XV1600 "Ace of Spades" Old School bobber...

Thought I'd share a build I'm working on with you guys. This is my first motorcycle build so bare with me. I usually build armor and cars so this is new turf for me.

The kit is the Tamiya Yamaha XV1600 Road Star, I've wanted to try to build one of these since I've had the pleasure of owning a couple in 1:1 scale.

I'll try and go down the road of Old School Bobbin' this bike because I think it looks just right for a bobber.

I've painted the engine flat black and painted all the cooling fins in polished aluminum. Kinda pesky job but I think the end result was worth it, the "polished" fins contrasts nicely to the flat black engine. I decided to use the kits chromed parts so I just gave them a "buffing round" with a cleaning cloth used for glasses to get subtle swirls and scratches in the chrome finish, like on the 1:1 bikes. A black wash on the chromed parts will complete the look I'm after.



I lengthened the shock and dog bones to lower the rear of the bike and painted the shock in a golden color similar to the one on the original bikes. The bump stop is painted orange and the dog bones in a steel color with a rough finish like the original bikes, a final dark wash and it's done.

The frame got shot with a coat of Mr. Surfacer 1000 as a primer to get that faint structure in the finish like on the 1:1 bikes. I then shot a couple of light coats of Tamiya Gloss Black with a couple of Flat Base drops to get a "slightly flatter than gloss finish" on it, again like on the real thing. I opted to wait with the cutting of the fender supports from the frame to get that home made look to the cut, with primer showing through, after the frame was painted.

Stripped the chrome of the wheels and primed it and painted it with Vallejo Red Acrylic. Painted the spokes in an aluminum color about the same as on the real thing. The white walls are simply masked of and painted with Tamiya White Surface Primer

Here I've made some Freestyle apes for the bike. Home made look with visible welds, just like I'd make'em in my garage. I'm quite satisfied with the look of these apes, unique and "bully" like.
I painted the apes flat black to match the lower fork legs and triple tree, this gives a nice contrast to the stainless steel look of the beefy fork tins.
I also painted the centre of the brake discs flat black to give a nice contrast to the red rims and white walls.
This is where she's at on my work bench right now, kinda like the look, and I'm eager to get her finished.