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Porsche 962
Manufacturer: Heller
Scale: 1/43
Kit #: 80109
Kenwood #10 driven at the Le Mans
24 Hours in 1989 by
Kunimitsu Takahashi, Giovanni Lavaggi and
Bruno Giacomelli.
Modified
moldings from Heller Kit #80187 and #80188 with different
decal
option.
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Subject
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The
Porsche Motor Sport division developed the 962 from
the very successful 956 mainly to meet the
crashworthiness standards of IMSA (International Motor
Sports Association) with the new models first outing
in 1984. The new 962 incorporated a revised front end
with the wheelbase extended 12 cms to move the front
axle line to in front of the drivers foot well to meet
the IMSA safety rules, overall length remained the
same. Main external difference centre around the area
forward of the doors. The 956/962 combination had an
extremely long and successful competition life with
the first 956 hitting the track in 1982 and the 962 in
late 1984. 956 have won the Le Mans 24-hour event 4
years in a row from their debut in '82 to '85. 27 956s
were produced by the factory.
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962s
won the French classic in '86, '87 and 1994 and many
of the Motor Sport worlds other endurance races and
series of that time. Over its racing life the type was
refined and developed by the factory and private
racing teams with different engines, panels, wings and
turbos etc. Of the over 148 cars produced, over 50
were built in workshops other than Porsche's. A number
of private companies also produced road versions in
the early 1990s. Original specifications were a 2.6
ltr flat 6 putting out around 600 BHP with a 5 speed
manual gearbox allowing the car to hit speeds of over
370 KPH. With a length of 4.8m, a width of 2m and a
height of 1.03m its sleek lines typified Prototype
sports car racing from the era.
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Kit
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Heller's
original kit of the 962 was released in
early 1988 with decals for the blue Kenwood
sponsored #11 (Heller
Kit #80187) and followed by the Danone sponsored #33
car (Heller
Kit #80188). In the 1990s
Heller modified the molds to replace the
injection molded tyres, wheels and stub axles with
a new 5 spoke style wheel, vinyl tyres and metal axles, this brought it
into line with the other Le Mans
cars
it had released in the same scale after the
original 962 kit. These
were the Mercedes C9, Jaguar XJR9 and the
Peugeot 905.
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Parts are
loose in the 2 part tray style box, with the
instruction sheet sandwiched between the main
sprue and the body. This boxing has the clear
parts in a plastic bag with the new tyres and
axles. I feel the box art on these later kits
was some of the best to grace any of Heller's
kits, however there is an inaccuracy on this
one in that there is an exaggerated bulge over
the rear wheels.
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The
total parts count is now 23, 14 in red with 3
clear, 4 vinyl and 2 metal. The side of the
box says 21, this must be excluding the metal
axles. Parts breakdown
sees a cockpit tub complete with front faces
of the side mounted radiators and the 2 racing
seats (the drivers seat is a separate part)
attached to a single piece chassis. The axles
are inserted through this and new style wheels
and tyres added. The underside of the chassis
has some molded detail but there is no front
suspension and the rear units are integral
with the chassis and look very crude.
This is better detail than the other Le Mans
cars where there is no detail at all.
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The
one-piece body has mostly engraved detail for
the doors and other panels, ducts and side
exhaust etc. A separate rear wing is to be
mounted onto a couple of rather thick and
inaccurate stubs. Other remaining parts cover
the radiator exits, steering wheel, mirrors,
clear headlight covers and the windshield/side
windows. The windshield has a single wiper
arm/blade integrally molded and will be very
difficult to paint.
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I found only a hint of flash and that
was on the chassis and only a couple of sink
marks, which were on the back of the drivers
seat and underneath the cockpit tub. The
chassis also has some mold seams which will
need taking care of. Some parts have wide and
thick attachment points to the sprues and the
body will need the remnant of its sprue
removed with care
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With such a low
parts count construction will be quite simple with
only 2 stages on the A4 sized instruction sheet. This
also includes painting details for individual parts,
Heller paint numbers are used with a conversion chart
to Humbrol paints on a second sheet. In this later
release the reverse side of the instructions sheet
shows a 5 view painting and decaling guide with the
drawings in 1/43 scale.
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The
decals look well printed with close examination
showing up some colour misalignment on the driver’s
nationality flags.
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The
chosen subject is the red and black #10 car out of the
Porsche Kremer Racing workshop
driven by Kunimitsu Takahashi, Giovanni Lavaggi and
Bruno Giacomelli from the 1989 Le Mans
24
Hours. This car started 14th but did not
finish due to a fire on its 304th lap. A
video of this can be seen on U tube. Perhaps an idea
there for an after the fire diorama? |
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image of this car was found on the web and some
differences are noticeable between it and the supplied
parts and decals. The biggest is the wheels, it seems
that #10 ran in 1989 with the wheel types supplied in
the original Heller kits,
BBS multi spoked rears with the smaller fronts having
ventilated covers in white. The majority of
the Heller decal
placement guide is correct, however it seems the
drivers names should be located under the rear edge of
the windshield. |
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This kit was re-released
with the same kit # and decals in a slightly smaller
box with large coloured instruction sheet. |
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The decal
placement guide on this has been reduced from 1/43
scale. The decal sheet is slightly larger but has
exactly the same content. The body has had the sprue
removed at the factory and will need filler in that
area. |
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| Heller
#80109 In The Box - 2nd Issue
Variations |
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Graham Mison |
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