Post by Mence on Dec 14, 2013 9:18:17 GMT -5
Manufacturer: Tamiya
Model Number 16041
MSRP $375
Tamiya are one of very few Manufacturers to provide Motorcycle kits in this large scale but haven’t released anything new for a long time relying on a fairly regular re-release schedule to keep us 1/6 scale modelers happy.
Over the past four decades, Mr T has spoilt us with 28 or so of these kits but this new model is the first all new tool 1/6 scale kit to come out of Shizuoka in 17 years! This kit has been much anticipated so let’s see if it meets expectations.
The kit is presented in Tamiya’s usual style, a stout box adorned with what has to be some of the very best box art available.
Inside, it’s what we have come to expect from Tamiya with their big scale Car and Bike kits, excellent presentation throughout which always makes opening one of these kits for the first time an indulgent pleasure.
Tamiya are well known for using a comparatively small amount of parts In their kits but don’t think that you’re about to be short changed, in the box you will find:-
12 sprues in black styrene.
4 sprues in aluminum finish styrene.
1 sprue in chrome plated styrene.
3 sprues in transparent styrene, one clear, one clear red and one clear amber.
2 sprues in soft black resin.
Two soft rubber like tires.
Soft rubber drive belt.
Two foam inserts for the tires.
Metal parts including fork tubes, handlebars and side stand.
Nuts, bolts, screws, springs and shafts totaling more than 185 pieces.
Die cast stand to help during assembly and for displaying the finished model.
Vinyl tubing in two sizes plus a number of poly caps.
Decal Sheet.
Foil Decal sheet (for mirrors).
Double sided tape.
Instruction booklet broken into 55 steps.
Tool kit including wrenches and screwdriver.
I estimate in excess of 550 parts so more than enough to keep you happy!
All sprues are individually bagged and small metal parts are bagged then blister carded adding to both the security and the presentation. Individually bagged sprues may not seem like a big deal but on Auto kits, this serves to protect the more delicate plated sprues from scratches.
The quality of the moldings is excellent. There is no flash or sink marks evident, even ejector marks are subtle and very few and far between, being in places where they will not be seen after assembly. I haven’t found any examples of mold slip as you can find on a few of their old big scalers.
One thing that really pleases me is how the plated parts are attached to the sprue. The attachments are now much smaller and join the back of the part meaning that when you trim away the excess, you don’t harm the plated finish so important on Auto builds, nice touch and very welcome ending hours of careful sanding and touching in or worse still completely repainting.
The chrome plating is different, not easy to explain but it looks more restrained and as a result more in scale and perhaps a little more accurate. It’s also worth mentioning the parts plated are blemish free with no seams so no need to strip the plating to touch up dodgy mouldings.
The soft resin parts carry fine texture and the tyres display a very realistic tread pattern. Tyre size detail is also present but the sidewalls show the Manufacturers name as Harley Davidson, clearly to avoid any legal entanglements.
Tamiya have adopted a similar approach to the engine as they did with their smaller scale RC166 Honda preferring to break the cylinders down into individual fins assembled sandwich style resulting in a much sharper appearance.
Handlebars and side stand are metal as are the fork tubes, many more metal parts included will only add to the overall appearance and the feeling of quality.
As with previous releases, this is a true multimedia product only more so. it appears that Tamiya are now gearing a little more towards majority screw assembly than glue and screw of the older kits, I don’t have a problem with that providing the screws and fixings look appropriate for their intended use, which in the main they do on this one, something they haven’t always got right in the past. The tool kit you get is a neat touch, ring spanners, screwdriver and socket head wrench are all there.
Browsing the instructions, Tamiya make heavy use of double sided tape to fix certain parts. It’s a new one on me and one I’m not sure I’m totally happy with, as I build the kit I may well use Canopy glue if I can.
Instructions are the best you’ll get and a breeze to follow adding to your modelling enjoyment. They are standard Tamiya style with an introduction to the subject and each section very well illustrated incorporating additional graphics showing exactly which and how many metal parts are required for each step.
Colour and decal guide spans two pages and seven bikes depending on which Country your chosen vehicle was exported to.
A minor niggle here but it’s a shame Tamiya didn’t expand the colour guide further to cover the other bodywork paint sets available, the guide suggests black only, great look but it does make it a little monotone. The instructions do make small mention of the other colours available but it would have been really nice to see Tamiya release a specific colour to accompany this kit as they have with some of their other Auto releases. Suggested colours required for the build total just nine but bear in mind you will need a lot of paint, at 400mm long, you have a lot to cover!
Due to the large amount of parts in the box, no full sprue pics but a few images follow which attempt to hint at the quality, there are too many fantastic points to capture here.
So, it’s fairly expensive but is it worth it? I think it probably is.
Although I haven’t started building it, I fully expect it to fall together in usual Tamiya style. It’s nicely presented, fantastically engineered and is full of great detail, there is also available a optional detail up set giving you more metal parts to add, gilding the lilly? maybe but what the hell, I’ll grab that too. The price is high but already hefty discounts are being offered making it far more affordable.
If you’re into scratch building you have a marvelous base to create your own custom, all the important stuff is here, just add imagination and styrene.
It’s an amazing product that really does raise the bar in 1/6 scale, I just hope that Tamiya make the most of what they have and release more kits based on the 96B / 103B engine.
Very highly recommended to large scale fans with deep pockets.
Many thanks to Hobbylink Japan and my long suffering Credit Card.
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