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a model or the logo to see the complete range from that manufacturer |
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 PM's
revised Porsche GT3 makes three more appearances and now completes
this year's Le Mans Porsche grouping. First up we have the black and
red Taisan Racing machine which finished 21st at Le Mans this year.
Unlike the other versions this one will require two tone painting
but there is a wide decal stripe to cover the masking line. This will
of course mean that you have to match the red paint very carefully
to the decal and a VW colour is quoted in the A3 instruction sheet.
Next is the blue Racers Group machine which won the GT class. Nice
simple paint on this one, except that the paint code # quoted is wrong
(it looks as if the numbers are swapped between this and the Orbit
car), we've used Ford Olympic Blue. Otherwise no obvious assembly
problems, though the outlines on one or two of the smaller decals
were rather patchy on our review sample. No such worries with the
Seikel Motorsport machine which had very clearly printed decals for
all of the sponsors and the yellow chequer livery to go over the black
paint. All ran BBS wheels which you may wish to change (RENA076).
First of the Panoz cars
from Le Mans to appear is the Mugen engined machine of the MBD team.
The body shape and details look very good and the decals are very
sharply printed with the red and gold sections of the colour scheme
included and some (much improved) carbon fibre for the front splitter
and rear wing. It looks as if a lot of solvent will be needed around
the side exit exhausts (you may prefer to cut the decal and paint
this) and you'll have to carefully study the instructions and photos
in Automodelisme (AUTO2002) for positioning of some of the carbon
parts. The placement drawings for the Leader Panoz film car are much
clearer for location of these carbon decals but the decals themselves
are much lighter and less convincing. Perhaps use them as templates
for cutting some darker carbon (BBD014)? Both Panoz kits feature fairly
comprehensive p/e which includes the rear wing elements and those
BBS wheel inserts. The other half of the
Vaillante movie pairing is the eponymous hero's blue and white Lola.
The angle of the side mounted radiators is not perfect, refer to photos
in Automodelisme if you wish to modify this, but otherwise there are
no obvious problems and this looks like a very straightforward build.
With a modest amount of p/e, very good decals and resin parts that
include the rear wing element. Another great looking
blue prototype was the #13 Courage. PM have done an excellent job
on this one which wore bodywork similar to last year's cars but our
favourite wheels make another appearance. This time they are to be
painted very dark grey so won't be as obvious! We know we keep banging
on about these wheels but PM are producing more and more detailed
p/e in many of their kits and it seams strange that no improvement
can be made to these particular items. Le Mans hasn't been a
particularly happy hunting ground for Riley & Scott and this year
was no exception. Still, the car looked very good while it lasted
and will make an attractive model. We're back to white metal for the
well detailed rear wing element and there¯s plenty of p/e detail.
The very curvy headlight covers are too small to be realistically
attempted as vac forms so PM have sensibly used clear resin inserts
to go in front of the p/e lamps. Old fashioned perhaps, but they usually
work pretty well. We are mystified by the
next release. The most spectacularly liveried car at Le Mans this
year and hardly anyone has ordered it in advance? We can only think
of two reasons. Either the car appeared so briefly (breaking down
very early on) and you blinked and missed it or you are waiting to
see how good a job PM do of the fireworks decal livery. The arrival
of Automodelisme prompted a few extra orders so this may prove the
first theory and the decals have been well designed, drawn and printed
to make what is a very colourful and complex scheme look as though
it will be a reasonably straightforward job. Ron Peggs has again built
them all already (does this man never sleep?) - |
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| PM2751 Riley & Scott MkIIIC #4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Back
they come again, but somehow R&S can never find a successful formula
for Le Mans.  |
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| This MkIIIC has
a more complicated body than some previous cars and PM have done their,
by now, usual very good interpretation of the real thing. There is
minimal decal work and the body has many of the rivet positions indicated.
For those so inclined, the addition of a small number of accessories
(RMC023E, RMC026A & RMC026D) will complement the very good p/e provided
by PM. |
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Click on a link to order a model or the logo to
see the complete range from that manufacturer |
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| PM2753
Porsche GT3 Team Taisan #77 PM2773 Porsche GT3 The Racers Group #81 PM2774 Porsche GT3 Seikel Motorsport #82 |
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| The
final batch of this year's Porsche entries, all to PM's very high
standard. On the Taisan cars I always cut out the black stripes from
the decal sheet as the red never seems to match my efforts. Also note
that on the instructions for this car PM have fixed the rear wing
end plates the wrong way round and also the decals on these end plates
should be reversed. The lovely blue #81 car looked good at Le Mans
and does so in miniature too. Just build and enjoy. For the #82 car
the yellow side decals are very robust and will take a reasonable
amount of decal softener (SS), but note you should fit the rear light
decals before the yellow panels and that a small part of these large
side decals should finish on the side windows. Seven nice Porsches
this year. Thank you PM. |
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| Another good Panoz, if anything
the finished model looks better than the real car! Again you may wish
to change those awful wheels and add a few other details such as rivets.
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| The carbon fibre decals work well and look realistic. There is a missing scribe line around the front headlights and if you look carefully on the instruction sheet you will see that PM have added tiny rivet spots (probably painted silver) in this area. Nice one PM. | ||||
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| A simple model and good to get this obscure car from PM. Minimal p/e parts, but enough. Note, the 3D build diagram does not cross reference with the p/e parts. |  |
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| The build diagram also shows previous versions of the headlight covers, the ones for this car are far more complicated and are painted body colour. Resin rear wing, but thick enough not to distort. Finally the rear view mirrors should be fixed inside the white bands, this is fairly clear from the pictures of the built model. | ||||
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| Oh dear no, somebody seems to
have lost interest in this one. The p/e sheet is very comprehensive
but the decals let the model down completely. |
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| The carbon fibre decals remind me of those very dab efforts in last year's Bentley. We need carbon fibre similar to PM2762 above, to compound the problem the black decals are neither one thing nor another. The thin stripes that run from the front of the car back along the body are too short and have been positioned incorrectly. They should run to a line approximately mid-point opposite the cockpit and should cover the bonnet catches. I scrapped the decals and hand-painted these areas. I also replaced the carbon decals using those supplied by PM as templates. Please note that the side understrips should be painted red beneath the number mounting squares. Hopefully my small additions and improvements will rescue this model. | ||||
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| A lovely colourful car from
the indomitable Courage stable. One day they must win this great race!
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| Some nice new wheels (RENA076) and painted airbox will leave you with very satisfying model to add to all those previous Courage entries. It makes a substantial mini- theme. | ||||
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| The all resin W.R. with regular
sponsor AmPm. This is one for art car collectors and brilliantly realised.
Do look carefully at those two front decals, it is not immediately
obvious where the correct placing is. |
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| I replaced the wheels, but being black this is not absolutely necessary. Note also that the lower panel immediately behind the front wheels should be black, not left blue as shown. You may also wish to add wire mesh between the rear bodywork and undertray, clearly visible in the indispensable Automodelisme Le Mans 2002 (AUTO2002). | ||||
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