Started first assembly steps

Started first assembly steps. Front and rear suspensions are mostly completed.

First fit issues appeared during these steps.

- for some reason B13 did not want to seat well over the top of gearbox and ended up with it seating at the small angle which might affect alignment of rear suspension later

- next fit issues was with E3. It was seating too high on top of E20. I had to make deeper channels in E3, so it could go lower and then E3 has aligned with E14/E15. Looks ok now

- at the front instructions are calling on putting B2, B3, B12, B14 and E8/E12 together at the same time. I figured there is not way I could do that. So, I came up with following sequence: put B2 in place first properly aligned; then B3/B14 and E8/E12 combination, using epoxy glue, so I had time to align parts; after all that was in place I carefully inserted B12 parts

- alignment of gearbox/rear suspension assembly and the engine is not firm. So, I plan to use car's floor as a jig to align them when engine is ready

That all for now. Will report future modification as I continue with assembly steps.

Here is quick photo to mock up assembled parts so far

Most parts painted

I've been enjoying extra modeling time I can put in during holidays. Making a good progress on this build. Painted SG black, aluminum, steel and bunch of other Alclad shades on various parts. Then brush painted some details. Body parts were painted in Zero Essex blue and then clear coated with 2K gloss. I plan to start assembly steps soon. Will also work on decals at some point in near future.

Here is a small mock up to show how body color looks like.

Chassis almost finished

Continued assemblies for chassis. Almost done. Only blocked by seat belts and decals to be applied over engine covers. After completion, chassis will have to wait for a while, until I finish body shell components. Last will be the wheels. Still have to prepare, prime and paint them. Plus usual boring task of getting tires ready. No my preferred task.

Primed parts

I have reached important for me milestone in this build. Mounted and primed all the parts. Took about 4 hours to mount all those parts for painting. Fortunately most of them I was able to mount using 3M mounting tape and it was not difficult. Only relatively small number of tiny parts and pipes needed to be super glued to toothpicks and thin wires.

This is a milestone step for me in any build, because from that point all future tasks are much more fun to do, compare to preparation steps. Also remaining steps are easier and feel more productive to me. It's just a feeling, but progress really becomes more visible and appreciative from this point.

Quick shot of parts drying inside my paint booth under outgoing flow of air. In 48 hours I will start applying colors. That's fun I am looking forward to.

Porsche 962C WEC 1986 started

Even though I keep cursing builds of sports cars and not very happy with results from 2 recent builds, something draws me back to them. Looked at Rothmans livery of WEC car from 1986 season and could not resist temptation of starting one. Tamiya kit is quite basic, but that is probably a good thing. Because I might be able to complete it quickly, without major issues and to my satisfaction. Also it provides a little bit of extra motivation at present. Just started removing parts from trees and doing test fit assembly.