1/8 scale Porsche 917-10

[ScratchBuilt]

Hello!

I've been scratch-building 1/8 scale race-cars since 2001, but this is the most recently completed project - a 1972 Porsche 917-10. Build-time was somewhere in excess of 1300 hours between July 2006 and November 2008. After earlier projects, I decided not to keep an accurate record of the hours on this one...





It's mainly plastic tube, strip and sheet, with the bodywork in fibreglass. There were a few 'firsts' for me on this one - the body, in particular, was a challenge - both in construction and painting. Rather than try for a particular team's colours, I decided that 'just-out-of-the-factory' white would be suitable for a first attempt with an airbrush.





I'll post more photos and info soon (both of the -10, and current 908 project, but I hope this is of interest for now.

ScratchBuilt

[quadzero]

Holy Mckenna! Outstanding project. I can just imagine the research and time that went into this.

[jano11]

Wow! Difficult to find the words to describe this! Overwhelming!

[proosen]

That is some really impressive work, just amazing!

You say you've been building such big cars since 2001, please show us the rest if possible.

Looking forward to see the 908 take form, we all like in-progress pictures so keep the build record coming.


Niclas

[endac]

Wow that looks incredible

[dmacb]

Wow! Over the top.

[Robi J]

Originally Posted by jano11

Wow! Difficult to find the words to describe this! Overwhelming!

...and welcome to AF ! Robi

[cinqster]

Faaaantastic stuff!

Guess I'll have to pull my finger out on my project now?

Love to see some WIP pics as I want to start the chassis fab on my beastie soon. Any tube forming/bending/soldering tips etc. would be greatly appreciated!opcorn:

[ScratchBuilt]

Firstly, thanks for the warm response to this one - it's taken me the last six months to get around to posting anything on this forum, mainly because I wasn't sure what I might be getting myself into. However, having taken inspiration from many of the projects I've seen here, I guess it's time to put something back.

I never seem to take many photos whilst I'm working on my projects, so I don't have a backlog of WIP shots I can post for this one. However, the following few show some of the different areas (apologies for WIP in a 'completed project' thread, but I guess it's better to have everything in one place?)

Here's the chassis sometime during the wiring and plumbing process; I think the engine and gearbox were fitted shortly afterwards. It's all plastic tubing - mainly 1/8" and 5/32", with 3/32" for the smallest sections.



Left-hand rear corner - I used R/C model balljoints for some of the suspension pick-ups to allow movement whilst taking some weight. For the other joints I made basic rod-end fittings from wire. I wanted the suspension to articulate so that I didn't end up with one wheel hanging in the air; it works. Brake discs on this particular 917 were drilled and ventilated, so this took a while too - each face has over 40 holes, two faces per disc, each hole being marked, drilled and cleaned up...then having to cut and fit all the spacers in between.



The gearbox was built around a basic box-section core in four parts - the clutch housing, diff housing, the gear carrier, and the end cover. Again, by this time the casings were heavily finned for strength, so this was replicated with layers of 0.4mm and 0.5mm styrene strip. Not a ten-minute job.



Finally, here's the fibreglass body before undercoating. I made a male buck from thick blue insulating foam, added to the shape with filler and plastic (even a small plastic spoon cut in two on the engine cover), then gave it all a coating of craft paint mixed with PVA glue as a protective layer. A quick smear of vaseline as a release agent and I could lay-up the matting surprisingly quickly. Each piece has between four and six layers of really fine tissue, but the end result is about 0.5mm thick - and easy to cut, glue and fill afterwards. The tail section ended up being made from six different mouldings, plus the plastic detailing. The louvres in the nose section were fun, too - each one had to be individually cut and filed to suit the different angles as the nose slopes away.



I'm going to document the build of my 908-3 as a WIP thread, so I'll show my chassis construction there. Sorry Cinqster - it's not soldered (but that Pocher F40 is mightily impressive) - but it might be of interest.

Thanks for looking,

ScratchBuilt

[racer917]

Oh, I'm sorry. That 'thump' noise was just my jaw hitting my desk.

[rollover]

A very impressive build. I dare say you could be well along with building as 1:1 version with that much effort!

I can't wait to see the 908-3, it's second on my all time favorite list after the 917LH.

[bmwmech1]

Now this is my kind of project! Big and made from scratch! This is outstanding craftsmanship. Your idea with the bodywork is what I plan on doing for my F40. That's my brass chassis you were speaking of in an earlier post, I believe. Your chassis alone is a work of art! Bravo, and do show us more! I'm sick(again), but want to go work on mine after seeing this one!!!

BM1

[jaykay640]

Friggin awesome work! That's probably the sort of project everybody here dreams of sooner or later:-) Respect for actually going for it and the result you achieved! I too am looking forward to a 908/3 project. That's on my future "scratch"-project list as well.....only in 1:43:-)

[tony126c2]

This is an incredible, mouth watering, jaw dropping piece of work

[ajrichar]

That is truly stunning. What sort of research was required by you to replicate the parts, wiring etc?

Again, what can be said that can adequately express how extraordinary this build is?