thanks guys... I have now made a case saver out of stainless steel and put it under the chain guard I have made. a bit of googling suggests that chain breakages, and subsequent case damage is all too common on some Ducati bikes! Plenty of case savers on the market and quite cheap, and a dam site cheaper than new cases! Also made a start on the tank and seat... my wife is moaning about filler dust on her plants!! A trick I learned many years ago is that when you want to get filler to shape, make sharp edges so you can see the lines, then when you are satisfied they are right, sand them off! its much easier that way. its the best way to get something like a car wheel arch spot on… I know the seat will divide opinion… I could have made it any shape, and played around with quite a few shapes at the foam stage… but in the end I decided on this on, as I like it, and that’s all that matters at the end of the day, I build bikes for me!
Well here it is in primer... just got to decide on colour now... I have plenty of time to think about it, this will be the last update for a while... I am being kidnapped and sent to a tiny (and I mean tiny!) island where there are no cars, bikes, transport, just beaches... and sun... and no internet. Quite frankly, I don't know how I am going to cope
squeezed a bit of time in the garage before we go! Here is the seat being made… I have used closed cell EFP30 foam, which is firm, but has the advantage that it can be sanded to shape. it will be covered with some 6mm foam and trimmed. Trimming is one of the jobs I cant do at home!
Back from Holiday... to cold, wet and rain... well its that time of indecision.... i have Photoshoped on other colours, but its either red or orange... I have to decide by tomorrow as I want to get the paint...
My initial reaction was the orange as it's different but I think the spring, pressure plate and tank/seat need to match so red, or change them.
The seat is back from the trimmer, and as usual its a perfect job, Karen at Aldridge trimming is simply fantastic!
I'd go with the duckegg greeny/blue as a perfect marriage to the silver frame, a sort of homage to this beauty and the racing livery of the past
That's the sort of quality work I've been looking for ... .... where are they based ? On the orange paint job ..... no Sir , not my taste ..... but did the Laverda Jota come in Orange ?
yes, its Laverda orange I have used... the company is Aldrige trimming in Wolverhampton https://www.aldridge.co.uk/
here is the first coat of lacquer… For 40 years I used my trusty Binks Bullows 230 but it was starting to give problems… I tried several guns off Ebay, but despite the Binks problems always went back to it… then a few years ago I bought a cheap (£20) gun off amazon… it had great reviews, and sure enough its brilliant! this is the gloss straight from the gun!
That's a great compromise. Red +yellow = orange so no arguments. Except it will be slightly faster than a red bike and a bit slower than a yellow one
And the final coat.... my heart is always in my mouth when painting over decals... I have found by experience you MUST wipe them over with panel wipe, and make sure the first coat of lacquer is a mist coat which then has to tack off... then a couple of coats on top. if you go with a full coat first you always get runs off the lip on each letter! I will let them dry fully in the drying oven... OK, the small bathroom as that is the hottest room in the house!
Stunning ! I'm envious .... I don't seem able to paint anything bigger than a post-card without getting sags in it ....
Painting a tank is a very different technique to painting flat panels say on a car... one trick I learned years ago was to use a hand lamp... I actually now use a small LED torch... Spraygun in one hand, torch in the other... shine the torch from below to the area you are spraying... watch the surface wet out, and stop! always do your edges first and let the paint tack off... aim for a few coats that have wetter out... you dont need multiple coats with the paints these days like in the old days of cellulose. my mate uses rattle cans to paint tanks and the finish he achieves is as good as any professional job! you can how get 2K lacquer in rattle cans as well! its fantastic and very durable!
Are they the ones with a doo-dad in the bottom of the can ? Some kind of activator that needs to be let loose ? Many thanks for the tips .... very much appreciated . I have to do a bit of spray painting soon .... PS - do you always finish with a lacquer coat , even if there are no decals ?
