Question about the Tamiya 1/24 1st gen RX-7 Savannah

[Ben Brown]

I recently finished the Revell reissue of the Monogram RX-7, and one thing about it has been bugging me. Sitting next to my Tamiya 1st gen Miata, the RX-7 looks like it has monster truck wheels and tires. Turns out, the Revell kit has 15” wheels with larger tires to match, instead of correct 13s. I’m guessing Monogram scaled up the wheels to fit the same Michelin tires they used in a lot of their other car kits.

So, my question for anyone who has the Tamiya RX-7 Savannah kit, does it have the correct 13” wheels? The original issue with the green car on the box art has the alloys commonly found on the first couple of years of RX-7, which are the ones found on the Monogram RX-7 kit.

Thanks!

Ben

Edited February 20, 2020 by Ben Brown
Fixed confusing post

[peteski]

Ben,

Your subject line is confusing.  If you are asking about Miata, it is MX-5 (not RX-7).  You could edit your post (and the subject line). Adding "Miata" too might also be beneficial. And isn't it Revell, not Monogram? 

I have both kits, but I'm not home.  I can look into this later (unless someone else beats me to it).  I'm pretty sure the tires used on the Revell kit were generic tires they use for other kits,  I also think that while a simpler kit, Tamiya's body lines are more accurate to the real car.  My plan is eventually to kitbash the model using the best parts of both, Tamiya and Revell.

[Rob Hall]

I don't have the original Tamiya RX-7, but I'd assume it would have the correct 13 inch wheels...I have other Tamiya kits of that era, and they certainly appear to have the correct tire/wheel size.  

It wouldn't surprise me if the Monogram kit has incorrect wheel/tire sizes, wouldn't be the first time they did that. 

Edited February 20, 2020 by Rob Hall

[peteski]

RX-7 and MX-5 are 2 different vehicles.  Tamiya made both.  I'm still confused.

[Rob Hall]

8 hours ago, peteski said:

RX-7 and MX-5 are 2 different vehicles.  Tamiya made both.  I'm still confused.

No one said they were the same.  The key is the comma in the OP's second sentence.    He was comparing the size of the wheels and tires on two different 1/24th scale kits....in 1:1, the first gen RX-7 and first gen Miata both had 13 inch wheels and tires.  So in scale, the wheels/tires should be similar size in 1/24th scale. 

In the second paragraph, he was inquiring about the tire/wheel size on a long out-of-production Tamiya 1st gen RX-7 kit, as compared to the 1/24th Monogram RX-7 kit (which was recently reissued under the Revell label).    That's how I interpreted the post. 

Edited February 20, 2020 by Rob Hall

[Ben Brown]

D’oh! Sorry about the confusion! Rob has accurately unraveled what I was trying to say. I added some text that hopefully will make my question more clear. And yes, its currently Revell RX-7, which is a reissue of the Monogram kit from 1979. I actually own 1/1 ‘04 Mazdaspeed Miata and I’m half-seriously looking for an RX-7 to play with (don’t tell my wife! ?). 

I was just curious if, in the unlikely event I stumble across an old Tamiya RX-7 Savannah kit or wheels for a decent price, I could adapt its wheels to the Revell kit to fix the monster truck sit.

Cheers!

Ben

Edited February 20, 2020 by Ben Brown

[peteski]

Thanks for the clarification Ben. What gets me is that you are comparing the RX-7 wheel diameter to MX-5.  I would have thought that RX-7 has 14" wheels.

Anyways, I'm pretty sure Tamiya RX-7 has appropriately scaled wheels.tires (or at least ones that are very close.

I do own 2 Tamiya RX-7 kits.

24060 RX-7 Savannah GT-Limited (red)

24074 RX-7 Savannah Cabriolet (black)

I think they both use the same wheels. If you wan't I can dig them up and take some wheel measurements.

[Mattilacken]

Hiroboy.com has the Tamiya RX-7 in stock. https://www.hiroboy.com/124_Mazda_Savanna_RX7_GT_Limited_cw_Engine_Reissue--product--4098.html

[Casey]

On 2/19/2020 at 11:06 AM, Ben Brown said:

So, my question for anyone who has the Tamiya RX-7 Savannah kit, does it have the correct 13” wheels?

While this isn't the Tamiya kit, and I don't know enough about first gen RX-7s to guarantee these are correct, the AMT 1/25 snap fit kit appears to have the correct wheels in the correct (or very close to correct) 13" diameter:

[Ben Brown]

@peteski, yes , all of the first gen RX-7s has 13” wheels, except for the GSL-SE, which had 14s. Cars have gotten so huge today the 13s seem tiny. It’s getting to be difficult to find performance tires in that size. Even the factory 17s on my Miata look like wagon wheels on the little car, so I swapped them for much lighter 15s. Thanks for offering to measure your wheels but it looks like Don has us covered.

@Mattilacken, thanks, but that’s the 2nd gen RX-7. I still need to build one of those!

@Casey, thanks! I wasn’t aware of that kit!

I just went to eBay looking for the AMT kit and discovered ARII made a 1/24 kit, too!

Ben

Edited February 21, 2020 by Ben Brown

[Don Sikora II]

I'm fairly sure this is an original-issue Tamiya RX-7, but I got it built and can't say it is with 100% certainty. That said, the wheels look really big. If I'm doing my math right, almost 17-inch diameter in 1/24....so 16-inch tires. 

 

 

[Don Sikora II]

Bandai made a 1/24-scale Savanna RX-7 way back when. I don't have the box, or the tires, but the wheels scale out to about 14-inches in 1/24...so 13-inch tires.

 

 

[Ben Brown]

Thanks for the info, everyone! I didn’t realize there were so many different kits of this car. 

Ben

[peteski]

Ok, you piqued my curiosity.  I took out my Tamiya kits and looked over the wheels.  They are mag wheels, different than the ones in the kits mentioned above.

The rim diameter is 0.666" (or scale 16").  That makes the tires roughly 14.5" (or between 14 and 15").

The tires are roughly 0.980" diameter. The sidewall is marked PIRELLI P5 as 205/60R 15, but the tread width is roughly 9.4mm, which translates to 235mm (wider than 205).

[Ben Brown]

Thanks for the info! Quite a difference from the real car’s 185/70R13. Remember when 60s were considered “low profile?” ?

Ben

[peteski]

The sizes marked on model car sidewalls are often inaccurate, that's why I posted the actual rim diameter and tread width.

Also worth noting is that the Bandai RX-7 model and its wheels shown above are of a different generation car than the Tamiya models I own.  Tamiya is the next generation from what the Bandai model represents.

[Ben Brown]

Doesn't help with the Revell kit, but from what I'm reading, Tamiya updated they're original RX-7 kit from the "SA" version ('78-'80) to the "FB" version ('80-'85) with the more blended-in bumpers. There is a company called DiOlex Production that sells the 4-spoke wheels that came on these cars. 

Ben