Mazda MX5 RF Club SE

[ZoomZoomMX-5]

Tamiya MX5 + Plamoz RF & Club Edition conversion sets. Custom mixed TS paints, Alclad black chrome finish on the BBS wheels. Have worked on this off and on (mostly off) since June.

[OWhite3]

sweet

[potsie]

Nice looking ND. In my opinion Mazda's color palette for the ND is somewhat drab, so seeing something different like this is nice. What was your experience with the Plamoz transkit?

[ZoomZoomMX-5]

Originally Posted by potsie

Nice looking ND. In my opinion Mazda's color palette for the ND is somewhat drab, so seeing something different like this is nice. What was your experience with the Plamoz transkit?

Thanks, I totally agree about the drab bunch of colors beyond Soul Red. MX5's weren't meant to be that "Fifty Shades of Gray" were they?

The Plamoz stuff is good. Since you cut the decklid off the donor at the panel lines and replace w/the RF bits, fitting is a little tricky if you want Tamiya-like precision. The piece w/the pillars seems just ever so slightly short from end to end; where it looks natural creates too-large gaps for the removable roof piece. So the pillared piece needs to be pushed as far forward as possible, to the point that the rear edge of the decklid is too far inside the body. This was solved by adding a strip of .020" thick styrene to the outer edge, and carving the corners for the taillights so it would fit flush w/the tips of the fenders and the edge of the rear bumper. The Club spoiler covers any potential visible lines from the extra material. As for the panel lines at the outer edges, I added .010" X .020" strips of styrene about .010" deep to create panel lines, rather than deal with edges that you could see through that wouldn't match the other panel lines on the model.

The wheels and brakes fit perfectly, as did the ground effects. I'm a big fan of Plamoz. They've shared my photos in their Facebook gallery.

[sysqo]

Super work, great color choice!

[BVC500]

Looks awesome, Bob! The color is great, and I like the alcad black chrome wheels!

[Some_Kid]

Looks great! What TS colors did you mix? It’s beautiful.

[potsie]

Thanks for the feedback and advice on the transkit. I have a couple of the RF and "Club Edition" transkits waiting for the bench, so your tips are welcome.

[Kjenjak]

Nice choice of color!

[ZoomZoomMX-5]

Originally Posted by Some_Kid

Looks great! What TS colors did you mix? It’s beautiful.

Thanks!

I used TS50 Mica Blue, TS20 Metallic Green, some TS60 Pearl Green, applied TS72 Transparent Blue over that for color shift, then clear.

[Some_Kid]

Originally Posted by ZoomZoomMX-5

Thanks!

I used TS50 Mica Blue, TS20 Metallic Green, some TS60 Pearl Green, applied TS72 Transparent Blue over that for color shift, then clear.

That’s amazing. How did you manage to spray so many layers without getting any dust/debris in the paint?

[ZoomZoomMX-5]

Originally Posted by Some_Kid

That’s amazing. How did you manage to spray so many layers without getting any dust/debris in the paint?

The TS pearl/metallics were mixed together; they were sprayed as a mixture over Mr. Surfacer. So paint thickness is the same as usual, it covered pretty well. With the transparent blue it essentially made it a "tinted clearcoat" or 3 stage paint. It's how Mazda paints Soul Red...and why Tamiya's version is pretty lackluster w/o a coat of clear red that really makes a glow. With the layer of transparent blue, which isn't that thick, this color has the same kind of luminous quality that real Mazda Soul Red has. I just didn't want Soul Red on this model, it had to be unique.

If I get dust in the pearl paint, it gets scuffed away after it dries and another light coat applied that hopefully is clean. Ditto with the clear. Dust happens. I have a spray bottle of water in my spray booth, I use it to full advantage to help keep dust issues down, and it works pretty well.

[Robi J]

Really, really nice. As usual

[bah humbug]

Great lookin car, I really like the color choice too.

[KindaichiShota]

What a beauty...... just loved it...