Fujimi Porsche 917K, an art project

[Deathgoblin]

This is the Fujimi Porsche 917K kit, the red one with white stripes, normally. I had previously gotten the Heller/Union kit, vut it was unbuildable (at the time), so I scrapped it and kept the decals. I wanted to do the Martini livery, so I broke the decals out for this one and after trying to use them, found they were so old they wouldn't come off the backing. I scanned the decals and re-drew them using Paint Shop Pro and printed them on Testors decal paper. I made the wings on the back from sheet styrene. It came out pretty good overall. 

[Deathgoblin]

There's precisely one original decal from the Union kit.  The sponsor decals on the driver's side showing Bosch, Firestone and Bilstein.  The one I had printed rolled up and was unusable, so I pulled out the original sheet and clear coated them.  Cut it out and soaked it, then kept tapping the back of it with more water with a q-tip, then carefully peeled it off the paper.  

[bbowser]

Looks great!  I know what you mean about the Heller kit.

[Rich Chernosky]

Very nice conversion, I'm a big Martini livery fan...so I like it.

[Pierre Rivard]

I too love the Martini livery. Good save on the decal issue. Your build is excellent!

[Jim B]

Great looking 917.  I really like it.

I recently built the Revell of Germany 917KH, which is essentially the Fujimi kit, and it was a bear to get together.

[Deathgoblin]

3 hours ago, Jim B said:

Great looking 917.  I really like it.

I recently built the Revell of Germany 917KH, which is essentially the Fujimi kit, and it was a bear to get together.

The worst part of it was the rear end suspension/frame.  It's a little fiddly and wants to pop apart.  It didn't help that the chassis pan on mine was a little warped.  Still would rather build a fleet of these than the Heller.  Just wish it had the engine.  

[ChrisR]

Well done!

[Jonathan]

Nicely done! 

I tried to build the Heller kit when I was kid and was, no surprise, unsuccessful.  Impressive work with the decals.

[TonyK]

Very nice model! Your extra effort was well worth it.

I built the Revell of Germany version and it wasn't enjoyable.

[Gramps46]

The rescue of the decals and the build of the Fujimi kit came out very well.  Now just a smidgen of defense of the Heller kit.  It was the only thing on the market at the time and surely had its problems, especially the fit of the rear bonnet.  But we were happy to have it at the time and yes, we did build it.

[Dave B]

That's a very nice build, tks for posting.  And yes, I would guess all us "old bloke's" have actually built more than one Heller kit, I still have my Martini version 917.

Dave B

[Deathgoblin]

I may take another crack at the Heller kit.  It was pretty nicely detailed overall, but I think I'll redo the frame next time.  The wheels and tires on it were so nice I kept them.  I'll figure out another use.  Still got a gluebombed Goober Wagon that I may have some fun with.  Flat Ferrari 12 and tires from the 917? 

[Rattlecan Dan]

Very nice build. Great detail and realism. Super job. Thanks for posting.

[Bruce Scully]

A great looking build , nice work.

[Phildaupho]

Gorgeous 917. Great job with the decals. How did you seal the red from bleeding through the white?

[Allan31]

Beautiful job.

I can't imagine building ye olde Heller with regular glue, super-glue makes the rear buildable.

I have a couple of trans-kits for the 917 and noticed the Fujimi is much wider than the Heller, who is correct?

 

Edited March 8, 2024 by Allan31

[Bainford]

Beautiful 917. A lovely replica of the great machine. Very nice work here, and props on those decals.

I really need to pick up one of these kits. 

[PappyD340]

Very nice!

[Deathgoblin]

On 3/8/2024 at 10:59 AM, Phildaupho said:

Gorgeous 917. Great job with the decals. How did you seal the red from bleeding through the white?

Actually I used white inkjet printer decal film, and printed the colors over top.  I let the ink dry for about 12 hours or so, then hit them with a coat of clear.  There's a few spots where the color tried to come off, but I can live with it. 

[Phildaupho]

11 hours ago, Deathgoblin said:

Actually I used white inkjet printer decal film, and printed the colors over top.  I let the ink dry for about 12 hours or so, then hit them with a coat of clear.  There's a few spots where the color tried to come off, but I can live with it. 

Thanks but I was referring to the red plastic of the body. Years ago I tried painting a red plastic body white and it turned out pink !!

[cifenet]

These kits aren't easy to build and tough to finish due many round surfaces and decals giving all kind of problems. 

You did an awesome job making this racer look very good.  Even the decals are home made!  Great work!

 

[Deathgoblin]

On 3/13/2024 at 10:43 AM, Phildaupho said:

Thanks but I was referring to the red plastic of the body. Years ago I tried painting a red plastic body white and it turned out pink !!

Oh!  My mistake.    The whole body was actually molded in white, frame was  molded in black.  Nothing was molded in red on this copy of the kit.

[robdebie]

On 3/8/2024 at 6:13 PM, Allan31 said:

I have a couple of trans-kits for the 917 and noticed the Fujimi is much wider than the Heller, who is correct?

Hi Allen, long time ago! I can answer your question: the Fujimi model is some 4 mm too wide, from the nose to the rear cockpit bulkhead. Put the Fujimi and Heller models next to each other, and you'll see how much wider the Fujimi kit is. Since the nose section is too wide, the rear half appears to be too narrow, but it's approximately correct. The resin sets 'correct' that by adding even more width. Sigh..

This shape problem is too big for me, so I prefer the old Heller kit. But most modelers don't care much about shapes, or 'see' them, so your mileage may vary. The Heller kit requires more than average attention though, it's a bit of a French diva.

I measured the Heller kit extensively, and it's very close to the published dimensions. It has a rear deck for the widest wheels used on the 917, the 17" ones. I seem to remember that only Wyer/Gulf used those. I converted mine to the width for 15" rear wheels. I also added a 1 mm strip between the bottom and top halves, increasing the height a tad - that's the only shape problem that I see.

Rob

[Allan31]

Hi Rob, Good to hear from you again.

I also prefer the olde Heller kit, what ever shapemissues there are can fixed.  I'm surprised Fujimi got this wrong. They redid the Cobra and I still think the old Monogram is better.  Just my 2cents. 

Have you finished any 917s yet, pics please.....

 

Edited March 24, 2024 by Allan31