Rick Mears 1988 Indy 500 winner PC-17

[ismaelg]

Hello,

This is a placeholder for an upcoming project: Rick Mears 1988 Indy 500 winner.
This was a year of total domination. Penske swept the front row with their PC17 chassis powered by the Ilmor-Chevy Indy engine.
Rick Mears won the pole and all 3 Penske Cars dominated the race.
Rick Mears went on to get his 3rd Indy 500 victory.
In the past, I got hung up on 3 other Indy car projects. I wanted to do so much detail that all 3 eventually got stalled.  This will be different. My intention is to make a nice simple curbside model. No working features or super ultra detailing anything.  Wish me luck. 

I'll use the AMT PC-17 kit. 


I just glued the two engine halves as the official "start".   And already replaced the kit's driveshafts with tubing. 


This will be a long term project.

Thanks,
Ismael

[Pierre Rivard]

It appears Ismael has a thing for yellow race cars. Rumors are spreading fast... 😄

[ismaelg]

Why do you say that? I've only done the yellow C6R, the yellow C7R, working on the yellow Marmon Wasp and now... ohhhh..... you may be right!!!   🤣

[Belugawrx]

I love those 80s Indy cars..you'll have fun with this one Ismael.

I am a bit jealous tho.. that is the one that has escaped me over the years.

 

[Rattlecan Dan]

This will be great, I'm sure. One of the most iconic Indy cars ever. And super driver.

[Belugawrx]

16 hours ago, ismaelg said:

all 3 Penske Cars dominated the race.

LOve this pic

Look forward to your build.

[steveracer]

I will be watching the build!   I built this car what, 25 plus years ago, and still looks great!   The one thing that confuses me is that my model has the standard open wheels, like on the box art, yet the side view on the box art shows a different variant of the aero wheels that you see in the race day photo of the front row start.   I probably picked the deep dish due to my preference for looks.

 

Nonetheless, Ismael, the car builds up beautifully and the cover fits nicely over the engine with a little underside sculpting if I remember.  I also glued the upper and floor together, puttied them together to get rid of the horizontal seam.  I am sure you will be detailing the daylights out of this one....will be fun to watch.  I painted mine Testors yellow and then put future floor wax over the decals and body work....because I figured the Future would yellow over time, but who cares!  :)

[ismaelg]

Thank you everybody!

The confusion on the wheels: The car was qualified and started the race with the aero hubcaps (three holes, not 6 like the kit).  But during the race they changed to regular wheels. I think it was the first or second pit stop. The car finished the race with the regular wheels.  I think Unser's car ran the whole race with the caps.

Thanks,
Ismael

[ismaelg]

Hello,

Just so I can officially say it is started:

Thanks,
Ismael

[ismaelg]

Hello,

Modifying the tub...

The idea is to glue the top and bottom halves so the seams can be worked. (1)
The tub can be installed from the back (2)
The front wings were also separated so the can be installed afterwards (3)

Thanks,
Ismael

[Belugawrx]

If you want to go one step further Ismael, I have had good results by cutting the front suspension off the body and pinning it back on after the body work is completed.

 

[ismaelg]

Thanks!

I am considering that, but I'm trying to keep this one "simple".  I did that on 2 others that have been stalled for years.  This will most likely be a curbside.  For my glacier pace building, this would be a "quickie". 

Thanks,
Ismael

[ismaelg]

Hello,

This is a "simple" build (curbside) that requires a lot of work. This is a fitting battle. Remove material here, add material there. Rinse and repeat.








Veeeery far from seeing a drop of paint and decals.

Thanks,
Ismael

[Straightliner59]

On 4/10/2025 at 4:57 PM, Belugawrx said:

I love those 80s Indy cars..you'll have fun with this one Ismael.

I am a bit jealous tho.. that is the one that has escaped me over the years.

 

There are a mess of them on Ebay. All are what I'd call reasonably priced. Scratch that itch!😃

[Belugawrx]

Just now, Straightliner59 said:

There are a mess of them on Ebay. All are what I'd call reasonably priced. Scratch that itch!😃

Great,   another squirrel to chase ...lol

[Straightliner59]

3 minutes ago, Belugawrx said:

Great,   another squirrel to chase ...lol

Well, you know--we all need those!

[ismaelg]

I believe both PC-17: the Pennzoil (Rick Mears) and the Miller (Danny Sullivan) are the same kit with different decals. Get either one, toss the decals and get a proper set from Indycals.
As you can see this one is molded in yellow but I think the Miller is molded in white. 

Thanks,
Ismael

[Belugawrx]

43 minutes ago, ismaelg said:

I believe both PC-17: the Pennzoil (Rick Mears) and the Miller (Danny Sullivan)

Crossed that one off the list some years ago..

[ismaelg]

Very nice! Love it!

[bbowser]

5 hours ago, Belugawrx said:

Crossed that one off the list some years ago..

Love that livery!  I've got Bobby Allison's NASCAR Buick in that scheme.

[ismaelg]

Hello,

It may not look like much but there are some hours of work here... and many more to go.




 

Thanks,
Ismael

[bbowser]

Looking great!

[Pierre Rivard]

I know the feeling Ismael. Sometimes a lot of work is not visible but will add up in the end. it is sweating the details such as panel fit and finish that result in more lifelike replicas. You're making a silk purse out of a sow's ear!

[ismaelg]

Hello,

This is a test:  Since this will be a curbside, all the attention is on fit and finish. 
 
Modified this side...


so this can be fitted here instead of there...


You get the idea where this is going.


A bit more fiddling here before replicating on the other side.
 

Thanks,
Ismael

[ismaelg]

Hello,

Just moving along. On its way but still a long way to go before paint.

Thanks,
Ismael