Akira: Kaneda's Bike. First Build Post

Strode · Jan 20, 2013

Hi all. New here and thought i'd share my latest build with you guys. The level of talent here is insane and i can't even hope to make a dent among all this genius. So much to my trepidation, i present to you my build of Kaneda's bike from the magnificent manga and subsequent movie, Akira.

But first, an introduction:

Once i realised there was a paper model of Kaneda's bike floating around on the internet, I couldn't wait to make it. It was an important piece to me as Akira was one of the first manga i had ever read and it blew me away, so when i got my hands on the file, the picture that was attached looked like this:

and i wasn't very impressed. It at least had to look close to this:

and then i found this:

akira_kaneda__s_bike_by_christopherdepaula-d4jl7gz_zps88d3fc5d.jpg

and i thought well it can't be all that bad, so i started building. and then came the problems. The tyres were all wonky, the brake lights were painted on, with no detailing, the parts would not fit, the console on the dashboard had a picture of some random anime girls, and a million other issues, but i went on regardless. i changed the tyres, using plaster of paris, which is the first time i have ever used it so:

Strode · Jan 20, 2013

the hubs on each wheel were to be made of cardstock and were very very sad. the glue lines could be seen and none of the connecting paper parts connected very well at all and i decided to junk the things and make them from scratch. having no access to sculpting putty or whatever, i used an epoxy mixture that is usually sold to seal leaking pipes. And suffice to say they are hell to sand and i used plastic toothpicks:

tons of sanding later followed by colouring in with red and black marker pens, many many changes including the seats, handle-bar grips, central console, four hubs, tail section, custom decals and a tiny kick stand later:

i liked how it turned it. could be better but what the hey. maybe i'll improve it when i get the chance again. i hope you guys also find it acceptable.
One thing though i have yet to figure out is how to go about making the front visor. I stay in a very weird place thus craft tools are supply are restricted from limited to none. i tried shaping cd cases but that failed miserably so any suggestions are welcome.

cheers.

yuumi2891103 · Jan 20, 2013

You should have nothing to be modest for this build. :eek This is very good.
OK! somebody else would build one a little bit better than this as for choice of material and or detail work and finishing. But hey! this one has a taste.:love And it has a good proportion for sure!! I love it.
I was the one stunned with AKIRA too.:lol

Welcome to PRF!!

Katsu

Strode · Jan 20, 2013

yuumi2891103 said:
You should have nothing to be modest for this build. :eek This is very good.
OK! somebody else would build one a little bit better than this as for choice of material and or detail work and finishing. But hey! this one has a taste.:love And it has a good proportion for sure!! I love it.
I was the one stunned with AKIRA too.:lol

Welcome to PRF!!

Katsu

HAH! thank you Katsu-san. i worked with what i had and could easily get around the house. where i live, craft materials are very hard to come by. my finishing also needs a lot of work...:unsure but it was either this or scratchbuild one new bike entirely. i had neither the talent, nor the time so did the best i could...:confused. hopefully i will be better next time when i use katsu-san's techniques and a better selection of tools! :lol but i have no idea when that will be. Thinking of attempting a scratchbuild of the event horizon or a massive model of the rodger young from starship troopers.

yuumi2891103 · Jan 20, 2013

OK, let me suggest you a few things.

Don't hesitate to use kit parts or something you can find around you or things you can buy at the dollar shop.

Balsa woods and can of car filler would be the choice of material to make up the smooth shape of the body.

I think you did a great job about the logo mark and decals:thumbsup
You should paint with different luster for different part.
Like wheels, body, etc.

You got a good eyes to capture the shape of the thing I think.

Keep up the good work my friend!

katsu

PS! If you don't have a power drill, buy one. It's very very handy and useful !
It can make a hole, shape up the rods, sand a circle thing like wheels.

Ship of event horizon?! Rogder young?! No sweat. If you can see, you can build.
If you can imagine, you can build! That's the matter of time

Strode · Jan 20, 2013

thank you katsu-san. i will try next time. locating these materials are very difficult. no hobby stores or no dollar stores here. car filler will have to be located also :unsure i have a drill but i am unsure as to where you want me to use it? lots to learn master but no patience :lol thank you for the kind words.

yuumi2891103 · Jan 20, 2013

OK! Let's take time and go step by step.:lol
The love for building is the most powerful and strong tool.

Katsuhiko Fujihira

Kasss Gnarl · Jan 20, 2013

I have always loved the design of Kaneda's bike.

Yours is looking good, especially the improvements you made to the wheels, the plaster texture makes them look like racing slicks.

Good luck on whatever you choose to be your next project, be sure to look everywhere for materials to scratch build with, all kinds of random bits can be brought together to make things.

Sigma-LS · Jan 20, 2013

The laughing man logo made me smile. Nice work on this. You'll find that epoxy putty you used is one of your biggest friends in modelling, even if the sanding takes awhile.

Strode · Jan 20, 2013

Kasss Gnarl said:
I have always loved the design of Kaneda's bike.

Yours is looking good, especially the improvements you made to the wheels, the plaster texture makes them look like racing slicks.

Good luck on whatever you choose to be your next project, be sure to look everywhere for materials to scratch build with, all kinds of random bits can be brought together to make things.

Essentially materials is the problem here. locating them is a real pain, describing them to the local stores, even more so. i'll have to start collecting junk to see if they can be added effectively :lol. thanks.

Sigma-LS said:
The laughing man logo made me smile. Nice work on this. You'll find that epoxy putty you used is one of your biggest friends in modelling, even if the sanding takes awhile.

Hah! glad you noticed. the original had a random anime girl on the console and it annoyed me to no end. This was something similar to epoxy putty but i may have located a store selling epoxy sculpt. will that work in terms of filling the dents and nicks and getting a smooth outer body? i have to start learning how to use primers and painting in general. lots to learn!

ModelFX · Jan 27, 2013

I think that you have done a really good job here with such limitation on materials - It shows thought and perseverance! Well done! The best way to do the windshield would be with some thin acetate (unless you want to go as far as making a pattern and having the windshield vacuum formed)
What are the dimensions of this piece?

Strode · Jan 27, 2013

thanks man. you have no idea how difficult it is to get craft material here. there are literally no hobby shops and no one has any idea what i'm talking about when i describe what i want. it's frustrating. i can' find styrene, bondo, no scrap kit parts or kits are very expensive, all i have to work with is card, an xacto knife, scissors, and superglue. i tried bending a cd case into shape by boiling it in water but that was a lost cause. can't do vacuum forming or anything. let's see how it goes.

Strode · Jan 27, 2013

also first time i had to work with plaster of paris for the tires. worked out pretty well thank god.

ModelFX · Jan 27, 2013

You are thinking on your feet and producing some great results! Have you thought of looking up some mail-order suppliers for some materials and bits (sorry if that sounds dumb!) or is money a bit of an issue?
if you wanted to, you could always make your own vacuum former...A timber box with some holes drilled in it, a frame to hold your styrene sheet and a vacuum cleaner - if you check the net, you should be ably to find a diy diagram......
I once worked at a company where I had to do some small vacuum formed pieces....I was expecting to use the baby Formech machine that they had....then they slapped a wooden box on my table that looked somewhat battle-damaged, and wheeled the workshop vacuum cleaner up to the side of my bench; i thought "You have to be kidding me!", but no, it really did the job - I was impressed!

ModelFX · Jan 27, 2013

Strode said:
also first time i had to work with plaster of paris for the tires. worked out pretty well thank god.

The plaster tyres are a nice idea - simple and effective; I did a styrene model many many years ago of a truck; I wanted it to have tyres that had a rubber feel and look so that they would "give" under the weight of the model...I made the tyre pattern in styrene & a friend of mine made the moulds in plaster....We used GELFLEX (an awful, smelly, reusable rubber that you melt in a pan over the oven......Great for moulding garden ornaments!)
Anyway, the tyres were poured from this stuff and painted with enamel paint....all fine and dandy at the time...The model was boxed away for a few years...
When the time came to inspect the model again, i discovered that the Gelflex had actually started to dissolve the styrene!!! :lol

Strode · Jan 27, 2013

ModelFX said:
You are thinking on your feet and producing some great results! Have you thought of looking up some mail-order suppliers for some materials and bits (sorry if that sounds dumb!) or is money a bit of an issue?
if you wanted to, you could always make your own vacuum former...A timber box with some holes drilled in it, a frame to hold your styrene sheet and a vacuum cleaner - if you check the net, you should be ably to find a diy diagram......
I once worked at a company where I had to do some small vacuum formed pieces....I was expecting to use the baby Formech machine that they had....then they slapped a wooden box on my table that looked somewhat battle-damaged, and wheeled the workshop vacuum cleaner up to the side of my bench; i thought "You have to be kidding me!", but no, it really did the job - I was impressed!

haha thanks you are much to kind. and that is a brilliant idea. i never knew about this and that i could diy it. thanks for that, i'll have a gander. i recently had an idea where i would use the blower on my vacuum cleaner and rig up a spray painting set up. an old art teacher once taught me how to long ago. wonder if that will work. any ideas? i am intending to spray paint the APU i'm making. thoughts?

ModelFX said:
The plaster tyres are a nice idea - simple and effective; I did a styrene model many many years ago of a truck; I wanted it to have tyres that had a rubber feel and look so that they would "give" under the weight of the model...I made the tyre pattern in styrene & a friend of mine made the moulds in plaster....We used GELFLEX (an awful, smelly, reusable rubber that you melt in a pan over the oven......Great for moulding garden ornaments!)
Anyway, the tyres were poured from this stuff and painted with enamel paint....all fine and dandy at the time...The model was boxed away for a few years...
When the time came to inspect the model again, i discovered that the Gelflex had actually started to dissolve the styrene!!! :lol

aw man that's too bad. when am i going to see your other creations?

ModelFX · Jan 27, 2013

Strode said:
haha thanks you are much to kind. and that is a brilliant idea. i never knew about this and that i could diy it. thanks for that, i'll have a gander. i recently had an idea where i would use the blower on my vacuum cleaner and rig up a spray painting set up. an old art teacher once taught me how to long ago. wonder if that will work. any ideas? i am intending to spray paint the APU i'm making. thoughts?

Painting card is difficult as it draws moisture, and that will lead to buckling of the material......There is an aerosol paint called BUNT LACK - this is a special paint aimed at use on card and paper - though obviously, you have to lightly dust the paint layers on to build up colour.....Not the cheapest of paints either :-(
I'm not sure about a vacuum cleaner as a spray painting device.....a compressor or aerosol can would be better. You can actually get budget level airbrushes that you can run on canned air.... Humbrol make these....

aw man that's too bad. when am i going to see your other creations?

I'll see if i can dig any further efforts out at some point

Strode · Jan 27, 2013

nah not using card for the APU, it's just there as a reference. i'm using sunboard or whatever with other scrap stuff lying around. the board holds paint alright. will look for car primer and body filler to dunk all the parts in and then spray paint. will test it out first and then post progress

ModelFX · Jan 28, 2013

Great stuff! Best of luck with it & keep us all updated! I look forward to seeing the end result!

Akira: Kaneda's Bike. First Build Post

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