Step 1: Reference, reference, reference
Every miniature starts with photos — side, front, rear and three-quarter views, plus close-ups of the engine, tank and seat. For a model like our Continental GT 650 miniature we study proportions first: how long the tank is compared to the wheelbase, how high the seat sits, the angle of the clip-on bars. Get those wrong and the bike looks off even if every bolt is modelled; get them right and people recognise it from across the room.
Step 2: Modelling what matters at desk size
A bike has thousands of parts; a miniature has to choose. We keep the features a rider's eye goes to — cylinders and fins, exhausts, spoked wheels, shocks, headlight, tank shape — and simplify the tiny parts that would be too fragile to print. Some features are exaggerated slightly, like the thickness of the spokes and the brake lever, so they survive handling and still read clearly on a shelf.
Step 3: Splitting it into printable parts
The model is then split into parts that print cleanly: wheels, frame, tank, seat, engine, exhausts and base. Splitting lets each part print in the right orientation for strength and surface finish, and in the right colour — silver engine cases, a black frame, a striped tank, yellow indicators. It also lets us print the thin spokes and bars flat, where they are strongest.
Step 4: Printing and assembly
Each part prints in fine layers of PLA, some with multiple filament colours in one piece. Parts are cleaned by hand — supports removed, edges tidied — then assembled and fixed to the display base. The base itself is a small diorama: textured ground, scattered rocks and a raised badge, printed and layered so it has real depth.
Step 5: Your own bike, or you on it
The same process works for custom orders. Send photos of your motorcycle and we model it in your colour with your number plate or a name on the base. Want the rider too? Our biker caricature adds you, sculpted from a photo, on a detailed bike. And for a wall-worthy piece, the backlit bike shadow box sets your bike in a lit diorama. See the full bike & car miniatures collection, or read how our caricatures are made.
