Porsche 956 - 1000 Km Spa 1984 - WIP

As usual I start by cleaning up all the resin parts. I also cut off the mirrors which are cast to the body, but this is wrong: they should be fixed by means of a small support. So I scratched new mirrors in white plasticard. 

The rear wing was adjusted to fit between the vertical fins. The non-existing central supports were also scratched with plasticard and some metal wire. 

I opted to dry fit the complete model which doesn't have a great deal of parts: the only missing parts on this picture are the steering wheel, the windshield and the wiper. But I will scratch a few extra parts to complete the model as well. 

Next I take the dry fitted parts apart again, and I concentrate on the main body. First I put on a white primer, and after 24 hours drying time I spraypaint it with Tamiya TS-26 Pure White. 

I didn't use the spraycan though, because in 1/43rd scale you lose control over the paint dispersion; so I spray the paint into my airbrush first and then I gently spray the body at low air pressure. 

Once the white paint is dry, I start to mask the body with BMF and Maskol, giving the Porsche a psychedelic look 😉 

Maskol is a liquid which becomes elastic once dry. 

Then the body is sprayed with the airbrush to keep the flow of paint under control. 

Once the BMF and Maskol are removed, the body looks like this. Now it's time to fix some decals 😉 

And this is how the Porsche looks with 99% of the decals in place. 

There is just 1 little decal missing at each side of the car, situated at the vertical stabilisation fins. 

Here's the explanation: the decal set I used comes from a 'long tail' Porsche (below) while the car I'm building is a 'short tail' Porsche, showing larger Rothmans logos. So I had to order an aftermarket set of Rothmans logos in Japan (HLJ)... 

While I was waiting for the missing 'Rothmans' decals I continued to work at the cockpit. Most of the work is painting details manually because Starter always casts the resin interiors in one piece (except for the steering wheel and gear lever). 

There were no decals available, so I dived into my spare parts box to give the dashboard a minimum of realistic look. I also added the fire extinguisher. 

Then finally the Rothmans decals sheet arrived, enabling me to fix the correct sized logos at the vertical fins of the Porsche. Here it is completed and gloss coated, ready to be detail painted. 

I also put the wheel centres in place and I applied the decals on them. I'll tell you a little secret: they state 'Porsche 962' instead of 'Porsche 956' because I borrowed them from a Porsche 962 kit. But it's nearly impossible to notice 😉