But the other other love of my life is cycling, so when I was asked to build this as a favour to a friend I jumped at the chance.
The kit is by Italian manufacturer Protar, who as far as I can tell did a nice line in car and retro motorbike kits. And apparently, the odd bicycle.
The frame, forks, bars, cranks, and stem are metal, the wheels, chain, smaller parts are all plastic and the saddle, tires, and hoods appear to be a soft pliable rubber/silicone/Jellyfish/Blancmange type material. I have a horrible feeling this last one is going to prove a challenge to paint.
The metal parts all needed a lot of prep work, as they had large mould lines. This was made more difficult as Protar appear to have made the metal parts from some kind of hardened tungsten steel. Many hours of filing and sanding later, and we are making some progress (the forks are even undercoated).
The frame fit wasn't too bad, just some minor filling of gaps at the bottom bracket, seat/top tube join and the brace between the seat stays.
The bars are, a different story. I prepped them the same way as the frame, forks and stem (so far so good). It was only when I fitted them together I spotted the interesting use of scale.
They. Are. Massive. Not just a little off you understand. Huge. Ridiculous. Like Clown shoes.
So I made new bars. They're made of brass rod and the plan is to cut the brakes off the old bars, re-attach, then bulk the new bars out with modelling putty partially around the brakes to give them some extra strength.
Next time - wheels
S
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