Definitely not a motorcycle...um

[AlanG]

Right, the VMAX is done, and took over six months, so I'm definitely not going to go straight on to another motorcycle. A nice building, perhaps - maybe one of the Canon Japanese temples, or an Indonesian house from Paper-Replika.

Well, maybe first I ought to tidy up the code I wrote for constructing the tyres, and generalise it a bit to cope with different designs, while it is still fresh in the mind. I'd better test it with another design - well what about Loudog's Mille Miglia, as that is probably the next bike I'll do after my sojourn with other things?

Right, that's fine. I know, I'll do a simple little model of Ely Cathedral as it was in Norman times, which has been sitting on my desk for months.



Good. That was fun, so what next. Mmm, I suppose I ought to test build the MM tyres to make sure all is OK... Shame to leave the rest of the wheel bits lying around to get lost, though, so I'll just finish them up.



There are a few more bits associated with the rear wheel that got printed out with the rest, so let's get those out of the way.

Oh dear, I seem to be going straight on to do another motorcycle. Wish me luck.

Alan

[loudog49]

Alan,

Wow, am I slow to reply or what? Nice job with the petal formed wheels, they look terrific! I'm excited to see how the rest of it comes together. Given how well your VMAX came out, I have no doubt it will be excellent.

Best of Luck to you--I'll be watching!

-LD

[Thomas Meek]

Hi, AlanG; I like your post. Very amusing to read and I can certainly relate to it, although my building skills are not as well developed as yours. I love those wheels, by the way. They look great.
Good Luck with the new motorcycle; I'll be watching.

Thomas

[motorcyclemodeler]

Alan:
Kudos on the tires, I will definitely try to use your ideas (and perhaps your patterns ) when doing the MT01.
Best luck!!

[AlanG]

Hi guys, thanks for your comments. Louis - what is slow about that? At my normal rate of progress you have months to reply!

I'm off on holiday tomorrow for a few days, so here is a record of what little I have done so far. All has gone together pretty well, a credit to the design.



Back next weekend,
Alan

[AlanG]

Hi, it's me again, turning up like the old bad penny.

A week's work has produced a load of bits for the engine:



Then a good session today has seen them put together:



Everything has fit together superbly well, a real credit to LD. Incidentally, I know that some of the cylinder cooling fins are wonky, but it is almost impossible to handle them without knocking them askew. I'll do a final adjustment when the engine is inside the frame, and a bit protected.

Talking of the frame, that's where the odyssey takes us next.

Alan

[loudog49]

Wow, Alan, just superb build quality! I really like the slight shine on this paper you are using. Unfortunately when I built mine, I used matte paper so it didn't have the shine that I would have liked.

Just loving your rendition of this model, it definitely has the "Alan" touch.

-LD

[AlanG]

OK, so you didn't spot the deliberate mistake ... ?

I had the carburettor on upside down. Some major butchery later, it is now as intended.



Alan

[AlanG]

I'm sorry, I should have said something about the paper I am using. It is my favourite material, though nothing very special.

It is a 100gsm paper, sold as "Colour Laser" paper in Staples. My first pack was labelled "Color Rey" (I think); the current one is Staples' own brand but is just as good. It is barely thicker than ordinary 80gsm copier paper, presumably being compressed in manufacture. The result is a bit more stiffness and a much finer surface finish than ordinary paper, though it is still quite matte.

I suspect the slight shine comes from the ink. I have an HP colour inkjet printer, and use HP inks (devilishly expensive, but I don't use very much of them). I understand that these are pigment-based, and dark areas seem to build up a little on the paper surface. This readily buffs up to a faint gloss. In fact this can be a problem, as rough handling can produce a network of shiny marks on plain flat surfaces. Fortunately motorbikes don't have many large flat surfaces to show this up, and my other main interest, architecture, generally has busy textures as camouflage.

Alan

[AlanG]

Some progress:



Alan