oldman

i purchased a 1/12 Porsche 956 from Hiro directly during the covid period last year and nothing fitted , there were parts on the chassis that were off angle and could'nt be placed for example there is a rigid torsion bar which goes across the chassis and its off by about 30 dgrs ! the screws supplied to keep together the chassis do not hold they cannot take the weight , i drilled bigger holes and used bigger screws for that and the brake hubs but still they would'nt hold , next day they get loose . the wishbones are rigid and the spring shocks dont work they are fixed . the air ducts are made of resin and not flexible so they dont fit properly since they are not made of flexible rubber . you cannot turn the wheels . The engine was way too heavy when completed . the windshield and light covers were lexan sheets which you had to cut into shape . Putting together the wheels was a nightmare of quick glue . The cost was around 600usd and you will need to spend maybe twice as much in materials to get it done . Total waste of money . I put everything into a bag and into the waste bin , never regretted it .

hi the seats are airbrushed flat black and the metal rings "breathing" are dry painted with a triple zero brush , chrome silver , The exhaust is airbrushed burnt iron . On the shelf you dont see any dust but its amazing how the lens will magnify so clearly every spec of dust down to the minimum measure .

Bruce McLaren’s 1966 Ford GT 40 MK II Le Mans Winner : This is Trumpeter's 1/12 scale model which I built together with sister car number 1 raced by Ken Miles present at the same race which I uploaded here a while back . Color : Spray can Tamiya semi gloss black . Priming is done first and left to rest for a day . Wiring : I only did the oil and fuel braided and rubber pipes and tubes there is no ignition which was placed below the bulkhead so no electric wiring to the spark plugs done . Decals : they are from Indycals USA same goes for the tyres . The original decals supplied in the kit are vinyl and look really bad . Details: The kit is full of details you can enhance . Pros and cons : Easy to build and looks very nice when finished on your shelf anywhere in your office or home I have this one in the living room shelves and it looks very attractive , cons maybe the absence of the carb which would have given more work with the wiring to the cylinder heads which in turn is more realistic . The tyre decals supplied are really bad . Dust : Being black it soon accumulates a lot of dust on the shelf so maybe once in a while you will need to go around with wet swabs and a non static mop to bring it back to life . The camera captures all the dust which with the naked eye you dont see . https://flic.kr/p/2nRparh

this is the Hasegawa Limited edition with metal parts released last year kit : https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHBD_enTH955TH955&sxsrf=AOaemvIAWh4Seitl_lh91LFJCf8NCRSt6A:1642629292849&source=univ&tbm=isch&q=hasegawa+NIssan+89C+limited+edition&fir=ul3XK285FBUXWM%2C_b6YAjXbN0JmJM%2C_%3B6r5f3j1drKUlmM%2C17n3jYiosoUbGM%2C_%3BBiDNiEntBtmFnM%2CIT6oReoKF5h16M%2C_%3BAYOVvPFX-zSfXM%2CaMdVgy31guSTVM%2C_%3BiE19M8niknWv6M%2CD8pzmyg8D3VaGM%2C_%3B3w4UAEro25xbeM%2C_b6YAjXbN0JmJM%2C_%3B91ePjdpFIyOAvM%2CYQdUVf6GrK5meM%2C_%3BGzPsWBMRqTdMTM%2CaMdVgy31guSTVM%2C_%3BrHzA7u2mZDvkDM%2CFD_5lzVy73A2qM%2C_%3BolvaYBRYWzs2WM%2CaMdVgy31guSTVM%2C_&usg=AI4_-kRMjC28QWZcj1oty-cojp04D3s4GQ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiKuf375r71AhUpTWwGHZxyBO4QjJkEegQIAhAC&biw=1280&bih=577&dpr=1.5

yes the results came with Jeff Brabham behind the wheel but i also remember they had almost no competition there . I used to time them in Italy and they were always 2 secs slower than the Benz C1 at the time driven by Karl Weidlinger and a young M Shumacher .

NISSAN 89C Group C sports cars This is the limited release with metal parts edition . I used to drive to Monza to watch the group C races which went on for quite a number of years and in 1989 Nissan started taking it seriously . They never won any races but the car was a very attractive car built by Lola in the UK . The pros The whole kit is very well executed everything fits properly . You have to be careful with the metal fuel intake funnels as well as positioning of the metal radiators . The rest fits like a glove . The cons i was not happy with the decals so i ordered them from Studio 27.The weight of the car once built is heavy . I did not see any advantage of making the engine in metal but the radiators do stand out . Color I used pure white spray can and royal blue air brushed . Decals From Studio 27 . this set depicts one of the 1989 Lemans racers which in reality raced without the rear wheel covers . The decal that covers the hood and goes down on both sides of the doors is not large enough to cover the door hinge , so you have a white and red line which should have been all red . i believe this is because it was designed for the Tamiya kit . Rubber tubes They come in 2 sizes and you need to cut them to size and they fit very well on the radiator nipples . one set is for fuel and the other for oil .

NISSAN 89C Group C sports cars This is the limited release with metal parts edition . I used to drive to Monza to watch the group C races which went on for quite a number of years and in 1989 Nissan started taking it seriously . They never won any races but the car was a very attractive car built by Lola in the UK . The pros The whole kit is very well executed everything fits properly . You have to be careful with the metal fuel intake funnels as well as positioning of the metal radiators . The rest fits like a glove . The cons i was not happy with the decals so i ordered them from Studio 27.The weight of the car once built is heavy . I did not see any advantage of making the engine in metal but the radiators do stand out . Color I used pure white spray can and royal blue air brushed . Decals From Studio 27 . this set depics one of the 1989 Lemans racers which in reality raced without the rear wheel covers . The decal that covers the hood and goes down on both sides of the doors is not large enough to cover the door hinge , so you have a white and red line which should have been all red . i believe this is because it was designed for the Tamiya kit . Rubber tubes They come in 2 sizes and you need to cut them to size and they fit very well on the radiator nipples . one set is for fuel and the other for oil .

hello everyone It was as i mentioned curiosity . Now that this has been appeased i am able to judge wether it was well worth it , The challenge and trying to make it look decent was the fun bit but at a price .

At the Daytona race of 1967 which was the opening season race for the world sports cars championship the car took for the first 3 places and arrived together , it was better remembered as the revenge of il commendatore . From then on the car went into decline since Fiat had ordered the old man to abandon sports car racing to limit losses and to concentrate on F1 only . The purchase : This is a Union model from ages ago ,I found it in Japan online and paid a whopping 70 usd when at the time it went for below 15 usd . Curiosity possessed me The cons . Hopeless decals , out dated and not historically correct . The tires have deteriorated and crack . The cockpit is spartan and has no decals . The pros : nice engine and well engineered ,I should have done the wiring since the distributors are there . The clear acrylics are good . shock absorbers are metal rings . The build : to get the front chassis to fit to the car bodywork I had to use clamps and glue it permanently . The rest went well ,the engine fits well . The brass 1mm rods that hold the bulkhead to the rear end of the chassis is an addition since the kit supplies the rods in styrene and they cracked . Colors : Italian red , gold leaf , steel , semi gloss black , aluminium and Flat white . Seat belts : Etsy . Decals : Indycals and these are correct .

This is the 1/12 scale Trumpeter modeI I built 2-3 years ago , as you all probably know its Ken miles car . the pros : the parts are very well executed and there are photo etch and chromed parts and sprues . All the rubber tubes , braided wires and connectors are included. The decals are excellent and fit well . the cons : the ridiculous vynil tire decals . The pin on the lower back end of the crank is extremely weak and when connecting the lower rear wishbone it cracks easily . I made a thicker one from sprue and inserted the wishbone . You have to spend some time to calibrate and get the doors to open and close tightly . The electric distributor between the carburetor and the bulkhead is missing . That’s a shame since we could have added the wiring . Windshield :The windshield does not fit , The best way to go about it is to sand 0.5 mm top and same lower of the cockpit frame using a very coarse grit paper something below 300 grit before you prime the cockpit . The colors : the body color is acrylic Tamiya sky blue 100% and white 30% give and take , you might want to add more white than I did . I used the airbrush and went over 3 times .The gloss was can Mr Color 2 times . The flash is bright red laquer Tamiya . The rear end of the chassis is royal blue . Exhaust is burnt iron . The Flash: I used my eye to go around using tape and then airbrushed . I should have first applied white but i forgot . Its laquer on acrylic and there was no reaction . The Tire decals : They are from indycals . The photoetch : All the grills are photoetch . The Air ducts : The kit supplies you with 2 rubber airducts to connect the brakes hub to the air duct inlet to the right and left of the wheels .they are excellent material easy to cut or shorten , manipulate and glue thus allowing the wheel to swing correctly in both directions . Connectors : The high pressure oil connectors are all chromed and stand out when applying the clear red and blue . The braided wires : You have to paint them silver or chrome . The bucket seats : Painted the rings with chrome silver using the triple 0 brush . The seats are flat black . the seat belts are a mix of photoetch and chromed parts . The wheels : they are out of the box , I did not paint . The tires are correct and well grooved .

open or closed hatches I used a Tamiya scriber which comes with a thick blade . If you wish to close the hatch again i recommend you use a thinner blade , this will ensure that it seals correctly around the hinges , Do not apply pressure and just follow the line carefully .

This is the Andretti’s father and son Porsche 956 at lemans 1983 , they came a solid 3 , a lap down . I built this car with the intention off opening a hatch . I had never done that before so I had a go at it with my scriber and it was easier than I thought it would be . The Build : Usual Tamiya quality and all fitted well . I wish they would add the two pipes which connect the intercoolers to the engine and add an extinguisher and pedals out of the box . Color : I decided on French blue can but you could argue it should be lighter . On a cloudy day it looks French blue but when the sun is out its much lighter . Both these weather conditions happened that day . I added 5 coats off gloss with the airbrush before fitting the clear acrylics . Decals : Both tires and body from indycal . The tires were Goodyear this time . Pedals and extinguisher and trolley: Spot model . Wires and tubes : connected the 6 cylinders wires to the distributor and the rubber tubes from the oil reservoir to crank , braided tube to gear box and overflow tube to rear . Diorama: I purchased a couple of these dioramas for 3 usd each freight included from DIY Cina ,its cardboard and I was pleased with what I got . They have a whole range of garage and background settings . Great addition . Link to images from the race :https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=AwrgDudm5XthysIAECpXNyoA;_ylu=Y29sbwNncTEEcG9zAzEEdnRpZAMEc2VjA3Nj?p=andretti+956+1983+lemans+pics+images&fr=mcafee

the items which you can add easily besides cables and hoses are the extinguisher , pedals and rear brake airducts and seat belts . I cannot find the pipes connecting the intercoolers to the turbos but you could make them from styrene or brass tubes . Some add ons can be extremely expensive in proportion to the price of the basic kit .

hello Spiny The long tail decals are the Tamiya out of the box decals which are good but not the best . The short tail are the decals from Studio 27 which come with the conversion kit . Studio 27 gets them from cartograph which IMO are the best in the market . Take a close look at the image under short tail version , all the white is decals . I redid a Nissan 89C and ordered them from Studio 27 due to the deep sinking panels and other details such as lamps bulging on the body work and they shrink in and around beautifully . If you cannot find a hard to find Studio 27 set You can get the decals made by INDYCALS USA .https://www.indycals.net/contact/contact.html if you do remember they are not stenciled and must be cut around carefully .

more pics

The years from 1982 to 1990 saw the best period of group C WEC racing . Nissan Toyota Mercedes Porsche Jaguar not to mention the privateers amongst others gave us a spectacle . I lived and worked in the south of Switzerland at the time so Monza was an hour away . I remember Schumacher and Weidlinger in the new Mercedes , the Nissan and the noisy Jaguars . I have uploaded photos of the Jost Porsche 956 in both long tail and short tail version for the year 1984 . You will note the short tail has a very big ventury diffuser used on the short tracks . This conversion for the Tamiya is by Studio 27 . It comes with decals , photo etch and a resin engine cowling with the high tail wing ,the rear diffuser as well as the front 962 type front end if you wish to convert it to that spec . I stuck to the 956 front end version after consulting racing videos and walk arounds . The Pros : Tamiya quality fitting and parts . The decals are good . Easy to build and modify or to upgrade . I have included a photo of the dashboard which comes with many decals .you might note the gauges look like they have acrylic covers . What I did is i added drops of undiluted clear . The Cons : No pedals and fire extinguisher in the cockpit but they are available and i am ordering them . It is about time Tamiya added the pipes which feed the intercooler from the turbo at the end of the crank . Unfortunately I cannot find them on the market . Tamiya included the rear brake airducts to the 962 model but not the 956 . they are available now in the US . Paint: Tamiya Yellow spray , semi gloss black , burnt iron , flat black , white , red , metallic grey , gold leaf , iron , champaign gold . Silver and aluminium . Clear spray post decaling and prior to placing all acrylics . Clear red and orange . Tyre decals : From Indycals USA . Cables and tubes : Added the cables from the 6 cylinders to distributor and oil tubes from the reservoir to crank and second reservoir to axle and gear box . Short tail version The rear diffuser of the short tail rear view of the short tail the dashboard Front view of the long tail Rear view of the long tail engine details The engine in construction General overview of the bare front end . Details

Peugeot 905 ev Lemans 1992 winner This is my first Heller build and I chose a French sports prototype le mans winner . My first impression was good when inspecting the content of the box and I went through the instruction manual to orientate myself better . The pros : You can keep the door hatches up and that is something I was looking forward to since most kits don’t give this option . The engine is quite complete but there are some cons I will mention below .The decals are good and set well . The wheels and tyres are well made . The fit off the engine , cockpit and mainframe chassis is good . You can open the front vents over the front wheels which I did . The cons : The main body and engine cowling do not fit properly on the chassis and are slightly weak or not stiff enough . you have to glue them . If you are used to Tamiya fits then you are in for a deception . In one image you can see how the engine cowling fits out off the box before tempting some adjustment by heat or bending . Absence of shock absorbers and fuel intake gaskets . I added them from reserves I had . Spartan dashboard with one RPM decal . The chassis is slightly warped and therefore you might have to use heat to straiten it up . There is no tow ring at the front . At the back its embedded in the rear wing bracket which is correct . Absence of seat belt decals . I added them . No lights , that is because they say it was a 6hr race where they save weight that the car represents in the kit but they could have added the option for the longer races in my opinion . Colors : Pure white spray , aluminium , burnt iron , iron , semi gloss black . I added some red to the dashboard dials . clear orange , gold leaf , metallic grey . Flat black for the bucket seat and air filter . Cables and pipes : There is no distributor nor plugs on the cylinder heads so I did not add the cables . I added the oil pipes from the pump to crank and a braided line to gear box only as per walk around . added electric cables in the cockpit to the Magneti marelli electronic stations and a pipe hose to the extinguisher . , just wanted to share some DIY china cardboard background cheap diorama's .They cost 3 usd delivered and they have a wide range .

i am now in the process of scratch building the exhaust pipes from 2mm brass tubes (Trumpeter) and the pipes connecting the intercooler to the turbo below the crank in styrene (sprue) . I am waiting for some paints to arrive next week and will post the engine pics again when ready .

Does anyone know if this kit comes with engine or not ?

and finally the decals arrived . This was followed by an overcoat of clear and polish . Mission accomplished , kit saved .

here are pics of todays work which was completing the engine build in the car and placing the oil 1mm rubber hoses and braided lines to engine and gear box . the ideas are from walk arounds . I used a Tamiya scriber and the cutting went well . I then sanded and painted the edges . You will note that the exhaust pipes are still missing ,they are 3 in one's so i might use trumpeter brass tubing for that . Waiting for the decals to arrive from the US any day now and will then post final images .

Removing rear Cowling Very good idea , it did'nt occur to me ,will get down to it right away

AHHH yes , sorry my mistake , i meant that !! here is copy of the decals i'm waiting for https://flic.kr/p/2mjYLTQ and here is the engine placed at correct distance from bulkhead attached to intercoolers and wastegate , i dont know what i'm going to do for exhaust pipes . Next comes the oil cylinder and rubber tubes while waiting for the decals . Once decaled I will coat it all with clear while covering the windshield and headlamp covers followed by a polish .https://flic.kr/p/2mjYAAk

no intentions of rolling back to 956 , its a full spec 962 with engine , 1986 Spa winner .

Hello I purchased the above kit to be completed with the Shell sponsor from 1988 . I did not check what was in the box besides knowing it had no engine . Big mistake . When i opened the box i was surprised to note the whole shell was bonded with the clear acrylics . The second surprise was not being able to remove the front light cover so you could not paint the side wall . Then came the mess of painting twice color over color with the interval of the given masks , Having done that i waited a day and removed the masks including the clear ones . What i got was a blurred windshield and headlights caused by the glue in the masks . Then came the huge black decal to place on the top which would never settle properly . The model was a mess . I saw some modelers painted the top black but even that does not solve the issues since there is a lot of white lines around the cockpit . I lost interest and packed it up . A few days went by and having calmed down i thought of saving the kit . After all i'm stuck at home so why not . First step was to fix the clear acrylics . Out came the sanding paper and stick set from Tamiya and i started with sanding 360 grit 3 mn then wash . Then followed 650 ,1000 , 2000 , 4000 , 6000 , 8000 and to finish 10000 , all 3 mn and wash . Then i applied the Tamiya polish set of 3 tubes and the acrylics were saved see photo . Then i ordered from Indycals the Jagermeister decal set and waiting for them to arrive any day now . Stripped the paint and decals using toyota clutch and brake fluid , primed and painted orange with a touch of red . Then came the issue of the missing engine . Since the 962 was basically a 956 with the IMSA mod spec with larger front and rear wheels the engine used was the same basically . Note that this model has the airducts for the rear brakes . i decided to add the engine . As per photo i cut off a spare engines gearbox from the crank and drive shaft using a Dremel and added the bulkhead as per photos .I will now complete the build as per kit standard instructions and post the photos after the decals arrive .