Tamiya 14081 Honda NSR 500, Team Nastro Azurro Honda.

This project started early January 2000, finished January 11th.
This is the third NSR500 in a row I build, the reason is my fascination for GP racing and because I feel I get to know the kit better and better and can improve my modeling skills by producing a better bike each time.
The Nastro Azurro team's rider Valentino Rossi is a very talented and fun-loving guy, so that's also one of the reasons I want to bulid the bike.
Rossi got second in the championships in 2000 with this bike, and is predicted to be the new champion of motorcycle racing.
The main sponsor is the Italian beer brand Nastro Azurro, a thin and tasteless "desinger" beer like Miller and Corona. Nastro Azurro means Blue Ribbon.

Detailing
Tamiya made a new sprue for the NSR500 kit when they released this version, but there's still some details that are'nt correct and some that are missing, so I've decided to add quite a few details to this bike:
-Remove brake fluid container on the left handlebar and replace it with a hose connector
-Add adjustment screw on the left handlebar
-Add wiring to engine and other parts, replace kit wiring with Modeler's wire
-Insert thin wire on the gear change linkage
-Add chain tensioners
-Add electrics box on the right side of the frame

Painting
I've learnt a lot about painting the NSR from my previous projects, byt still I change the way I paint the bike from model to model, based on reference pics that show different colors but also on the fact that I want to try a new paint or finish. For instance the exhausts on this bike will have a yellow tone and the steering clamps will also have a new color. I wanted to bulid a bike that could be displayed whitout bodywork, so I paid a lot of attention also to "hidden" parts of the bike.

Here's the colours I've used:
Bodywork: Modeler's 04 super white, Tamiya TS-16 Yellow, Tamiya MS-5 metallic grey.
Frame, rear swing, exhausts: Alclad II highly polished aluminium (all parts primed with TS-14 black, exhausts oversprayed with clear yellow, orange and blue)
Engine: Alclad II magnesium and Aluminium. Air intake: X-18 oversprayed with XF-56 thru a mesh (to simulate carbon)
Front forks: TS-14 base, then Alclad II chrome, then Alclad II copper (a mist coat) sliding part is gold foil.
Brake calipers: Alclad II pale gold. Brake discs: mix of X-10 and X-21, Alclad II steel in the middle and Model Master gun metal inside
Steering head: mix of X-33 and X-34

Construction
I started by painting the white parts of the bodywork and let it dry for 24 hours (enough for Modeler's laquer but not for most other paints, beware!) before I masked off using the masking templates plus some masking tape and painted the yellow and metallic grey parts.
48 hours later I clearcoated the bodywork with TS-13, starting really slow and building up the paint gradually..
Inbetween all this I completed the chassis, adding a great deal of "electronics" and other details as mentioned earlier.

Decaling:
I had mixed emotions about the decals, mainly because they're supposed to "shade" into the metallic grey color but also because there's some complex curves the decals has to go around. The shading turned out to be a minor detail because there's other decals covering most of the shaded area.
As for the complex curves, some work was required. I did not use any decal solution becaus I've seen Tamiya decals react badly to it on previous projects. I just cocentrated on one decal at a time, working it down with a medium stiff brush and a cloth. Each time a decal had to go around a body panel (at the "end" of the fairing for instance) I pressed it down with a cloth dipped in very hot water and bent it around the curve. One word of advice: It is very neat to have the fairing done and fittet on the bike before You proceed with the tank so that You can check that the silver stripes line up properly.
I managed to get all the decals in place without big problems, and they remain the best Tamiya decal I've yet used. The decaling job was finished off with a coat of clear Tamiya acrylic.

Conclusion:
A great kit that I enjoyed a lot. It only took seven days to complete and I like the final result. I recommend this kit very much. Grazie Vale!

This page was last updated on january 14 2001.