1/24 Porsche 911 GT1 Le Mans
Tamiya No. 24186
Molded in White, Black,
Satin Chrome, and Clear.
Decals and Window masking templates included.
Avg. retail: $30.00

Review and Build Report
by Craig Isberg

Overall this kit is typical Tamiya in its execution. There is a small number of
pieces, but a ton of detail. Everything goes together the way it is meant to.

I started the kit by prepping the body for painting. The Porsche body is
molded in white and is beautifully reproduced. There are only slight parting
lines that can be easily sanded off.

The rear cowling comes in two pieces. The gap on the underside of the rear
spoiler is fairly large and has to be filled to be accurate. I first filled
the gap with a piece of stretched sprue to give the putty a base to adhere to
and add strength.

I am from the great white north (Canada.), so I decided to do the #26 car
Scott Goodyear drove. I airbrushed the body with Tamiya X-2 Gloss white.

After the paint had dried, I painted the inside of the body using Testors Model
Master black chrome trim using a combination of both brush and airbrush.
After everything had thoroughly dried for about a week, I then applied the
decals.
 

The decal sheet is outstanding. It has all the markings for the wild Mobil 1
paint scheme. The only shortcoming is the gold GT1 marking on the roof.
On the real car, the marking is gold mylar, whereas on the kit, it is only gold paint.

The decals settled down well. I only used decal solvent in the various seams
and openings. Once the decals had enough time to thoroughly dry, I clear-coated the
completed body with Testors Metalizer sealer.

The sealer produces a good hard clearcoat that will not harm the decals.
It also goes on fairly thin so you can apply numerous coats without losing details.
The sealer dries quickly so you do not have to wait too long to polish and shine
the body.

All the lighting fixtures are satin chrome plated and fit into place perfectly.
All the lenses, including the rear light, are molded in clear plastic. Tamiya has
provided a die cut masking seal for the windows so you do not have to paint
the blacked out areas of the windows freehand. The mask works great.
The completed windows fit the body without any gaps just like the real thing.

The twin turbo flat six is beautifully reproduced with all the visible
details, as well as quite a few of the water, oil and fuel lines molded in.
Even though there is a lot of detail, the engine and transaxle call out for
additional detailing. The engine, transaxle and suspension components are
molded in black.

All the additional rear frame and suspension components fit into place without
any problems. There are satin chrome plated pieces that give the engine just
the right look that you could not achieve using metalizers.
 

The exhaust pipes are also plated, but the ends are molded in two pieces
leaving a very visible seam. I dechromed mine, cleaned up the seams, and
painted them Testors Model Master chrome silver.

I used the April 1997 issue of  RACER as my reference. The RACER article
shows the pipes weathered, but I think the "chrome" exhaust pipes look better.
The brake cooling ducts are molded with a slot running down the inside. I filled
mine with epoxy to make them look more realistic.

The rear engine, transaxle and suspension build-up as one component that
attaches to the rear interior panel. The whole structure is then attached to
the main chassis.

The front chassis assembly also goes together without any problems. The front
chassis and suspension build-up into a single component that is also attached
to the main chassis. The oil reservoir is plated and comes in two pieces leaving
a visible seam once it is assembled. I de-chromed it and repainted it with
metalizers to make it look realistic.

The interior components are well-produced and molded in black. Some pieces
will have to be masked and painted white. The instrument panel has a decal for the
main gauge cluster. The cooling ducts are separate pieces. The ducts are molded
solid so I drilled out the ends to make them look real.

The door panels and roll cage build-up without any problems. The seat is a beautifully
reproduced Recaro competition unit. The kit supplies seatbelt decals, but I added
some aftermarket belts to mine. The overall interior is quite sparse and as far as
I can figure it's missing some electrical components on the passenger side.
My reference material does not provide a picture of this side.

Once the individual components are completed, everything is attached to the
main chassis. The wheels are the BBS multi-piece units that the real car uses and are
beautiful. I painted the wheels using Tamiya X-12 gold. I added valve stems to make
them look even more real.

The tires are typical Tamiya rubber slicks. The tires will have to have the
seams sanded off to make them look used. There is also a set of Michelin Pilot
SX transfers for the tires.

When the chassis is all completed the body goes on and the rear cowling slides
into place without any trouble. Everything fits without any gaps or holes. The
fit is so good, you don't need to glue the body to the chassis.

The whole kit went together very easily without any problems. The completed model
builds into a very realistic looking replica that also looks fantastic.

Tamiya has produced an excellent kit. It easily rates an 11 on a scale of 1 to 10!
 

Porsche, the Porsche Crest and the distinctive designs of the Porsche models are trademarks and  trade dress of Porsche AG.
References to Porsche and its automobiles are included  here for editorial, non-commercial purposes only.