1/8 scale Porsche 917-10

[Dan002]

Bloody awsome mate,words cannot describe how good that is

[generationx]

My work colleagues are looking in my direction as I just fell off my chair...

Fantastic scratch-building work!

[ScratchBuilt]

Oops - I should apologise for any injuries caused by dropped-jaws, or falling-off-chair incidents! Seriously, thanks again for the positive feedback on this one. The only downside is that progress on the 908-3 will be slow, but at least it will be documented.

A couple of follow-ups. I started building my first 917K in early 2004, but at this time there just wasn't much available in the way of new reference material. The last few years have seen several really good 917-related books released, so I've added most of them to my collection as the models have progressed. You just want to find that one photo which shows a particular view of whatever part of the car you're having trouble with!

For the 917-10 in particular, the following were perhaps the most useful (and well-thumbed):

'Porsche 917 - The Winning Formula' by Peter Morgan
'Porsche Racing Cars of the 70's' by Paul Frere
'Can-Am & Can-Am Photo History', both by Pete Lyons
'Porsche - Excellence was Expected' by Karl Ludvigsen
'Porsche 917 The Undercover Story' by Gordon Wingrove

...plus various magazine articles, etc. There's a small-but-detailed general arrangement drawing of the -10 in the Paul Frere book which was really the key to the whole project. 'The Undercover Story' mainly covers the development of the coupe and long-tail cars, but there's obviously a great many common parts; it also has a copy of the 917K wiring diagram, and a simplified version of the -10's, so I had these to work from. Everything else was a case of cross-checking all the different photos to work out what was going on, or drawing inspiration from other Porsche racers of the period.

For now, I'll stick with 1/8 scale: any larger and I won't be able to get the finished article out of my bedroom and down the stairs...

I'll post some more detail shots at the weekend.

ScratchBuilt

[HamburgerHead]

do you work at NASA ? did you go to MIT ? Are you one of those guys on a first name basis with all the staff at Home Depot? I gotta say, i've never seen anything like what you do, impressive and downright aswesome! cant wait to see the next project !!!

[ScratchBuilt]

A few more detail shots:











Thanks for looking.

ScratchBuilt

[Martsmodels]

Even with the pictures in front of me I still can hardly believe this!!!

Incredible work - congratulations surely in order!

[keefr22]

Well, I have to admit that I can't think of anything to say that is suitable to express just how impressive a model that is! Words like awesome, stunning, incredible, etc, just don't do it justice!! It's an absolutely wonderful piece of master craftsmanship! Excellent stuff!!

I sneaked a look at your profile & noticed you are in the UK, so could I ask from where do you get "thick blue insulating foam" ? Is there a trade name for it & can it be bought in small amounts? Can it be worked with normal hand tools? (& reading your descriptions of the build, it sounds like you did all that work without things like lathes - is that the case??)

And (sorry for all the questions!!), can I ask how you did the tyres & what you used for the seat harness material - the textures on both look incredibly realistic. Well, actually the whole thing looks incredibly realistic......!!

TIA

Keef

[mrawl]

Phew! That's a jaw-dropper. Unbelievable work.

[rhb]

Great job. Beautiful car. The only thing which is invisible are the many hours you put in it.

mvgrijk

[ScratchBuilt]

In response to Keef's post: I bought the blue foam from an insulation supplier in Norwich as a single 2" thick sheet, maybe 6' x 4'? (could have been 8' x 4', I suppose) I don't remember it being particularly expensive, though, and I used quite a bit to make the buck for the bodywork, plus the tyres. I don't think it has a particular brand-name, and I would imagine you could get it anywhere. It cuts okay with a fine hacksaw, or a hot-wire cutter is good, too.

I made the tyres by rough-cutting the foam to shape with a saw, then using a small milling cutter in a bench drill to get back to level. I then spun the foam core in the drill and used fine emery cloth to get the correct shaping - lots of blue dust everywhere! A wood-working hole-cutter was used in the drill to take out the core - it didn't have to be an exact fit as I wanted to make up the difference between the foam tyre and the RC car wheel centres with thin sheet.

The tyres are the only thing on the 917 which have been 'machined' - everything else is fabricated using a knife, files, saw, pin-vice, etc. I've bought a small Unimat modelling lathe which I will be using on the 908-3 project - it will certainly help with many of the smaller components, but I think it will be also be able to handle the tyres.

The seatbelts are just blue ribbon, bought locally (the things I've had to ask for in shops - "it's for a modelling project, honest!"...) with the buckles, adjusters, etc made up from sheet, strip, and suchlike. The ribbon glues okay with cyanoacrylate but it does go a bit stiff, so you have to be careful not to use too much. The seat itself is a fibreglass moulding - again, a blue-foam core with a few layers of fine cloth laid over it, then painted.

Cheers!

ScratchBuilt

[keefr22]

Excellent!! Many thanks for the comprehensive reply Scratchbuilt - much appreciated!!

I shall go in search of some blue insulation foam as soon as the snow melts (could probably do with some for the loft too!!)

Thanks again
Keef

[Jenner]

Hi,
welcome to AF.

Supernaturally, absolutely fantastic.
That is the best scratch-building model that I have ever seen!
I bow to you.

[917fan]

I'm gonna have to start again after seeing this 'masterclass'. 10/10!

[gionc]

Another of those bumps I like to see ever!!!

This is even obscene modeling pornography!

SB you're super! I hope one day to have the chance to meet you and see your stuff by naked eye, sure would deserve the trip.

[ScratchBuilt]

Hi guys,

Thanks for the compliments - it seems a long time since I finished this one (this time last year, in fact).

917fan - what's the project? Surely something Porsche-shaped...?

Gionc - again, thanks for the kind words. I'm always impressed by what everyone here does with kit-based projects - whether it's just a straight build, or a major cut-n-shut job like your rally 911's. One of the great things about this forum is that there is so much inspirational stuff going on!

Oh, and if anyone's looking for really good chassis plans and layouts for the various 917's, check out 'Porsche 917 Archiv und Werkverzeichnis 1968 - 1975' by Walter Naher, published by Delius Klasing. It's about £ 50 and with German text, but it's got layout and line drawings of all the 917 variations and is 575 pages of 917 heaven. It looks like it's been published to coincide with the 917's 40th birthday and the opening of the Porsche Museum, but if they release any more editions like this on the 956, for example (or the 908, 935, 936...), I'll be first in the queue.

SB