Hello all,
I’m a new poster here, but I’ve actually been reading this forum for a few months now. I grew up building model cars like a lot of kids, but never stuck with the hobby. Somehow, I was led to this forum and after checking out some of the amazing projects that many of you have done, my interest in model building has been renewed and I started building again.
This is my first auto project in years. and I’ve never done anything beyond what was “in the box”. So, for what I have planned, this is and has been so far a pretty big leap for me in my limited experience.
This car in particular is a special one. Ten years ago, I had a cashier’s check in my hand and I was on my way to pick up a 1994 Mazda RX-7. Up to that point, I was a huge FD fanatic, joining all the forums, playing Gran Turismo, buying the HyperRev magazines, attending 7Stock, etc. For months, I had been checking listings waiting for the perfect FD and finally found it. I had big plans for my future RX-7 and the dream was about to come true. Long story short, the cashier’s check instead became part of a down payment on a new townhouse and the FD got away… Now married and with a 5 month old, this kind of car is no longer suitable for my lifestyle and the dream is pretty much over. (Though not equal, I have found a WRX wagon to be a nice and suitable compromise).
This 1/24 RX-7 represents most of what my 1:1 was going to be. Why do I call it Unicorn? Quoting, Donny Astricky from “Gone in 60 Seconds”, “You know – the horse with the horn? Impossible to capture?.. Every time you get close, something happens.” Well, this FD3S turned into my unicorn.
Anyway, sorry for the long read. Here she is so far. Not Eleanor, but Ayame:
The base is the Aoshima RX-7 GT-C kit.
My biggest mod is the Mazdaspeed Aero Scoop hood. It’s from the Fujimi RX-7 B Spec kit. The Aoshima and Fujimi bodies are actually quite different so you can’t do a direct swap. I had to cut up the Fujimi hood and graft it into the Aoshima body. This was my first time doing something like this, so it was quite a challenge. Many mistakes were made along the way.
I used Tamiya Epoxy putty to secure it in place.
Here is the body after being sanded and primed.
The spoiler is the stock jdm version found on all ’99 and later RX-7s - also taken from the B Spec kit. It looks a little larger than it is supposed to be as others have noted, but it works well.
The back of the car sports rear under wings from the Aoshima Veilside Combat II kit. However, they’re actually the Combat I wings. If you look at the 1:1, there are subtle differences. CII is rounder while the CI has harder lines.
As you can see, I'll be using Aoshima's 20in. Volk Racing G2 wheels.
The interior was painted with semi-gloss black. The dash and center console was detailed with Scale Motorsport carbon fiber and a few coats of future, and PE guage face rings and pedals are from the Acu-Stion Mazda Roadster set. The Mazda steering wheel logo is from the Crazy Modeler metal transfer logo set. Sorry, it's so dusty. I should have swabbed it down before I took the pics.
That's it so far. I do have a question though. These Aoshima wheels are not compatible with this kit. They have the polycap housing in the wheel whereas the kit comes with male wheels. I'm also going to be using the Crazy Modeler brake rotors. I've read some different writeups on converting the wheels to male which involves shaving down the polycap housing and I know there's a way to convert the suspension to accept the wheels as they are. But if I do that, the brakes look like they're so far from the wheel. What would be the best way to approach this? Thanks!