Fujimi Enthusiast Model - Porsche 356C

[radiohd10]

Spent the last couple of weeks in Covid quarantine which gave me plenty of time to get through this beast. It’s my first Porsche and my first fujimi kit and I was always too scared to start it because of all the parts it comes with. Glad I did though - it wasn’t an easy build but it was definitely my favorite to date. I hope to buy a few more very soon.
 

I did a bit of engine/interior detailing and adjusted the ride height but I wanted to build this one mostly out of the box so I could get a feel for it - I’ll get more detailed on the next one.   Paint is tamiya spray cans - body is pearl light green over silver leaf and cleared with ts-13, interior is racing white and matte clear.  

Hope you all had a great 4th ??
 

 

[cobraman]

Very, very nice !

[happy grumpy]

It's just beautiful. I love the Porsche of that era, Beautiful design and pure styling. And the detailing you put in there is awesome. I like everything about it. ?

[Rich Chernosky]

Those Enthusiast kits have some awesome detail and you did a bang-up job on this one. I think the color really suits it too. Well done. 

[Bainford]

Lovely Porsche. You did a beautiful job on it. Nice and clean. Top job!

I’ve been wanting to do one of the Enthusiast Series Porsches myself. I have a 69 911 in the stash I’m anxious to get to soon. I’m feeling a bit inspired. 

[bisc63]

Fantastic build with a keen eye to detail. The finish is just beautiful. That Tamiya pearl green is becoming a favorite of mine, as I've seen so many models on here that it looks SO right on!

[bbowser]

Beautiful car, love that color!

[mrm]

Beautifully executed model. 

[70 Sting]

Very fine build. ?

[jaymcminn]

Absolutely beautiful. The EM 356 series might be my favorite model cars of all time.

[showrods]

Outstanding!

I've never seen any years given for these Porsches.  Are they meant to be generic early - mid 60s 356's or is there some way that you can tell the exact year just by looking at it?

[peteski]

I love the color!

As for the exact year, many European makes did not really change from year to year. Some models lasted several years.

[unclescott58]

Beautiful job. The older I get, the better I like Porsche 356s. 

Edited July 7, 2022 by unclescott58

[Ace-Garageguy]

46 minutes ago, showrods said:

...Are they meant to be generic early - mid 60s 356's or is there some way that you can tell the exact year just by looking at it?

The Porsche 356 series came in four general models, 356 (pre-A), and 356A, B, and C, with sub-variations within the models. (There are also the very early, very rare "Gmund" alloy-bodied cars that look somewhat different, built from 1948-'52)

A somewhat loose recognition guide for the standard 356 series follows:

356 pre-A cars through '52 had split windshields, V-eed windshields through '55, narrower and rounded-front hoods, with lower headlights. 1950-1955

The A-series cars were visually similar, but had one-piece smooth-curved windshields.   1955-'59

B-series cars had raised headlights, but retained the round-front A-style hood.   1959-'63

Late B and C-series cars had a somewhat wider and squared nose hood, like this model.

C-series cars also went to disc brakes and the 911 wheel bolt pattern, instead of the VW-derived "wide-5" pattern. 1963-'65

More info: https://www.pca.org/news/model-guide-356-the-simple-porsche

BEAUTIFUL model, by the way. Best use of quarantine time I've seen to date.   

 

[showrods]

7 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

The Porsche 356 series came in four general models, 356 (pre-A), and 356A, B, and C, with sub-variations within the models. (There are also the very early, very rare "Gmund" alloy-bodied cars that look somewhat different, built from 1948-'52)

A somewhat loose recognition guide for the standard 356 series follows:

356 pre-A cars through '52 had split windshields, V-eed windshields through '55, narrower and rounded-front hoods, with lower headlights. 1950-1955

The A-series cars were visually similar, but had one-piece smooth-curved windshields.   1955-'59

B-series cars had raised headlights, but retained the round-front A-style hood.   1959-'63

Late B and C-series cars had a somewhat wider and squared nose hood, like this model.

C-series cars also went to disc brakes and the 911 wheel bolt pattern, instead of the VW-derived "wide-5" pattern. 1963-'65

More info: https://www.pca.org/news/model-guide-356-the-simple-porsche

BEAUTIFUL model, by the way. Best use of quarantine time I've seen to date.   

 

Thanks for all this info Bill - much appreciated.  In any case, still strange that Fujimi didn't assign a year to these Porsche kits.

I remember these 356s vividly when I was in Germany as a kid.  They just blew by passenger cars on the Autobahn (ours lol) which may have had unlimited speed even then.  Police also used 356s.  Which reminds me - let's see a build of the Fujimi "Patrol Car"!

 

[radiohd10]

13 hours ago, cobraman said:

Very, very nice !

 

11 hours ago, happy grumpy said:

It's just beautiful. I love the Porsche of that era, Beautiful design and pure styling. And the detailing you put in there is awesome. I like everything about it. ?

 

11 hours ago, Rich Chernosky said:

Those Enthusiast kits have some awesome detail and you did a bang-up job on this one. I think the color really suits it too. Well done. 

 

11 hours ago, Bainford said:

Lovely Porsche. You did a beautiful job on it. Nice and clean. Top job!

I’ve been wanting to do one of the Enthusiast Series Porsches myself. I have a 69 911 in the stash I’m anxious to get to soon. I’m feeling a bit inspired. 

11 hours ago, bbowser said:

Beautiful car, love that color!

11 hours ago, mrm said:

Beautifully executed model. 

9 hours ago, 70 Sting said:

Very fine build. ?

9 hours ago, jaymcminn said:

Absolutely beautiful. The EM 356 series might be my favorite model cars of all time.

8 hours ago, peteski said:

I love the color!

As for the exact year, many European makes did not really change from year to year. Some models lasted several years.

8 hours ago, unclescott58 said:

Beautiful job. The older I get, the I like Porsche 356s. 

7 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

The Porsche 356 series came in four general models, 356 (pre-A), and 356A, B, and C, with sub-variations within the models. (There are also the very early, very rare "Gmund" alloy-bodied cars that look somewhat different, built from 1948-'52)

A somewhat loose recognition guide for the standard 356 series follows:

356 pre-A cars through '52 had split windshields, V-eed windshields through '55, narrower and rounded-front hoods, with lower headlights. 1950-1955

The A-series cars were visually similar, but had one-piece smooth-curved windshields.   1955-'59

B-series cars had raised headlights, but retained the round-front A-style hood.   1959-'63

Late B and C-series cars had a somewhat wider and squared nose hood, like this model.

C-series cars also went to disc brakes and the 911 wheel bolt pattern, instead of the VW-derived "wide-5" pattern. 1963-'65

More info: https://www.pca.org/news/model-guide-356-the-simple-porsche

BEAUTIFUL model, by the way. Best use of quarantine time I've seen to date.   

 

Thanks guys! 

11 hours ago, bisc63 said:

Fantastic build with a keen eye to detail. The finish is just beautiful. That Tamiya pearl green is becoming a favorite of mine, as I've seen so many models on here that it looks SO right on!

Mine too - The pearl light blue is also great. I have a can of it in red but haven’t tried it out yet. 

 

 

8 hours ago, showrods said:

Outstanding!

I've never seen any years given for these Porsches.  Are they meant to be generic early - mid 60s 356's or is there some way that you can tell the exact year just by looking at it?

The guys up top basically said it. I used a 63 as reference and the kit matches up pretty darn closely, so that’s what I’m calling it. Could easily be a 64 though too 
 

 

[Jim B]

Great looking Porsche.  Well done.

[radiohd10]

3 minutes ago, showrods said:

Thanks for all this info Bill - much appreciated.  In any case, still strange that Fujimi didn't assign a year to these Porsche kits.

I remember these 356s vividly when I was in Germany as a kid.  They just blew by passenger cars on the Autobahn (ours lol) which may have had unlimited speed even then.  Police also used 356s.  Which reminds me - let's see a build of the Fujimi "Patrol Car"!

 

The kit lets you choose from a few different options, and the bodies are basically the same from year to year, so I think they let you determine the year by customizing it. Just a guess though 

[showrods]

Am I correct in saying that these kits are all discontinued? 

[radiohd10]

10 minutes ago, showrods said:

Am I correct in saying that these kits are all discontinued? 

I believe so. I found this on eBay and it was a little pricey. Got a good deal though based on the prices I saw most of them listed for. This is what the box looks like (ignore the jag photo bomb - it arrived the same day lol)

Edited July 7, 2022 by radiohd10

[Pierre Rivard]

Wow, beautifully done. Particularly impressed with all that perfect chrome.

[drodg]

Beautiful job.  I love that car.  I have it somewhere in my storage but afraid of it!

[ChrisR]

Looks great!

[radiohd10]

1 hour ago, Pierre Rivard said:

Wow, beautifully done. Particularly impressed with all that perfect chrome.

Thanks - I spent a lot of time on the chrome bits but the trim was so well defined that it was pretty painless. Drilling out the instrument panel and adding the wire for the chrome bezels was the toughest part.  
 

40 minutes ago, drodg said:

Beautiful job.  I love that car.  I have it somewhere in my storage but afraid of it!

I hear you…don’t let the size of the project deter you. The toughest thing about the kit is getting all the parts cleaned up…the body especially…but I find that process fairly meditative, so once I got things going I just zoned out and it was pretty smooth sailing. Definitely worth the time and effort. 

[espo]

Great looking color and this build is so cleanly detailed everywhere you look. The interior is a model all by itself.