Tamiya VFR750R RC30 Model Kit Review

At over £15,000 for the real thing, the Tamiya 1:12 scale VFR750R RC30 model kit may be the closest most people can get to owning Honda’s legendary homologation special. The question is how much of the bike’s amazing pedigree has been translated into the kit?

First impressions upon opening the box are good. Each sprue is contained its own protective bag, with the clear plastic sprue even coming in a box. A wise decision, given the relative weakness of clear plastic. The rest of the plastic sprues are appropriately coloured: body panels in white, ‘unpainted metal’ parts in grey, etc. They need to be painted anyway, but it’s still attention to detail that really points to quality. Another detail that jumps out is the colour printing on the inside of the box. Admittedly it’s only box art for other model kits, but it is confidence inspiring nevertheless to see that some care has even been taken with the design of the inside of the box.

Inside the box!

Inner box design is not the only quality touch on the kit either. The kit comes with machine screws and bolts for affixing certain parts: the wheels; the fairing; the engine; etc. The screws are not be a big deal in themselves,  but the fact that the included screwdriver is magnetic along its entire length is. When the biggest bolt in the model is an M2 (2mm diameter shaft) and some are only 4mm long, it’s a godsend to have a fully magnetic screwdriver to rely upon. In the grand scheme of things, a tiny magnetic screwdriver may not seem like much, but it does show that kit has been designed by people with an understanding of the realities of assembling it. 

This fact really comes across through the instructions. Scale model instructions can, at their worst, be downright confusing. Everyone has come across the problem of following the instructions to the letter only to find that in, say, Stage 12, you’re now expected to paint a part that became inaccessible in stage 10. Not so with the instructions in this kit. The pictures are large and detailed, and the paint/decal applications needed are listed when a component first becomes appears, ensuring that the aforementioned nightmare scenario can’t happen. On top of this, it’s always made clear where parts attach. Even the potential minefield of the rubber hoses used to simulate the various cables, hoses, and wiring on the bike is made simple. The various attachment points are made clear, and there are helpful measuring marks for cutting lengths on the appropriate steps of the instructions themselves. Each cut hose is also given a letter designation so when it reappears in later steps you know exactly which hose is being referred to. The kit also comes with a good amount of spare hose, ensuring that slightly generous cuts won’t mean running out later.

Note the measurements for the hoses.

The attention to detail even extends to explaining exactly how components fit together, not simply relying on a single vague arrow from component to component. In the case of the exhaust downpipes for the rear cylinders, which need to be manoeuvred and twisted into position, the instructions give a step-by-step walkthrough on how to get the pipes to fit properly. Assistance that is much appreciated on such a fiddly task, and a simple touch that further shows that the people writing the instructions have actually assembled the kit themselves... or are psychic. 

The plastic of the kit itself, the clear notwithstanding, feels to be high quality; it’s easy enough to strip the excess material left after cutting parts from the sprue and to slice the mould lines off. The plastic also feels reasonably resilient and not at all brittle. It’s in a good middle ground between being soft and being strong. The moulding of the plastic parts is also top-notch. There was no excess mould flash on the pieces, and even the unavoidable mould lines were very minor, to the point that on some pieces it could be hard to tell if it was a mould line or a sculpted seam. Speaking of detail, this kit has it in spades, right down to the idiot lights on the clocks and the valves on the wheels. The best part is that all of the details are also crisply defined, really helping to ease the painting process. 

No, they aren't totally straight.

It is worth mentioning though that there was one defect on this particular kit. A screw hole for holding the engine had not been drilled all the way through. Without buying another it’s impossible to know if this is a problem with all RC30 kits or just with this one, still it was easily fixed with a Dremel (a pin vice would work too). For a kit this detailed though, a single minor issue in the sculpting isn’t really all that much of a concern, and in no way undermines the integrity of the kit as a whole. 

The only potential problem to be aware of with the kit is that if you decide to go with the HRC paintjob, the red portions are provided by large printed decals with both the red ‘paint’ and the markings on them. This does mean that nobody has to perfectly paint three matching coloured lines on the tail panels, but it does mean that perfect decal placement is a must. Especially as such large decals can be difficult to place properly on panels with compound curves. The curvature also seems to become more of a problem as the decal dries, so even one that was perfectly laid can end up looking less than stellar when fully dry. How big a problem this is all comes down to personal preference. Whether you want HRC colours or not, how skilled you are at decal application, or if you would just want to paint the scheme rather than using decals at all, are all considerations to make. This approach of using decals rather than painted surfaces is an interesting idea and whilst it can be tricky, it’s far from a deal breaker, especially on such an otherwise high quality kit.

The Tamiya VFR750R RC30 kit is a kit of unmistakably good quality, from the cleanly sculpted, detailed components, to the clearly written/drawn instructions. Even the niggles with the kit are so completely down to personal preference that it almost feels like nit-picking. It’s so very good that all that remains to be said is that for anyone looking to build a motorcycle kit in 1:12 scale, this one comes highly recommended.

Completed with clear fairing.

RC30 Complete

This is my completed Tamiya VFR750R RC30 model kit. I’m not totally happy with it, but perfectionist as I am; I have to admit that it isn’t too bad for my first motorcycle scale model kit. I intend to review the kit as a kit, but first I’d like to mention some of my thoughts in relation to my specific building experience. 

I was really impressed with the quality of the model and the advantages this had in how easy it went together. I only had moulding defect on the entire model and that was just an engine mounting hole in the frame that hadn’t been drilled fully through. All it took to rectify was two seconds with a tiny drill on the dremel. Compared to my experiences with both military scale models and wargaming miniatures, this was a real breath of fresh air. Beyond that though, all the parts meshed together perfectly without trimming (beyond removing moulding lines), reshaping, or using putty to fill gaps.

Another nice touch comes from the clear fairing panels; these mean that you can see your beautifully painted components without them being covered by a fairing. This really appeals to me as someone who spends as much time painting the engine as the fairing or tank. 

Less impressive was the heavy use of decals. The RC30, as a world superbikes homologation bike, only came in the red, white and blue HRC colours. As a perfectionist/bike nerd, I had to have my model in said correct colours. Tamiya seem to have understood that people would want to do this, but that it’s a bit of a stretch to do a three-tone paintjob on a 1/12^th scale body panel (with gold pinstripes between the colours). So instead, there are large red decals so you only need to paint white and blue onto the panels. I had real problems with this; the decals wouldn’t stay on the contours of the panels once they’d dried out, even when I had them flat with no bubbles or wrinkles. Still, apart from that, I really like the abundance of logos as points of detail, even down to the dial faces of the clocks and the tyre pressure info sticker on the chain guard.

Overall, it’s been a fun experience and really highlighted for me the different skills needed for military, fantasy or wargaming modelling as opposed to scale modelling showroom appearance vehicles. It’s been (at the risk of sounding corny) really educational, as I’ve learned things as I’ve gone along that I’ll be able to take into my next project, namely that it’s worth just priming entire sprues to begin with (not me being dense, I was worried about the areas that wouldn’t be primed when I cut the pieces from the sprue) and that the airbrush is worth its weight in gold for the smooth, even finish it can give. Still, as fun as it was, I think I need to do a few warhammer models to cleanse the palette, since I can run wild, before I can dive back into doing another bike.  

(Don't Paint) The Reaper

I must warn you, it's a long one ;)

As a proud man, incapable of ignoring a personal challenge, I found the gauntlet well and truly laid down when my Dad returned from a market with this amazing piece of tat.

Sporting genuine, fake plastic, gemstone accents, only the finest Chinese sweatshop paintjob, and molded from space age materials, including onlyjustametalium; this statuette would make the perfect addition to every misunderstood 15 year old's eldritch den.

A few more glory shots:

The challenge was simple. Since we both like this kind of thing when done well, I had to give this abomination some class or, failing that, at least make it a little less tacky.

First things that had to go were the "gems", so out came the Dremel (genericised trademarks ahoy) and a little later, out came the plastic.  

There we are, a million times better already.

There was a little issue with drilling a little too far through one of the reaper's eye sockets but that was solved through a little careful layering of pva glue. Next step, primer.

Halfords Grey Primer: The best a man can get.

 The next step was the first real trial for my airbrush and compressor combo. I would highly recommend these for anyone covering large areas, i.e. miniature armies or large models. Even if you aren't skilled enough for really artistic stuff (like I'm not right now) you can really get a a lot of stuff covered. I shudder to think how long this would've taken with a brush. It also has the advantage of leaving no brush strokes, and with the thinning needed, I found it less wasteful of paint overall than using a brush.

I thin my paints with methylated spirits, because it works well with all the acrylics I've tried it with, including water based ones, and also because its a hell of a lot cheaper than branded thinners. I also discovered that it has the useful effect of matting certain colours. For instance, I used Games Workshop Chaos Black thinned with meths for the cloak. Chaos Black is usually on the glossy end of what I'd consider a "satin" finish, but with the meths it really became matte, which I think really suits both the look of cloth and the sombre look I was trying to go for with the Reaper.

 

This is now Death's "artistic" Facebook profile pic

With the lion's share of the basecoating done, I switched to a normal brush for the rest and immediately realised that I'd already got use the the speed and coverage offered by the airbrush. Sadly I got really into it, and didn't take as many photos going along as I should have. I used the standard, for GW at least, method of painting bone: "Bleached Bone" paint with a brown ink wash for shading. As for the Green Ranger Dragon-Shield looking thing around the neck, I hate the fact that its there but cutting it off and re sculpting the model was a little too involved for a £2 model. I looked to tone it down by leaving it dark and covering the molded detail in purple, I added a grey pinstripe around the edge to show that I hadn't just forgotten to paint it, but no more than that because I still resent it. 

Blurry photos and wonky eyes, looking good.

 As for the scythe, I basecoated the shaft in a flat brown, then went back over erratically with a mix of

a couple of browns and a magenta, the names of which I can't remember as I made up the mix by eye on the fly. I also added some faint dark lines to simulate a grain, but I'm not all that sold on it. Still, for my first painted wood effect, I'm reasonably happy. The blurry photo (macro-fail) above doesn't really show it off well though. On a similar note, I blackened the "eyes" on the reaper because I felt that it should go beyond being a skeleton, I wanted the "eyes" to have a depth. Sadly the pits of dark infinity that I wanted are a tad difficult to paint, Also irritatingly, the eye sculpts are wonky, likely because they were never meant to be visible, which makes the eyes look even worse.

From this stage, the rest was fairly simple: The scythe blade was layered different greys and metalic highlights, with black washes to dull it down between coats. I personally imagine a Grim Reaper's scythe to have an almost perfect blade or even be somewhat intangible a la Pratchett's Death. But we work with the hand we're dealt, so I tried, and I think succeeded, to give the blade a worn but not knackered look. In a similar vein, the shaft of the scythe was given numerous chestnut brown ink washes to both give a richer colour and to give it something of a gloss as any well used scythe will naturally gain a sheen as the friction of use polishes the handle.

Time for another big jump: it's the finished article

 The original paintjob had green grass, I felt that this didn't fit so instead made it dead, again, not perfect but it was my first go (a recurring theme) at painting dead grass, and I don't think it came out too bad. The pic also shows off the highlights on the robe, rocks and texture of the tombstone.

More finished pics:

 Overall, I think it looks better now, and that I've succeeded in the challenge. However, it definitely has its issues, I have no illusions of being a good painter, but the whole point of this is so that I can see my progression, as I have the intention to become a good painter. That said, given my skill level, I'm happy with how this turned out, especially as it forced me to be creative to paint texture effects that I've never had to before.

Having done this, I have seen a true Pratchett Death model on eBay, and as that is my favourite depiction of the Reaper archetype ever I will eventually be doing one and hope that I'll have progressed to the point that it'll blow this one into the weeds! Anyone that's stuck in this far, thanks, later.