Triumph 3HW by Tim Moore - Italeri - 1/9

[Tim Moore]

Hello there MSW, I’m finally resettled in the Pacific Northwest. I’m missing my custom built model cabin back in Ontario,  but to get back in the swing of model building I thought about how much I enjoyed doing that Fiat 806, so have picked up another Italeri kit, the vintage Triumph 3HW motorcycle. It’s been done here before and I enjoyed the fine work by CDW on his rendition. 
I'm going to start off with some preliminary assembly of the engine and wheels while I wait for some paint and other supplies to make it out our way on Vancouver Island. My general goal will be to add a few custom details, play around with paint effects and weathering, but nothing definite yet. Not sure if I will go with the military look or not.  I tend towards an organic approach to my models, which is a fancy way of saying I don’t really know what I’m doing. Think I’ll attempt a wheel spoke rebuild, to add a little finesse, hope not to make a hash of that. 

 

[king derelict]

Looking forward to seeing a great model come together 

alan

[Baker]

I build this a long time ago.

Will be a nice model, good luck 

[yvesvidal]

I love that model. Thank you for building it and presenting it to us. Obviously, we cannot build everything and these logs allow us to live vicariously through the world of plastic scale models.

 

Yves

Edited February 1 by yvesvidal

[Tim Moore]

Thanks Alan, Patrick, Yves and all those who have checked in. It is good to be back modelling after a year of moving and working on the new house.

Started on the wheels. There are 20 spokes on each half, making a total of 80 for the two wheels. That means I need 160 holes located with some precision around the 4 hubs and outer rims, so I can knit the wire spokes into the plastic. I made an indent in the hub using a tiny steel awl, then used a 1/64 bit in my dremel. It’s careful work, especially on the two smaller hubs. I then snipped off most of the plastic spokes at the rim, leaving 5 to keep the hubs centred while I go about installing the wire. I left the inner part of the plastic spokes intact for now, they gave me an alignment guide when I drilled the rims in terms of direction of the holes, and will help me get the first wires in the right holes. After I get a few wires in place and the hub is stable, I’ll cut everything away. That’s the theory anyway.

I will be using some 0.5mm wire I have for the new spokes. Seems a bit thin perhaps but after looking at photos of real bikes it may be pretty close to scale.

Now that I’ve started this and see what’s ahead, I’m considering awarding my bronze medal for modeling insanity to wheel spoke replacement, the gold having already gone to ‘rigging a three masted ship’ and silver to ‘neurosurgery with Pontos microscopic photo etch’. I’ve a feeling Chris Coyle might say the origami paper folding in his card modeling would knock one of those out of the medals, but I’ve never done a card kit. 
Have to leave the wheels for a bit until supplies arrive next week, as I realize I should paint the rim and hubs before the new spokes go in. So I’ll leave them in abeyance and start on some engine assemblies.

[yvesvidal]

I have used bug pins with success. These are the long and thin pins used to display bugs on boards.

Using wire, I do not think you can get anything stiff enough to work.

 

Below is what I did on my Honda CB750 (1/6th scale): Left is the reworked wheel, right is the kit wheel.

 

 

Yves

 

Edited February 1 by yvesvidal

[Tim Moore]

2 hours ago, yvesvidal said:

I have used bug pins with success. These are the long and thin pins used to display bugs on boards.

Using wire, I do not think you can get anything stiff enough to work.

 

Below is what I did on my Honda CB750 (1/6th scale): Left is the reworked wheel, right is the kit wheel.

 

 

Yves

 

Thanks Yves that’s a good solution. I think the wire I have should work, it’s really just thin wire rods. If it isn’t stiff enough or looks too fragile I have something slightly thicker I can use.

[Twokidsnosleep]

Ok sweet now you have my attention

 

[CDW]

Will love following your build, Tim. After building the same Triumph kit, always regretted not taking time to wire the spokes. In this large scale, the effort will be well worth it.

[Tim Moore]

Wheel spoking in progress after finally getting my supplies. I’m using 0.5mm wire rods and short stubs of 0.8mm brass tube to create some sort of nipples at the rim. Remnants of the plastic spokes remain to hold the hub on centre and guide me on location and alignment, easy to screw this up otherwise I would think. 
I’m ignoring the assembly sequence of the model in the directions and have put together all the main components of the frame, so I can paint it distinctly from the body parts. Hopefully I can shoehorn everything on board later on. I’ve sprayed on a base coat of black to begin with. 
 

[chadwijm6]

I've been looking at this kit so I'd like to follow along. I have 2023 Triumph Bonneville and I was wondering if I could adapt it to make a Bonny instead of the 3HW. There doesn't seem to be any Bonny model kits out there that I can see. Great job on the spoking.

[Tim Moore]

9 hours ago, chadwijm6 said:

I've been looking at this kit so I'd like to follow along. I have 2023 Triumph Bonneville and I was wondering if I could adapt it to make a Bonny instead of the 3HW. There doesn't seem to be any Bonny model kits out there that I can see. Great job on the spoking.

Hi James and thanks. Funny you mentioning the Bonneville, I’m actually using a photo of a Bonneville VE Day commemorative bike as a visual reference for my build. Not trying to replicate it, just the general look of it. Certainly very similar though. Design has stood the test of time.

Tim

[chadwijm6]

1 hour ago, Tim Moore said:

Hi James and thanks. Funny you mentioning the Bonneville, I’m actually using a photo of a Bonneville VE Day commemorative bike as a visual reference for my build. Not trying to replicate it, just the general look of it. Certainly very similar though. Design has stood the test of time.

Tim

It really has

 

Here's mine, had Ninja's and various others but there's just something brilliant about this bike.

[Tim Moore]

The first side of one wheel successfully re spoked, so 3 more to do. Should look ok with some touch ups. 

[Egilman]

Thank you for the detailed description of the process...

[shipman]

Splendid rendition of your spoked wheels; what did you use as spoke nipples?

Features such as these really make or break a model and can distract from a host of other issues. Much like the small boats on a ship model.

Thanks for sharing.

[Landlubber Mike]

Wheels look 100x better.  Nice job!

[Tim Moore]

11 hours ago, shipman said:

Splendid rendition of your spoked wheels; what did you use as spoke nipples?

Features such as these really make or break a model and can distract from a host of other issues. Much like the small boats on a ship model.

Thanks for sharing.

Thanks Shipman; for the nipples I used some tiny brass tube that is 0.6mm inside diameter, which just fits around the 0.5mm wire rods I’m using for spokes. Basically after drilling the holes in the hub and rim, I cut a length of wire rod, bend the end to go through the hole in the hub, and then slide the brass rod down the outside end of wire, through the rim, apply a dab of CA to fix it, and then cut off the excess rod and tube outside the rim. 

[Tim Moore]

One wheel assembly completed with the 40 steel spokes…should add interest to the model. Replaced the inflation nipple with a bit of leftover brass from Mikasa, and painted the spoke nipples around the rim. They looked kind of cool left as brass but I think painted is a probably a little more realistic. Overall I’m quite happy with the outcome as opposed to the plastic version.

[ccoyle]

That certainly looks very realistic!

[CDW]

Looks perfect

[king derelict]

The spoked wheel is spectacular

Alan

[Danstream]

Great modelling, the spoked wheel looks like the real thing. 

Following your build with interest,

Dan

[Canute]

Tim, that's a great improvement.