Air Cooled GB: Porsche GT2 Club Sport

[Robi J]

I love this progress

[gionc]

Very nice touches!opcorn:

[MPWR]

Wow, more than two months since I updated this one- where does the time go? Oh yeah, I started that 356.... But I'd better get on with this one if i want to have anything finished for AFMOTY '08. Fortunately, I'm just about there.

So, more interior detailing.

I made floorboards by covering the footwells with Tamiya tape, and cutting it to shape. The tape floorboards were then peeled up and stuck on thin sheet styrene. The styrene was cut to shape, roughed up with some 100 sandpaper, painted flat grey and weathered with ground pastel chalk.



For the door panels, I removed some of the molded on detail.





I replaced them with small strips of paper, to make webbing grab loops.



More machined bits:



This is my replacement rear tow hook, and a center buckle for the seat harnesses. The tow hook hub is a piece of .045" brass rod with a hole drilled sideways through it. I cut the ring from .020" brass rod, and hid the cut ends in the hub. I did the buckle to make the harness hardware look a bit more 3D than just a collection of PE bits.

Here are the lap belts.





The shoulder belts are of course fastened around the roll cage.



Unfortunately, the roll cage completely confounds the focus finder on my camera. I simply can't get a good pic of the cockpit with the cage!



I used plain white paper colored with a marker for my belt material. To my eyes, it looks much more accurate than craft ribbon. The shoulder pads are bits of index cards cut to shape and folded around the belts. And the Sabelt logos were cut from the kit decal sheet.

With the seats and harnesses installed, I think the camera and lift hydraulics looks spot on. The cockpit looks suitably complicated and technical, but not overly busy or confusing. I'd worried a bit that I could have added more, but I don't think it needs it.



Nothing special for the dash and wheel- just the kit parts with the kit decals.



And the interior is done!



Some builds look terrific without the body installed. With some of Tamiya's Ferraris, it's almost a shame to put the body on and cover up the fascinating looking chassis. Not so much with the GT2, though. This one's ready for a body shell.



So, time to finish the body shell detailing, and get it all together! I really want to finish this one by the end of the year. It's been rather a while since I finished anything. Gettin' close- but time's running out....

[ddtham]

Well-executed Andy,

I like the idea of paper seatbelt (makes it easier to navigate through the PE buckles). And that mounted rear camera is wonderfully done as well.

[KevHw]

Everything works so perfectly. Fantastic to follow your work. I learn so much! I love what you did with the air-jack plumbing. That camera is also such a lovely addition.

[rollin80s]

im liking this build more and more. porshe kit is on my list. i had one a few years ago, but got crushed on the move to a new home
what do you use to machine your alum. pieces? any pics of that?

[Jorge Coyt]

Hi MPWR,

A lot of thing to learn with this WIP. Excellent job, very detailed model and a very clean built.

Congratulations sir! I want to see it finished

[mrawl]

The machined parts are amazing. I take it this version doesn't include a fire-extinguisher. That might fill it out a bit if it bothers you, but it looks fine as is, especially with that perfect little camera in there. Looking forward to seeing the body go on.

[builder77]

An amazing build.
Chris

[MPWR]

Thanks everyone!

And here is the body, ready for final assembly.



As mentioned before, the kit part for the rear tow ring is not particularly good. I also haven't been able to find any references at all that show the ring mounted on the left rear corner of the bumper where Tamiya placed it.

On Club Sport GT2s, the tow ring was a loop of steel cable in the right corner of the license plate well.



So this is my recreation of it (together with a bonnet holddown).



It is a loop of heavy duty sewing thread with its ends glued together. I wrapped several loops around a piece of 1/8" brass tubing, and painted them with clear gloss so that they would hold shape. When they were dry, I slid them off of the tube and carefully cut them apart. I used CA to glue the ends of one together, and I made the eye that the ring passes through by bending some .020" brass rod. Painted red, it looks spot on. I would have used it too, if I didn't like the machined one I had already made more. It's less accurate, but I think it looks great.



Unfortunately, I did not consider the slot Tamiya put into the bumper before painting. So I had to come up with a creative way of patching it. So, I filled the hole with polishing compound.

Some of you may recognize this old Germanic hieroglyph:



Gio helped me scale it to size, and I printed it in white decal film to patch the filled area. My first ever homemade decal. I rather like it- even if it weren't being used for a patch, it would look right in place on this build. Unfortunately, the film I used is not terribly opaque, and the slot itself is slightly visible under the decal. So I either need to use multiple layers, or find a thicker decal. Anyone got a spare Euro style D decal they're not using?

I machined a set of holddown plates for the bonnet, and put them in place with a pin and ring each.



I also added an engine kill switch. It is of course simply the head of a sewing pin painted red.

The rear spoiler was covered in BMF, to matct the front spoiler. I rather like the look of the metal spoilers, holddown pins, and fuel filler to give the otherwise plain white body some interest.

And of course the front tow ring is simply the kit part. Tamiya got this one right.



Ready for the chassis!

[SuperMele]

Whow, beautiful body... are you gonna do the panellines afterwards?

[BVC500]

Maybe you should have used white Squadron Putty instead of polishing compound, which seems to have shrunk (maybe due to the wet decal placed over it?).

[klutz_100]

Looks lovely in white, Andy

Nice detailing as ever!

[jano11]

Beautiful! All those small machined details add a lot to this project!

[MPWR]

Thanks guys!

Originally Posted by SuperMele

Whow, beautiful body... are you gonna do the panellines afterwards?

On a white car? Nah. I think far more models are ruined by darkened panel lines than complimented by it. To my eye, they're correct here- entirely visible, but not a point of focus. This is what I've been using for inspiration:




Notice that the lines around the doors disappear becasue of the viewing angle? Darkening the panel lines on the model would destroy that effect.

Originally Posted by BVC500

Maybe you should have used white Squadron Putty instead of polishing compound

Yea, I'd thought of that. But I decided I really didn't want to risk the toluene and other solvents in a real putty on the paint.

But otherwise, it's done now. Finally, I've finished something!!









Thanks for watching, I had a lot of fun with this one!