StarWars Speeder Bike

Page 2-1 - Clever combination of different colour parts - precise assembly 

Page 2-2 - bending and rolling on this large part - this dowel was the perfect size! 

Page 2-2 - after careful conical bending, bringing all the above together. Very detailed bending here, so make sure you "get" the instructions. 

Page 2-3 - It pays to have plenty of variation in dowel/rod diameter 

A very handy tool when working with small metal parts - magnetic light!! - Found It!!! 

Page 2-4 - bringing together the earlier assemblies.
I continue to be impressed by the accuracy & fit of these parts!! 

Page 2-5 - more detail and contrasting colours
It pays not to fold this part closed until after you fit it!! 

Page 3-1 - building the foot-rests - very delicate 

Page 3-2&3 - adding the footrests etc to the main assembly. 

Page 3-4 - building the engines (I guess) don't know the mechanics of a Speeder Bike!! 

Page 3-5 - Adding the engines to the assembly. 

Page 3-6 - Tail-light assembly? 

Page 3-7 - add the tail-light & rotate the engines into correct place 

Page 3-8 - put the badge on the top-front 

Page 3-8 - and on the bottom too! (end of page 3) 

Page 4-1 - adding the fore-fins & upper frame to the front 

Page 4-2 - Part A31 is a many folded piece - study instructions & web-site carefully - They even disagree on whether the triangular braces are folded in, or not - I folded them in! 

Page 4-3 - fitting the above part to the nose 

an inside view of the above part 

Page 4-4 - joining the fore-frame to the aft-frame (?!?!) 

Page 4-5 - Part A33 is incredibly fine, with lots of folding & bending. Fortunately it gets protected when you add it to Part A34 - No, it's not a cockroach!! 

Page 4-6 - adding the cockroach - err - parts A33/4 to the frame assembly - then you can bend the "antennae" to touch the side of the frame. 

Bending & twisting the body outer - take it slow, after prebending the hidden eyes/tabs in the first 4 locations 

Page 4-7 - Add the cover to the engine - Etched side down! that's right!!
End of Page 4 - only 4 more pages to go!!! 

The hidden eyes/tabs work well here, and in the last 2 locations too, where they wrap around the top-piece 

View inside of the hidden eyes & tabs - helps to give them a bit of a twist as you bend them over - but not too tight! 

The storage section with attachments - easy so far 

Then try to work out how to roll the swap/prayer mat/whatever - finally add the straps over the top.
So the rolled mat needs to still have some "body" to it, so that the straps appear to be strapping it down.
More fiddling might achieve a better result.........if you need to look that close! 

Trying to get the storage rack to fit with the body is painful - I've scratched it rather badly in the process. I tried to use hidden eye/tabs, but I think that just made it more troublesome!
Hope you have a better time of it than me!
Fashioning the seat to fit is FUN! - just take your time... 

On to Page 6, and the controls & dash are added, including the "speed-dial" - right-handed favouritism again! 

Closer shot of the seat & swag 

Next are the handlebars - lots of fine bending & rolling, using a range of pliers. 

Mounting the bars on the bike - you'll probably have to twist them a little to get them aimed correctly - or perhaps do that after the next step..... 

The rear bodywork guards get added to the main body - I've pre bend the eyes & tabs in anticipation of later hidden eye/tab requirement. 

Page 7 -There's a total of 8 tabs to go into eyes in this merger of body to chassis. Went together better than I had expected, with some bending/coercing/nudging to get the final tabs in place. The instructions suggest that the 2 front tabs are closed flat - I've added a bit of a twist to that to hold it more firmly. 

Step back & have a look - yeah, that's OK!!
WHOA!!!
The next step in the instructions want you to bend over the rear guards, attach the 2 leading points.............I found this to be impossible, so gave up before I wrecked the way in which the guards were connected to the body!!!
So, I back-tracked - I had to remove the guards from the body, so I had to remove the body from the chassis - which meant carefully un-bending the 8 tabs I mentioned in the previous photo. I used a small chisel (1mm width) and gently pried everything apart, removing the body without too much grief!! 

I highlighted the instructions, noting that all the curving/joining on the guards needed to be done before mounting them.....so here we go... 

This is what one guard looks like - still using the hidden tab/eye method, but I've curved the guard so that the two parts form the same arc. 

One joined, one not - the one shown here joined was the one where I tried to do so while still on the model.......recovered OK 

Both completed 

Both now attached to the body 

Just to make them solid, as all the bending & unbending had compromised them a bit - CA Superglue & fixer 

This thing is so hard to hang on to when you're trying to be firm, yet gentle.......body reconnected to chassis - looks a little bent, but I hope I can fix that... 

OK, so now back to where I was some time ago......in a galaxy far away.......but I digress!! The hardest part in the re-assembly was working from the back, and also making fine adjustments caused by the previous dis-assembly!! 

There's a part (B56) which goes on the back, that ties all the parts of the rear body together. Had I know of this, then I would have used it as a guide for bending the rear of the guards - but someone didnt read ALL the INSTRUCTIONS first, so there you have it!
I had to re-curve the bend with a dowel to get it closer to what is required..... Not perfect, but close!!
One criticism of the instructions here, is that they continue to show the model from the same perspective - and you can't see this part from this perspective - I think they should have changed the view to better show part placement......but that's just my thoughts. 

Page 8 - last page! - having learned from the last curving message, I used the same dowel (6.5mm) to bend the side of part B57 

Again, that same perspective doesn't show you the bend needed, where a simple diagram would have helped. Like showing a Wing dihedral plan. 

All bent with the edges folded in, and the "gun" mounted.
Dont try to overtighten the gun, as you'll just twist it around too much. 

A different perspective view to show you the completed "sump-guard" and gun mounted to the bike. 

Making the stand - 4 more hidden tab/eye joins required here.
I re-enforced top & bottom with dabs of CA Superglue to ensure they're solid., and also measure the widths of the respective areas on the bike, where the mount is supposed to connect. On the instructions photo'd here. 

Then measured the appropriate marks on the top of the stand, and bent them using that same 6.5mm dowel - there are now bend lines on the stand by MetalEarth 

And there she sits! 

Closer shot with "boxart" 

Profile.. 

With all MetalEarth kits I have printed off enlarged copies of the parts lists, and place them as my workspace background, for easy reference. 

Quarter view 

Quarter view 2 

Quarter view 3 

Quarter view 4
 

Quick & lazy backdrop - DONE!
Now I'm going for a ride!!