The Honda XL 250 is a dirt bike manufactured by the legendary Honda motorcycle company. Introduced in 1972 and constructed throughout the ’80s, it was the first modern four stroke enduro motorcycle and the first motorcycle with 4-valve engine that was mass-produced. The XL250 is a dual-sport bike, which means that it looks like a racing dirt bike, but it is street-legal and intended for both city and off-road use. It uses no hydraulics and is completly mechanically operated. The Japanese Ground Self Defence Force has ordered a batch of these to use as reconnaissance vehicles and were upgraded with a storage rack and a protective foot plate. The 250cc 4-stroke motor produces 24horsepower at the wheel and weighs about 131kg. however, this motorcycle was upgraded to compete in the yearly racing festivals and has an upgraded 36horsepower and weighs only 121 kg, giving it a hypothetical top speed of 165 Km/h. This diorama is supposed to depict a bike from the Yearly racing festivals which are set on the many small islands found in the eastern pacific. For more information I would glady refer to you that you can find more info in the picture below this text.

The kit I used for this project is the Tamiya 1/35 ‘Japan Ground Self Defence Force Motorcycle reconnaissance set’ which is a small kit including a motorcycle and 2 figurines and some small equipment. The motorcycle had no fit problems at all and the complete building process only took me about 3hours (including paint and weathering). The only thing I added to the bike was a tissue drowned in a mix of wood glue and water to put over the seat to add a used look and some texture. All the other stuff on the diorama are stuff I got from my spare box or stuff from all different kinds of places and equipment kits. I also got a lot of stuff from a spare box meeting at the club where I got lots of cool stuff for free from one of the guys.

The base was constructed from a wooden plate which I painted with a black spraypaint can. The wooden textplate is made with a lasercutting machine.