Tamiya 1/24 Mazda 787b Le Mans Winner

[Tobi]

As a MX-5 (NB) owner, I always had a soft spot for this car. I might even have the kit in my stash.
Great paint work.

[benb]

Thanks, guys! I’m really enjoying building this kit. I just hope the decals go as well as the painting has so far.

@tobi, I just sold my Mazdaspeed last Thursday. I’ve been a Mazda fanboy for years. Besides the Miata, for many years I had a ‘96 MX-6 with the V6. I loved that car! It looked like a sedan version of the NB.

Ben

[project510]

Aug 18, 2024 12:23:47 GMT -5 benb said:

Thanks, guys! I’m really enjoying building this kit. I just hope the decals go as well as the painting has so far.

@tobi, I just sold my Mazdaspeed last Thursday. I’ve been a Mazda fanboy for years. Besides the Miata, for many years I had a ‘96 MX-6 with the V6. I loved that car! It looked like a sedan version of the NB.

Ben

Im a Honda guy 100% But I have owned 1 88 NA Rx7, and a 97 M edition Miata. Loved both. Almost bought a Spped3 back when they came out, but I was too consumed with my Datsun and truck at that time. I used to go to 7stock when I had my FC, which is where I first saw this car. Goodness that was over 20 years ago haha.

[joelw]

Ok, so I'm a Hyundai type of guy. We just bought our 5th one, a SEL sports Sonata and it comes with paddle shifters no less like my wife would ever use them.  . My personal ride is a 2014 2 door sports coupe that isn't made nor sold in this country for years. I wanted a Bimmer but the chief of household finance keeps on shooting down that idea.

joel

[rondriaan]

Lots of masking like te result

[benb]

Still masking and painting. I’m almost through a second roll of Washi tape. I’m almost to the point where I can clear coat the body so I can start the decals. In the meantime, I started painting the wheels. I tried Mr Color Supermetallics and they’re every bit as good as Alclad. This is Super Duraluminum over Mr Color Gloss Black. The photo doesn’t really show how well it looks like natural metal. Next will be Alclad Gold Titanium for the center sections. 




Ben

[joelw]

Ben,
The wheels look great. Are these from the new line of Mr. Color Metallics?

joel

[handiabled]

I just caught up with this again. The paint work on the body is stellar!

[kyledehart5]

I absolutely love the super metallic line. Great paint. The duralumin pops on ANYTHING. Great update Ben.

[benb]

Thanks, guys!

Joel, yes, I think they just started producing them in the last year or two. I really like them! It has a pretty tough finish so you can mask over it.

Ben

[benb]

So, after a week's vacation and some minor surgery (sure as hell didn't feel minor!), I finally got some work done on the Mazda. The body has a clear coat so I can start with the decals. I've also managed to get the engine and rear suspension started. 



Ben

[project510]

Lookin good! I really really want to build mine. But it was sp pricey, I will wait until I have the skills to match the kit haha.

[keavdog]

Great paint work.

[joelw]

Ben,
You're doing an absolutely outstanding job on the Mazda. The paint job clear coated looks fantastic.

joel

[benb]

Thanks everyone!

Ben

[kyledehart5]

Beautiful work Ben!! That is looking outstanding.

[handiabled]

Great to see you on this one again! I hope your healing well. "Minor" surgery is a term that can be used rather loosely.

[406 Silverado]

I've definitely been missing out on the fun here in this thread Ben. The mix of colors that are on this ride is mind boggling as is the fact that you laid them all down as well as you did. This looks perfect bud. I'm going to have to check these Mr. Color metallic paints out after seeing the results that you got from them.

Glad to hear that your surgery is done and overwith and hope that you're recovering well.

[benb]

Thanks! Fortunately, I was able to have the least invasive treatment, so recovery is only a couple of weeks. I’m already chomping at the bit to get back to running, but I have to wait.

I’ve started on the decals today because I can’t really do much more assembling until they’re done. The difficult thing about them is applying all of the white dashes. I’m using the kit decals for these because Tamiya provides a few for where the lines cross to help with placement and spacing. I’m using Studio 27 for the rest. So far, they’re performing great. I’m also going to (again) break that cardinal rule of modeling that says never experiment on your main project and try some carbon fiber decals for some of the more visible stuff, like the spitter, diffuser, and lower sides of the body. If I screw up, I’ll just pull them off with tape. I’ll post some pics this weekend after I get enough decals on to be interesting.

I hope Mr Color will add more colors to their Super Metallic line. I really like them.

Ben

[kyledehart5]

Glad to hear you’re on the mend too. Forgot to mention that in my reply. Can’t wait to see some decals down.

[joelw]

Ben,
So glad to read that your surgery went well, and that you're mending quite well.

 I'm looking forward to seeing how your decaling is turning out.  Curious to see just how well the Tamiya and Studio 27 White Dash lines match.  I've never had much luck applying CF decals to large areas as I always seem to geat a few wrinkles that just won't lay down matter what I do. 

joel

[benb]

I compared the S27 dash lines with Tamiya’s using calipers and they’re close enough in size that I couldn’t tell a difference. s27 provides a second set of dashes in silver that go under the white to prevent color bleed through, but that’s way more work than I’m willing to do, even on this model. Tamiya’s white seems to be opaque enough that bleed through shouldn’t be a problem with them. Most of the CF decals will go on flat surfaces. We’ll see how things go when I get to the diffuser. I’ll have the scotch tape standing by if it doesn’t work. 

Ben

[benb]

Here are the "marker" decals Tamiya provides to save you the trouble of getting the spacing just right where the two lines cross.


I discovered pretty quickly that the dashes are not symmetrical across the centerline of the car, which would have made things a little more interesting if I hadn't used the "markers." I'm still going to have to use a little artistic license in a couple of spots that won't really be noticeable when it's all finished. Once this is done, all of the other decals will be pretty straight forward.


EDIT: It turns out that the white parts of the S27 sheet aren’t very opaque, so the underlying orange bleeds through. I’ll be using more of the Tamiya decals than planned, because they are nice and opaque. I may pull the CHARGE decal off of the wing and replace it the kit decal, since the white areas have a slight orange hue.

Ben

[greg]

A bit late here, but ZOWIE to your paint job! Eye-catching seems an understatement.

Hope you continue to recover well.

[joelw]

Ben,
Your decaling looks outstanding. And those marker alignment decals should really be a huge help.

joel

[benb]

Thanks! The markers are helping a lot. I made a slight edit to my previous post because the S27 decals are too thin and are allowing the underlying orange to show through. The kit decals are great, they just take forever to release from the backing paper.

Ben

[project510]

Looking good Ben! Also, as someone who plans to build this in the future, I appreciate all your details on the process and your experience. Keep up the great work.

[kyledehart5]

Fantastic start on the decals!! This is really coming along nicely. Also one I have in my future build pile.

[handiabled]

If the decals are bleeding color through them it is really hard to see on the pictures, This looks sensational!!   

[406 Silverado]

I see what you're saying about the orange bleeding through the decals Ben. The progress on this thing is still nothing short of incredible with each update. Man this is SHARP!!