Hi all I got this from my missus for Christmas.



I must say for a revell kit I'm very disappointed, it's the worst kit I've had in ages, look at the deformation of the windscreen surround for starters.



I've never seen a kit with so many sink mark's or crackling of the surface of the plastic.






And this is the first part I've looked at some of the sink marks are in very awkward places.

Not a very encouraging start.

Hi Ken.

That's very disappointing to hear. From what I can see this is a new-tool kit (2018) according to the Scalemates Page, I would be sending those photos to Revell Customer Service to see if they will help you out.

It still baffles me that these "ragtop" kits are moulded with the windscreen frame integral to the body. It is a weak point on such a kit and I can't see why it isn't moulded as a separate part like we see in the smaller scales. I have a 1/16 '57 Chev Convertible with a broken frame to deal with as well.

Please keep us informed as to how you progress with this one.

Cheers, D

Ken I saw the post title and thought OOH! Having had the urge to buy this myself, I was going to ask for your initial thought but see I've no need to. Disappointing in this day and age

Ken,
Boy do I feel your pain and frustration.

The Porsche 356 C Cabriolet was the very 1st sports car I fell in love with as a young teenager years away from having a driver's lic after I saw a full page add in Road & Track magazine. I never could afford one, so when this kit was announced, I had planned on buying it, and actually building it in with a BRG body and tan interior, as I would have gotten on the real one.

But just reading your post and seeing just how poorly the body shell is especially with the disformed windshield (due to poor packaging?), sure looks like I'm going to take a pass on it.

Are you going to still move ahead with the build, or get in contract with Revell of Germany and see if they will replace the shell?

Joel

I will be contacting revell but still trying to build it.

Ken,
I'm looking forward to your build blog for sure.

Joel

Hi all I've sorted the sink marks and the windscreen surround (it's still a bit warped but when the windscreen is added it trues up nicely







Did some work on the engine, the rocker cover springs are moulded as just a plastic tab so I cut it off and made them, lots more detailing to do.

Ken,
Your body work is truly exceptional.

Joel

Thanks Joel
Not sure why it duplicated the body pics, here are the engine pics.

Ken,
The Aluminum engine casting with the 180 degree flat 4 really has the look and feel of Aluminum. Very nicely done.

I'm starting to get the impression that you've joined my "WAR" with a Revell kit, and will turn the 356 C Cabriolet into something very special.

Joel

Ken, as Joel said you have done a great job of rectifying the issues on the body surface. Under primer it really looks good. The deformation on the screen frame is still noticeable, so I really hope that it straightens right up with the clear part in place.




"Revell vs Scale Modelers" is a war that truly doesn't make sense!

Cheers, D

Great recovery work on the body Ken. You have amazing patience and perseverance! Nice start on the engine too.

cheers
Michael

D,
The Revell war that I'm referring to is what I consider shoddy workmanship and design.

In my case the kit is from the mid 1980's. If nothing else, the quality of the plastic should have been equal to what other kits have from that time period, and not being concerned with tinting the plastic various colors for non-painted builds, that have resulted in gluing, and sanding issues.

Also the instructions are some of the worst I've ever seen. In way to many cases the parts placement from them is a guess at best. Also the parts in many cases just don't fit as intended, and the a good deal of the details are generic at best.

As for Ken's build, it's a brand new mold. There's just no excuse in today's kit market for smashing the body into a cramped box with the result of having the windshield frame bent. Odds are their "Suits" decided to use a box that they already have designed as it would marginally meet the requirements of the kit. And as for the number of injection sink marks, better placement should have been worked out. After all this kit isn't cheap, and is of a scale meant for serious builders and collectors.

Joel

More bad news Joel.
Hi all well i wanted to add the throttle linkages and cold starting system but comparing the engine at work with this one, I got to thinking it's nothing like the real thing so I took it into work and asked our engineers and none of them have seen tinware on a 356 Porsche like the one depicted in this kit (baring in mind they only restore classic porsche here) so I cut all the excess tinware off. Here is what's in the kit.



Heres a pic of the engine out of the 356 C Cabriolet 





So after I cut off the excess tinware I ended up with this




I also wanted to add the low and high tension leads to the coil but when i tried there was no room under it to add them so I thought I will just move it up but then i thought it may have knock on problems later on so I measured it and it should be 8.75 mm the kit supplied one is 10.5mm so it's too long, after the last few revell kits (which I raved about how good they were I'm very disappointed in this one) I also added the leads from the dynamo.




Loads more details could be added to this kit (I dont havevthe skills so I wont be) the 2 stumps either side of the engine with the 2 holes in the top are supposed to be the inlet manifolds and carbs (I may try to make some rudimentary ones but since when in the car they wont be seen at all who knows.

Ken,
That's some detailing and corrections you did on that kit engine. It looks fantastic.

I'm also really jealous that you work in a Porsche restoration shop. That would have been my dream job. I can only imagine the cars that have come through there over the years. So what was the most impressive restoration to date?

Joel

904 written off now concourse 911 rsr total rebuild took 4 yrs as the owner only wanted original parts (obviously not available off the shelf so you have to wait till they're available. Most expensive was a 550 worth 4 million pounds Stirling, I've seen cars that are so rare I doubt many have seen even in museums. I know I'm very lucky

Hi all well I've added the throttle linkages the fuel lines and the cold start valve (I know none of this will be visible when the body is on but hey keeps me out of the pubs and away from those loose women)

Loads more needs correcting, I hope this is not a sign of things to come from revell, this kit was only released in 2018 I've really enjoyed the previous revell kits I've built, I even sang their praises not so with this kit though.

That doghouse shroud looks like they just copied one from a Type 1 or Type 2 dual port engine. That rectangular part you trimmed off was the bulge where the oil cooler sits inside the housing, and the little bit coming down from it down to the bottom edge of the housing is the duct that directs the air down and out.

I don't think the Porsches have that feature as they use an external cooler, correct?

Ken,

You're making great progress. The engine detailing really does look quite good. As for the bottom plate of the chassis, you really duplicated one that's seen a lot of road miles.

Shell, always an added bonus to have another knowledgeable Porsche guy with us.

Joel

You are correct Shell

That engine Revell have done is a mess, are those blobs supposed to be carbs? Plus the exhaust stubs seem to come from the barrels themselves and not the cylinder heads. Dunno what the kit designer was smoking before he went to work on that! Tragic at this scale in this day and age.

I'm actually more on the VW side (buses are my thing), but there is a lot of overlap in the early vehicles mechanically.

Hi all well I've decided on the colour, black does look great.

Guess what I've discovered the body is warped sideways as well 




One step forward 2 back.

The instructions would have you paint the carpet black, I was going to go by this website http://derwhites356literature.com/Porsche356Colors.html

For colour combos but as you can see they say black had carpets of green or red

Well here are some pics of the actual car we have in the workshop.





So that's what I'm going for







The carpet has a ribbed effect which I will try to duplicate with dry brushing some darker grey over this.

Ken,
This just goes to prove that the kit manufactures sure do take liberties and do get it wrong way to many times. I would have never guessed that Black wasn't the correct shade. I personally really like that dark Green carpet. So which color will you be going with?

And the engine in the bay with the body shell on, sure does look good.

One thing for sure, you're making excellent progress, so the 2 steps back is incorrect in your case.

Joel

Hi all next update and we have some colour, first coat of many.






A little explanation before I mention what happened next I built a shed in the garden for spraying my models as the misses refused to allow painting in the new house (that's fine I can understand that) unfortunately we have a hot tub which we need to take down in the winter so with the new house theres no room to store it so where is it stored, you guessed it, in the shed so now guess what, yep I cant spray in the shed as swmbo says she doesn't want spray dust all over the hot tub.

Spraying outside the shed door got the body sprayed started spraying the other panels and it started to rain, by the time I got it all in the shed all the other panels had at least one rain drop on them. They all have to be sanded down and done again.