A couple of quick ones – Fujimi 1/24 Porsche 917s
The Porsche 917 is one of the most iconic sports racing cars of all time, largely for its high speeds and power outputs. It was made into a movie star by Steve McQueen in his 1971 film The 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The 917 is a race car which gave Porsche its first overall win at Le Mans in 1970 and 1971. The final Can-Am version was capable of 0-62 mph in 2.3 seconds and set an unofficial test track top speed of 240 mph.
There are at least eleven variants of the 917. The original, introduced in 1969, had a removeable long tail/medium tail with active rear wing flaps, but, unfortunately, suffered severe handling problems at high speed because of significant rear lift. After exhaustive testing and investigation by both Porsche and their race partners, John Wyer Engineering, a shorter, more upswept tail was found to give the care more aerodynamic stability at high speed. The changes were quickly adopted into a new version called the Kurzheck, or short-tail, named the 917K. The 917K, and the special Le Mans long-tail version, called the Langheck, or 917L, dominated the 1970 and 1971 World Sportscar Championships. The power output was also developed, from an output of 590 bhp in 1969, enlarging the engine to 4.9 litres and 5.0 litres, producing a maximum of 630 bhp.
The 917K models were generally used for the shorter road courses such as Sebring, Brands Hatch, Monza and Spa-Francorchamps. The big prize, however, was Le Mans. For the French circuit's long, high speed straights, the factory developed special long-tailed bodyword that was designed for minimum drag and the highest top speed. As already mentioned, the early versions suffered from high speed stability, but by 1971 the definitive 917L was raced by both the factory teams and John Wyer Engineering, although the 917K was still preferred for its extra security by John Wyer Engineering.
Fujimi produce a number of 917 kits in 1/24 scale and I've build two of them as part of my Year of the Porsche project in 2017. The blue and orange Gulf coloured version is perhaps the most famous, although this particular car retired fairly early on the 1970 race with transmission proglems, it was eventually sold to Steve McQueen's film company and appeared in the film. Personally I prefer the white/Martini colours, and this is the one that won the 1971 race. Out of the box the Fujimi kits offer a fair amount of detail, but, are, strictly kerbside models. Like some other Fujimi kits they seem to ride a little high, but that's the only real defect.
For those interested in photography, the heading picture was pictured on my dining table at night, lit overhead by the torch on my iPhone.
Thanks for looking, and a Happy New Year to everyone here on iModeler.
Very nice indeed George.
Thank you, Marc.
George, blue and orange or white... Either way they are Porsches and ya can't go wrong, nice builds of a truly iconic race car. Thanks for posting them.
Thanks for looking, Erich, and, yeah, they’re Porsche’s, enough said.
George, nice work on a couple of classics. Brings back a lot of memory's !
Glad you liked them, Terry, my biggest memory of them is seeing Pedro Rodriguez racing in the wet in the BOAC 500 at Brands Hatch.
Lovely looking pair, well done!
Thanks, Derek.
Beautiful, George! These cars look like they're going 300 kph sitting still!
I live in Indianapolis and we have a few races, with the Indy 500, the Brickyard 400, and the National Drags just down the street (so to speak) so we really LIKE things that go fast! (except for the Polezei, of course!)
Well done, Amigo!
PS - I'm with you; the white one that won in 1971 is the best looking ... but I'd LOVE to take one for "a ride!" (Probably die happy in it, to! HA!)
0 - 100 Kph in 2.3 seconds. Amazing!
You’ve got some great motor sport history in Indianapolis, thanks for looking.
Well done George, like Jeff I really like it white. Are the red/white/blue detail on the wheels paint or decals? Either way they really set them off.
Thanks, Tom, the wheel markings are decals but a couple of them broke up and I had to paint them!
Yet another pair of outstanding builds from ya, George...you've certainly got "the touch" when it comes to these sports cars.
Cheers, Craig, your comments are always much appreciated.
Nice job on that George.
Thanks, Anthony.
Very nice - and love what you did to use the box top or other image in the background of the heading picture - very "romantic" depiction of the car!
Thanks, Greg, yes, it was the box top I used, having a black background I think it worked OK in helping to create a night time effect.
I remember seeing a car very similar to the Gulf blue and orange one at the Meecum auction in Kissimmee. Last year or the year before ?
Beautiful work as usual George. I like how you drilled out the brake rotors. Looks very realistic. It's amazing how the real ones glow at the tracks. Thanks for sharing these with us.
I like how the caption photo looks too ! Outstanding...
As is the real story behind the cars. I think they may have ran at Daytona too. Sebring for sure.
Cheers, Louis, they ran at Daytona as well as at Sebring for sure. Many of these cars have landed up in private ownership and sometimes appear at various “classic car” events in unusual guises. Your kind comments usually provide interesting insights, much appreciated.
Nicely done George, great pair of 917.
Cheers, Alan, I know you are a likeminded enthusiast for this kind of thing.
Beautiful builds, George.
Thank you, Robert.
Great job on the 917's! But my favorite has to be the Gulf Porsche. As a kid I saw Le Mans in the theater, and it was amazing. Ever since then I've had a love of classic Le Mans cars, Ferrari 330P and 512LM, Ford GT40 MkII and MkIV, Porsche 908 and 917K.
For a kick check out the YouTube videos of restored Ferrari's and Porsches running at speed. Nothing like the sound of 12 cylinder engine!
Glad you liked them, Robert, there have certainly been some great cars competing in these races over the years, I’d love a decent 1/24 kit of those Chaparrals amongst others, oh yeah, and a D-type Jaguar, the list could go on forever!
Some nice touches here, George.
Thanks for looking, Rob, hope you are keeping warm this winter, I know Norfolk can be quite chilly at this time of year.
A couple of nice builds there George! I know exactly what you mean about the ride height on the Fujimi kits. It's put me off doing another one.
Either way, you have done a cracking job on these two!
Thanks, Richard, I think these two look OK, I think Le Mans was more of a real road circuit then and these cars probably rode a little higher than the McLarens anyway.
Absolutely one of my favorites ! Well done, George !
Cheers, Joe, glad you enjoyed them, I know you like proper racing cars.
A lovely pair of cars George.
Porsche
s are the ones that stick in my mind when it comes to 24 Endurance racing in the 70`s.Happy New Year.
Thanks, Simon, it’s always good to hear from you.
Nice work, George. I prefer the white one too.
Cheers, John, they're both classics, but I always like the Martini colours.