Porsche 356B Coupe, Revell, 1/16

[Matt Bacon]

Thanks very much, all... I think we're on the home straight now:

If there's one key piece of advice I'd want you to take away from this model if you're building the same kit, this is it: getting the interior tub in using the snap fittings is a complete s*d. First, don't bother putting in the windscreen when they tell you to in the instructions; it will fall out repeatedly as you flex the body to get the interior in. Secondly, cut off the front mounting sockets from the tub and just use the back pair. Finally, what you are trying to do is first, get the  top of the dash into the windscreen aperture; secondly, get the doors into the spaces in the side wall of the tub, and thirdly make sure the rear shelf in the tub is inside the back window. With the body and tub upside-down,  I'd bring the tub in from the front (into the tapering body), backwards and angled into and downwards towards the back,  flexing the body sides outwards to get the doors in place and making sure the rear end sits inside the window, then push the front into the body, with a small screwdriver or similar to ease the top of the dash into the window space (it should be  be a millimeter or so above the body edge, and the gap is hidden by the windscreen frame). Then, wiggle it forwards a bit to get the rear mountings into the right place.The tub will snick into place quite firmly without the socket/pillar arrangement coming into play, and the chassis/floor will keep it there. Finally, after a quick clean of the insides of all the windows in case bits of paint have been knocked off during the (quite aggressive) snapping process, you can put the front window in.

best,

M.

[Anglia105E]

First of all Matt, I must say that your interior has been completed to a very high standard, and...... you have gone the extra mile by explaining in detail how the interior tub must be fitted. Clearly, this is not an easy procedure. I encountered similar problems with a Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud interior tub, although nowhere near as complicated as this build of yours. I haven't seen one of these 1:16 Revell Porsche 356B kits done before, so this topic was very interesting. The red interior and silver bodywork combination works so well for an old Porsche, and is that a Triumph TR3A in the background, or a TR2 even?

David

[Bennyg]

Awesome work Matt. I plan to copy your work for mine after I finish the Revell 1/24  GT Le Mans. Thanks for finding the problems. 

Ben

[The Creative Explorer]

On 22-11-2018 at 2:35 AM, Ace-Garageguy said:

Looks like you're doing a fine job. 

Having spent quite literally hundreds of hours under, over, around and through 356s, I have some criticisms of tooling decisions that were made, but all in all, the kit seems to be fairly accurate.

One BIG gripe I have is the failure to tool the wheels with separate hubcaps. This is going to make it unnecessarily difficult to build the thing as a race car or "outlaw", and builders wanting to do just that are most likely a rather large segment of the potential buyers.

I'm also curious as to why the B was chosen as the subject. In the real world, the A and C/SC series cars are vastly more desirable and valuable.

As far as the"loudhailer" goes, my guess is that somebody along the line interpreted an alarm siren as an essential part of a Porsche, and just mindlessly tooled it...rather like the Soviets copied completely unnecessary and non-essential markings when they duplicated a B-29.

The wheels were one of the first things I noticed and got dissapointed about when I got the kit. I am working on a set of wheels for the 356 without hubcaps, it just looks so much better.

I was hoping for a A, but I think they chose the B, since there are more versions for available that are commercially viable. And it is easier to go from a B to a C, than from a A to a B.

As mentioned before, the loudhailer is for a upcoming police version. The Germans used them for the polizei and the Dutch for the RIjkspolitie.

[Ace-Garageguy]

6 hours ago, The Creative Explorer said:

...I think they chose the B, since there are more versions for available that are commercially viable. And it is easier to go from a B to a C, than from a A to a B...

Well, with the A, you've got 4 possible bodies: Speedster, "Convertible D", cabriolet and coupe, plus the 4-cam Carrera versions of those body styles. The B/C body shell deletes the Speedster but keeps a "roadster" style (both had removable roadster-type windshield frames, while a cabriolet has a welded-in integrated frame), only adds the Karmann notchback coupe to the possibles list, far as I recall, and it's not a widely known version anyway...but you still have only 4 possible body types.

If they'd done an A, I'd buy all of 'em. If they'd done a C (which has disc brakes as the main difference), I'd buy at least one. But the B? Probably not any time soon, and then only to convert it to an A.

The  A Speedster is THE most iconic of all the 356 cars, so I just don't get the strategy. Kinda like if you can only do one 1950s Chevy, picking the '58.

 

Edited December 16, 2018 by Ace-Garageguy

[The Creative Explorer]

1 hour ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Well, with the A, you've got 4 possible bodies: Speedster, "Convertible D", cabriolet and coupe, plus the 4-cam Carrera versions of those body styles. The B/C body shell deletes the Speedster but keeps a "roadster" style (both had removable roadster-type windshield frames, while a cabriolet has a welded-in integrated frame), only adds the Karmann notchback coupe to the possibles list, far as I recall, and it's not a widely known version anyway...but you still have only 4 possible body types.

If they'd done an A, I'd buy all of 'em. If they'd done a C (which has disc brakes as the main difference), I'd buy at least one. But the B? Probably not any time soon, and then only to convert it to an A.

The  A Speedster is THE most iconic of all the 356 cars, so I just don't get the strategy. Kinda like if you can only do one 1950s Chevy, picking the '58.

 

Bill,

I agree with you, but it is what it is. and I am glad that there is a 356 in big scale to begin with. I would've preffered the A always over the B and C, but appearantly the B (and C) is more popular or commercially the better choice. Revell knows how to tackle this and even though I love the A, I assume the B/C is more popular.

All in all, let's just be happy that Revell made us two 356's in 1/16 scale that look pretty ok ;-) At least Revell dares to stick it's neck out. ;-)

[milo1303s]

This kit looks like it would kitbash well with the Revell VW beetle

yes or no?

[Matt Bacon]

You probably could, but at the price they want for one Beetle (never mind the new issue “Technic” release with lights) you could have both the coupe and cabriolet kits and detail the one with parts from the other...

best,

M.

[The Creative Explorer]

Depends a bit where you live I guess, over here, the Beetles go between 20 and 30 euro.

And I agree, you could kitbash them, but I can't think of a good reason. The only reason might be the engine, and that is not a very detailled engine, the one in the Beetle kit is better detailled.

[Dann Tier]

WOW!!!!!!!!!!, looking Amazing, bud!!!!

[Bugatti Fan]

Erik, you can probably take some resin casts from the spare wheel of you want to make a model without hub caps on the wheels.