This is a closeup of the pedal shift linkage. If you look closely you can see some of the pebble effect on the pedal that was giving me headaches with the chrome paint that I was using. Perhaps I should have redone the pieces that turned out poorly.

However, when you look at the bike as a whole, you can see that it looks more along the lines of a home built unit as compared to a factory made bike. The welds are visible, the engine is clearly cast, and the fittings for the cooling system are attached in the oddest places. So, in some sense, perhaps these flaws are in character with the bike!

At least, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

And here is a closeup of the front handlebars. It was a little tricky to assemble this front wheel. I put the pieces together without glue, then attached the bottom silver bracket to the main blue shaft on the frame. With this being glued tight the wheel cannot turn so make sure that it is straight.

The height of the wheel can now be adjusted slightly by sliding the bracket up and down on the bronze wheel arms so that the top silver bracket is aligned correctly. This can now be glued to the main blue shaft on the frame.

Then, after turning the bike upside down I attached the silver brackets to the bronze arms. I filled the gaps from the underside with glue and this was sufficient to bond the brackets to the arms. You can see that I haven't yet filled the gaps on the top.

This is Rei's motorcycle, basically finished. There are eight different pictures of this finished bike. To cycle through the different pictures click here. To view any picture at full size, click on the picture.

Here is the motorcycle cowling with decals. It probably took me about a week to get all the decals on as I did one or two sets at a time and then let them dry overnight before I put another set on. After all the decals were on I sprayed another clear coat over the whole cowling. For a few other pictures, click here.

Well, with the cowling finished and the bike essentially complete, it's time to put the pieces together.

The front wheel will actually fit through the top of the cowling if you are careful. There is not a lot of room, but with proper assembly and a good quality model this should work. The cowling is secured to the frame in three places. Bolts or pins go through each side and into the brackets cast in the frame. The cowling has these marked, but I drilled through them and I used 1/2 inch tiny brass screws that would fit a 1/16 inch hole.

These two points would theoretically let the cowling pivot, so the third point of attachment is where the front of the frame clips underneath the front headlight, after it is put into the cowling. With my model this didn't quite touch. I couldn't raise the front of the bike sufficiently for the frame tip to meet the headlight clip. I should glue a small piece of sprue or something similar into the space.

With everything attached, this is what the finished motorcycle looks like. For additional pictures click here.

With the cowling on it's very difficult to see much of the bike engine or frame.

I suppose the cowling does not have to be installed, but then what would you do with all the decals?

It was now time to focus on Rei's face. Here is a picture of Rei after I have done her eyes and mouth and touched up her pink cheeks. The eyebrows are not quite right - I put some red-brown paint on them but they are too stark. I will overspray this area of the face with flesh tone paint to soften their look before I add the hair.

In some sense I am pleased with her eyes. She is looking back at you, yes? Does this not feel right?

Here she is with her hair set over her face. The hair hasn't been highlighted yet because I need to fill the seam with glue between the front piece and the back, sand it down, and repaint the hair.

Before I do this I will mask the face with plastic wrap. I lay plastic wrap over the face before I glue the hair together. Then. with the face masked, I can spray overtones on the hair to cover the seam and provide highlights. When the hair is finished I can pull the plastic wrap off the face using tweezers.

I'm not sure about the look. Rei's face, to me, appears too adult and mature. I was hoping for a younger perspective. Perhaps I can do a better job with Asuka.

For another picture after her hair has been highlighted and finished, click here.

Well, Rei needs a body and it's supposed to be clad in a racing suit. I tried to put some thought into the colour scheme for her suit. The original model had a white suit with dark grey and black trim. I thought I would try something different and reinforce the blue and violet theme chosen for the motorcycle.

So, here is Rei dressed in a pale blue suit. I used my pearl blue and violet as accent colours along with silver and black for contrast. A few decals have been added and she is almost ready for her final unveiling!!

For a closeup picture, click here.