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 Rank: Vice-Master       Groups: Registered
Joined: 07/01/2015 Posts: 856 Points: 2,479 Location: Sevenoaks, UK
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Hi guys, long time no see :)
Life took over and with the long intervals between build sessions, I didn't manage to complete a single kit last year. The delays made me restless and I was more keen to start something new (all the time) than finish any of existing projects. Bad strategy! So in truly New Year resolution spirit, I decided to stick to this one until it's finished. This is the first update of many. I started this kit at the end of November, but was working on and off on it until Christmas, then non-stop every day since New Years Eve. Resolutions, yeah!
Porsche Carrera GT needs no introduction and probably everyone glanced at least once at this monster of a kit from Tamiya, so I'll keep the foreword to a minimum. The kit comes in a large box that surprised me with its weight - more on that in some later update. For now I'll just say that there are a lot of sprues inside - made from normal, soft (rubber-ish), and clear plastic. The body parts are unfortunately white, this will require some which means it will be hard to notice any defects until they are primed in grey. Apart from plastic, the box contains several bags of screws, springs, metal parts for suspension, rubber tyres, a small fret of photoetch and two sizes of vinyl tubing.
I'll spare you pictures of the sprues (well, I didn't take any so at this point I have no choice), but just have to say - the amount of stuff in the box is impressive, and this includes one part that was very surprising to me. But as said earlier, I'll come back to this in some future update.
As the instructions start with the engine, so did I. Goes together beautifully. I don't have any in-progress pictures, but you should see the lovely wiring loom underneath air filters and wonderful finish of the Mr Paint metallics (the Slovak company, not the Japanese paints). I'm completely sold on these paints and never intend of using Alclad again - it's like switching from acrylic metallics to Alclad once again. Only it's Alclad that's crap this time.
The next two images show muffler and radiators, and the air ducts with whatever that is. This is work in progress, there will be more detailed painting needed and some final varnish on the black tubing, but I just wanted to showcase the beautiful white aluminium from Mr Paint... Almost doesn't look like painted at all.
The model I'm building will be of a loved and well-maintained car (most of them are like that), but the radiators just have to be dirty as they are pretty much exposed through the large intakes on the sides of car body. By the way, this was a curious problem: how to weather the engine - or should it be done at all? I looked at hundreds of images and they look pretty much pristine. Probably the completely enclosed engine compartment has a part in this, but I guess the owners really care for their GTs too. So it stays as it is on reference images, with a really subtle shading - almost not visible. Most of it will be hidden anyway in the end.
Now, the brakes. Just a bit of wash to bring out the details on the central hubs. The photos brought out some scratches, I might have to look closer at them later...
So, up until now it was just a child's play compared to what comes next. All the available images showcase some beautiful carbon fibre work, so I thought, why not? There is no carbon fiber in the box, and nobody offers any CF templates for this kit, so I decided to create my own. Note, this was my first time, so why have I chosen a large 1/12 kit with a ton of CF for that exercise, beats me.
Combined three weeks and about 10 sheets of CF later, we end up with this. Not perfect, but good enough for my liking. There are areas that came out worse than others, but I was trying to keep the damage to less visible parts... And the large black gaps are all in the right places, I mean they won't be visible at all and would be tricky to cover. So they are not covered. I'm an IT guy so optimisation is in my blood I guess.
Outer shell around the engine:
Main chassis:
Now, the front suspension and steering subframe (plus some more brake discs and calipers from Brembo):
And to wrap this up, I just started priming and painting all stuff that will be in the cockpit :) Not much done yet and far from complete, so just a single overall shot:
Comments, critique and ideas for improvement are most welcome, so if something bothers you I'll be happy to listen :)Any images I post on my personal builds are free to be used and shared under Creative Commons Attribution license, which means you can do what you want with them, on the condition you mention I'm the author.
Happy building :-) http://www.model-space.com/gb/
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Looks like a very nice kit, making good progress with it....  Regards Alan
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 Rank: Super-Elite   Groups: Registered
Joined: 19/06/2013 Posts: 4,588 Points: 13,553 Location: West Yorkshire
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Great start, like those yellow calipers Al
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Rank: Vice-Master Groups: Registered
Joined: 07/01/2015 Posts: 856 Points: 2,479 Location: Sevenoaks, UK
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Rank: Vice-Master Groups: Registered
Joined: 07/01/2015 Posts: 856 Points: 2,479 Location: Sevenoaks, UK
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Thank you for your comment Andy, I'm trying hard to make up to myself for all these started and unfinished kits last year! And in this spirit I think I managed to sneak an update while you were replying  Any images I post on my personal builds are free to be used and shared under Creative Commons Attribution license, which means you can do what you want with them, on the condition you mention I'm the author.
Happy building :-) http://www.model-space.com/gb/
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Rank: Super-Elite Groups: Registered
Joined: 17/12/2013 Posts: 3,982 Points: 11,974 Location: NY, USA
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Stunning build so far.Good luck finishing it!
Carl
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Rank: Administration  Groups: Registered, Forum Support Team, Administrators, Global Forum Support Team, Moderator, Official Builds Joined: 09/11/2012 Posts: 8,301 Points: 23,991 Location: East midlands
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What a cracking kit. I`m hoping you keep your new years resolution. I want to see the end product of this.  Regards delboy271155 (Derek) COME BACK GUY FAWKES "YOUR COUNTRY NEEDS YOU"
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Great looking kit and a great job on the build.
Malc.
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That looks superb, really detailed build and some stunning pictures. 
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 Rank: Pro Groups: Joined: 24/08/2009 Posts: 48,827 Points: -13,348
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Looks a great kit Michu and some impressive work, especially with the carbon fibre decals. Very well done, looking forward to your next update. 
Kev 
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Rank: Vice-Master Groups: Registered
Joined: 07/01/2015 Posts: 856 Points: 2,479 Location: Sevenoaks, UK
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Thank you guys for your kind words, they matter a lot and are very motivating. The CF cover is not perfect as it's the first time I've been making my own templates, and this car is a classic example of Porsche design - plenty compound curve surfaces, quite difficult to cover with flat decals. But most of the imperfections will be hidden in the end, so I'm not that bothered. Next steps - painting the cockpit and seats to imitate brown and black leather :-) Any images I post on my personal builds are free to be used and shared under Creative Commons Attribution license, which means you can do what you want with them, on the condition you mention I'm the author.
Happy building :-) http://www.model-space.com/gb/
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Rank: Pro Groups: Joined: 24/08/2009 Posts: 48,827 Points: -13,348
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Looks an amazing kit and top notch build, well done
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Rank: Super-Elite  Groups: Registered
Joined: 27/01/2014 Posts: 5,060 Points: 14,980
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Nice to see you back building again Oh and WoW, stunning looking build How would you say the Mr Paint metallic compare with the New Vallejo Metal colour? I've purchased a set of the new Vallejo Metal colours recently and they are beautiful to work with, a considerable improvement over their model air Metallica which I just didn't get on with and found they constantly clogged my airbrush 
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Rank: Vice-Master Groups: Registered
Joined: 07/01/2015 Posts: 856 Points: 2,479 Location: Sevenoaks, UK
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Not sure Dave, I haven't been playing much with Vallejo metallics. I try to stay away from classic acrylics as much as possible, most of my painting is done either with lacquers or with lacquer-based acrylics, like Tamiya or Gunze. Any images I post on my personal builds are free to be used and shared under Creative Commons Attribution license, which means you can do what you want with them, on the condition you mention I'm the author.
Happy building :-) http://www.model-space.com/gb/
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 Rank: Semi-Pro Level 2  Groups: Registered
Joined: 08/12/2016 Posts: 87 Points: 254 Location: Fife
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Have to say you're doing a fantisticly clean job on this so far. I do like those prototype looking models.
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Rank: Vice-Master Groups: Registered
Joined: 07/01/2015 Posts: 856 Points: 2,479 Location: Sevenoaks, UK
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forgotmylogin wrote:Have to say you're doing a fantisticly clean job on this so far. I do like those prototype looking models. The funny thing is that when you search Google Images for Porsche Carrera GT, they all look like that. My guess they are well loved and fanatically kept in pristine conditions by their owners. I wanted to do a bit of weathering... but the evidence available just doesn't support it. The engines in particular all show showroom quality. So I put just a bit of crud on the fins of the radiators, and I'll probably do some oil paint highlights and shadows on the leather seats, and sand the tyres - and that's pretty much it. Unless someone can offer some suggestions? Any images I post on my personal builds are free to be used and shared under Creative Commons Attribution license, which means you can do what you want with them, on the condition you mention I'm the author.
Happy building :-) http://www.model-space.com/gb/
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Rank: Super-Elite  Groups: Registered
Joined: 20/10/2016 Posts: 4,504 Points: 13,548 Location: Wiltshire
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Great build! Love the carbon fibre. High quality pictures too. Completed projects: 1/43 scale Bedford HA van / 1/43 scale MG TD sports car
Current projects: 1/48 scale U-boat [U230]
Future projects: 1/148 scale railway diorama / 1/50 scale R/C Volvo F89 logging truck / 1/148 scale Thunderbirds Fireflash
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Rank: Super-Elite  Groups: Registered
Joined: 08/03/2014 Posts: 2,976 Points: 8,520 Location: united kingdom
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Thats incredible. Really great looks like a really good kit. Ken's the name modeling's the game.
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Rank: Super-Elite  Groups: Registered
Joined: 30/01/2013 Posts: 4,604 Points: 13,607 Location: Monmouthshire UK
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Love this, the carbon work looks amazing Look forward to more updates. Steve
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