Steve McQueen's "Le Mans" Porsche 917K

Been a long, long time since I posted a work in progress thread on AF... :uhoh:
So lets change that - here is what I have been mucking about with lately.

This will be very similar to SeanyG's latest build, namely a Fujimi 1970 Gulf Porsche 917K using the HRM resin engine transkit and a bit of scratch building. I will be attempting to replicate the car that was bought by Steve McQueen's production company and immortalised in the movie 'Le Mans" - probably the best racing movie ever made. Here is Steve with the car in question. It is subtly different from the real JWA number 20 from Le Mans 1970.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/RallyRaider/917K/mcqueen-00.jpg

The Fujimi base kit is a ripper, looks pretty good to me as a starting point. A few things need to be fixed up, like the front radiator exit cover to make it sit flush. The straight rear fenders are wrong for a 1970 JWA car but just right for the movie version.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/RallyRaider/917K/mcqueen-01.jpg

Even though it is kerbside the rear cover comes as a separate piece. Also decided to take the doors off. Although once it was apparent how delicate the whole structure became minus the doors, I thought it wise to stop at one. Fortunately I removed the driver's door first. :)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/RallyRaider/917K/mcqueen-02.jpg

Here is the rear end. May not look to be the case, but it has actually taken quite a lot of effort to get to this point. Test fitting, sanding and making clearance for all the removable parts, styrene sills and tabs so everything fits together properly and securely, reinforcing the engine cover hinges so they won't break further down the track, filling gaps in the cockpit and firewall, etc. Also visible is the beginnings of some scratch built details like the bolt on rollover hoop and suspension upper trailing arms.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/RallyRaider/917K/mcqueen-03.jpg

I did intend to add the ducting from the NACA intakes on the inside of the engine cover, but the fit of the wheel arches is so tight there is simply not enough room. Considering how long a similar job took on my GT40 from a few years ago, that is probably a good thing... :)

Phil,

looking good - I know exactly what you mean about time, mine is taking alot longer than I thought.
I was sooooo relieved when I finally got the second door cut out on mine as you no doubt realize - the thing was so flimsy and on reflection I hope this doesnt prove to be a mistake.
The build looks great so far - I really like it, I can see me 'borrowing' a few ideas from you along the way though, hope you dont mind.

Great. I'm looking forward to following this :thumbsup:

Phil,
I can't believe it! A progress thread...
Remember if you need any machined parts I made you an offer a few years back? This will be good to follow.

Ok tuned :naughty::popcorn:

So many great WIP's in the Motorsport section recently and here comes another one.

Awesome start!

So many great WIP's in the Motorsport section recently and here comes another one.

Awesome start!


:1:

Ok, I'm sitting comfortabley...:popcorn:

That is definitely a great movie. This will be a beauty to see when completed. I am not into the classics of racing, but if I were, this would start my enthusiasm. :popcorn:

Great Phil!
Now I'll check for updates in the motorsport section every 5 minutes, wait I already do!!! :icon16:

Nice to read you again! :popcorn:

RallyRaider + Steve McQueen + Porsche 917K = :bananasmi :bananasmi :bananasmi

Le Mans is my favorite automotive movie and Steve's been my hero ever since I first saw Bullitt. After spending a weekend at last year's Le Mans classic I was full of enthusiasm to build the Fujimi kit as Steve's ride (although being a Finn Leo Kinnunen/Pedro Rodriguez were a tempting driver team too) but never got it started (how usual of me...). I'm really glad to see this project built with your superb standards Phil :iceslolan

-Mikko

RallyRaider + Steve McQueen + Porsche 917K = :bananasmi :bananasmi :bananasmi


hehe that's it, there's nothing to add :popcorn:

Another cool thread to follow.:smokin:

I'm taking notes and I know there are two other guys in our club who want to build a 917 the same way too! Hehehehehe......no pressure right!

And I agree about the amount of work that you've done so far. When you first look at the kit you think that it's a quick build but then a little detail here and there and it adds up.

Regarding your knowlegdge about 917´s when I build my Hippie-917, this will be awesome and a joy to follow! in a long time we didn´t have any 917´s on the Forum, now we have two builds which is just great. Keep it coming!

Thanks for the kind words guys. I need as much encouragement as I can get! :lol:
Here is the internal detail of the door. It isn't hinged but is positionable open and closed. The tubes are styrene as are the "hinges". In the closed position it sits nice and tight, better be careful not to muck it up with too much paint. :)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/RallyRaider/917K/mcqueen-04.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/RallyRaider/917K/mcqueen-05.jpg

Sean, you can borrow as many ideas as you wish, cause I intend to use plenty of yours. :p

Rob, one day I will take you up on that very kind offer! :)

Yet another one of you're d*mned models? Why not take a year off and let the rest of us feel like we can build too?...;-)>

Seriously and as always, a great job in execution and detail!

Thanks as always for sharing,
Bill

Very clean job there :thumbsup:

Can't you and Sean "merge" your threads to make our lives a little easier? ;)

Hi Phil,

I'm in love with this car and the movie as well. It's great to see a build like this even if I wouldn't start mine after that.

For me this thread is a littlebit like watching "24". Can't wait till it continues.

Best regards
Thomas

Glad to see you back mate ;)

I'm watching this thread with great interest, since I have at least 4 more 917's on my workpile...

Jeez Phil, next thing you know people are going to start expecting me to post a progress thread that leads to a completed model. What the hell are you thinking? :rofl:

Seriously though, love the door work and the beginnings of the engine bay. The 917 was a worthy rival to the 512M, no question about it.

Phil you are the master of clean and precise work, I will need ages to get to this level of attention.

Good looking job on that door. You're getting a sizeable following with this one.

One of my favourite modellers building one of my favourite cars. It’s really great to be back at A.F. :grinyes:
Great start Phil, I’m sure this thread will be a pleasure to follow.

Nice!!!!!!!

Small update, now I'm about 6 weeks behind SeanyG. :lol:

First up I had a request to show the plastic card panels I used to build up behind the front wheels and around the cockpit, so here is a shot of that.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/RallyRaider/917K/mcqueen-06.jpg

Above and below also shows the replacement chassis tubing in the cockpit, the dirty areas between the plastic rod is actually lens tissue, glued down to give a bit of texture to simulate the rough glassfibre.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/RallyRaider/917K/mcqueen-07.jpg

Finally here can be seen the same process on the interior of the door. Also some work adding small tabs on the rear wing so it can fit properly without the extra parts Fujimi provide.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/RallyRaider/917K/mcqueen-08.jpg

Nice idea with the lens tissue. Will be interested to see how that looks when finished. (hopefully not in 6 weeks time! ;) )

Great job so far. One detail you might want to add is in some pics I have seen of the car's interior it looks like some pieces of cloth tape or fiberglass tape were put over the tubes of the frame to the the floor panel at various locations.

Thanks 935k3, I've already done that. Used Tamiya masking tape, hope it doesn't peel off...

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/RallyRaider/917K/mcqueen-09.jpg

Fantastic work Phil! Very inspiring.

Fantastic work Phil! Very inspiring.

:iagree:

B E A U T I F U L ! !

I’m speechless!!

You are taking this too far!!! Lots of things to learn from here!

Another thread to the best of AF!

Uppps, I lost last update: fantastic stuff: inspiring job.

Been busy with the styrene rod, building up a crude representation of the tube framework in the engine bay. The HRM transkit does include some resin rails for the sides of the engine, but they looked a bit underdone to me and may not have handed the suspension upper arm mounts too well.

Decided to use the extra roll over hoop, even though I suspect it wasn't used on McQueen's car at the time of the movie. Just about all references of the 917k show one fitted so gotta go with the flow... :)

Also made a better spare wheel and tyre out of the kit spare, a donor kit rim and sheet styrene for the tyre. Still have to make some tread marking on it.

Minor mishap, the top of the cockpit firewall has broken off - could see that one coming given how I'd cut it to make space for the engine cover hinges, coupled with all the handling while making the frame. Shouldn't be a big deal to fix I hope... :)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/RallyRaider/917K/mcqueen-10.jpg

There's nothing crude about THAT "representation" :eek:

Superb job on recreating that frame and the spare wheel also looks very cool :thumbsup:

Excellent! These cars for some reason lend themselves to amazing builds, and this is no exception.

Back with a few new bits.

First some work on the front end with styrene rod added to fake the real tubular structure, some ducting and the beginnings of a radiator.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/RallyRaider/917K/mcqueen-11.jpg

Below top left, are enhanced engine cover latches; top right, S27 PE trimtabs with added bolt heads; bottom left, braces for trimtabs (building these was like milking the proverbial mouse); and bottom right, rear shocks with spring. I'm leaving the front springs OOB as I suspect they won't be visible on the completed model (just call me a lazy superdetailler :lol:)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/RallyRaider/917K/mcqueen-12.jpg

Finally the rear end with a cradle for the spare tyre, now with tread pattern also an arm for holding the engine cover in the open position. The latter is built from steel rod and styrene bits and if all goes according to plan will fit into a bracket on the cover rather than the lump of blue tack.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/RallyRaider/917K/mcqueen-13.jpg

brrrr man! Shivering good!

Oli

Good God, detailing like this makes me want to quit modeling.

Your work on this build is fantastic!

Looks fantastic, Phil

I'd definitely drop the bluetack ;)

brrrr man! Shivering good!
Oli
Oli, where on EARTH do you come up with these expressions of yours?!?! :rofl: :thumbsup:

I agree: fantastic. The first pict is upsetting : it leave me confused, seem a real unpainted car. Great.

Feel like I'm getting somewhere now. :) All the bodywork has been primed and painted white, the marigold areas masked off and ready for a couple of coats of Finisher's Gulf Blue. Then I'll reverse mask and spray the marigold with leftover Expert Orange from Henning Solberg's 307 WRC.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/RallyRaider/917K/mcqueen-14.jpg

Had a minor disaster last night when I dropped the cockpit half of the body and snapped the section behind the open driver's door clean off. Managed to glue it back together but now the door doesn't fit too well. Will have to wait and see how it straightens up when all assembled, otherwise the door may be open only...

Sorry for the fault but I'm happy for you : this prove that you are human (o almost LOL).

I'm ever worried for those spare weel's wall... ok I guess you though enough before do it so.

If mistakes make us human, then Gio I can assure you I am very human. ;)
I don't understand what you mean by "spare weel's wall".

This is super cool. I love the way you enhance the model with the device holding the engine cover. Great stuff.

Well Phil, you got me puzzeled again with your building skills.

Superb work!
Niclas

amazing build, super work your're doing here Phil!

Between following this and Sean's build, guess what I've gone and bought :thumbsup:

Superb detailing! I really like where this is going. I will watch the movie tonight...

Thanks for the kind words guys. Painted the Gulf Blue, not sure about it, looks a bit too rich to my eyes, guess it depends on the surroundings. Hopefully it will tone down relative to the bright orange.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/RallyRaider/917K/mcqueen-15.jpg

I don't understand what you mean by "spare weel's wall".
Once a time sorry for my English: I meant the tyre's side wall or the shoulder like we call here: it seems extremely low, like some contemporary extreme cars: but I said I'm not expert on that superb car.

Superb paintjob and masking, yep, the colortone seems a bit "sature" for the pics we're used to see from Gulf stuff.

Okay Gio, I understand now. The spare tyre on the 917K was only there to satisfy the rules, a low profile "space saver" of sorts. It was never intended to be fitted and would never have worked if anyone had tried.

Colour perception is a funny thing. Now the orange has been painted the Gulf Blue appears much more acceptable. Or it may just be the internal lighting? :dunno:

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/RallyRaider/917K/mcqueen-16.jpg

On removing the making tape I found the body has cracked again behind the drivers door opening, it can just be seen in this photo on the engine cover hinge point. Bugger! :banghead:

Colour perception is a funny thing. Now the orange has been painted the Gulf Blue appears much more acceptable. Or it may just be the internal lighting? :dunno:

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/RallyRaider/917K/mcqueen-16.jpg

On removing the making tape I found the body has cracked again behind the drivers door opening, it can just be seen in this photo on the engine cover hinge point. Bugger! :banghead:

It's probably due to your lighting. The colour looks spot on to me in the second batch of pictures and I've crawled all over the car.

Out of interest (and you probably don't want to know this now) the McQueen car had the front spaceframe extensively adapted under the front cover so that they could mount a heavy 35mm Arri film camera for interior and race footage. I'm sure there's some web piccies of it somewhere.

You've probably found it already as it's on the Gunnar website:

http://www.gunnarracing.com/museum/917_022/9175.jpg

You've probably found it already as it's on the Gunnar website:

http://www.gunnarracing.com/museum/917_022/9175.jpg

Doh, just been through the thread porperly and realised you've done the chassis mods already - excellent stuff!
:grinyes:

This build is amazing! All the hinges and everything are just amazing! I had the hardest time making "hinges" for the doors on my 787B, and they didn't work or even look worth a damn. I am in complete awe!

STUNNING!!

It looks great!!, what a shame that crack on the body, I hope you can fix it.
I can’t wait to see the work on the interiors and engine!

Mmm that's quit a build. I will follow this one

Thanks guys. :)

cinqster: You are a lucky man to have crawled all over the real car! :) I was aware of the mods for the cameras but I chose to leave it as normal. I recall reading there is still some controversy over whether that car is the actual number 20 or one of the other camera cars. Porsche had a tendancy to move chassis identification plates around. :dunno:

willimo: the "hinges" are not intended to be really functional, just allow positioning open or closed. Since the breakage it looks like the door won't even be that!

Man, that is some serious work. Excellent build. I like how clean all your styrene work is - looks like you just assembling already pre-made parts.