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Post by Count Dragula on May 13, 2024 14:13:15 GMT -5
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Post by manxkat on May 16, 2024 8:41:16 GMT -5
OK, this is what I'm starting with. For the non bike guys out there, this is about as weird as it gets - a Suzuki Katana is NOT what you'd choose to build a cruiser/ chopper out of. That would be bad enough but a close look at the kit's parts show that it's actually a cartoon bike, the box art literally couldn't have been further from what's inside if it tried. Can you tell why it's sat unloved on my shelves for so many years? That's where it would probably have remained if I hadn't taken another look at it a few months ago when I was having a purge on Ebay. It was then I realised that, yes, there was a goofy chopper thing to be built but there were also all the parts needed to build the stock version. Even in cartoon form that would make a nice looking thing so it moved from the "Never" to the "One day" pile. Then this contest came along and it's moved to the "Let's get started" pile. As they say, every dog has its day and this one's has just arrived! As an aside, I did have have an interesting conversation many years ago with a guy who ran a model store in Japan who explained why companies like Aoshima and Fujimi turned out so many different versions of the same basic kit. Apparently, it was the law in Japan that, if you manufactured something and set a retail price of $X, then you were only ever allowed to sell it for $X i.e. no price increases. So, what Aoshima and Fujimi did was continually tweak their kits with new, but small, features like wheels, decals etc. and then they weren't tied to what the original kit's price had been. Allegedly, Tamiya thought this was all a bit undignified and so very rarely issued "modified" versions of existing kits. So now you know.   |
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Post by Jim Richards on May 17, 2024 1:55:32 GMT -5
Hey Harley,
Good little bike, and interesting pricing story.
What scale is it?
Jim
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Post by Jim Richards on May 17, 2024 2:05:10 GMT -5
I also have been clearing out a lot of stuff that this Contest describes. I wasn't sure I had anything, then remembered these. I bought these just for the motorcycles that came with them, then was gonna flip the rest of the kit on ebay. Then I just never did. Of course they are nice kits. So since I never intended to build them, I think they will fit the criteria of this Contest. I'm gonna combine the two, somehow, LOL.  Thanks Jim |
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Post by manxkat on May 17, 2024 10:08:22 GMT -5
Hey Harley, Good little bike, and interesting pricing story. What scale is it? Jim Not really sure what scale it is Jim, there's nothing on the box - but I think it'll be about 3 1/2 inches long when it's done so maybe around 1/20 scale? |
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Post by Count Dragula on May 17, 2024 15:41:22 GMT -5
Your choices for the contest fits the criteria for the contest just fine, Harley and Jim!
Todd
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Post by wobnob on May 19, 2024 21:28:38 GMT -5
Bought this at a hobby shop I use to frequent until I discovered BeelzEbay. The bloke had mainly vintage stuff, GOOD, vintage stuff, & he knew their value. So I'd drive the hour to his place, look around for a couple of hours & I'd always find something that had slipped by the catcher & the price was just to good to be true. The last time I was there, &, after the prices I'd paid for the same stuff online compared to his? I, guiltily, decided to stop going back. This kit was the last one I bought from there. For hours I searched? & found 'nada'! And out of sheer 'not wanting to admit defeat & that I'd driven all that way for nothing' petulance, I grabbed this, as I could never find the brilliant ESCI versions of the 70's Escort. Thought I could do an RS2000 conversion? But I just don't have the love! ...& I have now have both Escort versions by ESCI.  |
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Post by manxkat on May 20, 2024 0:27:31 GMT -5
Wow, that's a rare piece! I can't remember the last time I saw one of those. At least the box art got the weird camber that the real thing had correct but I don't remember them being that jacked up at the back end.....
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Post by Jim Richards on May 20, 2024 10:37:52 GMT -5
It sounds perfect for this contest, good choice K Man.
Jim
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Post by Count Dragula on May 21, 2024 15:25:30 GMT -5
Ok,so I have some cool history aboout my choice for this contest.Like many of you,I built models as a young kid and on into my teens.My dad bought most of my kits as presents for me.I can't blame him for buying me the Revell Charlies Angels Van.We did watch the 70's TV show together,and I'm sure he meant well.There was one problem. I despise the color PINK,and the parts were molded in Pink and Black.So,on my unbuilt shelf it went.Then around 1978,I started smoking weed,and needed a place to stash my stuff since my mom discovered every other friggin place I stashed it,I figured the Charlies Angels kit box would be a safe haven for my weed!!! It was that way til I moved out of state in 1980. Fast forward to 2007....the year I started building models again,also joined Ebay,and a model builders forum or two. I ended up purchasing another one because my parents Goodwilled ALL of my models,built and unbuilt before they moved out of state in the early 80's. So,I must say that the Revell Charlies angels Van is still my most unloved,unbuilt kit!!!! Yes I still despise the color Pink....My wife asked me to build this one for her,but she said I must leave it or paint it pink.....that was like two years ago.Well,this contest has given me the final nudge I needed to build it!!! No weed stash box this time,hell, I don't even smoke the stuff any more!!!Here is my entry photo below:
 Oh,by the way,my brother admitted to me years later he found my stash in the Charlies Angels box at our old home,and helped himself to some when he got low or ran out,LOL!
Todd
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Post by wobnob on May 22, 2024 4:27:06 GMT -5
I think I devised this idea so's I could find out if I wasn't the only one that 'acquired' useless kits at times? Feeling much better now Fellas. Thanks!
I actually worked on a bike once very similar to the Katana 'Manxkat' entered. In 1996, while I was recuperating from a bike acco' I worked in a mate's bike shop mechanic-ing & this bloke shows-up on a 1995 GSXR1100 that he'd converted into a Frankenstein's enduro/Paris to Dakar abomination that he proudly called 'street fighter' after the video game. So, the bike was only a year old at the time. ABSOLUTE CRIME!! And the one, amongst many, abhorrations that stood-out, was the 4into2 exhaust had been changed to 4into4 flexible ribbed pipe like the arms on the robot in 'Lost in Space'. The whole bike was covered in video game related stickers & he told me, proudly, & unproven, that he'd gotten an extra 15hp out of the pipes. I didn't have heart to tell him the bike wasn't running 'right' because of the back-pressure caused by these very same ribbed pipes. I think he left the shop debating as to whether he should install a 'points' ignition (yes:points) to solve the problem it had? Anyway! Just a quick story to put You all to sleep. We are getting a good collection of crap here & I'm stoked!
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Post by manxkat on May 23, 2024 1:42:19 GMT -5
Todd: That really is PINK! You're certainly going to need sunglasses (maybe welding goggles?) to tackle that plastic unless, hint hint, you're going to murder it out?
Wobnob: I used to spanner for a guy who competed in Production Bike racing back in the day when Katanas were a viable choice and the one thing they needed wasn't more power - it was more ground clearance! It was surprising how many of them had low speed "accidents" in the paddock which miraculously bent the pipes upwards a bit! Yeah, points ignition will solve any problem, every Brit bike rider knows that!
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