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Old 01-23-2012, 12:38 PM   #1
ianc911
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Fujimi 1970 Le Mans #23 917K - Attwood\Herrmann

Hi Folks,

Well, I've been working on this car for probably a month or so now; it's tough to find the time with a 3 year old daughter. It's winter here too, which although not that severe in CA, makes it cold, damp and generally inhospitable in the garage where my workbench is. Progress will be slow, but I've been meaning to start a WIP for awhile now, so here goes.

I've been looking for vintage reference material of the unrestored car and have found some stuff, which I've posted here, but not much in the way of detail really:

http://www.slickpic.com/s/jODRDEgUED...2301?preview=1

I'll build this one pretty much OOB to start with; I've got a more detailed build of the #20 Siffert\Redman car planned for the future, but I thought I'd get my feet wet on this and keep it relatively simple since I've been out of the hobby for awhile and need some time to develop my airbrushing skills, etc.

I began with the body, which took oh so long to prepare for paint. It's still not quite ready but about 95% there I think. Adding to the difficulty are the requirements to fill 3 NACA ducts not used on this car, and filling over the Daytona window in the roof, all part of Fujimi's standard 917K body.

Broke off one of the damned engine lid hinges:



Building up the front cockpit bulkheads was a pain, but I saved templates to use with the #20 car:



Body ready for first primer coats:



Still no end of flaws:





Now we're cooking, although that gap around the front access panel still needs some work:





A little more work here too:



That's about it for the present. I've been working on the engine (such as it is OOB) and the rims, and will probably be posting some more on them soon. I'm kind of avoiding painting the body because of the damp here right now; it's raining nearly every day. Also, I know I'll screw it up.

Take care and thanks for looking!

ianc
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Old 01-23-2012, 01:53 PM   #2
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Re: Fujimi 1970 Le Mans #23 917K - Attwood\Herrmann

Hi Ian,

I saw your post for pics earlier - despite serarching my collection (you know, I've got just the odd one or two Porsche books for reference...!) I couldn't find anything worthwhile for the '70 Le Mans winner. It just doesn't seem to show up much in literature - it's usually various Gulf cars, or David Piper's car, or whatever...but not no. 23. The same goes for the no. 22 Martini winner from 1971, too. Hmmm...

It seems to me from other builds that these Fujimi 917's always take some work, but they seem to come out okay in the end? I guess it doesn't help if you have to fill in unwanted ducts and openings too. I've actually got this kit in my stash too (not that it'll ever be built...) and I've just dug it out to check - I didn't realise it had the extra Daytona window!

Will watch with interest!

SB
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Old 01-24-2012, 12:37 PM   #3
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Re: Fujimi 1970 Le Mans #23 917K - Attwood\Herrmann

Hey Ian, some nice progress allready. Body looks fine though. Good thing you've scratched out the panellines. I will have a look for pictures, but it's what Scratchbuild mentioned, there isn't much around. Keep up the fine work.

Eric
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Old 01-30-2012, 04:54 PM   #4
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Re: Fujimi 1970 Le Mans #23 917K - Attwood\Herrmann

Well, I've been plugging away and this stuff isn't finished yet, but I thought I'd throw up some pics anyway just to feel like I'm making some progress...

Looking at Fujimi's transaxle, I realized they forgot to include the starter, the lazy sods. Couldn't let that pass, so I felt compelled to make one. You'll laugh (especially you SB), but this took me over 2 hours to make and it is far from grade A. Still, one must try...



Here it is painted and fitted. Which begs the question of where the shift linkage rod is, but I'm not even going to go down that road after my little starter experiment:



Here are a couple of shots of the pseudo engine that Fujimi includes which is still a WIP. Had to make the oil strainer plates, but was disappointed when the cheap Chinese punches I bought on ebay won't even make a round disc. Don't cheap out on the tools! I do have a reference photo for the bizarre color scheme in case you're wondering!





I'm not really happy with my washing technique. I'm mixing artist's oils with turpentine and using a small brush, but I can't seem to get the nice clean convincing lines and end up with puddled thinner in places. Don't know if I just need practice, or if I'm doing something wrong... How would you weather those white exhaust headers if you were me? I was originally thinking to drybrush them with some light gray, but I'm almost thinking more of a staining kind of effect is wanted. Hmmm....

Here are the wheels. I've given them one coat of Tamiya's semi-gloss black, then drybrushed with semi-gloss black mixed with a touch of white. I think they need another, lighter round of dry brushing with more white. The holes are drilled in the center in preparation for applying S27's PE wheel nuts, and the piddly little molded-in valves are painted silver, but I may need to buy some actual valves to look right:



Well, that's about all she wrote for this exciting update. Suggestions for improvements to my fledgeling techniques are very welcome! Take care and thanks for looking,

ianc

Last edited by ianc911; 01-30-2012 at 05:51 PM.
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Old 01-30-2012, 09:02 PM   #5
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Re: Fujimi 1970 Le Mans #23 917K - Attwood\Herrmann

Looks good so far. Try sanding a #2 pencil on some sand paper and take the powder and brush or rub some into the white exhaust. I dirty up white lettering on tires this way. If you have an airbrush try Testor's Metalizer Exhaust to paint the wheels. Overcoat with semi-gloss. It's a more accurate color for that era.
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Old 02-03-2012, 01:05 PM   #6
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Re: Fujimi 1970 Le Mans #23 917K - Attwood\Herrmann

Thanks for the tip on the pencil 935; I gave it a try last nite and it worked a treat!

Am nearly done with the wheels now, but would like to add some wheel weight tape as well. I have BMF, but it is way too shiny; what did you use in the pic for that?

Thanks again,

ianc
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Old 02-03-2012, 11:50 PM   #7
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Re: Fujimi 1970 Le Mans #23 917K - Attwood\Herrmann

Quote:
Originally Posted by ianc911 View Post
Thanks for the tip on the pencil 935; I gave it a try last nite and it worked a treat!

Am nearly done with the wheels now, but would like to add some wheel weight tape as well. I have BMF, but it is way too shiny; what did you use in the pic for that?

Thanks again,

ianc
I think I just used some silver painted decal for the wheel wegghts.
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Old 02-05-2012, 02:03 PM   #8
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Re: Fujimi 1970 Le Mans #23 917K - Attwood\Herrmann

Hi Ian,

Probably a little late in the day, but my approach for the exhausts would have been to start with a grey base, then build-up the white with layers of drybrushing. There wouldn't be much grey visible left at the end, but it would be buried in the nooks and crannies between the pipes - exactly where you want it! I painted the starter motor on the 908 this way...

Speaking of starters, I know exactly where you're coming from! Two hours to make it? I'm not surprised - you can spend so much time working on small parts like this, and then wonder where the evening's gone! I've always reckoned that when I'm building a chassis it takes about half and hour per tube - measure, check photo, position, re-measure, check again, cut, file, test fit, file again, test fit, glue...and so it goes.

Go on, add the shift linkage too - if you want a detail shot of the attachment to the gearbox, I'm sure I can dig one out!

All the best,

SB
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Old 02-06-2012, 03:50 PM   #9
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Re: Fujimi 1970 Le Mans #23 917K - Attwood\Herrmann

Hey SB,

Thanks for the advice! I would not have thought of starting with gray and building up to white but it sounds like an excellent technique which I will try with similar parts in future. It took about 4-5 coats for that white to cover anyway.

I do have a fine photo of the attachment point of the linkage arm on the transmission from Wingrove's book, but not where the linkage arm goes from there. If you can dig up a photo of that, I would definitely appreciate it!

Anyway, finally got the wheels wrapped up yesterday; those decals and the wheel weights were a bear! I ended up going with sanded-down BMF to try for the aluminum tape look:



I elected not to use the S27 pieces for the large wheel nuts. I'm actually not finding much of value in that PE set; every time I look at something, I don't see it as compelling over the stock part. There are some bits which I will definitely use in it, but it doesn't seem to be all that. Maybe the Renaissance set next time...

On to the dash I guess...

ianc
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Old 02-09-2012, 04:16 PM   #10
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Re: Fujimi 1970 Le Mans #23 917K - Attwood\Herrmann

Still trying to find a really good shot of the gear linkage, but if you compare the two photos from pages 42 and 116 of 'The Undercover Story' there appears to be a discrepancy - the linkage on 42 appears to be straight rod , but the one in 116 has a distinct upward kink as it passes below the driveshaft. The Porsche layout drawings certainly show a straight rod from the gear lever throught the cockpit area into the engine bay, so maybe the kinked end is a later unofficial modification! I used a straight rod on the 917-10 and that worked okay.

I'll get my anorak...

SB
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Old 02-27-2012, 06:42 PM   #11
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Re: Fujimi 1970 Le Mans #23 917K - Attwood\Herrmann

Thanks for the tips SB, still have not gone back to Wingrove to check out your referenced pics I'm afraid.

Anyway, thought I'd do a bit of an update just to show you all I haven't been slagging off. I've been working on the cockpit primarily. I had to figure out some way to do the seat (I'm not going to install the passenger seat), since it didn't seem like just painting it was going to fly. I tried a little test using some cotton from a T shirt, and while it glued, shaped and colored nicely, the texture was too coarse; I needed something finer:



I couldn't think what to use until I saw a little red bag with an almost velour-like texture that had been hanging around for awhile. Not even sure where it came from:



I cut a strip to fit the driver's seat:



Then used some Wurth trim adhesive to glue it down. With a little drybrushing, it's not too bad I think:



The dashboard has been giving me fits. I've painted it 4 times already and still haven't got it how I want it. The first two abortive attempts were with the brush. I tried the airbrush next, but dullcoating it afterwards is giving me a milky finish. I think I'm closing in on it though. Maybe 5th time's a charm. Hope so, since I'd really like to move on...

Anyway, I finally got the engine\trans wrapped up as well:







Finished off the front brakes too. Unfortunately, subsequent research revealed that drilled rotors were only used in 1971. Pfah... Not sure if I'll leave the rears alone, or use the 'time-travelling' rotors again for consistency:



I've airbrushed the rear bulkhead and next will be to get the wiring on the relays and spark boxes sorted out. Here are some battery terminals I whipped up:



Anyway, that's about all she wrote for this thrilling update. Take care and thanks for looking!

ianc
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Old 02-28-2012, 12:23 PM   #12
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Re: Fujimi 1970 Le Mans #23 917K - Attwood\Herrmann

Hey Ian, nice progress here. Yhe seat looks absolutely brilliant. That's the way to do it. Look arround you and you will find the necessary goods. Keep it up and I will have to hurry up, you might beat me to the finish

Eric
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Old 03-19-2012, 02:25 PM   #13
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Re: Fujimi 1970 Le Mans #23 917K - Attwood\Herrmann

Well, back again with another smallish update. I've been working on the cockpit since the last time I checked in and I think I've got it pretty much wrapped up; which means I've already spent too much time on it.

Added clutch cable, wiring for the spark boxes, fire extinguisher hose, seatbelts, and decided to include the passenger seat after all. I wasn't really happy with the seatbelts included in the S27 PE set, so popped for a Scale Motorsports set instead:





Finally got the dash together last nite too. The switches are too big for scale, but I'll be damned if I'm doing them again. I started with .5 mm wire and dipped it in Plastidip a couple times then trimmed and painted. The bezels are from 3/64" rod which I drilled for the wire.The outcome could have been more uniform, but like I said, it's time to move on... I may finish them with a bit of a wash though:



I'll probably do a bit of work on the rear suspension and brakes next, but pretty soon I'm going to have to quit procrastinating and actually get some paint on the body...

'til next time,

ianc
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Old 03-19-2012, 04:12 PM   #14
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Re: Fujimi 1970 Le Mans #23 917K - Attwood\Herrmann

Nice progress again Ian. The cloth on the seat is still a stunner. Are you sure not doing the switches on dash again???? I used different switches from Hobby Design and they look in scale. Just a thought. Keep it going, I will post some progress on my 917 soon. Btw. did you recieved the decals?

Eric
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Old 03-19-2012, 04:23 PM   #15
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Re: Fujimi 1970 Le Mans #23 917K - Attwood\Herrmann

Hi Eric,

Yeah, I'm not doing those switches over again. They are just a bit on the large side, but not bad enough to fret over, particularly as I'm leaving the doors closed on this one. I think that close-up pic makes them look worse than they actually are.

The decals did show up, yes, thanks so much! Looking forward to seeing some of your progress too!

ianc
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