What A Staggering Amount Of Detail!
Eleven complete kits and a 3D-printed motor got finished. Apart from the 3D-printed motor, five involved resin or other multi-media materials such as spun-cast white metal, while six were exclusively styrene. Five kits represented Le Mans cars from the late '50s to early '70s. The Aston Martin DBR1, also from Profil 24, is a multi-media kit of the 1959 winner. One of the drivers was some guy named Shelby who apparently became famous later. Here I made distributors from bits of brass tube, and even got the firing order (almost) right. 22.5 million at auction, so I continue to save big bucks. The Porsche 917K, in Gulf Oil colours, is an icon of the late '60s. Seen posed next to an equally-iconic 956 from Tamiya, this styrene Fujimi kit was augmented by a highly detailed motor, in resin, from Historic Racing Miniatures. 50 million. The savings continue! Moving on to less well-known road racing cars, we find the Porsche 907. This kit, marketed variously by Union, Heller and others over the years, has a moderately well-defined 2.2 litre flat 8, to which I added plug wires.
Finally among the Le Mans cars, the Matra MS640 ran once, in testing, and almost killed its driver. The car was destroyed in the accident and Matra quickly moved on to the MS 650, which was a winner. Enthusiasts built a second MS 640 recently. Who knows what it's worth -- it's one of a kind, but fatally flawed. The kit is a resin curb-side from Profil 24; I gather they are about to release an MS 670, with full engine detail, in 1/43 scale. It would have been nice to build up the Matra V12 in 1/24 as it is a fairly unique bit of engineering. Moving on to the 3D printed motor, this 9-litre V12 (basically one and a half Chevy small blocks) came from Ron Olson at Shapeways, and was intended to get a feel for the material. Very high levels of detail are possible, but you can still see the tracks of the printer head, and the material is brittle.
Finally it seems that actually printing something takes some significant amount of time when compared to injection molding. Still in its infancy, this is a technology that promises big things. Finally the BRM P83 (known as the H16 for its engine layout) from Model Factory Hiro, in 1/43 scale, was an eye-opener, literally, as I had to build the whole thing under the 4X desk magnifier. The 3-litre H16, consisting of a pair of flat-8 motors stacked one on top of the other and geared together, was infernally complex, and the width had an impact on what the rear suspension designers could do. It wasn't very successful, even with people like Jackie Stewart or Graham Hill at the wheel, but it was a fan favourite. The company name, British Racing Machines, reeks of Empire, and Hill, with his perfectly trimmed mustache and military bearing, would have been a perfect fit for monarchists of a certain age. What a staggering amount of detail! The finished motor is smaller than the pictures of it in the printed instruction sheet. I've got three more MFH kits at this scale on the shelf, including the two other podium finishers for the 1967 Belgian GP, and who knows when I will get around to them.
This, apparently, is the major even Mueller wants to celebrate each year with while continuing to upgrade existing models. The new 911 coming this fall is slated for 30,000 units to be sold. Quite ambitious, but we'll see what Mueller can do in the marketing arena. He must have been successful at Volkswagen or BMW would not have hired him away. The 911, in fact, now has 22 different derivatives and will be used as an example for the other models, according to Mueller. Weston used Porsche customers can obviously expect to see a lot of choices in the showroom. The Panamera model will offer buyers more choices as well and a longer wheelbase will be one example. Porsche is looking at growing not just the U.S. They feel the longer wheelbase will be popular in places like Russia and China. A totally electric Porsche is on the drawing board too, as it is with most car manufacturers. Mueller believes that 20 percent of all new cars will be electric within 10 years and plans to get in on that action. But Porsche has sales goals for the present as well. For the 2011 selling season the goal is 100,000 units. That would beat last year's sales by about 3,000, but is still a step toward the doubling in sales that Mueller has planned for Porsche in the next eight years. It seems the entire Porsche team will be kept busy for the next few years designing, building and selling its way to the top of the market.