WIP: 1970 'Gulf' Porsche 917K

[SeanyG]

Originally Posted by Carrera RS Fahrer

Sean, I could quibble about some of your paint choices--the Girling calipers are more a pure aluminum color than the slightly brassy color I see on my monitor, the clamshells could be lighter, and in general, on an as-new or restored early Porsche prototype car, it would probably be more appropriate to have the grey panels in semi-gloss, as well as the tube frame--but the two 917s I have waiting to be built will be lucky to have the beauty of yours. Inspiring work!

Hi and many thanks for your comments,

excellent references too, Im sure that will help clear this one up. As for your quibbles yes your right although the grey is slightly shiny - I guess my pictures arent the best at showing that.

As for the brakes, as I have mentioned I have found such a variation in the colour of so many components of the car that I gave up depicting the actual car from 1970, I will keep it as close as I can though and thanks for your feedback - it is much appreciated, keep it coming as I go along.

[SeanyG]

more progress...

first up completed wheels and tyres, sorry for the darkness of the pic, in photoshop it looks great but after it is saved it is really dark. I added some Acustion valves, locking nuts and weight balance pieces. The tyre transfers were applied as normal and once dry I coated them with matt. Also added a little tyre markings.



For the suspension I removed the centre section and replaced this with some alu tubing and coiled black cable for the spring. Forgot to take a picture of this finished, ooops!



here they are on the car...



also made a start on the front end detail, these are the brake fluid reservoirs, I made the containers out of clear sprue, cut and shaped to size and then to add the 'frosted' look I covered them with liquid poly and let them dry. The details are bare metal foil for the straps and a couple of small lids.



back to the cockpit and instead of using the kit window which is nicely detailed but far too thick I made a new one from some clear packaging (from the Hasegawa etch for my old Stratos) I also added a little slide window and detailed this with a handle and some rivets. In the Lemans film McQueen closes this at the start of the race - mine is slightly open.



and finally, we have paint...







I have not polished it yet but the finish seems good. The masking was tedious for the front and took ages to get right. I am going to use the kit decals for the black dividing line between the two colours which should tidy it up nicely.

more again soon...

[SeanyG]

NOW HERE'S A LITTLE LESSON FOR US ALL.

I bought a rattle can for this job but already had a similar blue colour (Leyton House F1 car) in the cupboard.

1. having got home and looking at the two tins I couldnt decide which would be the best colour for the blue so I thought - hey we will do a little check spray just to be sure (+10 points for me Im sure you would agree!)

2. Having decided which was the best blue for the job (Ford Nordic Blue in this case) I put the lids back on the cans and stored them on the shelf until I was ready to spray as I had lots of prep work to do on the model before reaching that stage (and +10 points for being patient)

3. So with the shell beautifully prepared, primed, filled and sanded it was time to get the blue out and spray, a couple of light coats, sanding in between and then a final wet coat (+10 points for sticking to the technique)

4. Whilst admiring my beautiful finish ... a thought occurs, hmm that looks a little dark I thought - maybe its just the light... I then get my books out and check the ref pictures on the PC, (even bigger hmmmm) that definately looks dark. Im starting to get that sinking feeling when a build goes horribly wrong!
I check the cans and yip you guessed it, when putting them away I PUT THE WRONG CAPS ON THE TINS, arghhhhhhhh! (-1,000,000,000 points)



So this is the recovery attempt, I didnt want to strip the shell as the area around the doors is just to fragile so I decided to mask off and give the blue a good sanding and then apply one wet coat of the CORRECT blue.

I have got away with it I think with the front however I had already applied some of the decals to the rear cover and therefore an order has been put in with Strada Sports for another set of decals, in my best possible Homer voice... DOUGH!!!!!







looks a little better dont you think!

[godfather23]

Sorry mate, but i´m kind of glad that these things happen to mastermodelers as you are as well. Reminds me of putting the Stradale stripes onto the CS mixing the directions of the italian flag. I noticed it when somebody openly told me on the forum seeing the uploaded pics.

Nevertheless, you got over the shock and the paint looks great. Congrats...the more I see of your work, the more I´m tempted of building a second Hippie-917K.

[klutz_100]

Lucky unlucky you!

Does look nice, though

[CeeElle]

i saw that coming the minute i read that you'd tested the cans ... i thought "i'll bet he's put the caps on wrong..."

still, the model's looking great.

[Decs0105]

Originally Posted by CeeElle

i saw that coming the minute i read that you'd tested the cans ... i thought "i'll bet he's put the caps on wrong..."

I thought the exact same thing when I saw the pic of the two cans

But nonetheless it looks sensational, can't wait to see it with all the decals!

[SeanyG]

thanks for the comments guys, just out of interest what technique do you use to get rid of the ridge of paint between the two colours?

I plan to let it dry and then carefully remove it with a scalpel but would be interested to hear others techniques!

[robrex]

Originally Posted by SeanyG

thanks for the comments guys, just out of interest what technique do you use to get rid of the ridge of paint between the two colours?
I plan to let it dry and then carefully remove it with a scalpel but would be interested to hear others techniques!

Sean, I lightly wet sand the area to get rid of any sharp edges then clear coat the area. Once dry I sand just like any normal paint job until any remaining ridge is removed. If you use Auto clear you shouldn't have a problem with sanding through and paint thickness isn't usually a problem with lacquer.

Great progress by the way. You did a good job saving the paint job

[RallyRaider]

I saw the first attempt and though "that blue looks way too dark", so I was pleased to see you were able to correct it without too much trouble. The second attempt at Gulf Blue is much, much better, the words spot on spring to mind! The rest of the interior details are excellent too. But as usual I’m most impressed by the speed at which you are able bring it all together.

I notice a few small details - you haven't added the "bump" on the roof, have you forgotten it? Second, the front panel still has the full width “flip-up”, by my references it should only be the width of the radiator hot air exit. Nit-picky stuff that only somebody building the same model would ever notice.

I agree with Rob about the colour separation, give it a couple of clear coats then sand back level so you can apply the black line decal.

[SeanyG]

Phil, Rob,

thanks for the advice and Phil, thanks for pointing that out about the front I hadnt noticed it at all, anyway I have removed the extra flap from each side and will get a picture up of the revised version.

As for the bump on the top, no I hadnt forgotten but as I had got such a good match with the orange I have decided to spray it and add it after the decals are on to save playing around with the decal.

[rallymaster]

There something I really don't understand...
You get far better models having encountered problems than mine without having encountered problems...?!?!?

Ok, stupid bad joke !


Once more you're building a very incredible beauty, and I aggre with Phil, the most impressive is the speed at which you build such detailed and beautifull models...


Great skills and great models !
thanks for sharing


Phil
PS: I got my Stratos engine TK !

[SeanyG]

Apologies to all for the gap with the updates, but I have just had a very nice holiday for a couple of weeks in sunny Lanzarote (seems I missed all the English rain too!)

anyway, made some progress on the car since I got back



added a couple of hoses to the right handside of the radiator and a little badging to the top



covered the gaps in the cockpit around the wheels arches, just a little more to add to this yet. Just got to enclose the sides under the dashboard with a little more plas-card.





bought some of these hoses from Racing Miniatures, these are to be used for the cooling pipes from the front ducts, I've put two in so far but there is two more to add...



as you can see I also added some of the decals to the front and also sprayed the black surround for the headlight pods. For the first time I used some masking solution for this and it worked rather nicely so I will using it again definately.



Also used the etched headlight surrounds from the S27 sheet and they work extremely well and are much neater than having to pick these out with a little hand painting.





Resprayed the rear canopy (with the correct blue this time!) and added the decals...





Just working on the hinge for this now, having checked out Phil's thread it seems we are going for a similar method for the rear hood - great minds think alike eh Phil!!!!!

Finally...

The moulding for the motor is very impressive and extremely clear and crisp must say I very impressed. So the engine has been primed and given its coat of flat alu and then given a heavy wash of flat black. There seems to be a difference in my references for the colour of the main engine block, the instructions state flat Alu and this is the case in many of my ref pics - however there are also versions where the main block is a flat black colour, as you can see I've gone for the alu version.



added some of the anciliaries (alternator, fuel injection pump, fan belts & pulleys and the fuel pump. Also scratched a couple of hoses at the bottom which are not included but need to be added.



lastly, also added the cyclinder covers, these are fiberglass and I used Humbrols 'deck tan' for the main colour and then airbrushed a little shading using a maroon and brown colours around the edges.





a quick dry fit and she's looking ok so far (fingers crossed) definately going to have the rear canopy hinged but the doors are proving difficult due to their opening angles etc, Im gonna keep trying but these may end up being fastened open.



more to come soon and its good to be back again!

[billypee]

Hi Sean,

Great update; the model is coming along wonderfully.

Glad you enjoyed your holiday... yes it has been very wet for a while; at least it is good for the garden (and ducks)

Cheers,
Bill

[CeeElle]

this is a beautiful build.