The Bridge/Bron/Broen - Saga Noren's Porsche 911S

[zebra]

I know what you've all been thinking. All this sci-fi stuff is all well and good, but when are we going to see some Scandi Noir? Well I'll oblige!

 

I recently binge-watched the Danish/Swedish noir drama Bron/Broen, aka The Bridge. The Swedish protagonist Saga Noren drives a rather lovely 1970s Porsche 911S in an unusual olive green-mustardy colour. I can't find a photo that I can be sure I can post, but here's a youtube video showing the star of the show auctioning the car a year or two ago:

 

 

I love this car - whilst cars aren't my usual thing (I probably last made a model car about 35 years ago) I had to build this one. Somehow I didn't feel the same pull to the battered people carrier driven by her Danish counterpart Martin Rohde!

 

The car in question is a 911S from the late 70s. Fujimi does a 1/24 1969 911S which is the right body shape but some of the details aren't right for this particular car - mainly the bumpers, but a few other things like the wing mirrors are differently. However they also do a 1/24 1980s Carrera which is the wrong body shape (the flared wheel arches stand out as the main difference) but has all the other details needed. So a bit of kit bashing is in order.

 

Here's the box shot of the 911S kit:

 

 

And here are the bodies of the two kits side by side - the 911S is on the left:

 

 

In the top photo you can see that the front wheel arch extends a bit further down on the 911S than the Carrera - this is due to the bulkier bumper on the Carrera - and I need to trim it back to match the profile of the Carrera so the bumper will fit. Similarly the bonnet needs to have the Carrera's profile and the simplest thing to do here seems to be to cut out the two bonnets and stick the Carrera's bonnet on the 911S. Then the bulkier sills on the sides of the Carrera need to be transplanted onto the 911S.

 

So here's where I'm up to - I've transplanted the bonnet, removed the excess plastic from the wheel arch, and removed the sills ready to graft on the parts from the Carrera:

 

cheers

Julian

 

[cmatthewbacon]

Great start... I love the way those Fujimi 911s are so “mix and match”. You can build any number of Outlaws, Yellowbirds and Singers with the right permutations...

 

www.scaleproduction.de is a great source for 1/24 911 bits and pieces to fine tune the look and save on extra kits, and Zero Paints will do you a pot of the correct mustard-ish colour. If you search around here, I think we figured out the paint code/colour name a couple of years back...

 

best,

M.

[zebra]

Thanks @cmatthewbacon - I'll have a look at zero paints, although getting them here might be a problem - doesn't seem to be easy to get paint shipped from the UK. Might have to have a go at mixing it myself. 

[Nigel Bunker]

As the person who started the original thread last year, here's a picture of the car I built. It started as a Fujimi kit and I replaced the rear wheel arches by cutting the originals off and building new ones with plastic card and milliput. It may not be totally right but at least I finished it, unlike some of my efforts.

 

 

Thanks for looking.

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Hello Julian.. That color in the video reminds of Zinc Chromate green yellow. You could start with Tamiya yellow green and add green till you get to a color that suits ? 
 

https://www.tamiyausa.com/shop/acrylic-paint-flat-mini-10ml/acrylic-mini-xf-4-yellow-green/

 

looking forward to this its a car in a group build which you don't see to often. 
 

Dennis

[CliffB]

What an excellent choice Julian - I loved the series and loved the car!

Cliff

[zebra]

Not a lot of progress - been busy with other builds - but I've grafted on the sills from the Carrera (a bit of clean-up and blending in still needed here). Also started experimenting with paint mixes, so I've painted a few spoons today. I'm trying to match what I see on the TV screen, which might be a bit different from the real life colour as there seems to be some filtering going on in the shooting of The Bridge. So whilst I could try to get a match for the real life colour, as I'm trying to match what I see on TV it might come out a bit differently. I started with a 'light khaki' which looked pretty close, but it was a bit too green, so tried mixing it with mid stone in various different ratios. The winning spoon is in the photo below - 4 parts light khaki to 1 part mid stone. It looks close enough to me.

 

 

thanks for looking 

Julian

 

[PeterB]

Hi Julian,

 

From what I can remember of the series the car was always rather dirty looking, so that might help with the colour.

 

Pete

[zebra]

Quick update - not been taking as many photos as I could - I've started on the underneath by adding suspension etc. Have decided not to worry about things that won't be visible from outside so not doing much with the engine etc., but have started on interior bits by preparing them for paint. This weekend I should hopefully get time to start painting interior bits, then it looks like assembly should progress pretty quickly.

 

cheers

Julian

[zebra]

Various interior bits painted - classic 70s brown! - and I've given the body shell the first coat of the odd browny green colour. I've landed on a mix of two colours from Scale Modellers Supply - roughly 2 parts 'light khaki' to 1 part mid stone. In this photo it looks a bit bright, but to my eye it looks the part.

 

 

cheers

Julian

[xffw45343tg]

Wot, no carpet?

 

Great choice of subject. Great series. In the story, didn't she win it in a bet?

[zebra]

2 hours ago, Kirk said:

Wot, no carpet?

 

Great choice of subject. Great series. In the story, didn't she win it in a bet?

I’m thinking about whether, and how, to try and replicate the carpet. To be honest I’m not feeling all that excited by this build so might not spend a lot of time on the interior. Will focus on getting a good finish on the outside.

 

yes she won it in a bet - I think she won it from a fellow cadet at the police academy who bet that she wouldn’t complete her training and graduate. 

[xffw45343tg]

I did a quick internet search and it looks like embossing powder  (http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/113589-embossing-powder-replacing-flocking/page/2/ ) may be the way to go. If you are struggling for mojo, perhaps wait for a cold overcast day when the light is fading at about 2 in the afternoon an the watch a couple of episodes. The mere colour of the Porsche will flood your life with warmth.