Minichamps 1/18 Porsche 956 Le Mans 1982

[Pascal]

I bought this model some 15 years ago. It was damaged, some decals had yellowed and the Rothmans decals were missing.

 

As usual, I forgot to take photos of my model before I started the disassembly, but this is how it looks when new :

 

Photo from Carmodel.com, for reference purpose only

 

The interior :

 

Photo from Carmodel.com, for reference purpose only

 

As with most 956 scale models, this one has a seat for the passenger :

 

 

I started by enlarging the space for the driver's legs  :

 

 

And cut the passenger seat from the frame :

 

 

I'm covering the interior with aluminium tape. But the result is to shiny. I used Commandant 4 polishing compound to make it more dull.

 

This compound is used to polish, but if you use it with a cottonbud, you can make the alu tape less shiny :

 

 

The beam in the middle of the floor was enlarged and covered with the alu tape :

 

 

I still have to add 2 triangles to the beam, you can see the right one in this photo :

 

 

This photo shows the new panel I made, the hole will receive the scratchbuild fuelpumps :

 

 

The panel has not been treated with Commandant 4 and shows how shiny the alu tape is before treatment :

 

 

Will be quite a job to make the fuelpumps, 1/1 scale reference photo :

 

 

I did a lot of sanding to the bottom plate, removed some plastic and added some strips :

 

 

Sincerely

 

Pascal

 

 

[keefr22]

Another cool project Pascal, shall watch with interest!

 

Keith

[Pascal]

Nice to have you along Keith.

 

Update :

 

I've started making the pieces for the fuel pump construction. Reference photo :

 

 

Made 4 cylinders with the lathe and added a hex nut :

 

 

They will be polished and the shine toned down later :

 

 

Dryfit with the tubes that are attached to the bottom of the cylinders :

 

 

 

Added some details and weathered the interior. The light on my workbench make it look way more shinier then it is in daytime :

 

 

 

I used PE buckles from Uli Nowak, first time for me, but I'll use them again in the future because they look very good :

 

 

Used the lathe to make 2 fire extinguishers  :

 

 

The left side will be sanded to a more rounded shape  :

 

 

Sincerely

 

Pascal

[klubman01]

Nice work with the lathe.  One of my favourite race cars.  I shall follow with interest.

Trevor

[Vesa Jussila]

Really cool project and nice start.

[keefr22]

Neat work Pascal, I do like the extinquishers. 👍

 

Keith

 

[Pascal]

Been quite a while, but here's a summary of the work that I've the last months.

 

Minichamps made this model as a kind of "generic" version of 956 Rothmans Porsches from 1982 till 1986. It's even stamped on the underside of the floorboard.

 

So a lot of modification need te be done to make this a 1982 version.

 

The engine and gearbox will get quite a few mod's, this photo shows the starter motor in the middle, this will be replace by a scratchbuild one :

 

 

The rond part - with the flat bottom - will be removed and replaced  :

 

 

First test of fitting an alu ring to the front of the engine, the final version will be a lot wider :

 

 

The supports for the rear suspension are massive and don't have the right shape.

 

Before :

 

 

After : 

 

 

 

I started by modifying the top part of the rear frame :

 

 

 

But it still didn't look right and was'nt strong enough. So I started making a new one.

 

A first version :

 

 

 

The plastic tubes were replaced by brass tubes  :

 

 

The plastic tubes on this part were removed :

 

 

And replace by 5 alu rods :

 

 

Not quite the same as on the real car, but the tubes will be hardly visible and they have to fit inside the body :

 

 

Minichamps didn't add the turbo's on their 956 models, here the start of the homemade turbo's :

 

 

A lot of hours later :

 

 

The turbo's will require some extra work and they will get some small details, but I'm quite happy with this first version.

 

I could have bought aftermarket turbo's, but they also require some mod's and I find them to expensive.

 

That's it for now. I made a ton of other small parts, these I will show in future updates.

 

Sincerely

 

Pascal