Post by Bernard Kron on Dec 3, 2020 19:52:40 GMT -5
This project represents my first experience building a full-detail, high parts count Japanese kit. It’s the Fujimi Porsche 356A 1500 GS Carrera Speedster kit. It’s not my first Japanese kit project; I recently finished a Tamiya Lotus Seven S2 build, but that was more in line regarding detail, construction and parts count with the Revell, Monogram and AMT kits I usually work with. Nor is this my first Porsche. I built a 904 from the ex-Aurora, then Monogram, kit from the early 60’s. It’s actually very detailed and builds out pretty well. I also have done a 356 Speedster, but that was the ancient Revell multi-piece body kit. Again, the detail was surprisingly good, but neither of those kits have the precision and almost literal detail of this Fujimi kit. It is truly spectacular and, for this confirmed hot rod kit basher it’s requiring some careful planning and many, many trips back to the instruction sheet.
With this level of complexity and with so many sub-assemblies to deal with deciding what to start with was half the battle. The Revell 356 Speedster had been built as a 50’s Cal Club style race car so I decided this speedster would be more in the vein of a modern Outlaw. Outlaw Porsches seem to come in three general styles, especially when it concerns 356s. First there’s the boy-racer fake Carrera Panamericana look, with stripes, numbers and requisite red Flying Pegasus decals. My .50’s Cal Club car was built in that style, even if it was fairly authentic period build. The second type is the totally re-engineered hop up, often with modern motors, suspension and brakes, and sometimes with modern aerodynamic updates to the bodywork. The third type is the retro-customized look, with non-standard paint jobs, often shaved and lowered, and non-standard rolling stock. That’s what I’m doing here.
That’s why I started with the bodywork and paint, to see if that was a look worth pursuing. I had seen a reproduction Speedster from Germany done with whitewalls and a simple smoothed “bathtub” look that appealed to me so that’s what I’m after here. Below is a composite photo of progress so far. The upper two pictures are of the body with the paint work completed. The base color is Tamiya AS-29 Grey Green over white primer. It’s a military color and frankly looked a bit too military if left as-is, particularly since it’s a fairly matte paint. I tested it with a clear coat and that added some depth and richness but still didn’t get me that non-standard Outlaw look I was after. So I tested it with Tamiya TS-65 Pearl Clear. This made a big difference, adding considerable depth and complexity and an iridescent sheen. The upper two panels in the photo below are an accurate representation of the final color and effect. The paint job consists 3 coats of AS-29 over white primer, followed by three coats of TS-65 Pearl Clear and then 2 coats of Tamiya clear gloss. The paint was polished out to a high gloss after the TS-65 was applied. I should note that you really need 3 coats of the pearl clear to get the color to shift and start to pop. The final clear coats then, as you would expect, adds a lot of richness and depth. I haven’t polished the clear coats and my not if it sets up right.
The two lower panels show the body work with a single coat of pearl clear over the AS-29. Those shots were quick jpeg grabs so the color representation is npt perfect, but you can see that it was more olive green than with the additional pearl clear coats, polish and final clear coats. The bodywork modifications consist of shaving all the trim off and filling the bumper mount holes. It will be bumperless with stock lights and front vent trim. I also landed up smoothing some slightly angular surfaces that had resulted from the mold casting process. The wheels you see are from the old Monogram slot-car body curbside 904 kit. The whitewalls are of unknown origin from my parts box, but I suspect they are Monogram 1/24th pieces, perhaps from the ’58 Thunderbird kit. Those bottom 2 pictures are real Blue-tape Specials, just two wheels taped to the inside of the body to check the concept.
Given the rich complexity of this kit the project will take a while. I’ve painted the interior parts and am now moving on to the chassis and suspension. I’d like to lower the car a couple of scale inches, and figuring how to do that with the highly detailed and accurate suspension should be quite a challenge. The DOHC Carrera motor is a whole separate model in its own right. But from here on out most everything other than the lowering job and the wheel swap should be pretty much Out Of The Box - but what a box-o-parts it is!
Thanx for lookin’,
B.
With this level of complexity and with so many sub-assemblies to deal with deciding what to start with was half the battle. The Revell 356 Speedster had been built as a 50’s Cal Club style race car so I decided this speedster would be more in the vein of a modern Outlaw. Outlaw Porsches seem to come in three general styles, especially when it concerns 356s. First there’s the boy-racer fake Carrera Panamericana look, with stripes, numbers and requisite red Flying Pegasus decals. My .50’s Cal Club car was built in that style, even if it was fairly authentic period build. The second type is the totally re-engineered hop up, often with modern motors, suspension and brakes, and sometimes with modern aerodynamic updates to the bodywork. The third type is the retro-customized look, with non-standard paint jobs, often shaved and lowered, and non-standard rolling stock. That’s what I’m doing here.
That’s why I started with the bodywork and paint, to see if that was a look worth pursuing. I had seen a reproduction Speedster from Germany done with whitewalls and a simple smoothed “bathtub” look that appealed to me so that’s what I’m after here. Below is a composite photo of progress so far. The upper two pictures are of the body with the paint work completed. The base color is Tamiya AS-29 Grey Green over white primer. It’s a military color and frankly looked a bit too military if left as-is, particularly since it’s a fairly matte paint. I tested it with a clear coat and that added some depth and richness but still didn’t get me that non-standard Outlaw look I was after. So I tested it with Tamiya TS-65 Pearl Clear. This made a big difference, adding considerable depth and complexity and an iridescent sheen. The upper two panels in the photo below are an accurate representation of the final color and effect. The paint job consists 3 coats of AS-29 over white primer, followed by three coats of TS-65 Pearl Clear and then 2 coats of Tamiya clear gloss. The paint was polished out to a high gloss after the TS-65 was applied. I should note that you really need 3 coats of the pearl clear to get the color to shift and start to pop. The final clear coats then, as you would expect, adds a lot of richness and depth. I haven’t polished the clear coats and my not if it sets up right.
The two lower panels show the body work with a single coat of pearl clear over the AS-29. Those shots were quick jpeg grabs so the color representation is npt perfect, but you can see that it was more olive green than with the additional pearl clear coats, polish and final clear coats. The bodywork modifications consist of shaving all the trim off and filling the bumper mount holes. It will be bumperless with stock lights and front vent trim. I also landed up smoothing some slightly angular surfaces that had resulted from the mold casting process. The wheels you see are from the old Monogram slot-car body curbside 904 kit. The whitewalls are of unknown origin from my parts box, but I suspect they are Monogram 1/24th pieces, perhaps from the ’58 Thunderbird kit. Those bottom 2 pictures are real Blue-tape Specials, just two wheels taped to the inside of the body to check the concept.
Given the rich complexity of this kit the project will take a while. I’ve painted the interior parts and am now moving on to the chassis and suspension. I’d like to lower the car a couple of scale inches, and figuring how to do that with the highly detailed and accurate suspension should be quite a challenge. The DOHC Carrera motor is a whole separate model in its own right. But from here on out most everything other than the lowering job and the wheel swap should be pretty much Out Of The Box - but what a box-o-parts it is!
Thanx for lookin’,
B.
It's an interweb thing.....