Post by Tim Nolan on Dec 11, 2006 7:56:51 GMT -6
I finished the Tiki Bike Saturday night about midnight finally, then I got up yesterday and spent the day at Disney with my family, then came home and photgraphed it and uploaded to Photobucket at about midnight last night! The things I do for you clods.....LOL.
This build is pretty much built straight from the kit, although the parts have been modified to protect thier identity....I only added a $1.59 keychain for the tank, some mild wiring, thread, and a "blob carb" from the parts bin with a Vandal blower scoop used for the air cleaner, and a tiny billet gascap.
The fenders, oil tank, primary cover, kickstand, tag, headlight and exhaust pipes were all modified using a Dremel cutting tip, to make them look like bark or wood. All of these parts, and the seat were hit with some really rough emery paper to add texture and give it a "grain" look as well. I used heavy thread to "lash" all of the joints together, as well as wrap the grips and footpegs.
Everything was airbrushed and drybrushed with multiple colors of browns and some greens to simulate the bamboo and wood, using Autoair paints. I handpainted the "joints" of the bamboo, and added some very fine lines all over to simuilate the textures of the bamboo. All of the parts were then dipped in two coats of Future floor wax, giving it a mild gloss, but maintaining a fairly natural look to the woods.
The exhaust is one of my favorite parts. I liked Scurvy's idea of having some chrome show thru some wood, but wasn't too succesful making an exhaust shield, so I simply dipped the end half of the exhaust tubes in bleach to remove the chrome, then taped it off and painted the tips in the wood finish. The oil tank kind of resembles a section of a cut tree, and I painted the top of it in a swirl pattern to simulate it. (although it doesn't show up too well.)
The rim centers were also brush painted in a few shades of brown, and they remind me of ceiling fan blades!
One of the more subtle and hard to see things is the tail light. In the rear fender, where it is cut all the way thru on the bottom, it is backed-up with a red lens so the light would shine thru if it were real.
The tank was made from a cheapo keychain I brought back from Oahu. I added a tiny billet gascap in his navel.
The air cleaner was made from a blower scoop from the Vandal kit. I removed the chrome, sanded it with rough paper, and then used the Dremel tool to texture it and carve a tiki mask face on it. It was painted and drybrushed in various shades of brown and black.
;D You guys know I love tiki's, so this was a pretty fun build for me, although I'm not a big fan of brush-painting anything and this got way more involved with that than I anticipated. I made a few mistakes along the way too, most of which were easily corrected, but as usual, it's all a learning process. Hope you
enjoy it.
This build is pretty much built straight from the kit, although the parts have been modified to protect thier identity....I only added a $1.59 keychain for the tank, some mild wiring, thread, and a "blob carb" from the parts bin with a Vandal blower scoop used for the air cleaner, and a tiny billet gascap.
The fenders, oil tank, primary cover, kickstand, tag, headlight and exhaust pipes were all modified using a Dremel cutting tip, to make them look like bark or wood. All of these parts, and the seat were hit with some really rough emery paper to add texture and give it a "grain" look as well. I used heavy thread to "lash" all of the joints together, as well as wrap the grips and footpegs.
Everything was airbrushed and drybrushed with multiple colors of browns and some greens to simulate the bamboo and wood, using Autoair paints. I handpainted the "joints" of the bamboo, and added some very fine lines all over to simuilate the textures of the bamboo. All of the parts were then dipped in two coats of Future floor wax, giving it a mild gloss, but maintaining a fairly natural look to the woods.
The exhaust is one of my favorite parts. I liked Scurvy's idea of having some chrome show thru some wood, but wasn't too succesful making an exhaust shield, so I simply dipped the end half of the exhaust tubes in bleach to remove the chrome, then taped it off and painted the tips in the wood finish. The oil tank kind of resembles a section of a cut tree, and I painted the top of it in a swirl pattern to simulate it. (although it doesn't show up too well.)
The rim centers were also brush painted in a few shades of brown, and they remind me of ceiling fan blades!
One of the more subtle and hard to see things is the tail light. In the rear fender, where it is cut all the way thru on the bottom, it is backed-up with a red lens so the light would shine thru if it were real.
The tank was made from a cheapo keychain I brought back from Oahu. I added a tiny billet gascap in his navel.
The air cleaner was made from a blower scoop from the Vandal kit. I removed the chrome, sanded it with rough paper, and then used the Dremel tool to texture it and carve a tiki mask face on it. It was painted and drybrushed in various shades of brown and black.
;D You guys know I love tiki's, so this was a pretty fun build for me, although I'm not a big fan of brush-painting anything and this got way more involved with that than I anticipated. I made a few mistakes along the way too, most of which were easily corrected, but as usual, it's all a learning process. Hope you
enjoy it.
,VERY WELL DONE TIM!!!!
?LOL!!!
