Hasegawa 1/24 Brun Porsche 962C

The Porsche 962 (also known as the 962C in its Group C form) is a sports-prototype racing car built by Porsche as a replacement for the 956 and designed mainly to comply with IMSA's GTP regulations, although it would later compete in the European Group C formula as the 956 had. The 962 was introduced at the end of 1984, from which it quickly became successful through private owners while having a remarkably long-lived career, with some examples still proving competitive into the mid-1990s. A total of 91 cars were built.

When the Porsche 956 was developed in late 1981, the intention of Porsche was to run the car in both the World Sportscar Championship and the North American IMSA GTP Championship. However IMSA GTP regulations differed from Group C and subsequently the 956 was banned in the US series on safety grounds as the driver's feet were ahead of the front axle center line.

To make the 956 eligible under the new IMSA regulations, Porsche extended the 956's wheelbase to move the front wheels ahead of the pedal box. A steel roll cage was also integrated into the new aluminium chassis. For an engine, the Porsche 934-derived Type-935 2.8L flat-6 was used with air cooling and a single Kühnle, Kopp und Kausch AG K36 turbocharger instead of the twin K27 turbochargers of the Group C 956, as twin-turbo systems were not allowed in IMSA's GTP class at the time.

Brun Motorsport GmbH was a Swiss auto racing team founded by driver Walter Brun in 1983. They competed as a Porsche privateer team in sports car racing for their entire existence, running in a multitude of international championships. They notably won the World Sportscar Championship in 1986 and later became a full-fledged chassis constructor. Brun was also briefly part of the EuroBrun Formula One team from 1988 to 1990. The team was eventually dissolved in 1992.

In line with other major kit makers, Hasegawa has produced quite a few car kits over the years and was rather prolific in terms of kitting the Porsche 962C with various liveries. One of those was the Brun Repsol car as it was also sponsored by Yokohama tires. Many Japanese racing car kits like to have a Japanese connection in order to sell well in the home market, which is where a majority of their sales are made.

The kit itself is a curbside and since the engine and transmission are totally hidden under the rear bodywork, it is a rather simple kit as well. To start with, there is a one-piece body molded in dark blue. There is also a single-piece pan chassis as racing cars have a full pan underside for smooth airflow under the vehicle. To this pan one attaches wide wheels and vinyl tires. These fit on axle stubs and are held in place by polycaps. The wheels, like the rest of parts, are molded in white and will need painted. The kit has no chrome, but does have a clear sprue for windows, head lights and headlight covers.

A small interior is provided with a molded in passenger seat. One then installs the driver's seat, gear shift linkage and some bits for the side radiators. A separate dash and steering wheel are provided. No decals are provided for instruments so some detail painting will be needed. Other external bits are the side mirrors, windscreen wiper and the rear wing. Holes will need to be opened to attach the center supports. The wing itself is three pieces and one will need to provide filler for the insert area that accepts the center supports.

Markings are provided for the Repsol car and are quite colorful. Repsol is a Spanish oil company that sponsored one of Brun's cars. All of the unique markings for the outside of the car are provided as decals. This includes the white areas and those parts that will fit inside the radiator exhaust areas and the inside of the rear bodywork cooling intakes. The decals are very nicely done and though now 25 years old, should still work without any issues as they were sealed until I opened the bag for this article. Keep in mind that decals of this age were not fond of setting solutions so those will be used with care. Paint information is provided with the usual Gunze references.

I am not sure just how easy it is to find this kit, or at least this boxing. A quick check of the place everyone loves to hate did not have any, but they did have the Tamiya version. If you like race cars of the 1980s when the 962 was king, then I'd search this one out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche_962

June 2015