Mazda 'Adventure' MX5

[SnøMotion]

This is my Mazda Eunos Roadster (badged MX5) with some 'upgrades'. Here is the WiP if you're interested in the back story.

 

The idea of this is to offer a trans kit on my Cults3D page that can be printed off and will integrate seamlessly with the original kit. The inspiration was an episode of the greatly missed Motor Trend show Dirt Every Day, where Fred and Dave made a ‘sand buggy’ out of a four door Dodge station wagon. It was terrible, but it looked insane! After creating the sand wheels and tyres, I decided a set of off road wheels and tyres would look better.

 

I've modelled the wheels, tyres,  suspension, drive train, rock sliders, sump guard, spare wheel rack, roll cage, light bar, steering wheel and seats in Fusion360 and printed on an Elegoo Saturn S at 0.01mm layer height.

 

Looking at the photos below, I can see my panel lining leaves a lot to be desired but, in my defence, it's only the second time I've tried it and I needed new reading glasses (which I picked up yesterday). I've also noticed that one of the front tyres is mounted the wrong way round, but it's not massively noticeable.

 

Anyway, enjoy!

 

 

Thanks for looking!

 

Martin

[Davi]

Wow, that looks spectacular! Great ideas and very well executed! If I zoom in I can probably see a glimps of what you mean with the panel-lining, but I would honestly not bother too much about it, the car looks amazing!

[SnøMotion]

Thanks, @Davi! I appreciate the comments 

 

Martin

[keefr22]

Said it before and I still think it - brilliant but bonkers!  Seriously, I fully agree wth @Davi that you have some great ideas and have executed them superbly well - there is some really well thought out and built engineering in that suspension! And I do still really like those wheels and tyres. And the paintjob too!

 

Cracking build Martin!

 

Keith

 

PS I really like the smiley face look in the seventh pic down....!!

 

[SnøMotion]

Thanks for the praise, @keefr22! I'm really pleased that the engineering in the suspension has come through. Whilst modelling it, I actually cycled the front and rear suspension to make sure the camber remained sensible and that the distance from the steering rack to the hub steering knuckle at the front and between the CV joints at the rear remain constant through the full range of travel. Even though the suspension isn't articulated! I just wanted to make sure it was realistic geometry.

 

Martin

 

2 minutes ago, keefr22 said:

PS I really like the smiley face look in the seventh pic down....!!

 

[Potsie]

Simply amazing project and stunning build. This is now crying out for a driver and a diorama build!

 

As I said in the wip thread, this has been a highly enjoyable build to watch. The engineering in the transkit is amazing and I am very impressed with your dedication to build something that could actually work in real life.

 

Just awesome.

 

Grant.

[SnøMotion]

8 minutes ago, Potsie said:

Simply amazing project and stunning build. This is now crying out for a driver and a diorama build!

 

As I said in the wip thread, this has been a highly enjoyable build to watch. The engineering in the transkit is amazing and I am very impressed with your dedication to build something that could actually work in real life.

 

Just awesome.

 

Grant.

Thanks, Grant! I'm glad you've enjoyed the journey and appreciate the work (for me, certainly) in the 3D modelling. As for a diorama, that's completely uncharted territory for me again! The side project I mentioned in the WiP is my first foray into weathering, so maybe I'll get to dioramas in the end. As for a driver, I'm not really a fan of people. There, I've said it. And, now it's all glued together, I'm not sure I'd be able to slot one in!

 

Cheers

 

Martin

[one72]

Mad MX!

it’s unlikely I’ll ever see anything like this again. Nicely done!

[SnøMotion]

24 minutes ago, one72 said:

it’s unlikely I’ll ever see anything like this again.

Thanks, @one72, I’ll take that as a compliment  

[HK-500]

6 hours ago, SnøMotion said:

As for a diorama,

Easy breezy : you just need a square bucket of sand and a slice of blue translucent resin on one side
😅

[Bobby No Mac]

Now that's quite mad ... I love it. I particularly like the sag in the tyres, very convincing 

[stevehnz]

Seriously cool. I like your attention to details, like the bolt on mounts for the side/sissy bars & the articuating spare wheel carrier, it all looks like it would scale up to 1:1 without any problems.

Steve.

[SnøMotion]

Thanks, @Bobby No Mac! I was particularly pleased with the tyre sag myself 

 

I modelled the tyres in Fusion360, which as far as I can tell, isn’t interested in deforming things. So I turned to Blender and used that. Didn’t go too badly for a first attempt 

 

And thanks, @stevehnz! I tried to make everything a real world possibility, however slight that possibility might be! 

[Kiertomäntä]

9 hours ago, keefr22 said:

PS I really like the smiley face look in the seventh pic down....!!

 

Apparently Mazda was originally trying to capture this as "face" was sculptured to have different expresssions depending of light and and angle you were looking it from.

 

Clarkson have said that to make car liked it has to be humane as in it has to have faults and it has to have character. I think this achieves the latter...

[Neddy]

Ludicrous, outrageous, brilliant concept, methodically designed and extremely well executed.  This car is utterly nuts and I love it!

[SnøMotion]

Thanks, @Neddy! I've really enjoyed the whole process!

 

When I first got my 3D printer, I tried modelling a ducktail rear spoiler for a KPGC10 Skyline model I had. It didn't go well and I started to feel like the only way I'd be able to design trans kits would be to get a 3D scanner.

 

I soon discovered that anything with the kind of accuracy and resolution you need for 1:24 scale is prohibitively expensive. That was why I went down the no glue CARicature route, initially. So it's been heartening, and somewhat of a relief, to see that, with a lot of accurate measuring, this can be done without a scanner.

 

Martin

[Toftdale]

Well shes an unusual beast and full credit for a very original idea and the quality of build - Andy 

[Bengalensis]

This is just completely crazy, for being an MX-5 Miata, (or the acid I just got is crazy...), but doing it so well and with so much effort makes it a very admirable project! Very well done! One detail I really appreciate is the way you have applied weight to the tyres, a far too often missed detail. 👍

[SnøMotion]

24 minutes ago, Toftdale said:

Well shes an unusual beast and full credit for a very original idea and the quality of build - Andy 

Thanks, Andy!

 

I’ve had this concept lodged in my head since maybe the mid-eighties. At the time, Street Machine magazine (UK) had a section called Small Talk, where they featured scale custom cars. One month they featured an E Type Jag sitting on a lifted ladder chassis and huge mud tyres and it’s just stayed with me. 

 

Martin

[SnøMotion]

Thank you, @Bengalensis!

 

I initially modelled and printed a set of tyres without the sag, but they just aren’t right for something that wouldn’t ever be driven on road. I’ve used one for the spare and the others will find their way onto a road going Range Rover that’s in the pipeline, so they won’t be wasted 

 

Martin

[Fnick]

Fantastically ludicrously brilliant build! Looks like Inspector Gadget with wheels! 😄.

 

It's one of those where someone tells you the idea and you go Really?

 

But it works! Pretty damn well!

 

Nick

[SnøMotion]

6 minutes ago, Fnick said:

Fantastically ludicrously brilliant build! Looks like Inspector Gadget with wheels! 😄.

 

It's one of those where someone tells you the idea and you go Really?

 

But it works! Pretty damn well!

 

Nick

Thanks, Nick!

 

I guess it was always intended to be an entertaining vehicle and I’m glad it seems to have provided some entertainment here on the forum 

 

Martin

[malpaso]

Cool, kind of reminds me of a “trials” MR2 my daughter and I saw at the local garage once!

[SnøMotion]

Thanks, @malpaso! There was a really cool rally mk1 MR2 that I think was made by TRD. I’m not sure if it was group B, but I don’t think it was ever used in competition in the end.

 

Martin

[Camo Viking]

That is a brilliant idea, and so well executed. I love it.

 

I'm crazy enough that I'd be tempted to do this to a real MX5.