MFH Porsche 917LH Gulf 1971 1:24

Dear community,
it's been quite a while since i posted something of value...sorry.
Lots of work, commitments, family.
I started that MODEL FACTORY HIRO Porsche 917 and tempted my fate already one year ago! Process is VERY slow due to that complex kit. What a miniature........unbelieveable. It will be finished within the next four weeks or so (HOPEFULLY!).
Herewith you'll get some impressions how it turned out so far.

The engine:
white metal, "yellowish" resin clear parts (fantastic!!), throttle springs, etched parts, micro tape, tubing of various sizes.....
http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr79/gulf009/917LH/917g_zpsd33895d5.jpg

http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr79/gulf009/917LH/917h_zps5cedfaea.jpg

close up of the fan assembly
these clear resin parts were treated with a decent wash of black/darkbrown oils. The structure is almost perfect, nice material, makes the kit even more valuable!
http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr79/gulf009/917LH/test917-02a_zps4f30ac6e.jpg

induction funnels & ignition wiring:
lots of cables.....took me almost two weeks.....
http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr79/gulf009/917LH/917a_zps7a11424f.jpg

..but once fixed:
A MODEL OF IT'S OWN
http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr79/gulf009/917LH/917b_zps5c3873f2.jpg

And the weight of that power plant is amazing!!

Tubular frame:
Lots of white metal parts for the frame, i "pre-drilled" every hole to ensure a proper fit later on. Gear box is installed also. The first decent step for a weathering was to chip some black paint off the frame to demonstrate work by the brave mec's. All white metal parts were carefully sanded and got a wash of diluted oils instead of a silver colour. Why should one paint a metal part to make it look like metal? Just my 5 cents....
http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr79/gulf009/917LH/917d_zps8c394f13.jpg

http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr79/gulf009/917LH/917c_zps26dfd41c.jpg

Chassis:
Again lots of white metal and etched parts, but a very strong and stable connection to the engine / tubular frame caused by screws! Imagine the weight so far....these (silver) scratches at the entries to the driver compartement were done by mistake! Thus it was a non-metalic material there can't be metalic scratches. I had to tint these but there had to be "signs of action" anyway!!
http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr79/gulf009/917LH/917f_zpsd9366483.jpg

Upper rear cowl:
The whole construction becomes more and more stable. A large casted resin piece with pre-attached wheel housings. The seats were painted with acryls and later on some grinded pastel chalk was used for a "worn-out" look.
http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr79/gulf009/917LH/jk917-040jpg_zps7c52e7d3.jpg

That' it for now. I'm busy with the tires / rims at the moment, i'll post some step by step pictures of them in a couple of days; so as the cowlings / coverings.

All the best,
good fight - good night

Yours
jochen

Hi Jochen!
Very nice, i build the MFH 917 too. What Number you make? I build the Martini/ Nr. 21. I have some pictures for you, please send me a Mail....

Funny

This is gone be a masterpiece,for sure!

Looking great so far. I'm working on an MFH 908 at present, so I know all about the slow pace!

Looking forward to more updates,

ianc

Wow Jochen, this is real impressive job what you've done here...Wow, and think about I will do the same kit in the Martini livery next year, but.....in 1/43...

Absolutely gorgeous

Absolutely gorgeous work Jochen!

so nice to see another incredible masterpiece from Jochen

Beautiful work so far.

And now MFH has announced a 1/12 917!

Very nice work... Love the light weathering.

Tom Tanner/Scale Designs/Ferrari Expo 2015

Superb model and professional quality pictures !! :thumbsup:

Wow, that really is some fantastic work so far and very realistic. I agree the photos look great.!! What is the secret?

Very nice work as usual!

so nice to see another incredible masterpiece from Jochen
:iagree: :1:

Like the others already said just great work.

Outstanding work. I look forward to seeing the next post. Jim

Hi all,

thanks a lot for all your nice comments and encouragement!!

Some more steps have been made, the body parts (front and back) are assembled and spraypainted. I decided to mask the orange areas and paint them because i was afraid of millions of dust pieces and fluff being covered under these large decal parts. Hard to "present" the real colours. Like always, they appear different in flesh.
The thin black line is from the decal ........took me quite a while to cut them out.

The car/ the whole surface looks quite "boring" without a race battered look, isn't it?
This mystical car deserves that special appearance later on, i think you know what i mean....;-)...........talking about "emotional miniatures".......

The wheels are finished seperately and are ready for fixation (via screws), these white-blue-red markings (John Wyer Team) are handpainted with pastel chalks instead of using the decals. The yellow marks on the sides are handpainted also refering pics in the Joe Honda book depending the 917 (VEEERY useful indeed!!!)

Btw, the decals are of "poor quality".........unfortunately. And annoying.

So, on to the finish, decals and then.......DUST, DIRT, SCATTERED FLIES, FLOW MARKS and other signs of action.

http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr79/gulf009/917LH/40a_zps4ca6b611.jpg

http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr79/gulf009/917LH/41a_zpsd8a24b50.jpg

http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr79/gulf009/917LH/44a_zpsdd8e6741.jpg

http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr79/gulf009/917LH/45a_zps71911dc9.jpg

http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr79/gulf009/917LH/47a_zpse1f38097.jpg

that's it for now, all the best
good fight-good night

jochen

A masterpiece... No others words are enough to describe the fillings, when I saw your work.
P.S. How you prepare the vac windscreen and windows to have this stunning finish?

Good luck to the final stages...

The finish on the body is beautiful! But, you're right; boring. ;)

A perfect base for some something really dirty. Don't forget the oil stains from Siffert's leaking (and ultimately blown) gearbox on this one! Chassis looks fantastic!

Looking forward to more updates; don't finish it too fast! ;)

ianc

Great, I hope you find a way to get rid of the clear decal-part of the Firestone decal on the tires

This 917 looks amazing already! Just wondering, how did you get the "glass"-parts to shine this good?

THANKS a lot for your replies!
First, let me unveil the "secret of my clear clear parts"........;-)
I asked myself what to do with these parts to
a) clean them and
b) make them some more dust repellent.
I looked over my table and realised my glasses cleaning fabric which is kind of micro fibred and anti dust coated. So i tried this one and.........VOILA.
Stunning finish, no dirt marks, no finger prints, no more dust particles and a nice shine also! I'm talking about a "Brillen-Putztuch" as we say in german. There's no similar word in english, sorry. It's a special small scarf to clean glasses.

@Micha: You are absolutely right......like i already wrote, these decals are.......very annoying. Actually, i have to remove them and spraypaint them on via an etched template. I'll give it a try in the next days and keep you all updated.

All the best,
yours
Jochen

Yep the tire decals are letting the wheels down but the build is beaut!

As a wearer of glasses I understand what you mean! (it does help I understand a bit of German as well ;)).

Breathtaking....:smokin:

that third picture looks penomenal. I would take that display and mount it in a frame and hang it on the wall, should look amazing.

Nice job Jochen! i'm happy to see more Porsches in this forum

Great Job!
Congratulations

Gulf color livery is one of my favourite!

Hi folks,

THANKS A LOT for your encouragement!

On with the action........
A small WIP depending the rims. As these are turned metal parts and the insert made of white metal, they are great to handle. First they are cleaned with Tamiya acrylic thinner X20A, then a base coat of Tamiya X18 semi gloss black mixed with XF1 flat black was spraypainted.
http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr79/gulf009/917LH/a001_zps162276d3.jpg

Then the edges and salient areas were given a decent treatment with a soft pencil to give the appearance more depth.
http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr79/gulf009/917LH/a002_zps48f56c92.jpg

After that the marks were blended with the encircling area using an old, dried out brush. Small scratches and more apparent marks were set at random, again using a sharpened but soft graphite pencil (like 8B). Pieces of lead foil were added to simulate the fixation of small counterweights.
http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr79/gulf009/917LH/a003_zps2b6f847c.jpg

Last step was to replicate these typical marks (at the front wheel) which were applied at the John Wyer - entered 917s. I made them from grinded pastel chalks in the depending colours, red, white and blue. I scratched pigments off the chalk, diluted them carefully with warm water and......a perfect material. Kind of a "pasty" and creamy textur. I think thats pretty close to the real look. Then the carefully handpainted areas recieved some scratches and the three colours were scratched off partially
http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr79/gulf009/917LH/a004_zpse72d86fa.jpg

The inner side of the back cover was spraypainted with a khaki-yellow tone, then a second layer of a brigthened tone was carefully and partially brought on, after a drying period the "deeper" areas were shaded using grinded pastels in the desired tone e.g. anthracit, ivory black, dark grey.....
In the last step i tried to replicate the "possible" look of a broken and shredded gearbox / drive shaft......from my understanding the oil splashes and splatters all around because all enclosed mechanical parts are in movement. So it's just my INTERPRETATION of a huge and final damage while driving at high speed.This is not exhaustive for sure......

http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr79/gulf009/917LH/a005_zps5683a67e.jpg

http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr79/gulf009/917LH/a006_zps319e1653.jpg

http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr79/gulf009/917LH/a007_zps505ecb28.jpg

Now it's about my maine request: the FINISH LINE look.........and the way to my target.

First of all, the the body is "done" and prepared so far. The colours are on, the decals are set in place, everything has dried thoroughly. The clear parts are fixed (the wiper is still missing).
http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr79/gulf009/917LH/a009_zps54a3167c.jpg

Masking tape is used to protect relevant (clear part-)areas from immoderate dry overspray in the next step. It's a tightrope walk between pressing the tape on the carefully glued clear parts with the necessary pressure but to keep in mind that you have to remove it later on without problems.
http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr79/gulf009/917LH/a010_zps28a3ffe2.jpg

Additional details and "special signs" were applied in the beginning of the third step, in this case all these typical tape marks. There are fantastic pics of the pull-out car in the Joe Honda-pictorial. There are black tape pieces at the left front light and a very "unique" sign, namely a arrow-shaped formation / structure around the top of the right (start-)number #17. Together with remains of silver (or grey?) tape to cover some dangerous gaps between the body parts and some white stripes again at / over the right starting number. By the way, from my point of view and after spending hours of research, my OPINION is that these often seen silver / grey tapes around the front light coves were used at the "pre-tests" or the qualifyings only. I couldn't identify one pic to show these details while the race itself. But again, as mentioned before, it's my INTERPRETATION.
A first coat of mixed Tamiya Acryls (XF57 buff and XF19 grey, depends on the race, the conditions, the surface of the track.....) is carefully sprayed on at high pressure. I always keep the slipstream in mind, which the car is surrounded by. I never spray from the back of the car towards the front, always from front to back. I change the angle for sure, but not the direction.
http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr79/gulf009/917LH/a011_zps90d5b9fb.jpg

After letting it dry for a day or so (the Tamiya acryls dry very fast actually), the nest steps are taken. Actually, no "steps need to be taken".......;-)
A reply of the former step was done, this time the clear parts only, with wiper in place, were given a spraypaint very carefully.
And then........it's about a cup of coffee, glass of wine, whatever you prefer, then graphite pencils of various colours (black, grey,...) and a pencil sharpener. Then just sit down for hours and replicate all these tiny little marks of smashed insects, oil stains, marks from rubber shrapnels, stone-chipping........again, i work from on the front, almost every mark is set in the right ankle of 90°. Then i use some more grinded dark chalks to reworke some special areas e.g. behind the wheel arches, parts of the front lid.....
Some sessions were necessary.
http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr79/gulf009/917LH/a012_zps5d5f3095.jpg

Let me add the information that the back lid / engine cover was basically treated in the same way.

Ok, that's it so far, the wheels were reworked also, i couldn't find my etched
template for the Firestone-lettering, so another solution was found.

I'll present the Porsche in the gallery within the weekend, just wanted to give my little WIP a reasonable end.

All the best,
yours
jochen
http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr79/gulf009/917LH/AA_zpsd73656c7.jpg

Very impressive!! And thanks for showing is how you weathered it.

Did I read correctly you did not use primer on the rims before spraying the black?

A real masterpiece here Jochen!

Wow!

Thank you for explaining your techniques.....it simply looks stunning already...:smokin:

wow! it looks real! thanks for sharing your techniques on this build jochen.
ummmm..... whats next? have you considered the 787b? or the r89c?

Very nice, the weathering adds so much "live" to it !! How did you treat the windscreen, I looks to extremely clean and shiny..WOW

daniel

Very very good model!
And thanks to have explained the weathering effect:smile:

Masterpiece! Very inspiring work! Thanks for sharing!

Wow, stunning work on an iconic racer. Salute!

Later,
Lee

Jochen is Always Jochen. speechless. Too nice.