Building the Beast - Yamaha YZR-M1
Discussion
Ok, I've cut my teeth enough
My previous effort was a success (a few niggles aside), and I'm happy to start a monster project.
So - onto this animal.
It is printed out, on 34 sheets of A4 for the bike - the rider is a possibility, he's another 5 sheets.
The base however, is another 284 sheets of A4. I think i'll skip that.
I don't think i'll be using much sticky tape.
Stage 1 - complete the front fairing. What the instructions and the website failt to prepare you for is the scale of this behemoth. The fairing alone is 10cm along, and about the same high. Quick finger-sums lead me to think the entire model will be appx 30cm long, and 20 high - possibly larger.
The front fairing is a double skin, with a carbon coloured inside that sticks in once the structure is complete.
The instructions are at once excellent and annoying. They show you how each completed part connects to the next, and have a couple of front/back photos of the completed section - but, they don't show how each individual part is put together.
This is part of the front suspension (it actually goes together pretty easily), however, there were a couple of pieces that are a little unclear on their actual construction.
Having dotted black fold lines on a black carbon fibre textured part isn't particularly conducive either. Maybe extending the fold lines out a few mm on either side of the scrap card would help.
I think the card I'm using may be a touch too thick, as when you're trying to make a front-fork tube that is 7mm in diameter, the card has a tendency to crease rather than roll.
Updates on this one will be a little slower due to the scale and detail - the part above took 20 mins to cut out.
My previous effort was a success (a few niggles aside), and I'm happy to start a monster project.
So - onto this animal.
It is printed out, on 34 sheets of A4 for the bike - the rider is a possibility, he's another 5 sheets.
The base however, is another 284 sheets of A4. I think i'll skip that.
I don't think i'll be using much sticky tape.
Stage 1 - complete the front fairing. What the instructions and the website failt to prepare you for is the scale of this behemoth. The fairing alone is 10cm along, and about the same high. Quick finger-sums lead me to think the entire model will be appx 30cm long, and 20 high - possibly larger.
The front fairing is a double skin, with a carbon coloured inside that sticks in once the structure is complete.
The instructions are at once excellent and annoying. They show you how each completed part connects to the next, and have a couple of front/back photos of the completed section - but, they don't show how each individual part is put together.
This is part of the front suspension (it actually goes together pretty easily), however, there were a couple of pieces that are a little unclear on their actual construction.
Having dotted black fold lines on a black carbon fibre textured part isn't particularly conducive either. Maybe extending the fold lines out a few mm on either side of the scrap card would help.
I think the card I'm using may be a touch too thick, as when you're trying to make a front-fork tube that is 7mm in diameter, the card has a tendency to crease rather than roll.
Updates on this one will be a little slower due to the scale and detail - the part above took 20 mins to cut out.
smallish update - I'll be honest, I'm not sure if I'm going to continue with this model.
At the scale it is made, there is too much fiddly detail that is next to impossible to fold (at least within my medelling skillset)
Having a 1mm wide "side" with a 5mm tab attached to it is awkward to work with at best, and tiresome at worst.
The lack of folding instructions per item is annoying me and i'm just not managing a level of finesse I'm happy with - it may be that the card i'm using is a tad too thick.
Upper suspension/steering.
23 parts. a week of gnashing of teeth. hex handlebars are 5mm across, and entire thing is appx 100mm tall.
still 13 parts left to complete the front forks.
I'm going to complete the forks, and front fender, as I've already printed the parts onto card - then I'm going to review the rest of the instructions. If there are a lot of tubular sections to be completed, I think I will look for another project as I'm just not feeling this one.
I have this in the "to-do" bin, along with a pretty nice looking E-type.
After watching the Guy Martin Spitfire Doc, I'm thinking I might move in a more aeronautical direction
At the scale it is made, there is too much fiddly detail that is next to impossible to fold (at least within my medelling skillset)
Having a 1mm wide "side" with a 5mm tab attached to it is awkward to work with at best, and tiresome at worst.
The lack of folding instructions per item is annoying me and i'm just not managing a level of finesse I'm happy with - it may be that the card i'm using is a tad too thick.
Upper suspension/steering.
23 parts. a week of gnashing of teeth. hex handlebars are 5mm across, and entire thing is appx 100mm tall.
still 13 parts left to complete the front forks.
I'm going to complete the forks, and front fender, as I've already printed the parts onto card - then I'm going to review the rest of the instructions. If there are a lot of tubular sections to be completed, I think I will look for another project as I'm just not feeling this one.
I have this in the "to-do" bin, along with a pretty nice looking E-type.
After watching the Guy Martin Spitfire Doc, I'm thinking I might move in a more aeronautical direction
Thanks guys.. you may have persuaded me to continue
the fork stanchions were formed in two stages, first bent round a marker pen (about 1" dia) to get them bending, then a pen of the right diameter for the tube. no matter what I did, the paper creased. maybe they needed to be on thinner paper to roll - that's something to try, it may be strong enough to not buckle- then I'll need to separate the handlebars and reattach to the new tubes. luckily the crossmembers are not glued yet.
Steaming wouldn't work - i have to try and keep the card dryish otherwise it delaminates and the ink runs - even with just a little much PVA
the hex sections are part of the design - the holes they pass through are hex shaped, as are the end pieces. to be honest, they're not too bad. Fold along a metal ruler after scoring, and pass a toothpick through the middle to press down on till the glue bites.
the levers are flat - but double thickness card
the fork stanchions were formed in two stages, first bent round a marker pen (about 1" dia) to get them bending, then a pen of the right diameter for the tube. no matter what I did, the paper creased. maybe they needed to be on thinner paper to roll - that's something to try, it may be strong enough to not buckle- then I'll need to separate the handlebars and reattach to the new tubes. luckily the crossmembers are not glued yet.
Steaming wouldn't work - i have to try and keep the card dryish otherwise it delaminates and the ink runs - even with just a little much PVA
the hex sections are part of the design - the holes they pass through are hex shaped, as are the end pieces. to be honest, they're not too bad. Fold along a metal ruler after scoring, and pass a toothpick through the middle to press down on till the glue bites.
the levers are flat - but double thickness card
Success! audio only teleconferences rule 
I reprinted pages 5 & 6 on regular paper.
They rolled so much more smoothly that I think I'll continue on with the model, using thinner paper when and where it's needed such as the exhausts. The fairings have an inner skin which I'll also use thin paper for, whilst retaining the stronger outer section.
I'm going to complete things slightly out of sequence, as the design is very modular, so once I've completed the lower section, which is pretty straight forward, i'm going to move onto the engine as it's a nice tangible chunk.
I reprinted pages 5 & 6 on regular paper.
They rolled so much more smoothly that I think I'll continue on with the model, using thinner paper when and where it's needed such as the exhausts. The fairings have an inner skin which I'll also use thin paper for, whilst retaining the stronger outer section.
I'm going to complete things slightly out of sequence, as the design is very modular, so once I've completed the lower section, which is pretty straight forward, i'm going to move onto the engine as it's a nice tangible chunk.
Current state of affairs - front fender to build before starting on the engine block next week.
Front forks and steering completed.
picture taken on A4 cutting mat for scale.
as an aside, the youngest decided Dad needed a present in his lunchbox... nestled next to my sandwiches this morning was this!
Front forks and steering completed.
picture taken on A4 cutting mat for scale.
as an aside, the youngest decided Dad needed a present in his lunchbox... nestled next to my sandwiches this morning was this!
bit of dead time this afternoon - the front fender went together surprisingly easily.
the bracket however, was wonky as hell. Yamaha admitted there was a mistake in the kit, and even with the amended instructions and parts, the instructions are unclear, and I ended up trying to mount the fender to the inside of the forks, whereas they're supposed to be mounted from the outside
Front forks completed
Next up? The engine. a nice simple (!!) set of boxes
the bracket however, was wonky as hell. Yamaha admitted there was a mistake in the kit, and even with the amended instructions and parts, the instructions are unclear, and I ended up trying to mount the fender to the inside of the forks, whereas they're supposed to be mounted from the outside
Front forks completed
Next up? The engine. a nice simple (!!) set of boxes
a diorama? No chance of that, one will be enough. I don't have the deskspace for two - 'Er Indoors has banned me from bringing my "paper toys" home.
The bike is generic I'm afraid, and the PDF files locked so I can't photoshop them. What I wouldn't give for a model of this detail of Carl Fogarty on his 996 - or if I was making a base, Mr Bontempi's kawasaki in one of his trademark powerslides (strange what has an effect on you in your youth... neither Bontempi nor JP Montoya were particularly succesful in the races I saw, but I admired their style.)
The system went down on friday afternoon, so I had a spare half an hour, so I was able to get most of the parts for the cylinder heads cut out. None of those bits are particularly complex, which is a welcome relief - the lack of folding instructions for individual parts is a pain, esp. if the part is black so you can't see the fold lines.
Doc, the edge of the desk is a good call - I think I've used every hard surface on my desk, and settled on a thick magic marker.
The bike is generic I'm afraid, and the PDF files locked so I can't photoshop them. What I wouldn't give for a model of this detail of Carl Fogarty on his 996 - or if I was making a base, Mr Bontempi's kawasaki in one of his trademark powerslides (strange what has an effect on you in your youth... neither Bontempi nor JP Montoya were particularly succesful in the races I saw, but I admired their style.)
The system went down on friday afternoon, so I had a spare half an hour, so I was able to get most of the parts for the cylinder heads cut out. None of those bits are particularly complex, which is a welcome relief - the lack of folding instructions for individual parts is a pain, esp. if the part is black so you can't see the fold lines.
Doc, the edge of the desk is a good call - I think I've used every hard surface on my desk, and settled on a thick magic marker.
Talk about fine tolerances.
I built the top end, and the middle section just wouldn't fit - I can only think it is due to the thickness of the card I'm using making the parts oversized. We are literally talking half a mm here, and half a mm there, but it's making things tricky. I think I'm going to drop back to paper for some of the engine accoutrements and fittings as they are too small to be done with the thicker stock. The blue top section was split, and rejoined using a paper 'overlay' to hide the 2mm gap.
This is about 2/3 of the way through the engine block and gearbox structure with all the fiddly bits still to be attached.
It doesn't look as bad in real life, the quick pic makes it look messier than it is
Edited by shortar53 on Tuesday 28th October 19:46
Engine block and gearbox about 3/4 complete.
Lots of smaller parts to build and attach, but the main block is there.
entire block is about 12cm tall
again, the camera is unforgiving, it really picks up the white edges.
I'm currently knocking back as many of the edges as I can with a grey pen, but i'm not going to be able to get them all, and applying superglue into some of the gaps to try and get them a little tighter (I suspect the card is slightly curving due to the complex shapes and bowing up)
Lots of smaller parts to build and attach, but the main block is there.
entire block is about 12cm tall
again, the camera is unforgiving, it really picks up the white edges.
I'm currently knocking back as many of the edges as I can with a grey pen, but i'm not going to be able to get them all, and applying superglue into some of the gaps to try and get them a little tighter (I suspect the card is slightly curving due to the complex shapes and bowing up)
Apologies for the delay - who'da thunk moving house would be so stressful
(on a side note, whilst it is possible to dismantle a hi-level kids bed, stick it in a qashqai and reassemble it at the other side by yourself, it's probably easier as a two man job)
anyhoo, a little progress has been made - three parts to attach to the frame then it's complete.
it's not entirely square but it's not a million miles off - a little bit of persuasion will straighten it up.
(on a side note, whilst it is possible to dismantle a hi-level kids bed, stick it in a qashqai and reassemble it at the other side by yourself, it's probably easier as a two man job)
anyhoo, a little progress has been made - three parts to attach to the frame then it's complete.
it's not entirely square but it's not a million miles off - a little bit of persuasion will straighten it up.
Gassing Station | Scale Models | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff