1954 Porsche 550 Carrera Panamericana

[p9o1r1sche]

This is a car I've wanted to do for a while and when the Flintstone casting showed up I figured it was time. This is a historically significant car for Porsche as the 550 was the first car designed as a racer from the start, and it claimed Porsche's first international road race win, with some stiff competition from Borgward.

I thought about making this full detail, but with a lot of unknowns about the accuracy of the original body, I decided to go curbside. I did find later that one of the rear wheel openings is farther forward than the other. The cast chassis did not fit well, and wasn't accurate for this particular car, so I scratch-built one from sheet plastic. This also gave me the opportunity to put in a sheet aluminum interior.

I started by removing the mirrors and headrest from the 'stone casting.


Then, built up the rear fenders with putty and blunted the nose. The headlights also needed to be angled up straighter.


Did some sanding to shape, filled in holes in the rear and started on the small rear wheel flares.


Did the final shape sanding and re-scribed panel lines, which are significantly different than the original ones.




Next, I fabbed the simple chassis and worked on the sheet metal. Also added a tube frame that is visible in the interior.




I made decals using a laserprinter and found most of the markings already in MS Powerpoint. A couple other logos were found on the web. Not all the markings are exact, but they are very close. The Castrol logos were pulled from a photo of the car. The decals ended up being on the thick side, but acceptable to me.



After the basecoat colors. I thought the ride height may be a little low, but I went forward with it. I used Tamiya gloss aluminum TS17. Clearcoated with Mr Hobby Topcoat.


Chassis visible in background. Decals applied and some details added. I made lights and fuel and oil tank caps on the lathe. The engine cover grills and wheels are from a Fujimi Porsche 356 kit.




The banjo steering wheel is from Detail Master, the seats are re-cast from Fujimi's Speedster kit, with the seat back ventilation holes filled in. The instrument bezels were turned on the lathe.


The final product. I'm happy with the results and its a unique model.


Completed thread:
http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...d.php?t=932066

[SkylineFan]

Excellent start ken!!

DaveT

[csl]

Well done. Nice set of photos.

[cinqster]

Really nice job Ken - you've captured the 550 shape very well.

Thought you may appreciate this shot of my mate Axel and his wife doing the 'Ring in their 550a replica:

[jaykay640]

That looks very nice! I already saw it in your finished thread and wondered how you got there:-)
There are two or three things that look odd to me, like the ride height you already mentioned, that looks quite lowrider'ish:-)
The rear fenders look quite high towards the back and i wonder how a driver would fit his legs under or even left and right of the steering wheel....:-)
However i may be wrong as i'm no 550 expert and the details you put in the cockpit are really nice in any case!

[p9o1r1sche]

There some inaccuracies as mentioned in the text.

Photos for reference:

[jaykay640]

Well, you have a point with those fenders without a doubt! I hadn't noticed that version so far:-)

[p9o1r1sche]

jaykay640 - I think the rear fenders are the less attractive feature on this car. The steering wheel is larger than I wanted, but it was aftermarket and it was a banjo type. Thanks for taking the time to comment. BTW - I really enjoy your builds.

John - really cool picture. Wish I was in it.

[gionc]

Ken I must say fantastic.

[jano11]

Excellent!
Thanks for showing us the stages of the process that gave such a wonderful result.

[godfather23]

I might overread that part, but I wonder what kit this one is? Flintstone? Any links for that one? How many parts does this kit have and how much did you pay for it.

This model looks as well as it can be. Great work. Nice touches with the red fin painting and the home-made-decals.


Robert

[p9o1r1sche]

Here's a link. Its cheap.

http://www.jimmyflintstonestudios.com/porsche.htm