Porsche 956-962 Shortail Question

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Re: Porsche 956-962 Shortail Question

Post by flashman »

nichenson wrote: As for the rear BBS wheels, they pop up on eBay from time to time.
Calvin Sallee (his forum name is "chaparral2k" on F1M and other race car modeling forums) has resin BBS wheels for Porsche 962's, available for purchase from his HobbiTime web shop at https://hobbitime.myshopify.com/product ... -sportscar. He does often list these and his other products on eBay, but it's usually much better and cheaper to contact him directly (email or PM) or order through his web site than buying through eBay.

He also has a resin conversion set to convert the Hasegawa/Revell 962 into an IMSA 962. The BBS wheels (plus tires) are also included in this conversion set.
https://hobbitime.myshopify.com/product ... l-kits-gtp

As Calvin says on his site, his resin castings often need a fair bit of cleanup and a bit of filling, but he gets the shapes right, his prices are very reasonable, he offers kits/transkits/parts not available elsewhere, and his service with shipping orders is top-notch! And he's a nice guy to deal with.

Cameron

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Re: Porsche 956-962 Shortail Question

Post by robdebie »

jaykay wrote:Not exactly ( that easy ).
As mentioned before the 962 has a different rear wheel diameter than the 956 and hence the rear decks have different heights over the wheels.
Early 962s did not have the taller (19") and narrower rear wheels. The Cotton/Büsing/Upietz book (pages 44 and 45) explains that the cheapest way to make the 962C faster was fitting narrow, large diameter (19" by 14') rear tires from the 935 Baby. This allowed wider tunnels and more downforce. This indeed worked, but resulted in a car that was 1-1.5 seconds faster, but tricky to drive. Suspension work improved the drivebility.

The Hasegawa models have a 'curvier' shape in side view, suggesting the originals had the taller rear wheels, and indeed the wheels included look like 19". But that could also be a typical optical correction.. The Tamiya 962 looks like the pre-19" version, and indeed has 18" wheels. However Cotton/Büsing/Upietz say it was 17" before the change. To be continued..

Rob

Note: see below for corrections. I wrote the above from the heart, and consulted books later - definitely the wrong order
Last edited by robdebie on Thu Aug 22, 2019 6:26 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: Porsche 956-962 Shortail Question

Post by eyckles »

I think the easiest way is to buy the new Italeri kit. That a 956B
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Re: Porsche 956-962 Shortail Question

Post by flashman »

eyckles wrote:I think the easiest way is to buy the new Italeri kit. That a 956B
I agree that upcoming kit looks to be best way to do the 956 short-tail, provided it is accurate. Also has the spoked wheels that nichenson (the original poster of this thread) says he prefers.

https://www.italeri.com/en/prodotto/2831

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Re: Porsche 956-962 Shortail Question

Post by robdebie »

robdebie wrote:Early 962s did not have the taller (19") and narrower rear wheels. The Cotton/Büsing/Upietz book (pages 44 and 45) explains that the cheapest way to make the 962C faster was fitting narrow, large diameter (19" by 14') rear tires from the 935 Baby. This allowed wider tunnels and more downforce. This indeed worked, but resulted in a car that was 1-1.5 seconds faster, but tricky to drive. Suspension work improved the drivebility.

The Hasegawa models have a 'curvier' shape in side view, suggesting the originals had the taller rear wheels, and indeed the wheels included look like 19". But that could also be a typical optical correction.. The Tamiya 962 looks like the pre-19" version, and indeed has 18" wheels. However Cotton/Büsing/Upietz say it was 17" before the change. To be continued..
I reread pages 44-45 again and again, and now I interpret it such that the 962C has 19" tall and 14" wide rear tires from the start. But the book just isn't clear enough to be 100% sure. I might have to consult another book that is more thorough on technical details.

To confuse things further, and from my own observation, the 962C Langheck (not Kurzheck) did not run 19" rears at Le Mans. The rears look like 956 rear wheels to me, 16" or so.

Rob
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Re: Porsche 956-962 Shortail Question

Post by indycals »

"I agree that upcoming kit looks to be best way to do the 956 short-tail, provided it is accurate." It's not. The nose is too thick, the under tray is a joke, the panel lines are wrong, the windscreen is too wide. It will make an OK curbside build but is far from accurate. Fortunately the plastic in the nose is so thick there is considerable room to reshape it into something more acceptable. On the plus side, it's affordable - I got mine for $48, $20 of which was expedited shipping from Italy.

That said... I'm working on new decal offerings for it, including Bellof's Nurburgring lap record car (markings on the included decals will not do this car).
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Re: Porsche 956-962 Shortail Question

Post by Icon_Modeler »

I'm thinking with all of the 1/12th releases from Italeri that are nothing more than Protar repops that the 956B is nothing more than Protar's 956B in a new box and with new decals.
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Re: Porsche 956-962 Shortail Question

Post by Gruppecfan »

I still have pictures for a Porsche 956 conversion in a short tail. Should I set it here or make an extra report?
regards Ralf
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Re: Porsche 956-962 Shortail Question

Post by JamesB »

Icon_Modeler wrote:I'm thinking with all of the 1/12th releases from Italeri that are nothing more than Protar repops that the 956B is nothing more than Protar's 956B in a new box and with new decals.
And you are 100% right!! :D
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Re: Porsche 956-962 Shortail Question

Post by flashman »

JamesB wrote:
Icon_Modeler wrote:I'm thinking with all of the 1/12th releases from Italeri that are nothing more than Protar repops that the 956B is nothing more than Protar's 956B in a new box and with new decals.
And you are 100% right!! :D
That is a real disappointment. I bought the Protar kit when it first came out because it was the first plastic short-tail 956 kit available and started it, but quickly decided it was a terrible replica and put it back in the box. Every so often I pull the box out and consider throwing the piece of garbage out just to make room on my shelves, but then decide maybe some of the parts might come in handy in other builds... :?

Cameron
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