| My modelling started out (as with many young lads) with Airfix aircraft kits - aircraft were plentiful and car kits were few and far between then; an abiding love of motorsport, 1:1 scale car restoration, and adulthood then conspired to get in the way of modelling. The spark to fan the embers of modelling back into life came about after meeting a friend who models 1:43 scale cars; they were fanned back into full life after finding the immense range of kits and accessories on offer these days and finding websites and e-groups such as GPMA , GT1 and the Rally Car Model Group. | ||||||
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| The roots of this particular kit conversion started in mid 2001, having built a dozen or so sports cars, rally cars and F1 models; I then felt confident enough to go for a more ambitious conversion. The aim was not recreate a slavish and absolutely exact copy, but a model that's the best I can achieve and looks as right as I can get it at a reasonable price. I have a particular love of watching the 24 Hour Le Mans race in 1:1 scale, and the 1988 race in particular was a classic, with the Jaguar win after years of Porsche domination. | ||||||
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One of the first car models I made was the Hasegawa Porsche 962C in Blaupunkt colours straight from the box; it was only then that I realised that not only had I got the Tamiya and Hasegawa kits of the Jaguar XJR9 for the race winner, but also two Tamiya 962C kits (the Bluaupunkt and From A kits), from which I thought I could convert one, to make the second place Shell-sponsored Porsche 962, driven by Bell, Stuck and Ludwig. Therefore, my end game with this modelling project was to be a fully detailed Porsche 962, representing the second place Shell-sponsored car driven by Bell/Ludwig/Stuck in the 1988 Le Mans race.
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| I had seen the Hasegawa 962 Group C kit a few years ago in a shop, with the Shell scheme, but it was before I had returned to modelling and, consequently, I did not purchase it then, so the major stumbling block to a proper conversion appeared to be a complete lack of decals. However, at about the same time towards the end of 2000, I found the correct decal set through MRM models in the UK and also found the Coca-Cola IMSA 962 article about converting and combining 956/962 kits to make an IMSA 962. Hence, work started on building up reference material and working out what needed to be done to the base kit, the differences between the kits mentioned in the IMSA 962 article, and building the conversion. This was, as is often the case, before Studio 27 released their transkit and Tamiya re-released their 962C kit with the Shell markings, but I still carried on with the conversion, because I had started (!) and I wanted to keep costs down. My prime references were the book The Cat Pounces, which had a number of excellent external shots of the car during the race, and a host of detail photographs posted on Photopoint, to which I was directed by GPMA members. | ||||||