Building several 1\8 Harley Davidson models

[jeffro2]

Here ya go Dale.

I've been trolling ebay for awhile and have finally found a few things from my younger days.

When I was about 10 or 11 years old I received these 2 models in a 2 for 1 deal my mother found at the old dime store in the old hometown or some place like it.









The Police bike was a very hard build for a 10, 11 year old. I remember breaking pieces and just screwing it up completely. I think I hid it and threw it away. lol

I loved the chopper, but after falling off the shelf a bunch of times, I ended up pitching it too, plus it was a hard build for me then also.

Now, I'm older with a little bit more patience.

I'm just going to put the pics up, and not babble too much, hopefully.

The Police Bike is done, but I didn't make it a police bike, its kinda stripped down. I will show just a few of the build pics of it.



















Lunch hour is over, I will try to get the Chopper pics up tonight, or lunch time tomorrow.




And as for the Chopper, I now have 2 of them with a 3rd on the way.

Here is one pic for now, and just as a hint, I'm stripping all the chrome, no shiny **** here.







.

[special-K]

Looks great! I have a soft spot for those 1/8 scale Revell Harley kits. I used to build those choppers back then

[Ol Blue K20]

Cool, thanks Jeffro. What are you using to strip the chrome?

[jeffro2]

Originally Posted by special-K

Looks great! I have a soft spot for those 1/8 scale Revell Harley kits. I used to build those choppers back then

Thank you, I thought I might hear from you special-K. That chopper I had back then was the cats meow in my mind. lol

I hope you still like it after you see what I have done to this one. I figure I have 2 more to try different looks in paint or whatever I decide on.

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20Cool

thanks Jeffro. What are you using to strip the chrome?

Thank you Dale, and "you are welcome"

For regular models I have been using Purple Power, or any cleaner degreaser that will corrode aluminum seems to work. It will state it on the side of the bottle normally.

I usually use another brand to strip anodizing off of aluminum, but you had to watch it, because if it sat too long, the aluminum will pit and get really rough.

I will have to look to see what it was, because Purple Power won't even touch chrome plating on RC chromed parts, its a lot stronger bonded to the plastic.

And now, back to the show. Here is the direction on this one. I have had to remake some parts because they were lost before I got it. The oil tank, and I'm working on handle bars and the "spark box" according to the instructions, and the spark plugs.




The tires were really lose on the rims so I stuffed a small amount of soft foam into the tires and now they fit perfect.




I just had to mock it up.














That's all for now, Thank you for taking a peek.




.

[special-K]

Lookin' wicked. The choppers were cool,but my favorite kit was the drag bike. Their choppers were done right,though. Any other customized Harley models I've seen were pretty hoakie. Those Revell kits were great!

[jeffro2]

Originally Posted by special-K

Lookin' wicked. The choppers were cool,but my favorite kit was the drag bike. Their choppers were done right,though. Any other customized Harley models I've seen were pretty hoakie. Those Revell kits were great!

Thank you, I wasn't sure. I've only found one Harley Drag bike and it was in the United Kingdom, and it was pricey, and already started, so you have to chance it on those kind, like this chopper now, it was missing a couple major pieces, luckily I know how to recreate things if needed.

Your right, The Revells were the best. I like the old ones from the late 60's, early 70's. The newer ones look cheesy or something.

@ Ol Blue K20, Dale if you read my other post on the Purple Power, forget that stuff. I bought some "Greased Lightning" Degreaser\Cleaner. Its wicked fast..

[Ol Blue K20]

Thanks Jeffro, chopper is looking good. Can you imagine turning that thing a slow speeds with the length of those forks...lol

[special-K]

I'll remember not to clean my dash bezel with Purple Power . Hah hah...actually learned my lesson many moons ago on harsh cleaners and plastic interiors. I used to love to build these kits. The scale is big,yet detail is still an intricate thing,and the size displays well. I've wanted to go after more kits but have been having other priorities for quite a while. My real Harley looks much like your red bike,only mine's black. Not a chopper,not a dresser,just a big fat stripped down Harley. Harley called them Sport Solos

[jeffro2]

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20

Thanks Jeffro, chopper is looking good. Can you imagine turning that thing a slow speeds with the length of those forks...lol

You're welcome. Yeah, I have a feeling its a careful turn on one like that if it was real.

Originally Posted by special-K

I'll remember not to clean my dash bezel with Purple Power . Hah hah...actually learned my lesson many moons ago on harsh cleaners and plastic interiors. I used to love to build these kits. The scale is big,yet detail is still an intricate thing,and the size displays well. I've wanted to go after more kits but have been having other priorities for quite a while. My real Harley looks much like your red bike,only mine's black. Not a chopper,not a dresser,just a big fat stripped down Harley. Harley called them Sport Solos

Throw a pic of your bike in here if want, I love Harley's, I just know I can't get on one, so I do the next best thing. I build little ones.

I didn't find any of that out about the cleaner\degreasers till I got into the RC Scale world, but I think the modelers started 1st. The "Greased Lightning" does just that, it strips it really quick compared to the Purple Power.

The older models were so much more detailed. I have several more coming. I plan on trying to make the Harley Drag Bike we were talking about.

Funny thing after you mentioned the Drag Bike the other day, I found one on ebay that night for 349.00 and it had the wrong rear rim, and who knows what else, I wanted it so bad, but I talked myself out of it.

A couple pics before I call it a day here. The seat, gas tank, sissy bar are not glued on yet.











I'm trying to make handlebars, but I may wait till these 2 other Harley models show up, I may steal a set from one of those.

[Ol Blue K20]

I think your handlebars look good.

[jeffro2]

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20

I think your handlebars look good.

Thank you Dale, I finally finished it, I've been lazy lately.

The handlebars turned out ok, after I broke them into 3 pieces, twice. The cement is holding..







The final look..











The two together..

[Ol Blue K20]

They both like awesome to me

[kingstrider]

Awesome builds. Makes me want to pull my old kits out of the basement and get to work on them.

[special-K]

Originally Posted by jeffro2

Throw a pic of your bike in here if want, I love Harley's, I just know I can't get on one, so I do the next best thing. I build little ones.

Better late than never. This is how it looks these days. It's a '90 FLST, the last year for a basic Heritage Softail. The things I did were to enhance the essence of Harley that Harley fell short on, IMO, more so than to be "custom". The drag pipes have always been a mod guys would do, if nothing else. I didn't want to try to make it be the Panhead that it is not or hide what it is. Just enhance the Harleyness with repro vintage parts:

[jeffro2]

Originally Posted by special-K

Better late than never. This is how it looks these days. It's a '90 FLST, the last year for a basic Heritage Softail. The things I did were to enhance the essence of Harley that Harley fell short on, IMO, more so than to be "custom". The drag pipes have always been a mod guys would do, if nothing else. I didn't want to try to make it be the Panhead that it is not or hide what it is. Just enhance the Harleyness with repro vintage parts:

Now that's a Harley, its perfect, Thank you for sharing Tim. That's what I usually say also, better late then never.


I still stop by and lurk a little bit.

I never was able to get a Chevy truck like I wanted so I finally gave in and joined a jeep forum, and I'm going that route.


.