1924 Ace

[bbowser]

This may have been the most difficult kit I've ever attempted.  Lots of small delicate parts, several of them broken and needing repairs.  Decals were trash but I tried to save the logos best I could.  Comments welcome, thanks for looking.

[Matt Bacon]

That looks brilliant, Bruce... lots of hard work paid off. It looks as though the kit includes plenty of detail. That speedo drive is extraordinary, and what would happen if the rod broke or came loose doesn't bear thinking about. I'm reading up on HRD bikes in preparation for building a Black Shadow shortly, and it's amazing the speed of evolution of motorbikes in the 1910-1930 period. Did Ace do their own inline-four, or buy in engines, do you know? I must look into this Aoshima bike range.... I'd never come acroos them before seeing this.

You should be proud of it (and yourself!)

best,

M.

[bbowser]

Thank you for the kind words.  I believe Ace was eventually sold to/merged with Henderson, the 4 cylinder engine looks very similar.  I have found 4 in the Aoshima series, the Ace, a 1918 Harley, the Militaire, and a Henderson.  I also have the Black Shadow in the stash, look forward to seeing yours!

[Mike999]

2 hours ago, bbowser said:

Thank you for the kind words.  I believe Ace was eventually sold to/merged with Henderson, the 4 cylinder engine looks very similar.  I have found 4 in the Aoshima series, the Ace, a 1918 Harley, the Militaire, and a Henderson.  I also have the Black Shadow in the stash, look forward to seeing yours!

Great job on that monster!  At a flea market, I recently found a 1975 copy of "Scale Modeler" magazine.  It had a review of that 1/16 scale Ace kit. The kit was brand-new then, and in an ENTEX box, along with the other 3 vintage bike kits you mentioned.

Don't anybody bother trying to find an original ENTEX kit, hoping it will be easier to build.  The builder of that kit back in 1975 also had a lot of problems getting it together.

The Ace story went the other way. William Henderson developed the 4-cylinder engine and started Henderson Motorcycle. He sold that company to Excelsior (a division of Schwinn).  He didn't get along with his new bosses, and left in 1919 to start Ace Motor Corporation. Henderson was killed testing a new motorcycle in 1922. Ace was eventually sold to Indian Motorcycle, which wanted its 4-cylinder engine.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ace_Motor_Corporation

 

Edited May 19, 2019 by Mike999
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[ChrisR]

Cool!!

[mod3l Lover]

   I like it, and have wanted that kit for a while now!

Very cool build Bruce!!

       David S.

[peteski]

Looks good!  I have that model kit and few others from that series (still unbuilt). I have to make note about the decals.  When I start building these I'm hoping to redo the wheels using real wire spokes.

[misterNNL]

Great save. What scale is that?

[bbowser]

4 hours ago, misterNNL said:

Great save. What scale is that?

1/16

[misterNNL]

What a shame that this genre of model motorcycles is not available in 1/25 scale. I would love to see some done in 3D print form. Anyone out there working on that ?

[Mike999]

It is a shame.  Maisto did a die-cast 1903 Harley in 1/24 scale.  I think it's long out of production, but they're on eBay pretty often for about $10 bucks.

[bisc63]

What a cool kit! Nice job; it is really a nice display piece.

[89AKurt]

Motorcycles are not my thing, but always appreciate the work people put into them.  I can't imagine working on that, one slip and...

... I'm a shattered
Shattered

All this chitter-chatter, chitter-chatter, chitter-chatter 'bout
Shmatta, shmatta, shmatta, ...

Looks awesome from here!

[Jim N]

Great job Bruce!  The construction does look fiddly, you did a great job with it.