1987 Porsche 944 Fotki 7/7/17 update

[Foxer]

I'm going to get long winded here as this is the first completed build I'm posting here. This was completed 15 years ago and shows some wear and tear but this is my favorite engine build! I'm pasting in a writeup done back then for a show to explain this not a box stock one.

KIT: Testors / Italeria Porsche 944S

 

This was modeled after my 4th Porsche and the car I've owned longer than any other...8 years of year-round use in the heart of New England. Don't let anyone tell you Porsches belong in the garage during the winter. Just 4 snow tires and it's as happy in the snow as in the middle of a Summer afternoon!

This one looks like it's built straight out of the box, but required many hours of modifications to match it to the real one. The kit was of the Turbo model...very similar, but different enough to cause some healthy modifications. The body required modifications to the front valence such as reshaping the openings, relocating the fog light openings, filling bumper openings and reshaping the rubber bumper pads. The rear required similar bumper modifications and the poor quality of the kit body necessitated reforming the lower portions of the rear fenders to roll under the car properly. The missing sunroof was scribed into the body and a thread was inserted to simulate the felt seals. Small details were scratch built, such as rear wiper motor box, rear 3rd brake light, hatch key lock and photo-reduced license plates from the real car.

The car being modeled was normally aspirated, while the model had the turbo engine. Between the two engines, the intake system is completely different in shape and location. As a result, only the block from the kit was used along with the water reservoir and windshield washer containers. The remaining engine parts were scratch built.

The intake manifold was fabricated from lengths of solder, plastic sheet and super glue. Plastic rod with flanges of plastic sheet was used for the throttle section. The throttle control bracket was built using .010" sheet; a wire post, hand wound return spring and Detail Master ignition wire for the control cable. The ribbed rubber intake hose is a modified parts box hose. The air control box was built up from various pieces of shaped sprue and plastic. An old ice scraper donated its handle for the large air filter box. This solid chunk was shaped and the intake pipe from the kit air box was grafted on, along with a flange on the box made from .010" sheet. The distributor was scratch-built from various pieces of plastic and wired with Detail Master wire. The wire looms were made from .010" plastic. The fuel log is from a piece of square plastic with plastic rod fuel injectors. Plastic rod fuel filters and various sizes of wire finish off the fuel system. The brake reservoir from the kit was heavily modified and a master cylinder shaped from plastic sprue was added. The brake lines are bare copper wire. The cruise control unit was built from plastic rod, sheet and scrap with various wire sizes. A double fan shroud from the Hasegawa 968 was installed in front of the kit radiator. The water pump was made from sprue and the water hose from black insulated wire. All hose clamps are Bare Metal Foil painted with clear flat paint. The oil filler tube and dipstick were shaped from rod and wire. The plastic handle of the dipstick was made by bending a small loop at the end of the wire dipstick, slipping on a small disk of .010" sheet and gobbing on thick enamel to give the molded shape. The oil filler cap is a piece of rod slightly larger than the filler tube, dished out with a drill bit with a finger grip of .010" plastic.

For comparison, here is the 1:1 engine.

Yeah I'm not happy with the first time panel fill lines wash, but it's done.

This is the only photo I have with the mirrors still attached. I have found the mirrors so one day I'll try reattaching.

Thanks for looking

Mike

Edited July 7, 2017 by Foxer

[racer13]

Awesome detailing there! I like it! I used to work at a Porsche Audi dealership when these were new.

[rsxs9400]

Awesome detailing there! I like it! I used to work at a Porsche Audi dealership when these were new.

and i was just being born that year!

[rick6343]

Great looking model! That engine compartment is one of the most realistic I've seen in a long time. I particularly like the different colors of aluminum on the block/head/cam cover and the intake manifold. What did you use for the finish on these parts?

[Foxer]

Great looking model! That engine compartment is one of the most realistic I've seen in a long time. I particularly like the different colors of aluminum on the block/head/cam cover and the intake manifold. What did you use for the finish on these parts?

Just whatever metallic paints I had. Even just silver paint from different companies can add some variety. I do remember adding some gold to silver to get that goldish finish that's seen on many auto parts.

[ismaelg]

Very nice model! The conversion to a non-turbo is excellent.

They are not very common and those you see are usually curbside builds.

One of my favorite cars from the year I got my driver's license.

Thanks,

[jtwisconsin]

Great looking model of a fantastic car. I had seriously considered buying a used one back in the early 90's but kept worrying about the maintenance costs. Instead I bought a slightly used Supra Turbo that ended up being the most expensive car to maintain I have ever owned.

[Foxer]

Very neat!

It was always a "someday" project I'd never actually do for me to convert a turbo to a regular 944. I never had a real one, but I always felt the regular cars looked better than the Turbo. Never liked that front bumper/valence.

hehe.. then I'm, going to have to hide the one I have on the table from you ... my last Porsche the '91 944 S2. That had to start with a turbo kit but it had the turbo body work so was an easier convert. The engine needed the 3.0 liter version so I cast the engine from a 968 in resin to use that with modifications. I also needed to scratch build a 968 style rear wing as at the time I thought I'd have a 968 in my garage so didn't want to pirate the kit.

Edited May 23, 2009 by Foxer

[Nick F40]

Wow, very nice. I like these cars, I don't think I ever disliked a 924/944/968

[Foxer]

I thought that Italeri did an S or S2 kit. Am I making that up? I recall they had a kit of the Turbo-nosed 4-valve car, but as I said I might be dreaming.

The kit I did this from WAS called the 944 S. But in fact, it was a turbo motor. The bodywork was pretty much non-turbo though.

The Italeri kits were not the best detailed 944's. Castings were less than sharp but I've seen worst kits. The Hasewaga 944 Turbo kits, on the otherhand, are well detailed with typical great castings.

[JayVee]

Your avatar (and comments in my Anglia thread) led me to this thread. Great job on this 944! The engine detail is spot-on. Do you still have your 1:1 '87? That's the same year as my current 1:1.

[atenzapower]

Nice porsche,good detailing on it.

[Raul_Perez]

I remember that kit. I was going to build one for a friend who had the car, but I never actually got around to it...

The engine detailing looks VERY authentic!!

Thanks for sharing,

[Foxer]

Your avatar (and comments in my Anglia thread) led me to this thread. Great job on this 944! The engine detail is spot-on. Do you still have your 1:1 '87? That's the same year as my current 1:1.

Afraid I don't have the 87 anymore.. ehehe.. I'm all Porsched out ... couldn't locate a 968 when my '92 944 S2 wanted to be traded in so I got the closest thing available, a 2003 Infinity G35 6-speed Coupe. I'm not one to have two cars with the "good" one sitting in the garage. I live in New England mountain country and I drove all my Porsche's ALL year round. The first 2 were touchy since there were no snow tires available in those performance sizes. When we moved to a house with steep drive and I had to park at the bottom of the hill in snow I found snows for all 4 wheels. Was never any problem after that unless the it bottomed out in the snow.. eheh

[kneelingyak]

I missed this thread originally and whenever I saw your avatar I thought it was a picture of a real car!

Very nicely done and excellent attention to detail.

[Foxer]

<!--quoteo

I missed this thread originally and whenever I saw your avatar I thought it was a picture of a real car!

Very nicely done and excellent attention to detail.

--QuoteEEnd-->

 

 

That's the greatest compliment anyone could ever ask for .. thanks very much!

 

 

 

 

 

(slips kneelingyak's check in the mail)

Edited July 17, 2017 by Foxer

[FujimiLover]

Nice model! The fact that it shows age makes it even more realistic for an 87. Only about a mile or so away from home there is a white 944 rusting away. Not sure what year it is, but would've been a cool project if I had the funds and skills.

Converting it from a turbo-charged model to a none turbo-charged model, would that make it "hopped-down"?

[crispy]

Mike, fantastic detailing and realism. Ultimately my favorite looking engine bay. Sometimes the Muscle car guys get so overdone in the engine bay that it starts to look fake. Your engine on the other hand, perfect and realistic.

Great work!

Thanks for sharing.

Chris

[sfhess]

I missed this thread originally and whenever I saw your avatar I thought it was a picture of a real car!

Very nicely done and excellent attention to detail.

I was thinking exactly the same thing. Nice work!!

[Foxer]

Converting it from a turbo-charged model to a none turbo-charged model, would that make it "hopped-down"?

hahaha .. ya!

[Foxer]

I was recently asked a few questions about the engine in this build and since I've been experimenting with more realistic photos it's a good excuse to resurrect this thread. The air box was actually carved from an old toothbrush.

 

Edited July 7, 2017 by Foxer

[Foxer]

sooo... off-roading it like that is what snapped the Passenger side mirror off, right???

A low branch ...

[cruz]

Very cool!!!

[Dragline]

For panel lines like that I use Tamiya semi gloss black or a color alomost the same but darkened, but always Tamiya. I try to be careful but I also make sure the panel lines are full. Then, I go back over the car with a cloth with Windex soaked on it and carefully wipe the panels down. Comes out POYFECT every time.

BTW, nice car.

Bob

[Dragline]

I took some pix to show the technique Im talking about in detail. This particular application will need another coat but that's the beauty of this, it can handle multiple handlings and coats.

Ultimately you want the panel line to be smooth and blemish free with no odd or angular edges

Here's all you need:

Tamiya [or any acrylic based paint] in the color you want.

A model in neeed of panel line definition.

A #11 blade [i like using old ones with broken tips for some reason].

Some ammonia based glass cleaner [it's diluted so it's not as strong as straight ammonia].

A little piece of old T-shirt. The finer the material, the better your result. I'm just making an example so I used what was handy.

I scribe the panel a little to get rid of any foreign materials and give the paint something to bite into. A light touch is all you need

Paint the panel line. Neatness does count a wee bit here since you don't want to clean up a mess. But, no need to be picky either.

Take your cloth that you cut out at about 3" x 3" and fold it till it's tightly packed.

Spray window cleaner onto the cloth till it's relatively moist and rub the panel line at and angle to the panel line and not parallel to it.

The result should at least look like this if not better. This panel needs another go but it's already shaping up. The beauty is neither the acrylic paint nor the glass cleaner will mess with your finish and you can do this as much as you like. Dont like it? Spray on the glass cleaner, wait a minute and run under water. The panel will clean up and you can try again till it's to your liking.

Hope this helps.

Bob

Edited July 8, 2010 by Dragline