1/24 Porsche 917K 71' Le Mans Winner

[e30lover]

Hi all, this is the belated full build post for my 917K 71’ Le Mans winner build! I built this last year fall but my work life has been busy and didn’t end up posting this here. My focus for this one was to simulate the actual car (body damage from the race was repaired and Porsche Classic kept it in museum condition while leaving the interior and mechanical parts unrestored), so I focused on getting seamless paint surface, removing any bumps on the surface created by decal thickness, then added light weathering around mechanical bits and tires.

The full detail follows:

- Scribed the panel with and glued the body parts 
- Sanded all the glue lines and prepped the body with 600 grit sandpaper
- Sprayed grey surfacer and white surfacer and sanded with 1500 grit 
- Airbrushed 2 layers of base coat (mixture of pure white and racing white) then laid decals
- Airbrushed Mr Color’s super clear III and sanded the surface with 1500 grit, which I repeated the process about 3 times until I completely evened out the surface and decal thickness
- Sanded the body with 2000 grit and airbrushed the final coat with more diluted clear, then cured the body for a month
- Painted the floor with gloss grey (mixture of black and racing white)
- Sprayed seat and dash with 3M spray adhesive to give texture
- Airbrushed the suspension and engine with various shades of metal colours, gave enamel wash, then dry brushed with silver
- Added weathering effect with pastel on tires then sealed with flat clear
- Brushed the cooling fan with acrylic then airbrushed lacquer on top to simulate kevlar texture
- Polished the body with Tamiya 3 stage compounds and added panel line wash
- Masked and airbrushed headlamp surroundings in flat black
- Sharpened fuel filler caps then painted with Mr Color’s aluminum

Hope y'all enjoy!

Edited July 3, 2022 by e30lover
typo

[Roger U]

A very cleanly built and detailed model. Beautiful photos also.

[1959scudetto]

Very nice model - showroom quality - but too nice to be raced: The real Porsche race cars back then had a rather raw looking finish, were never as nice as this one (with the exception of the Penske CanAm racers, maybe)

Edited July 3, 2022 by 1959scudetto

[Pierre Rivard]

Fabulous build sir, and your photography setup and processing is also fantastic.

[Gramps46]

Beautifully build model of the Porsche.      

[vamach1]

Very nice build and extremely realistic looking.

[e30lover]

17 hours ago, Roger U said:

A very cleanly built and detailed model. Beautiful photos also.

Thank you!

10 hours ago, 1959scudetto said:

Very nice model - showroom quality - but too nice to be raced: The real Porsche race cars back then had a rather raw looking finish, were never as nice as this one (with the exception of the Penske CanAm racers, maybe)

Thanks! Yes I built this based on how Porsche Classic keeps this in showroom and car shows (they left the mechanics as is and only restored the body - they don't actually run this car like some other 917s and they just haul it to shows and back to museums etc):  https://www.classicdriver.com/en/article/cars/le-mans-winning-porsche-917-was-one-hit-wonder

7 hours ago, Pierre Rivard said:

Fabulous build sir, and your photography setup and processing is also fantastic.

Thank you!

7 hours ago, Gramps46 said:

Beautifully build model of the Porsche.      

Thanks!

47 minutes ago, vamach1 said:

Very nice build and extremely realistic looking.

Appreciate it!

[galaxyg]

Very nice, great shine on the paintwork.

[PappyD340]

Excellent build!

[Bainford]

Gorgeous Porsche. Such raw beauty, and you captured it perfectly. Nice clean work. Very well done.

[e30lover]

On 7/4/2022 at 12:43 AM, galaxyg said:

Very nice, great shine on the paintwork.

Thank you! It was tedious to level the surface with clears but I'm glad I didn't do any grave mistake.

On 7/6/2022 at 6:27 PM, PappyD340 said:

Excellent build!

Thank you!

58 minutes ago, Bainford said:

Gorgeous Porsche. Such raw beauty, and you captured it perfectly. Nice clean work. Very well done.

Thanks a lot!

[Mike C]

Really nice clean build.

[ChrisR]

AWESOME!!

[e30lover]

On 7/13/2022 at 4:20 PM, Mike C said:

Really nice clean build.

Thank you! 

On 7/14/2022 at 11:31 AM, ChrisR said:

AWESOME!!

Thanks!

[AJM]

Great job! Model looks incredible!

[Jonathan]

Incredibly beautiful build and photography.  Stellar work.

All these years later, these cars still look modern to me. 

[Dave B]

That's a great build and the photography is second to none.

Thanks for sharing.

Dave B

[Codi]

Chang, your car presents itself so well.  That's one I'd want on my shelf as well.  congrats sir.  cheers, tim

[slusher]

Beautifully done!

[bisc63]

Wonderfully detailed build of an impressive machine. Love the fins!

[e30lover]

On 7/20/2022 at 10:06 AM, AJM said:

Great job! Model looks incredible!

Thank you!

On 7/21/2022 at 8:16 AM, Jonathan said:

Incredibly beautiful build and photography.  Stellar work.

All these years later, these cars still look modern to me. 

Thanks! Yes 917 is such a timeless looking racer.

On 7/21/2022 at 10:12 PM, Dave B said:

That's a great build and the photography is second to none.

Thanks for sharing.

Dave B

Appreciate the compliment! 

On 7/22/2022 at 4:23 PM, Codi said:

Chang, your car presents itself so well.  That's one I'd want on my shelf as well.  congrats sir.  cheers, tim

Thank you! 

On 7/22/2022 at 10:37 PM, slusher said:

Beautifully done!

Thanks!

On 7/23/2022 at 5:31 PM, bisc63 said:

Wonderfully detailed build of an impressive machine. Love the fins!

I would've loved to grab a detailed engine kit by HRM but couldn't find one. Thank you!

[grodudulle77]

Outstanding work, your models are always very neat !!! ???

[mrm]

Very nice clean build. Great finish on it.