1954 Porsche 550 Carrera Panamericana

This is a car I've wanted to do for a while and when the Flintstone casting showed up I figured it was time. This is a historically significant car for Porsche as the 550 was the first car designed as a racer from the start, and it claimed Porsche's first international road race win, with some stiff competition from Borgward.

I thought about making this full detail, but with a lot of unknowns about the accuracy of the original body, I decided to go curbside. I did find later that one of the rear wheel openings is farther forward than the other. The cast chassis did not fit well, and wasn't accurate for this particular car, so I scratch-built one from sheet plastic. This also gave me the opportunity to put in a sheet aluminum interior.

I started by removing the mirrors and headrest from the 'stone casting.
http://images32.fotki.com/v1089/photos/8/829155/5822025/porsche550A01-vi.jpg

Then, built up the rear fenders with putty and blunted the nose. The headlights also needed to be angled up straighter.
http://images34.fotki.com/v1080/photos/8/829155/5822025/porsche550A02-vi.jpg

Did some sanding to shape, filled in holes in the rear and started on the small rear wheel flares.
http://images32.fotki.com/v1091/photos/8/829155/5822025/Porsche55007-vi.jpg

Did the final shape sanding and re-scribed panel lines, which are significantly different than the original ones.
http://images34.fotki.com/v1126/photos/8/829155/5822025/porsche55008a-vi.jpg

http://images34.fotki.com/v1126/photos/8/829155/5822025/porsche55009a-vi.jpg

Next, I fabbed the simple chassis and worked on the sheet metal. Also added a tube frame that is visible in the interior.
http://images36.fotki.com/v1160/photos/8/829155/5822025/porsche55012-vi.jpg

http://images33.fotki.com/v1140/photos/8/829155/5822025/porsche55013-vi.jpg

I made decals using a laserprinter and found most of the markings already in MS Powerpoint. A couple other logos were found on the web. Not all the markings are exact, but they are very close. The Castrol logos were pulled from a photo of the car. The decals ended up being on the thick side, but acceptable to me.

http://images36.fotki.com/v1174/photos/8/829155/5822025/porsche55014a-vi.jpg

After the basecoat colors. I thought the ride height may be a little low, but I went forward with it. I used Tamiya gloss aluminum TS17. Clearcoated with Mr Hobby Topcoat.
http://images34.fotki.com/v1191/photos/8/829155/5822025/porsche55015a-vi.jpg

Chassis visible in background. Decals applied and some details added. I made lights and fuel and oil tank caps on the lathe. The engine cover grills and wheels are from a Fujimi Porsche 356 kit.
http://images47.fotki.com/v1401/photos/8/829155/5822025/Porsche55018a-vi.jpg

http://images46.fotki.com/v1396/photos/8/829155/5822025/Porsche55019a-vi.jpg

The banjo steering wheel is from Detail Master, the seats are re-cast from Fujimi's Speedster kit, with the seat back ventilation holes filled in. The instrument bezels were turned on the lathe.
http://images48.fotki.com/v1407/photos/8/829155/5822025/Porsche55034a-vi.jpg

The final product. I'm happy with the results and its a unique model.
http://images46.fotki.com/v1416/photos/8/829155/5822025/Porsche55036a-vi.jpg

Completed thread:
http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=932066