Tamiya 1/24 Mazda 787b Le Mans Winner

[Medicman71]

Wow! That's really nice!

[406 Silverado]

Now THAT.......is one busy looking car right there. So much to look at just on the car body and then you take that off and there's even more eye candy. This one is truly off the charts bud.

[benb]

Well, I've managed to have my first self-inflicted wound with this build. Actually, two of them! 

First, I damaged the silver paint when I was painting the amber colored lens on the light on the roof. I had stupidly grabbed the bottle of lacquer clear amber instead of the acrylic. I had to clean it up and then repaint a small area. It doesn't quite match, but you can only see it when the light hits it at certain angles. It won't be visible at all once the model is in my display case.

Then, I finished putting the decals on the wheels and tires and then hit the tire logos with black pastel to tone down the bright yellow. I was going to add them to the chassis, but the packet of metal center lug nut/axle parts Tamiya likes to use has gone missing. Fortunately, I had seen some 3D printed ones from Studio 27 a while back, and a brief internet search turned up two sources for them. Both in Australia. I still have to finish masking and painting the clear parts and glue the body onto the chassis, then I guess I'll have to find some 1/24 cinder blocks to put the model on while I wait for my package from Australia. And of course, the kit axles will turn up about the time I get the S27 parts.


I must say, I am still really enjoying this build, in spite of my smurf ups. 

Ben 

[benb]

Oct 5, 2024 8:41:12 GMT -5 406 Silverado said:

Now THAT.......is one busy looking car right there. So much to look at just on the car body and then you take that off and there's even more eye candy. This one is truly off the charts bud.

Thanks! It's a great kit and the interior and engine bay have a lot of room for super detailing. I didn't do much to mine, since I prefer curbside builds. It's definitely going to stand out in my display case!  

Ben

[kyledehart5]

Ben…I’m forever losing something. Feel your pain. There’s still a bulkhead to an Amt Lola T8800 that has yet to turn up even though that’s a large enough piece you’d think I’d find it. Your tires look excellent with the pastel work and I look forward to seeing this up off the cinder blocks. 😂

[benb]

Oct 5, 2024 20:08:55 GMT -5 kyledehart5 said:

Ben…I’m forever losing something. Feel your pain. There’s still a bulkhead to an Amt Lola T8800 that has yet to turn up even though that’s a large enough piece you’d think I’d find it. Your tires look excellent with the pastel work and I look forward to seeing this up off the cinder blocks. 😂

I also managed to lose the exhaust tips on the Aoshima Aventador I built recently, so I’m on a roll! I guess I can try to make four identical, slash cut tubes for it while the Mazda is up on blocks. 

Ben

[joelw]

Ben,
I have 3 hobbies: race car modeling, Model Railroading, and looking for parts that I drop or just out of magic spring out of my fingers or mini clamps. I've spent days not hours looking for parts that just can't be replaced, but most just vanish from the face of the earth. And like Kyle said some are large enough just not to vanish but they do. I've even been known to buy a 2nd kit for missing a vital part that I can't duplicate or come close to it.

Your tires look great to me, so the toning down of the bright yellow logos worked perfectly.

joel

[greg]

IMO regardless of any missing detail or minor boo-boos, the body work on this is so striking that no mere mortal is going to notice, but I know how it goes and how you feel about the details.

Your attention to detail has always been and continues to be awesome.

On the subject of missing parts, I recently bought a black oil spill mat to help protect my epoxy floor under my spray booth from drips and spills, and after seeing it laid down on the floor, I'm going to buy another one to put under my workbench and stool. As long as I keep it vacuumed, I think tiny parts should show up well. Of course, they will fly elsewhere anyway.

[benb]

Thanks for the kind words, guys! I think that in spite of the little spot on the roof, this is still one of my best paint jobs. Now I’m just sweating how to attach the upper part of the body to the chassis. It will be difficult to clamp without damaging the paint and all of the joints will be butt joined. At least I have a week or two to work on that problem.

Ben

[chrissmith]

Very impressive build you got Ben! A lot of detail out of this kit, I’m sure you’ll find a way to get the body on without too much effort😉

[handiabled]

I hate when pieces go missing. Of course they WILL show up once the parts you ordered arrive.

[joelw]

Ben,
I've followed many of your builds, and one was better then the next, but the Mazda 787b paint scheme is in a league all by itself. As usual I have complete confidence in you to get all the body panels aligned and glued into place.

joel

[benb]

Thanks, everyone! The replacement parts I ordered have already landed somewhere in the US, so the missing kit parts should turn up any day now.  

Joel, this is definitely going to be the wildest livery in my display case. Currently, it's a competition between the fluorescent yellow Volt Mustang GT4 and the black and fluorescent red Castrol Honda NSX, but they're both pretty tame compared to the Mazda. 

Ben

[joelw]

Ben,
  I remember the Volt Mustang as the paint scheme just is insane, but the Mazda is truly in a class of its own, without being anything like the current crop of GT cars that make no real sense nor connection to me being an older person.

joel

[benb]

Yes, the new GT cars have some truly complex liveries, thanks to wraps. If I'm not mistaken, the base colors of the 787B were painted. I'm not sure they even had wraps back then.

I managed to glue the body on without damaging the paint! Woo hoo! The front was a bit warped, so it's still clamped until the glue completely sets. Now the car is up on 1/24 cinder blocks until the axles get here.

I was going to use the downtime to finish painting the Tamiya F-16C, but I've realized I'm still burned out on airplanes. I don't want to overdo the Group C cars, so I've started cleaning up the body on the Nunu 911 RSR. It's a fairly simple kit, so I don't expect many problems. The owner of Splash Paint has sent me a bottle of his best guess at the Wynn's purple for me to try. It's too bad the car wasn't the same purple as Keating's Ford GT LM or the AMG GT3. I have an almost full bottle of both of those. I'll start a thread when I get enough done to be worth photographing.

Ben

[benb]

Tamiya has you paint the windscreen banner, which would have been fine if their recommended orange had matched the rest of the car, since most TS paints don't seem to craze clear plastic. I hesitated to spray Splash Paints' orange on an irreplaceable clear part, because the solvents are pretty hot. I painted some white decal film orange and used the decal from the Studio 27 sheet as a pattern to cut the windscreen banner from. Worked like a charm! I then painted the banner with Future to give it a glossy finish and to seal it to the windscreen, then added the Mazda logo and hit it with another coat of Future. I would've just used the Studio 27 decal, but it was much too light orange. I'm leaving the mirrors and antennas off until after I get the wheels on. The axles should be here this week. 



Ben

[joelw]

Ben,
The sun screen really came out a perfect match.

joel

[kyledehart5]

That looks incredible Ben. You’re knocking it right out of the park

[benb]

Thanks! I’m usually happy if a build comes out as a decent three footer. If I don’t screw anything up adding the last handful of parts, this one might actually be a pretty good two footer!

Ben

[joelw]

Ben,
You did an excellent job on the 787b. the Charge paint and decaling is top shelf all the way.

joel

[greg]

Good thinking, planning, and execution on the painted portion of the windshield.

[2whl]

Great job on the windshield banner, Ben.

[406 Silverado]

Man......this car is frickin' HOT!!!! Excellent idea on the usage of white decal film painted up. Great ideas and techniques in motion throughout this build bud.

[benb]

Thanks everyone!

BTW, have y’all seen Nunu has announced a 1/12 787B? That will be an eye catching model!

Ben

[benb]

Done! The resin axles arrived yesterday, so I painted them and put the finishing touches on the model today. I must say, I'm very happy with the way this one turned out! I'm usually happy if I get a decent three-footer from a build, but this one may qualify as a two-footer. This is a great kit; a real pleasure to build. It's a shame Tamiya hasn't chosen to reissue it in quantity. I guess they only bought a limited run of decals from Cartograph when they reissued it in 2019. I'll try to find some time to take some better photos this weekend.










Ben

[brandonk]

Dude, that is killer. Such a busy scheme and it came out AWESOME!! Well done.

[keavdog]

Fantastic job! That's a really nice paint job.

[benb]

Thank you!

Ben

[joelw]

Ben,
Just a stellar build. The paint job and decaling just makes this build special to the viewer as it just catches your eye, and you end up just staring at the pictures.

joel

[project510]

A real stunner Ben! Man I love this car. Great work!