Tamiya’s new Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP (That’s a mouthful!) can be built with a single or tandem seat and offers markings for two finishes: Grand Prix red or matte pearl Morion black. I opted for the red, single-seat crotch rocket. I also upgraded the front forks with Tamiya’s Detail-Up Set (No. 12690; $32).
Models of modern motorcycles usually require several colors on their subassemblies, so I often end up building them out of sequence to what’s presented in the instructions. This allows the parts time to dry between painting different colors. For the Fireblade, I began with the front forks and the additional detail parts. The Detail-Up set practically eliminates the sometimes-tedious painting needed to bring the front end to life and looks significantly better than the kit’s plastic parts. The piston for the shock is a polished metal rod and looks killer.
I often have to drill out the disk brakes on bikes, but not so on the Fireblade: All three rotors already had the lightening holes made and looked great.
Overall, the parts need very little cleanup. Only a few of the body panels had mold lines to remove, and the only the front fender and lower main fairing had parts that needed to be cemented together before painting. The fit was so precise that all I needed to do to fill the seams was sand smooth the excess glue.
Prepainting the body panels makes assembly go much quicker later on. Because there is going to be masking, I primed the parts with white Tamiya Fine Primer and then sprayed them Italian red (LP-21). A correction sheet points out that two of the side fairings (parts A3 and A9) should be painted blue, not red.
Everything went together impeccably well. Pay attention to the color callouts when assembling the engine. While it is predominantly silver, multiple shades are required, as well as different finishes of black. When installing the swing arm into the frame, it is a good idea to let the paint on those parts dry fully because you’ll handle them quite a bit to get everything aligned.
The kit provides masks for the multi-tone side fairings, the headlights, and the license-plate light. They aren’t pre-cut, but a sharp knife or pair of scissors works well to trim them along the printed lines.
Tamiya’s supplies nicely printed decals that fit well. Some should be applied to the panels after they are affixed to the frame to make sure the graphics line up correctly. Mark Fit solvent works very well with them, and I recommend using at least a little solvent on most of the decals.
The Honda Fireblade SP went together so well that, coupled with the visual complexity, excellent fit and detailing, and beautiful Detail-Up parts, it is the best 1/12 scale motorcycle kit I've ever worked on. Even though I detail painted every piece (for the sheer enjoyment), like many modern motorcycles, once buttoned up, many if not most of those details are out of sight. However, the fairings can be removed to show off some of them if you’re so inclined. The level of painting required makes this kit better for an experienced hand.
- Mark Jones