15 year old Mazda original release 787b finally being built

Well this one I bought back in '94, didn't want to slap this one together like most of my previous models at that time, so I slowly bought all the paint necessary for the build, finally started building in 05, got as far as putting the wheels on the chassis, and then got put on hold as I moved to the US, the car has been in storage since then until last week, here is the on off progress so far.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc161/Outamyhead/Mazda%20787%20build/DSCF0402.jpg
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc161/Outamyhead/Mazda%20787%20build/DSCF0411.jpg
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc161/Outamyhead/Mazda%20787%20build/DSCF0422.jpg
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc161/Outamyhead/Mazda%20787%20build/DSCF0421.jpg
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc161/Outamyhead/Mazda%20787%20build/DSCF0426.jpg
Quick coat of clear to make sure the tire decals don't go anywhere
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc161/Outamyhead/Mazda%20787%20build/DSCF0434.jpg
And then I move, and the car remains in storage for almost four years, until now, here it is so far
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc161/Outamyhead/Mazda%20787%20build/DSCF1330.jpg

The green decals are absolute pigs to put on, I don't honestly know what they were thinking with the brake air intake area of the decals, I just cut them off near intake and painted over from there, also painted over the decal itself so there wasn't any obvious change of colour.

Also found that the decals containing white are quite britle due to their age, or exposure to cold and damp, so I am having to be super careful from this point on, will have to do some touching up with white paint for the big charge logo on the wing.

Well that's it so far.

Looking good so far :)

I've also got the Original Release 787b and funnily enough had it out for a look the other day. Might have to continue with it I reckon!

Nice start to a very rare build.

So a slight setback on the model I wasn't expecting, the clear coat of TS-13 made the green decals around the cockpit area shrink a little and blister up, hard to describe but it's like the spray dried them out (even though they were dry) or got under them?

Could have been the fact the decals have been open in the box for 15 years, but then the rest of the decals weren't effected (the charge logo on the wing was a little bit but that was easy to fix).

I think the chemicals in the clear coat spray caused the decal problem, I shall not do another clear coat until I have bought a compressor, airbrush, and a pot of X-22 (especially as one of my later projects is going to be the 1988 AEG Merc).

Fixing the blistering of the green decals by painting over again and smoothing out the worst of it, seems to be working, and I'll put up some photos later.

It's a lesson learned anyway, and if I'm not happy with the end results of this car then I have always got the backup 787B spare I bought 4 years ago (re-issue).

Sorry to hear about the decal problem.
It is pretty much the rule that TS-13 is not kind on decals and it should be shot on very light coats only.

Looking forward to see the pictures.

Sorry to hear about the decal problem.
It is pretty much the rule that TS-13 is not kind on decals and it should be shot on very light coats only.

Looking forward to see the pictures.

Thanks for the info on the TS-13, it's kind of strange as I have used it on three other models without any problems regarding the decals, I think the age factor didn't help though.

I have never owned an airbrush system before but after my bad experience with the clear coat spray, I think that was the final straw (I have already put together a diaphragm compressor and a Badger 200 airbrush starter kit that I'm saving up for...just convincing the wife that it's necessary for future builds, and trying to find comparisons of brush painted Vs airbrush painted models;)).

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc161/Outamyhead/Mazda%20787%20build/DSCF1332.jpg
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc161/Outamyhead/Mazda%20787%20build/DSCF1334.jpg
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc161/Outamyhead/Mazda%20787%20build/DSCF1340.jpg

The pictures don't show what happened very well, but with the naked eye it's pretty obvious, the black decal around the screen got a little bit crinkled as well.

At least it's at an easy final stretch now, just a bunch of decals and the slightly fiddly white dash lines (I'm not looking forward to those much).

Okay it's been a while since I last did anything with this model, here is the latest I have done with the car.
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc161/Outamyhead/Mazda%20787%20build/DSCF1630.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc161/Outamyhead/Mazda%20787%20build/DSCF1632.jpg

I cannot get anything done with it this week, I'm in Hawaii for the next week, but when I get back I'll see this car gets finished.

nice this is one of my favorite cars

I have always loved this car,but have been too afraid to attempt to build it!

I'll definately watch this build,good luck with it!

Super build of an old, old Tamiya release.

I've used Testors Glosscoat & Dullcoat as my main choice for decal preparation and sealing decals. Never once had a problem with damaged decals. I've also used Microscale Gloss and flat, and they worked flawlessly as well. Just too many posts about damaged decals from Tamiya clear for me to even try it.

Last few days of 767's being posted, looking back at this progress post, and Le Mans itself, as well as a restored replica (one of five) of the old 55 making a few laps around the track with Herbert at the wheel (yeah I know Dempsey did as well, but Herbert was far more significant, he drove the car on that day...three times longer than he should have done), I'm going to order some Testors gloss clear coat, and continue on with the decals while I wait for the paint to arrive (can't trust the Tamiya clear after what it did, and everyone else's experience of it), so probably tomorrow as I'm off work for the day, I shall get back to it. Not sure what happened after my vacation, but the car got put on the shelf, I think my season of online racing got in the way. Good grief has it really been a year since my last update!???

Okay, I made some progress, and had a setback at the same time, upon moving the car from the spare room to the desk to work on it, it had a meeting with that harsh mistress known as gravity, stupid mistake on my part, but the car is pretty much rebuilt again, and doesn't look like anything happened, the wheels took the worst of it, and two need putting back on.

Decals have moved along a little in between putting parts back on the car, haven't got any photos available right now, but I'll post them as soon as I can.

Oh and Citadel Blood Angel Orange I think it's called (I haven't meddled with Citadel stuff for a while), that is the perfect paint for little touch ups on this car, didn't need to be mixed with any other colours, it's just matt not glossy, wouldn't know once it's been hit with clear though.

Okay finally got some photos of the progress made after putting the car back together, all but one wheel came off, the fuel intakes had come loose, one had completely come apart, one wheel took the hub and brake duct assembly with it, the windshield popped out, and one headlight cover came off.

It's all back together, and most of the dash line work is done, just a little left on the right side, and the rear under the metal lip, the rear wing is done, just waiting until the bodywork is completely finished before I put that on.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc161/Outamyhead/Mazda%20787%20build/DSCF2271.jpg
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc161/Outamyhead/Mazda%20787%20build/DSCF2275.jpg
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc161/Outamyhead/Mazda%20787%20build/DSCF2273.jpg
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc161/Outamyhead/Mazda%20787%20build/DSCF2279.jpg

Just some small bits of paint work to do after the dash lines are done, put the side windows in, mirrors, the remaining decals, some slight touch ups to the under tray and other areas, some decent clear coat from Testors, and I think that will be it, I'll update as I go though so don't worry.