MFH's Porsche 908/03: time to get started again

I stopped work on the 908 in the spring, partly because the weather was warm and it was time to get out of the house, but also because I was getting frustrated with some of the very fine detail, such as throttle return springs and plug wiring, which are proving to be at the very edge of my modeling skills.

In the photo, you can just see the throttle return spring, dangling from its bracket on the throttle slide at about #3 cylinder. This is particularly frustrating as the spring has the eyelets at both ends in the same plane, but the installation requires them at 90 degrees; as the spring is made of high quality spring steel, I can't just bend it. Alternate solutions will need to be dreamed up.

Not wanting to get stuck at this level, I've decided to do something where progress can be seen in a hurry: painting the body.

Finding the right blue in a rattle can was the first step. (I don't use an airbrush, because it is an added complexity, although I may wind up changing my mind on this if I ever start spending significant amounts of time on modeling, i.e. when I retire). Testor's has two shades of blue, one which strikes me as too dark (1211, the colour I used for the Alpine A110) and the other too light (1208), while Tamiya's TS-23 seems just right. Accordingly I started with two light coats of Tamiya primer which went on nice and smooth, followed by two of the blue. Right now it looks a little bold (the Gulf blue was probably diluted with a bit of white), but we'll see as it dries. Certainly the finish looks good, no orange peel or runs.

 The usual patience is now required while this all hardens, say a week. Meanwhile I dug out all the bits for the front subframe and began getting reacquainted with them. This led to a long session with the #70 drill to clear out some of the socket joints, which will be followed by a session with the nail files to sharpen up the dowels that are supposed to fit in these sockets. There is also a fair bit of scarf on the various tubes to be cleaned up, as the spun-cast white metal moulds are not perfect. (Of course most of this is only visible with my desk-stand 4X magnifying glass). Zen, baby, Zen ... all this to ensure that the crazy glue will flow nicely into the various joints, and that subsequent components will fit.

Originally posted 12 October 2014