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B.RAD

My second Tamiya build - M06 MK1 MX5!

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@berman thanks for the post! Good to hear I'm not the only one that's experienced this, I thought it was very odd! 

I used to love the Del Sol and really wanted one, but back at the time they were still pretty rare and quite pricey. Very cool cars.

An update on that un-formed part, the seller has secured and posted out the parts tree as an FOC replacement, so despite having upgraded to oil filled shocks anyway, I'm really pleased that the matter was resolved positively. This was Cornwall Model Boats, who well deserve the shout out ☺️

Just realised I haven't updated the thread with photos for a while, so here's where we're up to:

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Shocks installed. Really like the "titanium" colour, suits the build well! They came with hardware to install, which included the favourable ball collars that I used on my other build. For less than £25 I can't argue with this - they appear to be decent quality, smooth in operation and fit well. Only downside as previously mentioned is they're a tad long, especially at the front, so I'll wait until the wheels and shell are on to get an idea of fit and make adjustments from there 😊

And here we are as it sits today:

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All that's left is to fit the wheels and the body mounts, a receiver and we're done!* 😁 Still searching for some stealth body mounts, but the paint has arrived now so I'm running out of excuses not to do the body. Biting my finger nails about that one! Been a loooooong time since I painted lexan / polycarbonate, so I'm tempted to do the Stampede shell first as an experiment and to progress my learning. Actually yes, that's what I'll do. Great idea, me! Love doing these threads, so helpful in so many ways!! 

*Done in the sense that any build is ever done - it'll be finished enough for the shelf, but no doubt lots and lots of hop ups and mods will follow if/when I ever get a chance to use it!

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18 hours ago, B.RAD said:

@berman thanks for the post! Good to hear I'm not the only one that's experienced this, I thought it was very odd! 

I used to love the Del Sol and really wanted one, but back at the time they were still pretty rare and quite pricey. Very cool cars.

It's actually the third one I have had like this. I still have one of the others, from a suspension parts tree from the 80s Clod Buster.

Yeah it was a shame to sell our Del Sol, I would have kept it were it not for our first sprog on the way. We had it painted and I did some light mods to it, Missus took it to a few track days as well.

Don't blame you on the body. I have some minis bodies on a few other M chassis cars, and I am leaving them and painting a few other bodies first, I'm a little apprehensive... 😬

Chassis is coming along nicely!

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Got a delivery through from Modelsport today which included some proper scissors and craft knife set, so I made a start on the bodyshell. Gave it a wash and rinse and then set to work. Cutting it out was much harder than I anticipated!! It's going to need a lot of work with a sanding block along the edges.

Applied the window masks too, that was a slow and frustrating process!! Unfortunately the one item I really need to keep going, the flexible masking tape (that showed as in stock but went to backorder once the order was placed 🤦) didn't turn up so that'll stop play for now. Photos to follow!

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Coming along nicely! 

I used Tamiya masking tape for years, then it became hit or miss finding it stateside. I've since found that standard 3M masking tape works just as well. I lay it out on a piece of glass and use a ruler and Xacto and cut it into thin strips. It's then plenty flexible to do curves and holds the body well when painting. Something to keep in mind maybe if the masking tape is holding you up. 

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Got the wheels painted and tyres with foam inserts fitted and glued on. Really happy with how they've come out 😊 Feels weird putting grippy tyres on the back and hard tyres on the front, that's not the way I drive my MX5's! 😆

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Geometry is a little....interesting. Does this look right to you? Followed the instructions and measured everything before fitting. Looks even side to side but I wouldn't run a 1:1 car set up like this! Thoughts?

PXL_20210308_102256518_copy_756x1008.thumb.jpg.a7a29422d1d56b696a7aab22d6f42e9b.jpg

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The rear looks fine, there's a few degrees of rear toe in baked into the kit. You want it, that's for sure.

Looks like a bit more toe out in the front than I would run - could be the camera angle. I have just a degree or two in mine. It was way too twitchy up front with tow-in, it handles much better for me with a slight bit of toe out. 

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Thanks for the feedback @OldSchoolRC1! The rears also have a lot of camber, which is ok, makes it look very "stance yo"!! 😁 I just wouldn't run so much toe in, I appreciate the stability it offers but it'll add a lot of resistance to the drivetrain. Be interesting to see what it's like if/when I ever run it!

The fronts seem to have an extreme amount of toe out, so I think I'll adjust them in just a touch. The photo is pretty accurate to how it looks in the flesh! 

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Masking this bodyshell has been a real labour of love! I think I enjoyed it, but I'm honestly not sure...! :lol: It certainly took a long time, and there's bits that I'm not really happy with, but I can't/won't unwind it all now.

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I've tried to leave the areas that will be black unmasked, including any bits on the 1:1 car that are black. I know there are stickers for this, but I hate cutting about applying decals even more than I do masking! 😆

So, paint comes next. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

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I got the black coat on last night. Unfortunately the tape has leaked in a couple of places, nothing terrible, just a little run here and there. Any tips for removing these runs before I put the green on please?

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On 3/9/2021 at 12:32 AM, B.RAD said:

Got the wheels painted and tyres with foam inserts fitted and glued on. Really happy with how they've come out 😊 Feels weird putting grippy tyres on the back and hard tyres on the front, that's not the way I drive my MX5's! 😆

PXL_20210308_102241286_copy_1008x756.thumb.jpg.6edc8b5a5ba3bc861abe1df4a12637eb.jpg

Geometry is a little....interesting. Does this look right to you? Followed the instructions and measured everything before fitting. Looks even side to side but I wouldn't run a 1:1 car set up like this! Thoughts?

PXL_20210308_102256518_copy_756x1008.thumb.jpg.a7a29422d1d56b696a7aab22d6f42e9b.jpg

You probably didn't cut down upper arms (tie rods) as per the manual, a few people have missed it...

Et1iH6A.jpg

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2 hours ago, B.RAD said:

I got the black coat on last night. Unfortunately the tape has leaked in a couple of places, nothing terrible, just a little run here and there. Any tips for removing these runs before I put the green on please?

Can you get hold of Tamiya Polycarbonate Cleaner? 

Are you painting from the inside and trying to replicate a soft top?

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16 minutes ago, berman said:

You probably didn't cut down upper arms (tie rods) as per the manual, a few people have missed it...

 

You, good sir, are 100% correct!! 1 million internet points coming your way! 😁 Step 17 in my manual, and yes, completely missed that and explains a lot. That'd be a 4mm difference in length per side then!! 🤦 Thanks so much for posting and letting me know about this.

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14 minutes ago, berman said:

Can you get hold of Tamiya Polycarbonate Cleaner? 

Are you painting from the inside and trying to replicate a soft top?

Hadn't heard of that, will have to have a Google. Are there any other products that work in a similar way if not?

Yes I'm painting from the inside, and no it's not a soft top, it'll be a hard top. The shell has the proper mounting catches at the back moulded in, so I thought it would be a bit odd if I tried to make it look like a soft top. I have a spare gloss black hard top for both my 1:1 cars, which doesn't get used, but it makes it close enough for my liking 😊 However, the plastic parts, like the rain guttering below the windscreen and the front splitter, are matt on the muse car so I'm mulling over ideas for that. I've seen Testors dullcote which is an interesting idea, might be tricky to get a clean cut of the protective layer on such small areas but potentially worth a try. Any other suggestions?

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4 hours ago, B.RAD said:

Are there any other products that work in a similar way if not?

I often use Revell Color Mix or Revell Paint Remover. Works fine. 

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7 hours ago, B.RAD said:

Hadn't heard of that, will have to have a Google. Are there any other products that work in a similar way if not?

Yes I'm painting from the inside, and no it's not a soft top, it'll be a hard top. The shell has the proper mounting catches at the back moulded in, so I thought it would be a bit odd if I tried to make it look like a soft top. I have a spare gloss black hard top for both my 1:1 cars, which doesn't get used, but it makes it close enough for my liking 😊 However, the plastic parts, like the rain guttering below the windscreen and the front splitter, are matt on the muse car so I'm mulling over ideas for that. I've seen Testors dullcote which is an interesting idea, might be tricky to get a clean cut of the protective layer on such small areas but potentially worth a try. Any other suggestions?

I only asked as you were painting it black, and the majority of 1:1s I see with hard tops are colour coded (Although I also painted mine gloss black, along with the windscreen frame, to replicate a 1:1 off the internet).

Tamiya do a flat clear for polycarbonate, easiest way is to mask off the outside after you have painted the inside of it black, or trim the protective film before you pull it off and paint it with the flat clear.

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@berman ah yes I see what you mean. I haven't actually seen a colour coded hard top on a MK1 for a long time now - seems to be a trend for different colours (or more likely that they're just harder to get hold of, so people just use whatever they can!). Our silver track car has a very tatty dark green one fitted ☺️ I would always choose black for a BRG car anyway, and I hope the contrast will come out nicely when it's done! 🤞

Thanks for the tip, I've seen the Tamiya flat clear too, expensive stuff for what will only be a very small use! May just have to bite the bullet though...

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Small success! The worst of the runs, which was between the hard top and the windscreen surround, I was able to pick off with the blunt end of some scissors. Such a relief!  This means I can start the green paint now! 😁 Exciting times. Pretty happy with how the black has come out overall, it's a bit scrappy but then, so is the 1:1 car, so the replication is getting even closer! 😆

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I'm most happy with how the front splitter has come out, given this was just a random attempt by not cutting along the actual body line, I'm quite pleased with how it's turned out so far.

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I've just got the first coat of green on - it's much, much lighter than I'd expected, let's hope it dries darker! I had bought silver to back it with, but now wondering if I should just use black? Will wait and see how it dries I guess...

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Ok third coat has gone on, and this colour is definitely a lot lighter than expected! Any tips on darkening it somehow? Would a black backer be the best thing to do?

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11 hours ago, B.RAD said:

Ok third coat has gone on, and this colour is definitely a lot lighter than expected! Any tips on darkening it somehow? Would a black backer be the best thing to do?

Backing with black is one way to do it. To be honest I can't think of any others.

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15 hours ago, B.RAD said:

@berman ah yes I see what you mean. I haven't actually seen a colour coded hard top on a MK1 for a long time now - seems to be a trend for different colours (or more likely that they're just harder to get hold of, so people just use whatever they can!). Our silver track car has a very tatty dark green one fitted ☺️ I would always choose black for a BRG car anyway, and I hope the contrast will come out nicely when it's done! 🤞

Thanks for the tip, I've seen the Tamiya flat clear too, expensive stuff for what will only be a very small use! May just have to bite the bullet though...

If the 1:1s had a hard top over here, they were usually the same colour. Like you said, nowadays everyone wants the hardtop so the young guys that buy them and do them up normally want the hardtop so they are more often bought second hand from another owner, wrecker, or any place they can vet their hands on one, and being the same colour as the car they are putting them on, is a slim chance. 

I also have the ND MX5, and used the flat clear on the ragtop as I mentioned above, to give it a material-like, flat finish. Flat clear is also good for trim and bolt on guards. 😎

Black is really your only option now, to try and darken the green.

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@TurnipJF and @berman - thank you for the replies 😊 I'll go for a black backer and see how it comes out. Given the green is so different to what I had expected, I'm much less worried about how this turns out now, so feel like the pressure is off somewhat. 

The most frustrating thing is the Tamiya window masks, they've all leaked somewhere. Hopefully the scissor trick will work for me again 🤞☺️

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4 minutes ago, B.RAD said:

The most frustrating thing is the Tamiya window masks, they've all leaked somewhere. Hopefully the scissor trick will work for me again 🤞☺️

The scissor trick may work, however I would be concerned about scratching the inside of the lexan and having this visible from the outside if the windows are to be transparent or tinted.

@Qed296 reported successfully removing unwanted paint bleed from his F1 shell with a strong alcohol cleaner. Do you have anything like that available perhaps?

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9 minutes ago, B.RAD said:

@TurnipJF and @berman - thank you for the replies 😊 I'll go for a black backer and see how it comes out. Given the green is so different to what I had expected, I'm much less worried about how this turns out now, so feel like the pressure is off somewhat. 

The most frustrating thing is the Tamiya window masks, they've all leaked somewhere. Hopefully the scissor trick will work for me again 🤞☺️

You can get away with light scuffing on the inside of polycarbonate bodies as the paint will fill and hide any imperfections, I would be apprehensive about scratching any transparent areas though. 

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4 hours ago, TurnipJF said:

The scissor trick may work, however I would be concerned about scratching the inside of the lexan and having this visible from the outside if the windows are to be transparent or tinted.

@Qed296 reported successfully removing unwanted paint bleed from his F1 shell with a strong alcohol cleaner. Do you have anything like that available perhaps?

I don't, I have some of the usual meth spirits that dominate any useful garage cupboard, might be worth a try. Having said that, this Tamiya racing green is so far from a traditional BRG colour that the shell is now something very different from what I was aiming/hoping for, so will likely become my basher shell. Which is good news, as now the car will be a runner! 😁

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