Star Wars Speeder Bike [Work-in-Progress: Painting & Assembly of the Upper Hull Components]

 As I had alluded to in my previous Aratech 74-Z Military Speeder Bike progress update post, assembling fully painted parts and/or sub-assemblies of the bike is turning out to be problematic. This problem was amplified when dealing with upper hull components that comprised a variety of parts and sub-assemblies like handlebars, control switches, seats, tarp, etc. Read on for the horror story ...   

Star Wars Speeder Bike work-in-progress: Upper Hull and its components

 Fragility of parts in combination with the difficulty of fixing fully painted parts into tight-fitting joints resulted in issues ranging from minor ones like chipped paint all the way to the worse case scenario of the model kit breaking into two separate pieces. This particular assembly process was nerve wracking for me, and it all boiled down to me wanting to paint parts/sub-assemblies before putting them together. Doing so tends to cause the inside of joints getting paint on them thus making the fit tighter than normal. Moreover, having to fix painted parts together will always expose them to the danger of their paint layers getting damaged and chipped due to unavoidable rough handling.

Upper Hull components (from left): handlebars, switches, seat, miscellaneous piece, and tarp shelter

Individual Speeder Bike components all laid out next its Upper Hull prior to assembly

 First problem was encountered when I was fixing the tiny control switches into the holes on the upper hull. Simple enough right? Well primer and paint had gotten into the holes thus making the job of putting the switches into them a harder than expected task. So much so that I nearly broke a few of the tiny switches while trying to force them into the holes. In fact, a few of them did bent quite badly and came close to snapping in half. In the end, the task was accomplished without real damage. Apart from that, there was additional paint work on the upper hull in the form of the big red button, the trio of silver buttons, and the series of rivets on the hull between the control switches and seat.

Before attaching any components, I painted red/silver buttons and rivets on the Upper Hull

First components attached were the metallic switches/controls on the dashboard

 Following this, the major fubar occurred. The Speeder Bike broke in half as I tried to fit the seat pegs into the corresponding holes in the upper hull (see below). Since the fit was extremely tight, I couldn't fix the seat into the upper hull by hand. I had to use a rubber mallet instead. After carefully protecting the seat with some kitchen paper towel, I proceeded to hammer at the seat in the hopes of forcing it into the hull. With the upper hull structure more fragile than expected, the bike broke into two. Luckily for me, it was fairly easy to glue the bike back together without comprising its structural integrity as well as shape. Sadly though, the paint on the seat chipped so I had to repaint parts of the seat. 

Rear section of the Speeder Bike Upper Hull prior to attaching any components

Using a hammer to fix the Seat Cushion onto the Upper Hull caused the latter to break

Seat cushion fitted onto the Upper Hull, with the latter requiring glue to be put back together

 After these initial issues, things calmed down a bit and continued on without any further mishaps. While it took quite a bit of doing to fix the tarp onto the rear of the bike without any gaps showing, the force I had to apply luckily didn't result in any breakage. Meanwhile, the small black trapezoid piece located in between the seat and tarp was the easiest of all the upper hull components to assemble. 

Miscellaneous black trapezoid piece fitted behind the seat cushion ...

... followed by a Tarp for Wilderness Shelter right at the back of the bike

 Installing the handlebars and hand grips was surprisingly easy and almost effortless despite my anticipation of this task being the hardest. But despite my initial apprehensions as to the fragility of the handlebars, they were resilient to a fair bit of rough handling and fit quite easily and securely into the provided slots. And with that, all the upper hull components were in their rightful places. 

Nose/bow section of the Speeder Bike prior to adding the Handle Bars/Hand Grips

Nose/bow section of the Speeder Bike prior to adding the Handle Bars/Hand Grips

 Overall, the theme of the upper hull component assembly process was that of expectations and reality. Tasks that were expected to be easy turned out to be hard, which resulted in near misses, chipped paints, and the ultimate nightmare of the kit breaking. On the other hand, tasks that turned out to be easier than anticipated had no real consequence other than being a pleasant surprise. Essentially I was careful when I perhaps didn't have to be, while I was complacent when I should've been more careful. Like life, the hobby doesn't always stay true to expectations.   

Star Wars Speeder Bike Upper Hull with full complement of components installed

Star Wars Speeder Bike Upper Hull Complete (isometric view, from left hand side)

Weathering on the Upper Hull Components was kept to the absolute minimum

Star Wars Speeder Bike Upper Hull Complete (isometric view, from the back)

Seat is just a flat black as it'll be largely hidden from view once the Scout Trooper was seated

Star Wars Speeder Bike Upper Hull Complete (isometric view, from right hand side)

 Handlebars and Tarp for Wilderness Shelter received the most weathering of all the components

Star Wars Speeder Bike Upper Hull Complete (isometric view, from the front)

 With all the upper hull components now securely attached, next in line for the Speeder Bike are the lower hull components. This step of the assembly process shouldn't be as difficult. But I've learned to manage my expectations better after the mishaps that occurred in the upper hull component assembly process. For sure I'll approach the next step with more care and less over-confidence. This should also apply to our approach as the COVID pandemic becomes nearly-but-not-quite-endemic. So as always I wish onto you, dear readers, please stay safe, and be well.