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I had to keep the spec the same as my full scale Yeti. Bit of a bugger really, because it means I have to keep the spec the same on the real one until the model is finished and sat next to it. No frivolous upgrades for me. Most bits were built to articulate, mechs both move, cranks and wheels...

Could have used your help on the waterslide model. Lots of pipes on that.

I may be insane, but I'm not crazy.

Trip to the model shop to buy about dozen different black paints. The guy behind the counter must have thought I was making the worlds most boring model. Starting to get a bit exciting now.

Right, about those tyre sidewalls. They needed a bit more texture, the real ones have a checkerboard pattern embossed into them. A bit of experimentation with a scrap cast and a laser engraver resulted in this: Looks much nicer, needed to adjust the size of the pattern a little, but not bad...

Thanks 27motorhead, truly appreciated. As it happens, I started my University career as Industrial Design, but switched to model making half way through my third year. The industrial design was really helpful with respect to model making. This was in the late 90s, so we still learned all of the...

Got a tiny Yeti SB-66C. Not 1 1/8" steerer mind...

Everything back in it's box, ready to get the paints out. At this point I realised that I wasn't completely happy with the tyre sidewalls, they need a bit more texture... More on that later.

Wheelbuilding, quarter scale. The spindle in the middle holds the hub at the correct height relative to the white ring holding the rim. Different spindles are used for the front and rear hub. Lengths of monofilament fishing line are laced as spokes having melted a small "spoke head" on the end...

Hubs, obviously. Turned the shells out of chemiwood, laser cut acrylic flanges as above. Whole lot airbrushed over with a coat of black acrylic paint, graphics are waterslide transfers, then flashed over with a drop of gloss. The slots seen previously in the rim layers have been drilled out...

Steel. Click here to find out why this fantastic frame is built with an abomination of parts. This is an old photo, the bike is still single speed, but with some much nicer kit on it now courtesy of this forum and paypal.

Final dry fit before paint. The wheels are just loosely laced together with a continuous length of monofilament fishing line. The proper wheels will have individual spokes. Stay tuned, that's up next.

Pretty much everything else was built properly. Flat sheet of plastic, laser cutter, glue and filler. For example, this is how a front mech starts life.

I feel a sense of immense shame admitting this part. Having decided not to use any 3D printing, or "cheating" as I call it, I confess that I did print the grips. I wanted to turn them out of aluminium tube, but that meant buying a 0.5mm knurling tool; £30 for a crap one, about £120 for a good...

Thanks everybody for the kind words. Nice try, but the truth is actually more simple than that...

Who doesn't love having a new bike to build? Everything primed and ready for paint. But next... wheel building.

Pedals. Wish I'd taken some pictures of these unpainted with the SPD mechanism in.

Cross section through rim. Red bits are 1mm, yellow 0.8mm, purple 0.5mm. Green will be filler, much like the tyres were. The rim layers getting laminated together. The thin slots will be a guide for drilling spoke holes from the outside. The 1mm rods through the layers make sure the spoke...

Hub flange. The edges are a bit square, nothing a quick sand wont sort... That's better. It's stuff that like this that you don't notice has been done, but would notice if it wasn't.

Cassette sprockets. Shifting ramps are laser etched, teeth are lightly sharpened with a quick swipe with the sanding stick. Finally, something gets painted.