Porsche Carrera GT by CDW - Tamiya - 1:12 Scale - PLASTIC

[king derelict]

The carbon fibre effect is very nice, very subtle.

Alan

[CDW]

Rear suspension coming together slowly. Parts fit well.

[CDW]

With the rear suspension done, will move on to inner fenders and ductwork tomorrow.

[Canute]

The carbon fiber looks very good. Nice subtle effect. 👍

[yvesvidal]

Are the rear wheels articulated? It looks like this suspension system could work very well.

 

Yves

[CDW]

22 minutes ago, yvesvidal said:

Are the rear wheels articulated? It looks like this suspension system could work very well.

 

Yves

Yes, it is articulated. A bit on the stiff side, though. Probably the real one has a rather stiff ride as well, but things are designed and built for traction rather than a comfort ride.

I presented those photos now because in the next steps, most of the rear suspension will be hidden by the carbon fiber fender well tubs.

Edited August 22 by CDW

[CDW]

With just a few minor details left to add here, will move on next to the interior area of the Porsche Carrera GT.

I am happy with the faux carbon fiber painted areas. Not perfect, but decals probably would not be perfect either. Not at least if placed by me.

[CDW]

At this stage of the build, only a few parts are added to the interior: a pair of Bose speakers, brake, clutch, and accelerator pedals, and a couple of polished kick plates. At this scale, even "small details" are large enough to be noticed, i.e.: the Bose placard decals.

From here, will move on to the front suspension build sequence.

[Javlin]

Craig I am not that big into cars these days been involved with them for over 40years between machinist/parts but that CF you pulled off is cool as heck.Now lets go the issue of the Hawk ...how did you get him to sit still for three shots? offer a free squirrel?steak?

[CDW]

1 hour ago, Javlin said:

Craig I am not that big into cars these days been involved with them for over 40years between machinist/parts but that CF you pulled off is cool as heck.Now lets go the issue of the Hawk ...how did you get him to sit still for three shots? offer a free squirrel?steak?

😅

My wife took the photos. He was staring at her. She had him hypnotized, I guess.

[Javlin]

13 minutes ago, CDW said:

😅

My wife took the photos. He was staring at her. She had him hypnotized, I guess.

[king derelict]

Beautiful work Craig. The detail is exquisite.

Alan

[CDW]

2 hours ago, king derelict said:

Beautiful work Craig. The detail is exquisite.

Alan

Thanks, Alan!

[CDW]

What you see here of the front suspension will mostly be hidden from view when the model is completed. Photos are for posterity. It will be hidden but not forgotten. A small amount will possibly be seen through the wheel spokes perhaps but that’s about all.

 

I can see why one might invest in a tumbler/polisher. There is a lot of time and effort required to clean up the cast metal parts just to prepare them for painting. While the castings are Tamiya quality, there are still mold lines to contend with. 
 

Right now I am considering whether or not to install LED head and tail lamps. If I’m going to do that, now is the time to figure out the wire routing. I’ve been studying Arduino boards by watching videos and reading up on them. Ever heard of Arduino boards? You can do some very interesting light programming with these little marvels of modern technology.

[Canute]

It's a shame that all that beautiful work will disappear under the car's skin. But, you'll know it's there. 😄

 

Arduinos are great for do-it-yourself lighting set-ups. And if you really want automation, you can control servos for that. Another rabbit hole to explore.

[CDW]

10 minutes ago, Canute said:

It's a shame that all that beautiful work will disappear under the car's skin. But, you'll know it's there. 😄

 

Arduinos are great for do-it-yourself lighting set-ups. And if you really want automation, you can control servos for that. Another rabbit hole to explore.

Oh it’s a rabbit hole for sure. I wish I had known about those boards when I was building my fire engine pumper. It would have been a great addition having all the lights working.

[Landlubber Mike]

Looking really good Craig.  The kit looks like it goes together really nicely, and those PE enhancements really make the model pop.

[gsdpic]

2 hours ago, Canute said:

It's a shame that all that beautiful work will disappear under the car's skin. But, you'll know it's there. 😄

 

Arduinos are great for do-it-yourself lighting set-ups. And if you really want automation, you can control servos for that. Another rabbit hole to explore.

Or relays or solenoids....the possibilities are endless.   Years ago, with much help from the web, I built a small controller using an arduino that dripped water with precise timing, and then took pictures of the colliding water drops.  I programmed it to automatically take picture after picture while varying the timing slightly, then I could sift through and look for the best results.  If anyone is intrigued by that, see here:  https://pbase.com/gsdpic/waterdrops&page=all

 

Another thought I had but have not attempted:   Especially for a large scale car, it might be possible to use servos to open and close doors or the hood.   One could have the car safely in a case, with a few buttons on the base to remotely open the door or hood.   I have one of the 1/12th scale porsche race cars in my stash, perhaps I could try it on that.

 

[CDW]

2 hours ago, gsdpic said:

Or relays or solenoids....the possibilities are endless.   Years ago, with much help from the web, I built a small controller using an arduino that dripped water with precise timing, and then took pictures of the colliding water drops.  I programmed it to automatically take picture after picture while varying the timing slightly, then I could sift through and look for the best results.  If anyone is intrigued by that, see here:  https://pbase.com/gsdpic/waterdrops&page=all

 

Another thought I had but have not attempted:   Especially for a large scale car, it might be possible to use servos to open and close doors or the hood.   One could have the car safely in a case, with a few buttons on the base to remotely open the door or hood.   I have one of the 1/12th scale porsche race cars in my stash, perhaps I could try it on that.

 

I'll be sure to watch your video, it sounds very interesting to me. That's a great idea about servos to open and close doors, trunks, hoods, etc. There is micro-size linear servos used on ultra-small RC planes these days that would be perfect for that purpose. 

[CDW]

2 hours ago, gsdpic said:

Or relays or solenoids....the possibilities are endless.   Years ago, with much help from the web, I built a small controller using an arduino that dripped water with precise timing, and then took pictures of the colliding water drops.  I programmed it to automatically take picture after picture while varying the timing slightly, then I could sift through and look for the best results.  If anyone is intrigued by that, see here:  https://pbase.com/gsdpic/waterdrops&page=all

 

Wow! Those photos are amazing. 

[CDW]

A dry fit mockup of the dash after laying down the initial colors. The seats will be similarly colored, a custom mix of Ascot Brown, titanium silver, and semi-gloss black. All that front suspension is about to be buried. A full metal (heavy) chassis pan will eventually extend from front to back before all is said and done, covering the detail from the bottom. Interior and cargo area will cover the top.

[CDW]

Making a little more progress

 

 

[DocRob]

Looking absolutely fantastic. The benefit of classic cars is, a lot of the innards stay visible, where you have to hide your precious work. Anyway, I love your carbon fiber work, never heard of that method, but will brain store it, as CF-decals can be also a pain.

Cheers Rob

[Landlubber Mike]

Great work Craig!  I really like that brown simulated leather for the interior.  Is that Ascot Brown?  Can I ask what paint manufacturer?  It really looks good.

[CDW]

On 8/29/2024 at 2:00 PM, DocRob said:

Looking absolutely fantastic. The benefit of classic cars is, a lot of the innards stay visible, where you have to hide your precious work. Anyway, I love your carbon fiber work, never heard of that method, but will brain store it, as CF-decals can be also a pain.

Cheers Rob

 

36 minutes ago, Landlubber Mike said:

Great work Craig!  I really like that brown simulated leather for the interior.  Is that Ascot Brown?  Can I ask what paint manufacturer?  It really looks good.

Thanks for the nice comments guys.

Yes, it's Ascot Brown. It's a custom Tamiya mix. 2 parts flat yellow, 1 part flat red, and 4 parts hull red. 

 

Last night I masked off the seats and steering wheel then finished the detailed painting of those. Maybe I will find the time over this long weekend to finish the interior and start painting the body panels. There are numerous panels, and I am concerned about getting all the panels to match shade. There's no practical way to paint it all assembled.

[Old Collingwood]

Excellent work  Craig.

 

OC.

[king derelict]

The details and the finish are absolutely stunning 

alan

[CDW]

21 minutes ago, Old Collingwood said:

Excellent work  Craig.

 

OC.

 

12 minutes ago, king derelict said:

The details and the finish are absolutely stunning 

alan

Thanks for the kind words. They are encouraging.

[CDW]

The next order of business is the trunk area. The trunk is a heavy white metal casting, apparently designed to give the finished model a more heavy, realistic feel. Here, I have polished and then primed the metal casting with Mr Metal Primer, which is a clear primer.

 

Once the metal primer kicked off, I primed the casting with Scale Finishes white primer, a lacquer-based primer. The 2 oz bottle comes prethinned, airbrush ready. It went down very smoothly and does not build up heavily in a couple of passes. This will probably be a very good base coat for my next steps, the finish coats.

 

I'm working outside my comfort zone as this time I will be using a gloss enamel for the finish color of the model. Enamels dry slowly and will require several days or more curing time after painting before handling. Handling too soon is a sure way to leave fingerprints and a marred finish. The advantage of enamel is the extreme gloss finish without the need for polishing or clear coats. Again, I'll be using a Scale Finishes product for the final finish, Porsche Signal Yellow. I have read very good reports from other modelers about Scale Finishes gloss enamels and have seen some beautiful results from skilled modelers using the paint. Like their primer, the gloss enamel also comes ready for airbrush use and does not need to be thinned before spraying. This vendor can color match any year model color by request. His enamels are DuPont Axalta paints.

Only the area around the perimeter of the trunk will be finished in the body color, yellow. Once the yellow paint has been applied and fully cured, I will mask it off then paint the inner, carpeted area of the trunk in dark gray.

 

Edited August 31 by CDW

[CDW]

Dry fit

Edited September 1 by CDW