Aprilia RSV250 1998

Aprilia RSV250  by Paul Adams

Long before Valentino Rossi became an international megastar and began writing his name all over the MotoGP class record books, his third season, 1998, was carried out on a works 250cc Aprilia. He’d won the 125cc crown in 1997 and quickly made the step up to the bigger bike class. An eventful season saw him finish 2nd in the championship, just three points shy of eventual winner and fellow Italian Loris Capirossi. [1]

If you’ve read any of my previous bike builds you’ll know I’m a big fan of Rossi’s. I plan to build as many of his bikes through from the 1998 season to the present day as I can. Not all of his bikes are available as kits, including two of his 125cc bikes. These can only be collected in diecast form, frankly a thought I’d rather not have as diecasts are the work of the devil! Fortunately some gaps in the line up are being filled by garage manufacturers and none more so than this transkit from the Japanese company, K’s Workshop, ( www.ks-workshop.com )   Hata San has done several 250cc kits in recent years, and only just recently have they become easily available to European customers via an improved payment system and the lowering of minimum order values outside Japan.  This of course has had a diverse effect on my credit card balance!

His early transkits use Tamiya’s 250cc Yamaha kits circa 1993-94 as a base, but only using the wheels and tyre rubber. His newer kits are complete and are much higher in quality. The kit I’m using here was purchased from another UK modeller who was clearing out some unwanted loft insulation.  Impressed with the kit, I have since purchased two more Aprilia kits, another Rossi version from 1999, an up-to-date 2009 bike from another upcoming Italian ace, Marco Simoncelli and a 2007 Kawasaki that updates Tamiya’s 2006 ZX-RR kit.

The kits are somewhat basic when compared to the superb stuff from Tamiya, but certainly hold their own against their resin rivals, Studio 27. Comparing the TK’s to Top Studio’s is pointless, as the expense is far higher. The quality says a lot for Hata San expertise especially with the 250cc kits.

First Impressions..

So what’s in the box?  Typically presented in a white sturdy small cardboard box with a graphic of the model on the edge of the lid and the KS Workshop logo atop offering some indication of what’s inside and what your about to build. [2]

Everything is in resin with the only exclusion being the vac-formed windscreen. The kit provides a nicely two piece cast frame and swingarm complete with mould-in hugger which is to be finished in carbon.

That should prove to be a challenge! Talking of which, the fit fairing was surprisingly poor with large gaps at the top and bottom joins, the only negative part of the kit. The twin cylinder Aprilia engine is not bad at all and should provide a reasonable likeness once painted.  [3]

In contrast the seat and tank are superb, with a beautiful fit, and correct profiles. Indeed the exhausts too are very good, nicely rounded in shape and already a good fit from the box. [4,5]

The decal sheet reflects further quality by being of the waterslide variety rather than ALPS printed such as you would finsasazzd in CGM kits. What isn’t in the box is provided by the Tamiya kit of the 1994 Yamaha TZ250. [6]

Let’s get on with it!..

I began with the core of the machine, the frame. The first job is to glue the frame together with superglue, a job made easier by the large locating lugs found at the joins. I followed this with the swingarm, again substantial locators make sure it lines up nicely. There were gaps in both which were filled with superglue (I use this for additional strength over filler), and fixed quickly with Zip Kicker. There were awkward gaps too in the well that houses the rear shock.  I used Tamiya grey filler here as it easy to sand in such a confined space. Sanding can begin immediately on the superglue and after about an hour I had the frame cleaned up and swingarm looking like one piece. An initial test fit showed no signs of any problems. I spotted some minor blemishes around the swingarm pivot point and filled these with grey filler.

Next up was the fairing. The gaps were bad, but the locators ensured it looked straight. Large amounts of superglue were used and treated as previously described. There was a bit of an alignment issue at the front but some sanding and Tamiya epoxy filler sorted this out and the result was pleasing. A cleaned up engine was offered up into the frame. The engine carries a large locator atop the forward cylinder head which supports the fairing once in place, quite a neat arrangement I thought. [7, 8]

The seat and tank were given the once over with sanding papers ranging from 1500 to 800 grits. Some minor filing was needed on the side of the tank, but overall the mould quality here was a good as anything I’ve seen. Absolutely no pin holes whatsoever!! [9]

With first test fitting and cleanup done of the main components I tested the lot together with help from my hand to she how she was looking.

Pleased with progress so far I moved onto the front forks. I plan to use some new Tuner Model Factory (T2m) adjustable axles to fasten both the front and rear wheels. These will replace the out of scale and unrealistic 25mm screws favoured by Tamiya. Indeed the sets released by T2m are designed for the Tamiya kits, but lend themselves perfectly for this model.  After getting all the parts together a light clean up session was followed by rough assembly. I only needed to drill out the screw holes by a further 1.5mm for the axle to fit.

The threaded nut offers a huge improvement over the screw. I carried out the same procedure for the swingarm and offered both onto the frame. She’s a roller!! [10,11]

With the wheels in place together with the swingarm and forks, I still needed to find a way of attaching the shock and linkages in order to get the bike to support itself. With some holes already formed in the parts, I decided to drill them through with a 0.5mm bit and try out some dress makers pins I had in my tool box. These offer a rounded 1mm wide head with a pin length of about 5mm, which can easily be shortened with cutters.

The shock was in need of some rework so I cut off the resin pushrod and fashioned a short length of aluminium tubing which would fit in both the shock and lower link. With some fiddling I test fitted it together and it worked very well. I carved off the resin shock reservoir which will be replaced with a machined brass item. [12].

The swingarm needed some more work too. I cut off the moulded-in chain tensioners with the intention of using items from T2M. I tentatively fired up my Dremel style drill and carved off the ends and trimmed away as much as I dared so as not to damage the rest of the arm. I finished off using a new scalpel blade and files. The etch parts fitted a treat, and with three options on the fret I was able to selected a type that matched the real bike. Removing the tensioner’s also had the benefit of making the carbon decaling easier later on. [13]

After the success with the dress pins I used these again on the radiator fixing. [14]

Onto job that’s always a little scary; the vacformed windscreen and with only one available in the kit I couldn’t afford to mess it up. After removing most of the excess, I test fitted it to the fairing and then applied thin strips of masking tape around the edges to establish the cutting line. This worked out well, and the screen just needed a little light sanding along the edges to smooth things out. Once trimmed, I then taped it back in place and drilled the mounting holes through the fairing and screen. It will eventually be held in place using 0.7mm fasteners. [15]

The tail unit and tank was next and using the same principal and having lined it all up with masking tape to hold it in place, I drilled 0.5mm holes through the tail mounts and into the lugs on the frame. Wire was then roughly passed through to hold it in place. The problem then was the mounting point became a pivot once the tank was on. The additional weight of the resin was too much. As the tank and tail will be glued together and mounted as one, I set upon providing another fixing point underneath the tank. A 1.7mm hole was drilled into the front belly of the tank and a corresponding hole in the frame, out of sight once assembled. This worked well and will easily stop the lot from rotating backwards.

With the bike now able to hold itself together, I could test fit all of the parts. I was surprised how ‘easy’ this one has been compared to my earlier experiences with Renaissance resin kits. In general the fit is good, with just a little cleaning up to do. I fastened it all together, with wheels on including the tyres, to check for clearance around the front hugger. Overall, she’s looking rather sweet!! [16, 17, 18]

The first painting session was looming, so after a final recheck and clean up of the large parts, removing a few seams I missed, (spotted during photography!) and a soapy bath,  I went straight onto priming with Halfords white and grey plastic paints. My research for this bike concluded that fluorescent red, white and a dark blue were needed for the main paint scheme. The Zero paint range provides virtually every colour imaginable for the modeller these days and so I chose a red, brilliant white and a two part dark blue normally used on Repsol sponsored machines.

The blue is achieved by first laying down coats of black followed by a translucent pink! Surprisingly it works very well. I first sprayed a basecoat of solid white over all of the cowling parts and then masked off the white and airbrushed the fluorescent red. This was preceded by a fiddly masking session which involved creating two parallel demarcation lines across the fairing. This turned into a bit of a job and after messing about for half an hour I eventually, and simply used, two wide pieces of tape, one 10mm wide and the other just 8mm. Using the panel line running across the sides I managed to create the base for the lines. I then added two thin strips to run exactly against each first wide piece. These were then removed and replaced with thin 2mm strips which could be curved to match the flow of the decals to come. Anyhow, after all that I masked off the red and painted the blue areas. The tail was re-masked and black was applied to the area that was to receive carbon decal. The Zero paints dries quickly, so this process was completed in a short time. Each part was clearcoated, ready for decaling. [19]

The Christmas break provided an opportunity to progress the model some more and so the decaling was started in earnest. I began with the tank, small decals and not too much room for alignment mistakes. The decals themselves were very thin, had plenty of adhesion, (constant wetting was needed) and conformed well using softeners from Microscale and Daco. I did one side at a time and move quickly onto the front hugger and fairing. I followed on with the Italian beer Nastro Azzurro logos. My careful masking off provided the guidelines for the blue stripes and logos. I cut the decal in half to enable more options should the fit not be precise! In fact they weren’t too bad and only needed a little Microsol to be persuaded to curve along the painted line. [20, 21]

I completed the fairing and moved to the tail or seat. This part had to be carbon fibre finished first and then I could apply the numbers and small logos to the back of the seat. I’ve applied plenty of carbon fibre decals before, but perhaps not onto something so curvy and obvious if you get it wrong. So no pressure then!  The plan was to divide the application into three. Two side pieces joining at the top of the rear bum rest and a middle bit to join the two seamlessly! Masking tape was used to create templates which were then transferred to the carbon decal sheet from Modellers. After one stalled attempt when I applied the middle bit first, I then went on to the sides first. Buoyed by my success I cut another template and managed to blend the three decals together rather well. Some small patches were needed but in all I was pleased with my efforts. Two hours of work later, and voila!! [22]

Last this month was applying the carbon decaling to the entire outside surface of the swingarm. All of the reference photos I had showed a distinctly visible weave, and rather than spray an effect on, as many other modellers had done, I chose the Modellers carbon fibre once more. 10 templates were made, and starting with the hugger part (it appears the real unit is made in two main parts) I applied opposing weaves to the hugger and swingarm. This turned out to be easier then the tail unit, probably due to the flatter surfaces. In both cases Microsol, Microset and Daco’s medium softeners were used with a hairdryer set on maximum heat to shrink and snug the softened decals down nicely. [23]

I had completed the decaling, but shortly after writing up the report and taking the photo’s I realised I had made a mess of applying the white number backgrounds and race numbers on the tail section of the bike.  In my efforts to get the backgrounds to lie down smoothly, I had managed to stretch the second overlay decal and misshape it to such an extent it looked rubbish! To compound the problem they were not symmetrically lined up, nor were the race numbers in the correct position! This was all because I’d done this part in a hurry before rushing off to the pub to see Pat and the gang shortly after Christmas. I won’t be doing that again!!

Fortunately, I’d taken the precaution of buying a spare set of decals, and I had another set in another kit I’d purchased that will become a different paint schemed version. So, how to get the decals off? I began with soaking the decals in Microsol which quickly removed the race numbers and the first layer of background.  The Microsol softened the last decals but they only came off with some gentle persuasion from ….a scalpel!!   An hour or so sweating over this task got every last bit off, and after re-polishing the clear, it didn’t look too bad.  I was left with some indentations in the clear, but after reapplying new backgrounds (these were doubled up once more to prevent bleed through from the fluorescent red), and correctly positioning the race numbers, I think I got away with it.  This was confirmed later when I airbrushed 3 coats of 2K clear on it to protect the decals. [24]

At the same time I cleared the swingarm, fairing, tank and front hugger. As is becoming the norm, I had no problems whatsoever with the clear reacting with the decals, and after polishing a few days later the result was very pleasing. I used 3000 grit wet Micromesh to flatten off the finish and then buffed it back to a smooth shine with Mer and Mr Hobby’s fine polishing compound. I later used Zero jet black to paint the insides of the fairing and front hugger. [25, 26, 27]

Bare metal frames have always been a worry for me. What was worse was that the factory Aprilias had a mirror like chrome finish! Achieving a realistic metal finish is no mean feat, but coupled with handling worries on what is the central part of the model, and therefore needing several sessions of handling, poses a modelling headache.  After scouring the net and magazines for what others had done, I set about painting it.

A flat aluminium finish just wouldn’t do, so out went most of the Alclad range. I had used their polished Aluminium on the exhausts and so didn’t want to repeat that look.  I’d used the chrome before with poor results. In my paint box I had Mr Hobby Plate Silver and Chrome. I’d used the plate silver before on the Yamaha M1 engines, so I knew this was good. On K’s Workshop website I’d deciphered (using Google translator) the fact that he had used plate silver on his Aprilia’s. At Scale Modelworld I’d be given a tip about painting the metal finish on a still tacky gloss black which helps the longevity of the finish. So, I primed with Halfords grey primer, and after wet sanding, shot two coats of zero jet black.

I follow this with two coats of 2K clear, which takes about 1 hour to become touch dry. While the drying (in real time I did this in about 10 minutes or the time it took to clean the airbrush)  took place I applied two coats of the Mr Hobby Plate Silver. The result was surprisingly good, probably the best finish I’ve achieved with any metal paint.   However, the downside is the finish is still fragile and you simply can’t handle it without leaving a mark of some kind.  I’ve determined that handling affects the top coat only as this simply ‘floats’ on top of the first layer of paint which had adhered to the tacky clear very well. It’s certainly didn’t rub off like I find Alclad’s polished aluminium does. [28]

The resin front forks were cleaned up, removing the large step along the seam which doesn’t help when you’re trying to keep things round and true as it’s very easy to flatten the seam off too much. I airbrushed Zero black and added 3 coats of clear. The bottoms had a lightened Alclad pale gold sprayed on and the sliders were achieved with Gold Bare Metal Foil. [29]

A soon as I’d got enough parts painted, assembly began. I followed the scant instructions and started with the swingarm. The test fitting paid off here, as I had no issues at all. The swingarm was mated to the frame by short lengths 1.6mm aluminium tubing which were slipped into the predrilled holes without the need to use glue.

The shock assembly was all resin and was attached using dress pins shortened for each application.  The shock spring from the Tamiya TZ250M kit was used here, simply repainted with Zero yellow and cleared. [30]

With the swingarm in it was straight onto the engine and whilst rudimentary after a little basic painting was sufficient to represent a two cylinder 250cc engine. I used 1.6mm tubing lengths again to mount it.  The radiator was painted with Alclad Duraluminium and the centre section (the radiator itself) was shaded with Humbrol Steel and later randomly polished. I applied the 4mm wide strip of Bare Metal Foil across the face of it to represent the strips of tape or foil teams use to help control water temperature. I fashioned a water hose from solder and heatshrink tubing and added some Bare Metal Foil hose clips. I then added the carb and carbon fibre airbox which I later re-glued due to the reluctance of the fairing to go on! [31, 32]

The exhausts were painted in Alclad Polished Aluminium over gloss black. I masked off some weld seams and sprayed a mix of black and clear orange, with some blue and red effects further towards the cylinder head end. The lower exhaust has a carbon fibre centre section, something new for me to do. This was added over zero black and cleared. The heat stained part was then sprayed with the Alclad after masking off the rest of the pipe. A little time consuming but worth the effort even though it can’t all be seen with the faring on!! [33, 34]

Once the lower exhaust was glued in place, this provided the location for the left side footrest and subsequently the bracket for the exhaust. I managed to drill the two holes slightly off centre and so after some head- scratching, I formed a section of wire into an S shape and glued it in place. Test fitting the fairing showed up the slightly wrong location of the airbox, so as mentioned earlier it was re-glued and the fairing slipped into place nicely using epoxy glue to ensure it was exactly located before the glue set. [35]

Prior to fitting the fairing I attached the windscreen using 0.7mm rivet heads which were fitted from the inside and held in place with wood glue. To the naked eye they are barely visible, but impart a very realistic look. [36]

The handlebars were finished with various blacks from Zero and Humbrol and small retaining wires were added to the grips using 5 amp fuse wire.  The steering and bars were carefully assembled and forks place up into the top yoke using epoxy glue again to get everything lined up correctly for later. This sequence of assembly was as per the instructions, but in hindsight I think the lot could be glued in place before the fairing. [37]

The model was really taking shape now, particularly after the front wheel was fitted. The discs were sprayed with a darkened mix of Tamiya gunmetal and the centres finished with Humbrol’s equivalent. [38]

I used T2m axles for both of the front and rear wheels, my first opportunity to use these superb products.  The front discs have carbon fibre covers fitted on this bike, and these are used to keep the disc temperature up in colder dry conditions. These were simply pushed on over the discs and epoxy glue was used to prevent the wheel rotating.

I fitted the callipers and ran wire wrap cables up to the right side handlebar. More T2m fittings were used on the calliper. [39]

Lastly the fuel tank had a small overflow tube fitted made from spare sprue and wire, airbrushed over with Alclad Duraluminium and glued carefully in place with epoxy glue. The seat and tank were given a clean over with furniture polish and finally fitted to the frame.  Then came the photetch boltheads from Top Studio, glued to the fairing and various areas on the fittings. [40]

Resin kits can never be classed as easy to build, but this Ks Workshop kit was a joy to construct and paint and can be made into very good representation of the late nineties Aprilia’s. If you’re reading this and fancy a go at one, they can be obtained from http://www.ks-workshop.com [41, 42, 43]