Fujimi 1/24 scale Martini Porsche 917 K

[Joel_W]

20 hours ago, Ben Brown said:

Hi Joel,

 

I got the Gulf 1970 Le Mans version. I'll be building it as the Gulf car. If the kit decals don't work out, I see Renaissance has some replacements. 

 

I'm in the same boat you're in, where I've decided it's time to build some cars, since I'm not getting any younger. 😁

 

Cheers!

 

Ben

 

Ben,

   Looking forward to following your build.  Glad that some of us "older guys"  are starting to build other interests besides aircraft

Joel

[Ben Brown]

I'll start a thread when I get around to starting it. I have a whole stack of cars I want to build, and after almost 50 years of aircraft modeling, I figured it's time I start branching out. 

 

Cheers!

 

Ben

 

[Joel_W]

Ben

  Looks like we're going to make the ARC CAR team for sure

Joel

[Ben Brown]

I'm in! 👍

 

Ben

[Joel_W]

 Well it's time for another update.

 

  I'm finally seeing the finish line as I'm getting closer to the end of this journey.

 

   Worked focused on  mostly finishing up the rear suspension, engine area, & tires. 

   The tires were up next. As usual with rubber molded tires, there is a centerline seam that needs to be removed if you want to show them as having a few laps on them. Otherwise the seam does appear on the real tires. I removed them and the scuffing up of the tires just adds a little something extra. I then Glossed the tire sidewalls with Super Clear, gave them a day to cure, then I just applied the Firestone decals from Indy Cal like any other decal. They dried perfectly. That was followed by a coat of Super Clear, then a little polishing. The Firestone emblems looks like it was molded on. 

   The kit doesn't have a full engine, but just the top and lower sections with the exhaust system. On the lower side, everything basically is molded on, so all the detail painting was done by hand, with a ton of touch ups needed.

 

 

 

 The rear suspension is more like a jigsaw puzzle then an easy straight forward assembly, but it does go together reasonably well. I did need to use  5 min Epoxy on the main upper rods that attach to the cockpit bulkhead. 

   Next was the upper fan housing and injector covers & plate. The covers & Plate were painted gloss Black then decaled with the Martini logo which for some reason is a dark blue? But as far as my research goes, its' correct. The huge intakes were painted my homemade fiberglass color which is as close as I could get it to the real color.  The rear wheel housings were painted Nato Black, but I didn't bother painting the backside as you can't see it once the body is on. And finally, the rear brake light covers were painted with a base of Silver, then Tamiya Clear Yellow and Clear Red. 

   The tires were dry fitted and I finally got to see if all 4 wheels actually touched the ground at the same time, and they do indeed. But I do need to properly align the rear tires. 

   Next up I glued on the main windscreen, and I was more then surprised that it fit perfectly. The side Plexi windows with sliding doors didn't fit, and I had to do a fair amount of "shaping" to get them to fit. As on the real car, they don't fit flush, so I'm ok that they're a little thicker then the body. Once they fit, I air brushed the backsides Tamiya Clear yellow. the effect when dry is that of tinted Plexi Glass. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joel

Edited July 31, 2018 by Joel_W

[Peterpools]

JA

Outstanding progress on the 917. Botton biews of the dispesion and exhaust headers look great as well as the resr upper assembly ... nice and busy!

Paintwork is on the money and looking forward to you crossing the finish.

Keep ‘em comin

Bro 

 

[Joel_W]

58 minutes ago, Peterpools said:

JA

Outstanding progress on the 917. Botton biews of the dispesion and exhaust headers look great as well as the resr upper assembly ... nice and busy!

Paintwork is on the money and looking forward to you crossing the finish.

Keep ‘em comin

Bro 

 

Bro,

 Thanks for stopping by and checking out the Porsche. I can clearly see the finish line, but it's still all up hill from here. I'm determined to get the shell fit as nearly perfect as I can without any additional pressure to hold it in place while the glue dries. 

Bro

[Ben Brown]

Nice! I'm furiously taking notes for my build! 

 

Ben

[Joel_W]

1 hour ago, Ben Brown said:

Nice! I'm furiously taking notes for my build! 

 

Ben

Ben,

   I'm looking forward to your Gulf Wyler build. I'm going to get one myself.

Joel

[Joel_W]

s   Well, my Porsche 917K build has crossed the finish line, and my 1st ARC Auto build is in the books. 

 

  The few final touches have been addressed such as the lights and lenses installed, the main windshield installed, as both fit like a glove.

 

  In the old days we called them side curtains. Those are the plexi-glass insert windows for the drivers pit, and there is a smaller built in sliding "window" that can be opened by hand by either the driver or a crew member. Those plexi inserts should be a clear yellow, but are just clear in the kit. So I air brushed the insides of each one Tamiya Clear Yellow, and they look perfect. Unfortunately, they were oversized and not quite square to the opening. Some sanding and a little more massaging later, and they popped right in. 

 

  And finally the rear brake light lenses. In the kit they're just clear. They should be as called out in the instructions half clear red and half clear yellow. So I painted the mounting plate for each one silver, then hand painted the lenses on the outside Tamiya Clear Red, then the other half Tamiya Clear Yellow. You just couldn't paint the backs as the look from the outside was completely off. I finished both lenses with a few light coats of Pledge. Once installed, they looked just fine.

 

  The windshield whipers were a little fiddly to build, but it fits just fine, and the blades actually laid down on the windshield. 

 

  And now the final step, Tamiya Black recessed panel line wash for the various doors and panels that just don't look right with bright, glossy White paint in them. The wash went on without any issues, and I removed the excess with Turpenoid damp Q-tip.
  
  Thanks to everyone whose stopped by to look at my build progressing to the finish line, and a special thanks to all of you who took the time to post your comments. They're always most welcome. 

  And now here's  a few pictures of the Porsche 917K as she crossed the finish line last night. A full picture spread will be posted in the auto display case right after this post is finished.

 

Joel

 

 

 

Edited August 4, 2018 by Joel_W

[Peterpools]

JA

OH MOMA, aces on a super build and being your first official race car build: one heck of a job.

Bro

[Ben Brown]

 That turned out beautifully, Joel!!

 

Ben

[Joel_W]

2 hours ago, Peterpools said:

JA

OH MOMA, aces on a super build and being your first official race car build: one heck of a job.

Bro

Bro,

 Thanks for being here from day 1 to finally crossing the finish line.  Really thrilled that you appreciated my efforts and your thumbs up for the finished build.

Bro

[Joel_W]

1 hour ago, Ben Brown said:

 That turned out beautifully, Joel!!

 

Ben

Ben,

  Thanks for your support on my maiden auto build, it's  most appreciated. I'm really thrilled that you guys like the final results.

Joel

[Joel_W]

2 hours ago, Ben Brown said:

 That turned out beautifully, Joel!!

 

Ben

Ben,

 Thanks so much for your most positive post. it' means a great deal to me. 

 As you can already see my next build which is well under way, since I started it 2 years ago.

Joel

[stevehnz]

A lovely job on that indeed Joel, pleased I got back in time for the show, I got tied up seeing my MiL into the hereafter, nothing sinister I hasten to add, just a nasty disease & a slow lingering demise, very trying & upsetting for all. seeing this beautiful job is a great encouragement.

Steve. 

[Joel_W]

7 hours ago, stevehnz said:

A lovely job on that indeed Joel, pleased I got back in time for the show, I got tied up seeing my MiL into the hereafter, nothing sinister I hasten to add, just a nasty disease & a slow lingering demise, very trying & upsetting for all. seeing this beautiful job is a great encouragement.

Steve. 

Steve,

 thanks so much for stopping by and liking how my 917K turned out. it's greatly appreciated. 

  So sorry for your loss. Hopefully you have enough memories to last a life time.

Joel

[Slartibartfast]

Wunderbar!  Some oil and fuel and she's ready to take on Ferrari again!

[Joel_W]

9 minutes ago, Slartibartfast said:

Wunderbar!  Some oil and fuel and she's ready to take on Ferrari again!

 

Slartibartfast,

 thanks so much for your most positive comment. It's greatly appreciated.

 Sooner or later I'll get to LimeRock park in Conn. and see the Historic race weekend. I'm sure that they'll have a few 917s lapping the track.

Joel

[CaptainObvious]

Awesome hand painting on the engine parts Joel.
I really like the lower view with the exhaust section. 
 

[Joel_W]

4 hours ago, CaptainObvious said:

Awesome hand painting on the engine parts Joel.
I really like the lower view with the exhaust section. 
 

Capt. Obvious, 

  The detail painting is just like we do with Aircraft. Of course my less then steady hands and poor eye sight makes it a real challenge.

Joel

[dekon70]

Outstanding build Joel.

[Joel_W]

13 hours ago, dekon70 said:

Outstanding build Joel.

Dekon70,

  Thanks so much for your most positive comment, it's greatly appreciated.

Joel

[janman]

I've missed this thread altogether! Maybe it's partly because of the rather slow traffic down here on race car department, but I'm very glad to see people *do* build some racers here!

 

I finished my Rothmans 956 during the spring but I've not yet posted any photos. Probably due to the mild interest on these builds... Anyways, the 917 definitely is on my to do list - as a matter of fact it will be my next sport car racer! Was even going to do the exact car as you did since I do have a fetish for Martini colours. 😁 Even my wife seems to acknowledge it since when she visited the Porsche museum in Stuttgart just a week ago (during a work trip to Neckarsulm) she took photos of several Martini Porsches. 

 

Mine could be this later one too. Her photo.

 

  A well built 917! I really like the paintjob and the cockpit.

[Joel_W]

Janman,

   I'd kill to spend a day or two at the Porsche corp. museum.  while most people have Ferraris as their all time favorite car, mine has always been Porsche (with the exception of the 944 series).  Growing up in the 60s it was very easy to be both a Ford Sports car racing fan as they ran in the over 3.0 liter Prototype class, while the Porsches ran in the same races but in the 3.0 liter and under class. God, how I loved to watch the 908s at Sebring and Daytona. 

 

  I'm still planning on doing another 917K but in the Gulf Wyler colors, maybe even Steve McQueen's car from the movie LeMans. 

  

 Unfortunately, ARC is mostly a aircraft/military modeling site, so cars are just a small part of it. I still build the occasional airplane, but my heart these days is into cars. I'm firmly convinced that many of the members here do occasionally build non aircraft/military models (hopefully cars), and should post them here, as well as stopping by every so often to checkout what's going on. 

 

Joel