Optima Mid eye candy

[SteveMax]

Some pics of my Mid restorations. They are as close to box art as i could get them. Some of the box decals are tough finds and not included in the reproduction sets.
My current project is a regular Mid - i've painted up and decaled a reproduction body - but still wondering if the actual box body is something you can even get

Enjoy!

[mikea96]

Wow nice collection! Really hope the mid is next on Kyosho's re-re list.

[Coelacanth]

Very nice, and I like your lighted-floor display shelf! You might want to raise the cars up off the shelf to avoid flat-spotting the tires over several years of displaying, though.

[SteveMax]

Thanks!

I actually have foams in the tires, so they don't seem to get flat spots. I literally just pulled my two original mids (the custom special and the toms) out of my storage closet while cleaning after 10+ years - and it re-sparked my interest in them. Surprisingly, the tires didn't have any flat spots (or deterioration). Plus, im constantly tinkering with them so they get moved around a bit. Brings back lots of good memories working on them.

[Coelacanth]

Here's an idea I used to "jack up" the cars; I bought some rectangular acrylic trays from the dollar store, turn them upside down and stick on a few strips of foam tape, then put the cars on them. It's cheap, looks good (at least to me) and the tires will never develop flat spots.

https://www.rc10talk.com/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=42130&p=475390#p475390

[SteveMax]

Thanks for the idea. I'll give that a shot. Whatever goes under them, i would want it to be clear and not too noticeable

[XLR8]

Awesome collection, Steve.
Love it!
Who's supplying your Mid bodies?

[SteveMax]

Hi Doug,
Those are Marwan bodies and decals. I'm pretty happy with them. The Turbo Mid SE body/wing/decal is a real Kyosho body and was NOS.

Luckily, i also had an old stash of vintage Kyosho decal sheets, so i was able to get very close to how the buggies are on the boxes - often, the reproduction sheets don't have decals in the correct size and/or missing some decals entirely. But i don't think that is Marwan's fault, i think it's how they actually came from Kyosho.

[SteveMax]

The size and shape of the Marwan SWB Mid bodies is very close.
The biggest difference i see with the Kyosho body is the clarity of the windows (Kyosho is better), the cut line around the front nose (Kyosho leaves more lexan), and the lack of an outline on the Marwan for the speed control heatsink. Other than that, they are quite acceptable.

[XLR8]

Thanks. I have one Mid body and decal set from Marwan but it took 4 months to arrive so I haven't ordered anything more. For my SE, I ended up using a body and wing from TBG and decal set from MCI because I thought the ones from Marwan were lost in the post somewhere. Then, a few months later, they suddenly arrived.
I think the popular consensus is that Marwan's are among the best reproduction bodies out there.
I buy a lot of decal sets from MCI and I've noticed some missing decals and some that are different from the box art. Like you, in many instances I've been able to improvise by borrowing from other sources. For the SE's Cragar decal, I had to print a logo from the web onto some label stock - I couldn't find the decal anywhere.

[SteveMax]

I've ordered from him twice in the past few months. Each time it took about 4 weeks for the package to arrive.

Here's some close ups of the bodies, Turbo SE - real deal Kyosho. Regular Mid - Marwan. Pretty difficult to tell them apart.
I read about the TBG body being a bit small/short. My marwan bodies are not, and i followed the cut lines (except for the nose)

[XLR8]

Yes, TBG bodies do tend to be a little short but, if you plan for it, it's not a big problem. Otherwise, the quality seems good.
Do you recall which paint manufacture's yellow was used on your SE - or it is a custom mix - it looks very nice!

[SteveMax]

Funny enough, i thought i would have trouble with the SE yellow, but it's actually Duratrax "bright yellow" - found it right at my LHS. It's a perfect match i think.

I also used duratrax for the Turbo Optima Mid - "mellow yellow" - very happy with the color matches.

[SteveMax]

I have an airbrush and would have mixed up a custom match if necessary, but after seeing these in person, i doubt i could have done better.

[XLR8]

I agree, both yellows appear to be correct for their respective cars. The "Bright Yellow" appears to have just the right amount of orange to match the SE's box art. It's so much easier when you don't have to mix the paint to achieve the color you need. There's nothing wrong with using rattle cans.


By the way, Duratrax Bright Yellow and Pactra Bright Yellow are virtually identical. I've painted each of these CATs with both brands and the results are the same - when viewed under uniform lighting, it's nearly impossible to notice a difference.