The Porsche 935 Artist's Proof is almost done! It's taken about two years and two lifetimes of patience, but I can say that I'm really pleased with the way it has turned out.
The photos and descriptions will help catch up on some of what has been being done to finish the 935. It has been quite intense over the last month to make sure that everything came together correctly and in the right sequence. Major events included 2K clear-coating the body with subsequent wet-sanding and polishing. The engine was completely stripped down again and resized before repainting. The tires had to be stripped, sandblasted and repainted. Adding the graphics was its own major challenge and then it was assembly time.
Here the finished body and sub assemblies were ready for assembly - The red disk on the left is a fan wheel prototype that could be an option on future pieces. It's turned from aluminum and will have an aluminum hub an brass base and nut like those on the BBS style wheels.
Graphics were hand cut from car-wrapping vinyl. Some could be cut using meticulous measurements but many required creating acrylic templates. A few of those could be created from the CAD drawings, but the shapes of the most complicated ones had to be developed on the finished body to ensure a good fit.
The windshield was the most difficult to fit properly. The front lights and intake were challenging as well. The 3D compound curves made it tricky to cut the 2D piece to look right when applied. The yellow tape is quite thin so I applied it and then used thicker striping tape to develop the template shape. Once it was close, I traced the resulting boundaries, took off the guide tapes and had the right shape on the yellow tape to transfer to the acrylic blank. After several attempts and revisions the final template was ready. Every graphic piece had to be cut and applied at least twice and some took three or four times before they were just right.
The underside and wheel wells were masked off and coated with textured paint and then a flat finish. The three holes in a triangular pattern are for the jig plate dowel pins and the big hole in the center was for the large hand-held rod that allowed me to pivot and swivel the whole body as I painted it. The two rectangular holes are for the turbo intercooler lines (which I do realize are positioned incorrectly).
Once everything was painted, clear-coated and undercoated, the engine was too big to fit. It had to strip the paint, resize it and then refinish it all over again. Now I have a better idea of process flow and how to get good results the first time. Such is the value of an artist’s proof before making an edition.
Tires were finished and painted, but the surface was too smooth for the waterborne paint to properly adhere so the paint was stripped and the tires sandblasted - after making a sand blasting unit - and repainted. Several coats of flat clear finished them off nicely.
To add some attitude to go with the stance, all tires have 3 degrees of camber. It was important to make them the same so the whole thing would sit flat. CAD drawings were created to clarify and check the correct dimensions.
The added camber meant developing a mounting strategy to fit the tires into the tight wheel wells. The rears are particularly tight while the fronts needed 0.050" shims to position them in the wheel wells correctly.
Every square inch of this 935 Artist's Proof has been created, re-created and massaged several times over. I find it amazing to be able to say that, flaws and all, it is almost done. Thanks for following along on the ride