FRECCIA CELESTE 1927 Bianchi 350 cc racing motorcycle by Ras Ambrioso - FINISHED - Protar - 1:9 scale

[Keith Black]

 Ras, have you tried spray painting a piece of wood or anything with that paint you used on the seat to see if it's the paint or painting on rubber that's the problem? Were I you and I had nothing to lose I'd first try heating the seat with a hairdryer and if that didn't help I'd smear a very thin layer of Vaseline on the seat, maybe that will keep the paint from sticking to your fingers. If you had some powder or dust the same color you could could dust with same to eliminate the stickiness. 

[Ras Ambrioso]

Keith, I followed your recommendation  and painted some of the rubber spruces. I also cut pieces of the rubber and used acetone, lacker thinner, and mineral spirits. The paint got sticky but the rubber was not affected by any of the solvents. Then I painted another piece of the rubber with acrylic paint and it stuck and dried solid. So my next step is to try to clean the seat with one of the solvents and paint it with acrylic paint. Hopefully it will work.

 

In the meantime I tackled the seat frame. This one has four really small springs (see post #28) and I had a hell of time trying to open the ends of these springs that are 1.0mm diameter. Finally I figured a way by threading a fine wire through the spring and wrapping the ends in the seat holes.

And the final product:

Added a few more details to the engine including the main drive chain and the magneto drive.

I painted the the whole engine in black but, in retrospect, I should have followed the color scheme in the kit box (grey bottom and black top) to make some of the details more visible. This is an outstanding kit.

 

Next challenge is fabricating the spoke wheels and installing the handlebars and the seat. Then complete this project with the the piping and cabling of the engine.

 

 

[Ras Ambrioso]

A little more progress as I tackle the piping and wiring. The mystery of the little tank on top of the fuel tanks is resolved. The tank is an oil reserve tank and is piped back to the main oil tanks. This tank actually feeds two oil pumps which feed the DOHC and the crankcase. 

As you can see it is difficult to see the details on the lower part of the engine due to the glossy black paint. I am thinking about using a thin grey wash over it . What do the forum think about it?

And finally the seat came out OK. I tested several solvents and found that acetone did the job.

Still got a little more of the cabling to do but  I think I will build the wheels before I install the handlebars, which are already done. Thanks for following, your advise is very valuable to me.

 

[Keith Black]

35 minutes ago, Ras Ambrioso said:

I am thinking about using a thin grey wash over it . What do the forum think about it?

 Ras, I think that's a good idea. The seat turned out well and the whole is looking very nice.  

[Canute]

A pure gloss black is a black hole. Better to go with a charcoal gray. Look at CDW's Buccaneer log with the gray discussions. Very tough to photograph black.

[FriedClams]

Looking very nice, Ras.

 

Gary

[Ras Ambrioso]

Thanks for the comments and likes. I went to CDW's log of the Buccaneer and got very good tips about washes. BTW, he's done a beautiful job on that aircraft. I am going to paint some plastic with the gloss and try a negative washing of light over dark. I will follow up with my findings.

 

[Ras Ambrioso]

Did the negative wash of light over dark and following are the comparisons.

Before:

And after

 

I used Vallejo grey and silver. The result looks like a dirty engine and the black hole of gloss black is gone. Following is the progress to date:

Spoke wheels next.

 

[Ras Ambrioso]

Well, the day came that I had to start assembling the spoke wheels. I have dreaded this moment since I had failed before in my attempts to build this kit back in the 90's. At that time, I started with the wheels and got totally frustrated and abandoned the project. Now, that I am older, I think that have gained some patience and perseverance to deal with failures.

I purchased this kit used. It seems that the previous owner had started the wheels and had fabricated the 80 spokes necessary and then quit. So, for the start, I checked the spokes he (or she?) had cut and bend. Horror 🤪, The spokes were bent wrong. So, the first job was to verify the size (two different lengths were required) and the bends.

Each wheel has two rims and two hubs to which these spokes are to be inserted. That done, I proceeded, as per the instructions, to thread the spokes into the hubs.

This was a little complicated as the spokes are feed alternately on the hub holes: half up and half down. Then another crisis developed. The instructions indicated that the spokes would be lined up as per the diagram and then placed on the corresponding slots in the rims (#47 and #48 below).

A tape, with adhesive in one side, was provided to spread and hold the spokes (see #44 and #46 above), but the pattern in #46 is not to scale and therefore useless. I scratched my head several times and decided that I needed something to hold each spoke in its slot (unglued) while I located the others and placed them in the rim. The answer was using modeling clay to hold each spoke in place. Success🙂

And here are the results.

And, to make it more interesting, I assembled the second half of the rim's hub backwards. I had to submerge the rim with the spokes in acetone to remove the CA glue.  But there is a happy ending to the story.

The challenge continues........

 

 

 

 

[yvesvidal]

Ras, you are on the right path. Replacing the plastic spokes on a model by insects pins (or what was provided in the kit) is the right thing to do for ultimate realism. It is a lot more work but the final result will be outstanding.

 

Yves

[Ras Ambrioso]

Finally, after three days of work, (a total of 10 hrs, really), the first wheel is done. To set the tire in the rim I had to recall my experiences as a teenager removing car tires off their rims to fix the flats. Working part time in a garage, the only tool available was a steel bar and a hammer. Here I had to use very small screw driver to open up the tire an let it slip on the edge of the rim. As everything else in this build, a very frustrating experience. But I loved every minute of it.

After a wait of over 30 years I, finally get to see this kit nearing its completion.

Notice the detail on the tire itself: Pirelli.

And this is how the Bianchi looks now.

[Old Collingwood]

On  bicycle wheel/tyres  I used to  use a tyre  lever  or failing that a  fork/spoon handle  (metal type)

 

OC.

[Ras Ambrioso]

Rear wheel done. It was easier that the front. Experience counts.

now I present Freccia Celeste standing on her two wheels (plus the stand, 😉)

A few more details (like the handrail, brakes and control cables) and I am done. Beer time 🍻🍻

 

 

[CDW]

Looking very sharp. It’s like a walk back into time past seeing the engineering of that era.

[mtaylor]

It's looking great and I had to look twice at the photos.   Given the "floor" and "wall" for a moment there I thought it was the real thing.

[Ras Ambrioso]

Excellent point Mark. The floor is the top of our well used bench and the wall is a sheet of poster board. But the bike does look real. I wish I haven’t painted the whole engine black because the details are incredible. Thanks for the comments and likes. 

[shipman]

Coming along nicely, though the rear wheel spoke pattern looks strange to me.

See this as comparison....

[Egilman]

3 hours ago, shipman said:

the rear wheel spoke pattern looks strange to me

looks like the indexing is off one hole....

[Ras Ambrioso]

Nothing better that hear from experts. When I was assembling the two halves of the spoked rims I looked for any markings that would have been included tor the correct assembly. I didn't see any, so I proceeded to eyeballing the setup. If I was making this model for sale or museums, I would unmount the wheels, unscrew the rims (5 mini screws) and rotate the rim one hole. But, I am going to let this go as is. If you look closely at the overall assembly you will find a bunch of "oops". Building this model has been frustrating, tedious and incredible difficult considering my shaking fingers, bad sight and lack of five hands. But I have loved every minute of it and enjoyed sharing my experiences with the forum.

[CDW]

Looks great to me, Ras. Have fun is my motto. No point in calling this a hobby if it’s not fun. No fun becomes toil and sweat and I for one can get all that I want of that working in my garden.😎

[Ras Ambrioso]

While I was working on the finishing details of the motorcycle I was using a block of foam that I bought from Micro-Mark. This block was used to hold the ship's hulls while working on the superstructure. I found that I could lay the motorcycle on the top of the block setting the foot holds in the crack. The arrangement worked perfectly. Now I am ready to install the completed handlebar (See Post #28) and attach the control cables to the ignition, shift and brakes. So I figure in using the same block to stand up the bike.

Here is the bike in the block:

Here is the end view. The block is precut to use on three different size hull beams. Very useful tool.

Then disaster struck.

While changing the bike's position for the photos, I dropped the bike and the "Bianchi Curse" struck again. 

I have tried to build this bike since the 90's when I built the spoke wheels and found the kit quite difficult; so, I abandoned the build and put the kit away. Then,in 2017, we downsized and I got rid of most of my tools and kits. In 2021 I found the same kit available online and proceeded to purchase it at quite a high price. I decided to start in another place other that the wheels. At that time, I assembled the frame and painted all of the body parts in the sky blue color. Then, when I joined this forum and started building ship models, I put the kit away . The kit sat in a shelf in my closet. This year(2023), while searching the forum, I found the "other than ships" section and my interest in the Bianchi was reborn. And now the "curse" hits. It seems that I am not supposed to finish this project. But, if Valeriy can work his magic in his hometown situation, I can rebuild the broken front end too. 

As you see on the last photo the front fork broke at the suspension parallelogram. I will use brass to rebuild the four connecting  bars. I am going to take a couple of weeks to cool off working on another kit model (a B17F bomber in 1/72 scale).

See you soon 

 

[Egilman]

7 hours ago, Ras Ambrioso said:

I am going to take a couple of weeks to cool off working on another kit model (a B17F bomber in 1/72 scale).

Good idea, give it a rest... this has happened to many of us I suspect... Like my Sabre, just getting ready to finish it and I dropped it onto it's landing gear... Fortunately, the damage was minor...

 

You got this one brother, come back to it when you are less frustrated at it... Your too close to finishing a beauty for it to stop you now....

 

Onwards!!!!

[CDW]

So sorry to see this happened. Take a break and come back to it when you feel like doing it. This is our hobby and it must remain fun to us, not like working a job. I for one will be here when you get back to it.

[Ras Ambrioso]

Thanks for the encouragement, guys. See you soon.  

[Ras Ambrioso]

Well I finally cooled down from my disappointment at crashing my, almost complete, model. I used this time to embark in another project which I will be logging soon.

As I have shown before, the breakage included the connecting pieces between the frame and the front fork. Rebuilding these parts seemed an easy job and I decided to use some styrene strip that I had left from the Mimi project. I needed 4 pieces that had to be exactly equal since they formed the parallelogram that allows the movement of the front fork with respect to the frame.

In order to make four similar pieces I decided to glue four strips and work the drilling and shaping in unison. I would use Elmers glue and, when the fabrication was completed, I would de-glue the strips with alcohol. Great idea, Ras.

This was the test of the process.

Then I dipped the bunch in the de-gluing liquid.

The next day I removed the bunch from the liquid and ...... Horror again. I had a melting goo instead of four nice separate strips. A little investigation resulted in finding that I had used acetone instead of alcohol. Another senior moment.

Then I reconsidered the problem and decided that metal would be a better material for this stress are in the bike. Using the the same idea of fabrication in unison I could use superglue to bind them during the drilling and shaping and then use the acetone to separate the pieces. Great!

I measured the connector and cut four pieces of brass strip 6X2 mm.

As planed, I glued with CA and let them in the vise overnight.

Then with a file I brought the bundle to size marked the holes and starting the drilling of the two holes. Now, guess what........ Horror again. The heat of the drill unglued the strips and ruined the job. I then started again with a new set of strips and this time I clamped them together during the drilling.

And yes, finally, success:

Now I will shape them using my hand tools. The saga continues, next comes the handlebar and the bottle of champagne.

 

 

 

 

[Ras Ambrioso]

I am back. After the disaster I went into a hiatus to cool off and assembled a B17 model kit that I had in my shelves. That project is finished and I went back the Freccia. I fabricated new links for the front fork suspension but didn't like the results. I then looked into my little boxes of leftover materials and found a set of stay rigging chains that were the right size. With these I reassembled the front fork.

It just happens that the damage to kit was a little more serious as part of the front and rear fenders here broken up. I fixed these items, maybe not very neatly, and preceded to complete the motorcycle by attaching the exhaust pipes, the handlebars and the corresponding control cables. 

The project is now FINISHED

 

Moderator, please label this post FINISHED

[mtaylor]

You made a great recovery.  That's a beautiful bike.   

 

And title change made.

[king derelict]

Beautiful recovery

[BobG]

Outstanding model, Ras!

[CDW]

Great-looking bike, Ras! So glad you finished her up and gave it the spot she deserves on your display shelf.