Tamiya Porsche 911 Turbo '88

[Tankboy76]

This will be my entry for the 80's build thread. I got this kit last year when I was in my Hobby shop and looking for a simple kit - this Tamiya kit was about 1/2 cost the newer ones, so I figured it would fit the bill. When I got home, I realized how much masking would be required for the front bumper and rear wing, and something else came out of the stash. Typical.

Anyways, Its pushing 2AM, so here are the box and sprue shots - I've barely looked at them, but couldn't wait to open things up. Tomorrow the paint I ordered for this car shows up (and some other goodies), and I will get started.

[Gary30]

Great to see another Porsche on the GB, I very nearly chose this kit for my entry.

Interested to see what colour you go for, I'm still toying with a few ideas for my final colour finish.

[Tankboy76]

I thought about posting in the mailbag thread, but most of this stuff is for this build - at least to try out.

It started with an forbidding box on my door step.


The some more clues - a bit reassuring.


Of course - my paint order.


From Splash paints - primers, semi-gloss black, metal colors, clear coat and slate blue metallic for this Porsche. It looks a bit darker in the bottle that I was imagining, but I still like it.

The Airbrush is also new - I decided to keep my current airbrush exclusively for acrylics that can't be thinned with lacquer thinner (for me this means Mission Models), and this new one will be dedicated to lacquer-thinned paints.

[Twokidsnosleep]

Oh yeah, classically sweet Porsche
You are gonna love the Splash Porsche paint
Have used them before, Porsche Miami Blue....was very nice

[Tankboy76]

Sanded, primed (with the Splash Lacquer primer with microfiller), and sanded again (down to Tamiya 1500). The Splash primer was a bit fuzzy on the second coat - I've had this issue with Microfiller primer before, but this is only my second try. I think I needed to clean the brush, or run at a lower pressure and/or closer to the model (I was already pretty close). Splash recommends a wet coat for the primer - but the primer drys seconds after it goes down.

I was hoping for a foolproof premixed lacquer primer, but perhaps I'll stick with Stynlrenz for times I don't need filler.

The mold lines were easy to remove, but there were a lot of them - mostly due to the design of the tool as there are so many features on the body shell, and partially (I assume) because it's about 15 years old (2005 is stamped on the body) and I'd expect a pretty popular topic. However - the color of this plastic has swirls in it - and right under the mold line you get left with a dark line even when sanded perfectly smooth (zoom in on that middle picture). That meant a lot of squinting and poking to confirm I sanded deep enough.

This model has a small portion of the headlight lenses that must be painted body color. The Revell 934 RSR kit I made previously was similar and, same as that, I glued the lens in and masked the clear part. Fingers crossed I get a clean line when un masking them.

Tomorrow will be the color coat. And friday or the weekend will be the clear coat.

[Tankboy76]

Oh yeah, classically sweet Porsche
You are gonna love the Splash Porsche paint
Have used them before, Porsche Miami Blue....was very nice

I'm telling myself I'm saving Miami Blue for a 1:1 scale Porsche.

[Gary30]

I'm guessing they used the exact same silver looking plastic on the 959 kit I'm building too, as that is very swirly and has the black lines you're talking about that look like mould lines but are actually smooth. That's where primer really comes into it's own!

[Tankboy76]

Slate Blue Metallic went on tonight. Just the barest hint of blue in an otherwise grey metallic. The flakes in this paint are very tiny. Gloss coat tomorrow. I got a tiny tear in one of the side decals (not shown above), so I'll have to touch up the tear with some black paint before the clear coat. I should have known better - I was used to the thick Revell decals from my last kit - these Tamiya ones were much thinner.

[Hawkmoon]

Looking good and nice finish on the paint

[Tankboy76]

This is the first time I've attempted this much masking. I used various widths of the Aizu micro tape, and 6mm, 10mm and 40mm tamiya tape. In some tricky spots (rear spoiler and the middle part of the front and back bumper) I had to put tape on and then cut into the tape and follow a line with a fresh #11 blade. Lots of 'burnishing' the tape edges with a toothpick or tiny cotton swab,


I used splash semi-gloss black, which seems to be 99% thinner and 1% black paint. It takes about 3 coats before you see a black tint, and I think I did 7 coats before stopping. Still - really like the finish and ease of use. Fans of 911s will notice I missed the black line along the bottom sides. 60% sure I'll touch that up tomorrow.


As a side note - I was supposed to be in Japan right now (vacation) but cancelled it due to advice regarding the coronavirus. Kept the time off work and spent it on this model instead.

[Tankboy76]

After the body shell, just about every part is semi-gloss black. Of course this kit is relatively simple, so my desk isn't overflowing with parts and this process didn't take very long. I used the Splash semi-gloss black which took several coats but drys fast and looks good.


Tamiya insits the floor should be blueish as a contrast against black seats. I went along with it, but test fits show the floor is almost completely invisible once assembled, to no ones surprise. Because I only had the blue color in Tamiya, I used XF-50 and X-18 to finish the tub. (The seats and dash are splash paints). Hard to tell from the pictures but the splash finish looks better to my eye. But I blame the tub - airbrushing into the tub results in a pebbly finish. I suspect I should have reduced pressure and moved the airbrush backward. Next time.


After all that semi-gloss black, there is a lot of assembly to do. To my surprise, a fair amount of the assembly is nearly snap-fit. Which I liked because I was hoping for an easier kit I could move through with less resistance.




And here is where I sit tonight. What left are mostly the turn signals and reflectors, glass, handles and wipers.

This kit is feeling pretty good. I've gotten practice on things I was very apprehensive about (lots of masking on the body shell) and it turned out well (against my expectations, I mean, for the most part). Puts me in a mood for the next kit, but I've got to finish this one first. Probably only more more sitting (maybe two).

-Matt

[Tankboy76]

All done. The last bits of the kit almost finished themselves. Not a perfect finish, but a step forward for me. I liked that the kit was a bit simpler, this time around.

[Gary30]

Finished already?! I’d better pull my finger out and get busy!

Looks amazing though, well done! Doesn’t get more 80’s than this

[Hawkmoon]

Nice finish and looks the part

[Kevthemodeller]

Now that's cool, lovely build of what is my favourite Porsche 911

[Miiqqula]

Really nice build. Love the color

[Tankboy76]

Thanks for the comments. This was, of my recent builds, one of the more satisfying outcomes. The combination of a small kit, a week off work, and the urge to build led to a quick build. I've got one more kit that may count for the 80's (a range rover) but I'm going to get another one going first.

[Twokidsnosleep]

Looks really good
Neat and tidy just like a Porsche should be
The interior is awesome too