamiya bike kit

best advice i can give to the exhaust is carefully put it together, sometimes they go together ok and you can hardly see the seam.......if you done like it then bleach it and either spray it black or even better get a rattle can of humbrol chrome cos that does work surprisingly well

[takeslousyphotos]

Hi Barry ......... good start ....... The Tamiya bike kits are really well thought out and a pleasure to build. I've built several of them.

I'll look forward to seeing your result.

Peter

[Guest]

Nice start Barry, looking good, keep up the good work.

John

[Guest]

So far so good. No flash to trim off and parts fit perfectly. I have added a bit of wiring to the starter motor just to tart it up a bit. Also spent quite a time drilling out all the holes in the brake discs.

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[Guest]

Still pottering along, couldn't resist a dry fitting of the frame to the engine. After ten minutes of fiddling we acheived it and only because the carbs were also dry fitted and I could move them a bit. I think they will have to get glued in once the frame is in position when it comes to final assembly.

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[Guest]

Still gently pottering along, How is it that now I've retired I have less time for this than before, and I seem to be getting busier. I may have to go back to work to get a rest. However managed to assemble the bodywork and get a few coats of paint on. I thought the wheels would look nice if they matched the bodywork. Having assembled the swing arm and suspension I found that the pressure of the spring deformed the shock so after a bit of gentle bending managed to get it back in line.


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[Guest]

A little bit more progress, I had to redo the body work as I messed up the paintwork trying to get the black beading between the silver and the red. First I tried a bit of black painted wire which didn't work then some black stretched sprue which just wouldn't conform to the sharp bends which is when I got glue on the paint and ruined it. After repainting I found some thickish black thread in the wife's needlework basket and with a drop of clearfix this time got it to settle in nicely.I have started to assemble the different components into sub assemblies ready for the final push.


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[Guest]

likey likey, looks good so far bud. Love bike builds

[Guest]

Still pottering on, done most of the sub assemblies now, the engine is screwed into the frame which took a bit of juggling, also the two screws at the front of the frame proved to be too long and wouldn't screw all the way in. In mucking about with it I rounded the screwdriver slots and in the end had to chop a bit off each screw and superglue them in as studs. Couldn't resist trying out a dry fit to see what it will look like.


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[eddiesolo]

That looks great Barry, nice work.


Si

[Guest]

Starting final assembly now, naturally now its almost done I can see the glaring fault in that I've put the front brake hoses on the wrong way round, still as I've super glued them and will undoubtedly muck things up I am going to leave them as they are.


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