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B.RAD

My second Tamiya build - M06 MK1 MX5!

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This wasn't meant to be my second Tamiya build.  I got a Mad Bull as a gift from a great friend, thread of that also on here, and it reignited a fire that had long ago dwindled. Since I didn't actually spend any of my own money, I feel totally justified in buying another kit, because that's completely effective man maths, right?! So I started looking for something slightly different to the Mad Bull, but still with decent enough ground clearance to run on short grass and in the woods. Aqroshot, Blackfoot, Dark Impact, Neo Scorcher, Blitzer Beetle all on the list.

Then Friday night and beers happened.

Some people say that alcohol impairs decision making ability. My experience is that some of the best things I've bought in life have been purchased after more than a few beers! 

Back story - I own two MX5's in real life, a track hack that has done a solid 6,500 miles at wide open throttle on circuits all over the UK, including competing (and winning) several sprint events. This car is superficial horrific - rusty, crappy and uncared for. But mechanically it is spot on, with a lot of care and maintenance lavished on the important bits.

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My other MX5 is superficially the opposite - she's a beauty. I don't keep cars long, but this one is a keeper. It is modified with the best components available, and turbocharged to 189 bhp at the rear wheels. It's a really lovely car.

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So when said beer pushed me in the direction of a hard-to-find Tamiya kit for a MK1 MX5, I just had to have it. I will be building it into a replica of the turbo car (although I might see if I can pick up a second shell and do a replica of the track car as a basher! That would be cool).

With the Mad Bull build and mods complete (although the tinkering continues, and I'm sure never stops!), I'm now ready to crack on with this. I'm so flippin excited!!

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I should probably add that since this wasn't on my wishlist and it was a beer-guided purchase, I'm not counting it as my next kit. Cos that makes perfect sense, I'm sure you agree.🍻 😁 The search is still on for the next next second kit! 

An exciting package arrived mid-way through the Bull build. It took every ounce of self restraint and unexpected maturity to leave it packaged up and waiting for me to diligently tidy up all the paraphernalia from the Bull build, find suitable storage, and pack it all neatly away. All without being asked to by Mrs Rad. I know, miracles do happen! 😆

Oooh, shiny...

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On with the build. Progress is good so far, I have a rubber seal bearing kit as the only hop up so far and have been using that as I go.

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One thing I learned from my first build - a little pot or two for all the bits and bobs is a massive help! Probably common sense to all those experienced builders out there, but I was very chuffed with myself when I thought of that one 😊 

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Diff built. And the next time I remembered to take a photo...

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...making progress! 

I'm not too fussed about performance for this build, sadly it'll rarely get used so doesn't need to be anything fancy. But are there any hop ups or mods I should look to do as a matter of course?

Already very impressed with this build over the Mad Bull, it's a lot more involved and I can now see why the Bull is advertised as a beginner's build. Super excited to keep working on it!

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Has anyone come across this before? Part C15 is melted! How do I go about sourcing a replacement?

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Love the 1:1 MX5's.

I would contact some Tamiya dealers to see if they could be of any help in regards to the molten part.

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I suggest a set of Tamiya 54753 CVA oil dampers.  The friction dampers (incomplete casting pictured above) are comparable to pogo-sticks.  The CVA oil dampers, used with the kit springs, will drastically improve the handling of your car.

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Beauty! Such fun cars. I've owned a '90 and '99 - no racing, just daily drivers and weekend fun. Of course, I had matching Tamiya's for both. :) An M04 for my '90 and an M06 (with HPI body) for my '99. 

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3 minutes ago, SupraChrgd82 said:

I suggest a set of Tamiya 54753 CVA oil dampers.  The friction dampers (incomplete casting pictured above) are comparable to pogo-sticks.  The CVA oil dampers, used with the kit springs, will drastically improve the handling of your car.

Thank you - good advice. I upgraded to CVa dampers on the Mad Bull and you're right, they're significantly better! Order placed 😊

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2 minutes ago, OldSchoolRC1 said:

Beauty! Such fun cars. I've owned a '90 and '99 - no racing, just daily drivers and weekend fun. Of course, I had matching Tamiya's for both. :) An M04 for my '90 and an M06 (with HPI body) for my '99. 

Thanks! Yeah they're the best, I love them. So much fun, reliable, easy to work on and pound for pound the best smiles I've had from any car ownership! 

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one doing a replica! Share some photos of your two if you don't mind, would love to see them ☺️

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1 hour ago, Yonzariq said:

Love the 1:1 MX5's.

I would contact some Tamiya dealers to see if they could be of any help in regards to the molten part.

Cheers - I've messaged the seller. Not holding my breath though, and easily fixed with an upgrade of shocks. Just frustrating to halt the build at this stage!

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From what I've seen in recent posts, Tamico is the main Tamiya go-to contact for your continent.  Have a look on their FAQ page in the "Return and Complaint" section:  

 

FAQ (tamico.de)

 

 

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A paint question if I may - I have a can of British racing green spray paint which is the exact match for my 1:1 car.  I was going to use this, but have read that there is a risk to using normal automotive paint on polycarbonate shells. Is this true? I have to buy black for the roof anyway, so am I best just to invest in the Tamiya PS paint, or can I get away with the significantly cheaper automotive paint?

And a follow up question - should I back the paint in any particular colour?

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2 hours ago, B.RAD said:

A paint question if I may - I have a can of British racing green spray paint which is the exact match for my 1:1 car.  I was going to use this, but have read that there is a risk to using normal automotive paint on polycarbonate shells. Is this true? I have to buy black for the roof anyway, so am I best just to invest in the Tamiya PS paint, or can I get away with the significantly cheaper automotive paint?

And a follow up question - should I back the paint in any particular colour?

Don't use non-lexan paint. Just go for a PS one, there are plenty of colours available. 
 

In my opinion any colour should be backed. The final result makes the car look more realistic. 

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2 minutes ago, fwdjump said:

Don't use non-lexan paint. Just go for a PS one, there are plenty of colours available. 
 

In my opinion any colour should be backed. The final result makes the car look more realistic. 

Thank you - really appreciate the response 😊 What colour do you recommend backing the paint with?

I have found PS5 black for the roof and PS22 racing green for the body, but at just under £10 a can they're pretty expensive! 

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You can use other paint manufacturer. I had a good experience with the paint by “RC Car colours” (made in EU). It is cheaper and, well, no worse than tamiya. 

As for the backing colour, I would recommend to paint a piece of lexan (plastic bottle) first in order to check how the colour will look after backing with black. If it is too dark, you can back it with silver instead of black (and if you want the internal part of the body to be black another layer of black should be applied above silver). 

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I contacted the seller about that bad part, they've been really responsive, immediately messaged the distributor for help and copied me in, so fingers crossed they'll come up good and sort it out for me 🤞

On 24/02/2021 at 1:31 PM, SupraChrgd82 said:

I suggest a set of Tamiya 54753 CVA oil dampers

The set I ordered was showing in stock, but after I placed the order I was contacted to say it was a web error and they don't have them and there's a ridiculous lead time. So I've bought these instead, hopefully they'll be ok!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4-x-Alloy-RC-1-10-Adjustable-Shocks-for-Tamiya-TT02-TT02D-M05-M06-Upgrade-Hop-up-/114295938341?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292

I've bought the Tamiya paints now too, bit of a gulp having to pay £30 for three cans of paint, but at least I know they'll work!  I have another bodyshell I can use them on too, so not all bad.

How many coats of paint are recommended on polycarbonate? 

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Hmm, £10 seems a lot for a can of paint. I use regular artists liquid acrylics through an airbrush, which is much cheaper, but even tamiya paints can be bought cheaper than £10. Eurocarparts has some for £6.50 ish but granted they might not have the colours you want. 

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14 hours ago, B.RAD said:

The set I ordered was showing in stock, but after I placed the order I was contacted to say it was a web error and they don't have them and there's a ridiculous lead time. So I've bought these instead, hopefully they'll be ok!

Those shocks will be an improvement over the stock pogo sticks, but their standard of assembly sometimes leaves a bit to be desired, leading to a rough feel and a propensity for leaks.

They can be made to work better if you take them apart, remove any moulding flash from the pistons, make sure the holes are not occluded and are of adequate size, polish the shafts if they feel rough, then rebuild them with Tamiya seals and soft oil.

You might also want to pop in an internal spacer while you have them apart, to limit their length to around 50mm eye-to-eye. I run 55mm shocks on mine, but it is a rally car so the taller stance is appropriate. For a street machine like yours, a lower stance might suit it better. 

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Thank you - very good advice! I did take them to pieces when they arrived, more out of curiousity than anything else, and found them to be pretty decent. I can't speak for the seals but the build quality was very good. Topped up with oil they have a very smooth action. 

However you're absolutely right - they are too long. I wound the bottom eyelet up as far as it would go, but they were still a few mm longer than the stock ones, and I do want a lower stance on this to suit the lowered nature of the muse. I hadn't thought about a spacer, and now wish I had while they were apart! 

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Also good advice! Unfortunately I don't have a stock pile of springs (yet! 😆) and can't justify splashing out on some for this. I think I'll get it all finished, see how it looks and then make a call 👍

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As the build is nearing conclusion and I'm starting to think more about the body, I'm pretty decided that I don't want these horribly long body mounts poking out of the body, nor do I really want holes in the shell. I've read somewhere about magnetic body mounts but a search on Google and eBay hasn't yielded any results - can anyone help to point me in the direction of something suitable here please?

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I also have 1:1 first Gen MX-5 ( left hand drive US model Miata) 

The 1:24 plastic model was the first Tamiya I ever built. 
The M06 chassis version was my second ever and first Tamiya RC. 

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On 3/1/2021 at 11:23 AM, B.RAD said:

As the build is nearing conclusion and I'm starting to think more about the body, I'm pretty decided that I don't want these horribly long body mounts poking out of the body, nor do I really want holes in the shell. I've read somewhere about magnetic body mounts but a search on Google and eBay hasn't yielded any results - can anyone help to point me in the direction of something suitable here please?

Have a search for 'rc stealth mounts'. This should give you an idea of what's available. There are magnetic ones and other designs by the looks of it. I've not got any myself - I just put up with the holes and a small amount of mount sticking through. 

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@rich_f that's perfect, thank you! Lots of options come up, so will do some more research 👍

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I had an incomplete parts tree on my M06, but it was the steering post cap on the A parts tree.

Very cool to hear about your 1:1 MX5s. That would be enough for me to want to build a replica too! As cult as the MX5 is, A fair few years back we went the opposite direction, and bought and restored a CRX Del Sol SiR Transtop, as my wife liked them (she had an EF8 before that).

Have also done an NA MX5 but on an M02 chassis (the first chassis available that had this body), and am quite drawn to it.

Looking forward to seeing what you do with yours 🙂

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