Porsche 911 SC 3.0
Manufactured from 1978 to 1983, replaced the 911 SC Carrera model, in fact, the initials SC mean "Super Carrera". This model was built in three different series of models both coupe and targa body. In the first serie, K, the engine was 3000 cc and 180 hp of maximum power at 5,500 rpm. Other mechanical changes over the previous model were the introduction of a five gear manual gearbox or tree gear automatic one called sportomatic
Regarding the body, little things changed versus the previous model, those were reduced to tinkering with the bumpers, side moldings and little else.
The second series was released in 1980 and was called M, with a 188 hp engine thanks to the new ignition management was distinguished externally from the previous K series in the window frames which were black instead of chromed.
Here you can see a model of that series corresponding to those sold in the U.S. market, easily identifiable by the visors in the headlights and the cats-eyes on the sides of the front bumper.
The third series, presented in 1981, was named N. With a higher compression ratio engine was 204 hp But perhaps most interesting about this series was the introduction of a new convertible bodywork for cabriolet model in 1982.
This vehicle is being "reproduced" to 1/32 scale by Ninco, using the mold of the Porsche 930, painted red and without rear wing. The result for my taste was not good, because the differences between the two cars were wide, as wide as the width of the wheel arches (... among other things ...). Except from Ninco, I don´t remember any other reproduction of the car to slot in 1/32 scale so I'm going to make a tribute to this spectacular car, of elegant and fluid shape that has become somewhat obscured by the exaggerated (and captivating) curves of her brother, the turbo model.
As a starting point, of course, the bodywork of the 911 Altaya conveniently disassembled and unpainted.
The changes that I´m going to do in the bodywork are:
- Modify the shape of the front bumper, shortening, hugging the sides and bending over the corners, because in the model is too wide and square.
- Remove the wheel archs and leave a more subtle as in the original SC.
- Modify the bumper and bonnet, removing the wing and giving it the right shape.
To begin with the above changes, the first thing I do is paste plasticard 0.3 mm thick strips with bicomponent adhesive to the body on the inside of a wheel arches to don´t lose definition by reducing their width.
With the help of a mini drill and a Grinding Stones I touch up the wheel arches to lower them.
And finish it of with a file and sandpaper.
I also smooth the front bumper corners and shortened it a bit to give it a shape more like the original car as you can see in the next photo.
As in other cases that I have transformed this body, the chosen chassis is the Ninco Porsche 911 one, it feel like a lamb. The method of fastening the chassis to the body is, as usual, by lugs attached to the body using bicomponent glue.
By removing the fenders, they were too large as could be seen in the previous picture, so I pasted plasticard pieces inside the body and filled the gap with a bit of putty to reduce its circumference.
Then I marked the place where each wheel was placed and cutted out the excess by making small holes around the wheel. To adjust the circle helped me a metal tube of 16 m/m in diameter wrapped in a piece of sandpaper. And to clearly define the edge of a wheel I pasted a plasticard strip of 0.3 m/m thick inside each one of the wheel arches. These strips serve me well as support for the putty I'll have to stick to finish off the fenders.
Moreover, as seen in previous photos, I touched up with sandpaper the bottom of the front bumper and the fall of the bodywork at the back, from the window to the rear lights. Something like what I did with the RS 3.0 and that you can see here.
While the glue applied to the wheel arches dried I tarted to prepare the location of the rear grid, drawing with pencil before start to drilling and cutting.
With bicomponent putty began to mold the wheel arches,...
... and between rest and respite from the sandpaper, I opened the hole for the grill and put it:
Also touched up the front bumper a little to make more like the real car
Once finished the wheel arches, gave it a coat of primer to match the color of the car and continue with the sandpaper.
At that point I noticed a detail, the side of the car, mainly along the door, was poorly reproduced, as in the original car makes a fall on the curve from the base of the windows, while in the 1/32 reproduction that fall is a straight plane as seen in the previous photograph. To resolve the matter, I applied restorative wood putty in thewhole part and the rear wheels arches,..
....putty which then gave shape with sandpaper:
It is surprising that so subtle modification would give such a radical change to the scale car.
I made the bumper plugs from a rectangular evergreen bar:
Another detail that I never liked from the scale model is that the doors are not well reproduced, especially in the front. The door line has too much curvature back when in the original car is more straight and perpendicular to the ground. In the next picture couldn´t seen very well, but it serves to see the lower molding that runs along the car, made with a piece of evergreen.
The bumpers moulding I made with a strip of evergreen half-round shape sanded a bit to let a little flatter in the curved part. The bellows of the bumpers I made with grated evergreen sheet of 0.5 mm thick. With a triangular file deepened the furrows a little and stuck it all with cyanoacrylate
Once dry, I gave it a second coat of primer. The car was already taking a better shape:
But the primer always shows many failures, and this case wouldn´t be different. Besides the need for sanding some points (bonnet, doors and details of the front wheel arches) the most serious failure was the wrong shape of the rear wheel arches. So I went to stick putty at the top and I reviewed it easy to adjust better that shape.
This part of the work is usually the least showy and heavier but then is the difference between a job and a good job. The fact is that after a few hours sanding the car was like this:
And to finish the job, a few strokes with Tamiya putty diluted with acetone to cover more faults and match the color before the first coat of paint.
Green Tamiya X-5 color, acrylic and applied with an airbrush, was chosen to paint the car. Here´s with a couple of coats of paint.
And while the paint dried, I started working on the details. One of them was to lower the width of the wheels. In the original model the front wheels where 185 mm. width and 215 mm. the rear ones, which translated at 1/32 scale are approximately 6 and 7 mm. respectively. As for the wheel rims I choosed the Ninco Fuchs, I had to cut the width with a file. The photo below shows the original width of the rear wheels.
And in this the new width after reduce it with file, which gave them to the car a much better appearance.
The next step would be to rebuild the interior. First, cut the original seats:
With evergreen strips of different profiles give shape to the dashboard and rear passenger compartment.
And with more evergreen trim a couple of seats to those stick a little bit of wood restorative putty:
Over the putty carefully mark some stripes to define the pad of the seats based on half-round file and sandpaper:
While the putty of the seats was drying, I painted the taillights of the car, first with a coat of silver enamel and then the red with Tamiya acrylic clear red paint and the orange part with indelible marker, and mirrors, made of plastic evergreen 1 mm. thick.
And too in between the process of building the interior, I was painting the details of the bodywork, trim, bumpers, etc... with Vallejo acrylic black paint with a fine brush and steady hand.
Once dry the details I applied to the body two coats of varnish "Bosque Verde" with a brush, lightly loaded and in soft coats. In total I gave him three coats. Further details of the body (optical, flashing lights and grids) I pasted with carpenter's adhesive and mirrors with cyanoacrylate. The result:
To finish the model just the interior left. Painted with Tamiya Desert Yellow airbrush applied looks like this:
The dashboard and another parts of the interior are painted with black brush applied Vallejo acrilyc.
And here is the slor car, still not finished. There´s no civilian driver and steering wheel. When I finish it, I´ll give it a coat varnish to the interior to look like leather upholstery. Until then, this is the car mounted:
In the absence of these details and a decal at the top of the front bumper, I'm more than satisfied with my 911 SC. It´s a pity that it is at 1/32 scale...
| Chasis | Porsche 911 Ninco, adapted |
| Wheelbase | 73 mm. |
| Dimensions (L x W x H) | 136 x 53 x 37 mm. |
| Weight | 84 gr. |
| Engine | Long box Fly Racing |
| Front tires | Scalextric narrowed |
| Rear tires | Scalextric narrowed |
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