XJ scale model kits and diecasts

I thought it might be nice to have a listing of any XJ model kits and miniatures that people might know of. I'll post what I have and know of. If you have or know of any others please post them here.

Aoshima Naked Bike series 1/12th scale Yamaha XJ 400 D with black box art



This is a 1/12th scale kit of the domestic Japanese market XJ400D. The XJ400 is basically the same as the XJ550R Seca, only with a smaller engine.





While the kit's box art depicts an XJ400D with quad pipes, the kit also includes the 4 into 2 pipes for a standard XJ400, so a reasonable representation of an XJ550 Seca is possible. I just wish it had the little quarter fairing that the U.S. Seca came with in the kit.



This kit consists of two chrome trees and one each of black, white, silver, and clear trees of parts. It also includes a fret of photo-etched parts, molded-rubber tires, springs for the rear shocks, and tubing for brake and control lines. I would consider it a moderately detailed kit and not that difficult to build.



The silver tree with engine, wheel, and brake parts. I think I might actually be able to keep these carbs in sync!



The white tree has the tank and body parts, a helmet, and strangely enough a 1/1 scale key. Fortunately the elusive right side cover is there!



The chrome trees have the usual suspects; forks, handlebars, mirrors, front fender, and both styles of exhaust pipes.



On the black tree resides the frame, rear fender, various chassis bits, and two styles of seats.



Although the instructions are all in Japanese, they are well illustrated and should be no problem to follow. Since most of us on this forum are pretty familiar with these bikes, we won't need to have the painting call-outs translated for us. The tires are very nice representations of Dunlop Arrowmax tires.



The decals are crisply printed and includes some nice gauge faces. Unfortunately if you want to do a stock 550 Seca scheme, you will have to create your own decals.



The kit has some nice photo-etched parts for the valve covers, tank badges, and generator covers. The use of these parts is optional as some of them are duplicated on the decal sheet.



This gives you a better idea of what the photo-etched parts look like.

Overall it's not a bad kit. If you have info on any others, built or unbuilt, please post it here. I'll be posting more soon.

 

Wow. methinks you spend too much time on Hyperscale.com...

 

u fricken motorcyclist need to buy some snowmobiles to ride during the winter, sheeshbut the kit looks really nice, my dad bought me a plymoth prolwer once, and after opening it up and trying to glue 2 pieces together we got pissed and threw it away, then i became a lego man, no those are sweet

 

Diecast 1/24th scale XJ550 Seca









Around ten years ago I happened to walk through the toy isle in our local Albertson's and found a series cheap 1/24th scale diecast bikes. They ran the range from dirt to drag to GP bikes and included several sportbikes from the 1980's. They were made by some anonomus Chinese factory and are fairly crude and probably laced with lead, but had the potential to be remade into some decent replicas that could be used in model car dioramas. I picked up around twenty or so with the idea of stashing them in my parts box and rebuilding as needed. I haven't built much in the last few years so I had sort of forgotten about them. A few months ago someone on the XJBikes forum had posted a photo of a 550 Seca diecast as a joke and suddenly I saw something familiar. I dug out the box and sure enough, here was a little XJ550 Seca, complete with sport faring! Talk about coincidence, I had picked this up around seven years before an XJ was even on my radar. 8O

 

Actually I had never heard of Hyperscale.com until you mentioned it today. I had kind of gotten out of modeling much the last couple of years.

Neat site.

 

The following two kits are not in my collection (for good reason) but are ones I found photos of on the net. Although they both are based on the XJ400D, any similarity to a stock XJ400 is purely coincidental. I guess there are some aspects of Asian culture we're better off not understanding... :?

Aoshima 1/12th scale Yamaha XJ 400 D "Kamakaze Rider"











Aoshima 1/12th scale Yamaha XJ 400 D "Bakuso Rider"







I hope this doesn't give some of the modders on this forum any ideas! I think we're not ready to see these in real life quite yet... :roll:

 

Just seen the xj models on ebay going for about 10 bucks.

 

Which ones? Link please...

 

WOW! i wish all my motorcycles has swastica's on all of them! those are soem pretty awkward things too, goofy japs and their rice burners..

 

I found this guy in a little corner gas station in the middle of nowhere many years ago. It would be better if it was white.

 

Snowmobiles (snowmachines in Palinspeak) don't work so well in Florida. I'd just as soon keep riding my XJ twelve months a year! :twisted:

 

What do you think the two antenna things attached to the front wheel are?
Maybe It's to catch those wires that are strung across the road in south america.
:wink:

 

Ya think? The first one is apparently somehow their impression of the old "Ace Cafe" look, but through what filter???

Oh, we've got our own brand of extreme, believe me.

 

Forget the wires, I was caught off guard by the big swastica on the tail of that bike> :S

 

I found a really neat paper model of the XJR1300 on the Yamaha Japan corporate web site. In Japan it's called papercraft and Yamaha has a number paper models of various Yamaha bikes including a V-Max kit that is about as detailed as any plastic kit you will find. And best of all they are free downloads! Of course you're going to spend a few bucks on ink and good quality paper but the files themselves are free. I'll post some picks as soon as I get them into uploadable form.

The XJR1300 can be found at the following site:

http://www.yamaha-motor.co.jp/global/entertainment/papercraft/realistic/xjr1300/index.html

 

Hey, Schooter ...

Kid, let's get you educated if we do NOTHING else in this Forum.

You definitely DO NOT want to have Swastika's [The Symbol of Nazi Germany and modern-day Universal Symbol of HATE] painted on your bikes.


This IS NOT a Swasticka.
THIS is Japans National Emblem (Flag)
We call OUR Flag: "Old Glory"
The Japanese call their National Emblem (Flag): "The Rising Sun"

Paint a Rising Sun on a Jap Bike and your likely to have an admirer pat you on the back!

Paint a Swasticka on your Bike and your likely to have your Bike vandalized or wind-up in a bad way ... real bad.

 

Actually Rick, the Japanese flag pictured above is in some countries considered almost as offensive as a Nazi flag. It is the battle flag of the Imperial Japanese Navy that was utilized from 1889 to 1945. A very similar flag was used by the Imperial Japanese Army, but with the sun disk centered in the flag. These flags were banned at the end of World War. Surprisingly, in 1954 the naval flag was reinstated at the founding of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, although it is still not welcome in some countries. The official civil flag of Japan is just the sun disk on a plain white field.

As for the swastika, prior to it being forever tainted by its use by the Nazi party, was actually an ancient symbol, found in relics from cultures around the world, including the American Indian.

In this case, the use of both symbols is probably meant to be counter-cultural and provacative. Still doesn't make it right to use them now...

 

Well, ... I'm glad that somebody knows and cleared it up.
Thank you, Tom.

I wouldn't want anyone making a mistake and finding trouble come their way for applying a symbol to their Bike or clothing without being fully aware of the nature of the sign or symbol ... first!

I've seen the Japanese Battle Flag on several Bikes and a few Riders Gear.
I included an example to help in the understanding.
No offense is intended to anyone in any way.

 

rick i was being sarcastic, i know that swastica's are nazi parafenelia (however you spell it) and ya, it was just a mild joke, im not that retarted.

 

I guess it depends on in what context these symbols are used as to their social acceptability. It's like the controversies over the Confederate battle flag. It's acceptable if they are used to illustrate their society's role in history or on historical artifacts. It is not acceptable if they are used to deliberately provoke or oppress or offend people. Because of the actions of some groups, some governments in Europe and the Middle East have actually banned most uses of these symbols. I have bought a number of models of German aircraft and armor from European kit manufacturers that either had omitted the swastika from the decal sheet or had it broken up into multiple pieces so that it would not appear as a swastika on the decal sheet.

Sorry for the lecture. My mother is a history professor so I had it drilled into me.