BAN012 hex bolt 1,1mm

No slicing of a hexagonal rod

The home procedure for getting hold of a head with six edges leads through a plastic profile from which thin disks are cut off with a sharp knife. It sounds simple, except that the disk has to be square and all of them the same thickness. A knife tends to turn along the edge of the profile and it always tears the last thousandth off instead of cutting it, so the finished disk has one side beveled. A metal piece leaves this intermediate step out.

1.1 millimeters in practice

This step already belongs to the coarser half of the fine line. It tends to be seen on the mounting of the swingarm, on the lower engine mounts and in places where the real machine uses a stronger screw because of the loads. On the tank or the covers, by contrast, it comes across as oversized; there one reaches for the lower steps.

• a finished head instead of disks cut off a profile
• a size from the coarser half of the fine size line
• a logical placement on the swingarm and the engine mounts
• square faces, which a knife will never make when slicing

The most common mistake

Choosing the size by how well it will be seen, and not by how heavily the part is loaded. Models come across convincingly when the size of a joint matches the load: a stronger piece on a load-bearing joint, a small one on a cover. Makers of the real subjects keep to that as well, and it is one of the few things a viewer reads subconsciously without being able to name it.

Before the work itself, prepare a laying-down surface of dark paper. Metal pieces stand out against it and you will notice tweezers that have missed before the little piece rolls under the tabletop.

Let the places you have fitted cure overnight, and only then set about painting the whole assembly.