This is actually a finished model, but I will show the process I went through for over 16 months to build it. If it should be in the finished section, please move it.

This is my first subscription model, and it almost took me as long to decide to give it a try as the build did. At the end, I actually enjoyed it. The monthly package schedule gave me actual time to study the manual and make upgrade decisions. Agora chose the Porsche 917K with number 20 because it was used in the Movie Le Mans. Although Steve McQueen was the fictional driver during the race, the car was actually entered in the 1970 race, driven by Joseph Siffert and Brian Redman. They did not finish the race because of a blown engine, which was very unspectacular compared to the movie scene.

The model is designed for model makers with some experience but does not really involve painting.

Except for the blue/orange body paint, I repainted almost every piece for more accurate coloring. I also added hundreds of tiny nuts and bolts, metal and plastic to replace the molded on pieces.

Unfortunately, the build steps are very inconsistent, and the first step was to assemble only one of the front suspensions with some Phillips screws. I replaced them with mini nuts and bolts but had to use glue since the bolts in that small size don't come in the necessary length.

The gearbox with the transmission joint was next, and I added more mini bolts. I even found tiny little internal hex bolts to replace the ugly Philips screws. I ended up with a 1/4 pound of leftover screws.

The gearbox came with molded nuts, which I filed off and drilled holes to add real metal pieces. I also added the missing bolts on the back cover, where it is attached to the side pieces. They were omitted because of mold overhang issues. The gearbox got a darker color with some dry brushing to enhance the look.

End of step one.

Since I posted the build on the Agora website, I only documented the changes I did and this resulted in fewer pictures.

Some steps around the motor I did it according to the manual and just enhanced the looks, with added screws and repainting everything silver in either stainless steel, aluminum or cast aluminum color. Some of the nuts were even smaller than the M1.2 I could find and I used 3D printed pieces I found on ebay.

I also added omitted electric cables or left out sensor cables in the right color if I found a color photo from 1970.

Test fit of the gearbox and the motor. With the added parts, it was important to find out early if everything still goes together.

Luckily, I found two websites of garages that restored 917K and documented every step. Studying the pictures and the videos took up most of the time on this build. Even just the placement of two cables on the alternators (Le Mans cars have a lot of parts double for quicker repair) was fun to discover.

I love the pre-painted blue/orange body and the brownish metal parts of the engine but the add-on pieces are painted in silver that has a strange hue and is used for everything. The fuel pump is one of those examples. Every piece except the fiberglass cover was silver although it consisted of different materials.

Luckily I found a picture on ebay of an original pump including the manufacture tag.

The fuel pump is also the worst plunder the model manufacture did on the 917K. All the fuel lines are connected to each other but non goes to the pump. I studied old pictures (including the one below) for hours until I realized why non of the lines in the manual made any sense. The fix was pretty easy but I had to adjust all of the fuel lines. Although Agora chose 1970 Le Mans 917K, they used probably a 917 that was redone many times over the decades. An even in the 1970, each car was different since Porsche sold it to private owners for different application not only for the 24 hour race.

Although the fiberglass was pre-painted in a very good matching colors, the heat from the 12 cylinder air cooled motor discolored the material in certain areas which I tried to mimic. A few bolts just got the paint treatment while others were replace with 3D printed or real ones.

At the same time I worked on the fastener of the mufflers. The pipes attached with pins to the cylinder and although at the end it won't be seen that easy, I cut off all the pins and drilled holes for the nuts and bolts.

Those are the fake M1.2 nuts and bolts I used. Some I could screw in, some were glued in since there was no room for the tool.

I cover the gaps between the pipes later but the result did not improve much. Normally I would have pre-assembled the muffler, fixed all the problems and then attached it to the motor, but that was not possible in this case. Each pipe had to be attached to the cylinders in a certain order.

There are great details overall, even down to the notches for the spark plug cables. Unfortunately the provided cables where actually rubber tubing with the nasty habit to attract dust particles across town. The tubing was also very much oversized, like all provided ones. Never ever complain about low quality thread and lines on a model ship kit.

This is the way, they wanted me do the cabling.

And with little effort and some cheap cable from Amazon it looked like that.

The problem I encountered with subscription model, you are at the mercy what the next package gives you. Instead finishing the motor, we know started with the front of the car. Here it showed again, that their model was not the No. 20 from 1970 but a race legal updated car for historic events. The brake fluid tanks were incorrect for the 1970. With the help of styrene rods, I was able to change that. The windshield washer tank was also changed to a 1970s piece and got some cables for the pump.

The frame tubing of the Porsche 917 was a very unique approach to solve some problems. The oil was sent from the motor to the radiator in the front and back through some of the tubing. The drivers always complaint, that it would heat up the cockpit. The rest of the tubing was filled with compressed nitrogen to easily detect damage.

The frame of the model consisted of metal casting, which was incredible well done. It was pre-painted in black and gray. It took me some time to figure out why it was like that. The gray pieces simulated the fiberglass patches they used to attache the fiberglass body to the frame. Since I wanted to repaint the black anyhow, so the color matched the few plastic and my add on pieces, I decided to simulate the fiberglass patches as well and put it in the right position.

Most are not visible later with the seats installed but I don't have to explain why I did it on this forum.

The next step was the steering wheel and the pieces that connects to the front suspensions. Although the steering wheel turns the wheel, it is to flimsy to operate it constantly, and most modeler broke it off after a few demonstrations. I focused more on parts that should have been part of the kit, like the turn signal handle.

Since every Le Mans race car has to meet street laws, a turn signal is part of it, like the parking lights, tachometer and the horn.

Although not provided with the kit, I was able to find to 1/8 helmets from the time. 1970s was the transition from the old style helmet, worn by Brian Redman and the new style used by Joe Siffert. While Siffert only used one paint scheme in his most successful years, Redman almost every race showed a new design. This one I could verify with a photo that he was using it at Le Mans. Unfortunately the helmet came with out the goggles.

Great attention to detail, Roland. I love the extra work with the plumbing and fitting the kit to 1970 standards.

Cheers Rob

Thanks. It helps that I had to wait a month for new pieces and so I studied as many pictures as possible. This is actually the best part of the subscription model. You have to wait, check the manual for the next step, research and get very excited about the upcoming pieces. I noticed also, that I don't procrastinate working on the model, since new pieces will arrive in 30 days.

Most of the wires and piping provided with the model are simplified, but still the casting has the necessary spot where the left out pieces should go. This is also the case with the brake cylinders, which includes the oil hose nipple. The kit provides only one oversized rubber tubing but I could add other easily, including the brake fluid lines from one side to the other.

When I found a picture of a 1970s fuse panel, I could not resist to model it. Unfortunately, the smallest colored wires I could find where still oversized and colored copper wires did not look right. The transistors are made out of styrene parts. The whole panel is only about 1" high.

As with the brake cylinders, the oil connectors were molded but only for one size tubing. This was an easy fix with blind string cords from Amazon in different sizes. I sprayed the strings silver and used black paint with a fiber towel for a more 3D look. The connectors are different sizes of styrene rods and mini washers.

Little upgrade on the ignition coils. Instead of one rubber hose, I added the correct L-connector and some additional wires. I should have scratch build those cylinders but at the end, the spare tire covers this area.

The model did have a rear/brake and turn signal cover but only the rear/brake light was modeled. With some styrene pieces a could add a spot for a turn signal led. The cable were attached to the frame according to pictures I found, with tiny cable ties I found on the internet.

The oil recovery tank with the red/white cap needed some backdating with an overflow that is for today's environmental conscious minds a little bit questionable.

After few more pieces added to the motor, the next package jumped to the firewall. In the movie Le Mans, Steve McQueen sits in the 917 waiting for the clock hitting 3. That shot showed all the parts on the firewall and I could add the missing transistors and cable in the right place. Some cable were going nowhere since the mechanics just unhooked them, if it was not necessary for the particular race.

On the motor site, I used aluminum tape, which looked much better than the paint. I added the fiberglass patches and covered up the three big holes behind the driver. I could not find any references to those holes, which also does not make any sense in a firewall, even for the 1970s.

the kit comes with the right seat belts and they have the manufacturer name printed on them. The buckles are time appropriate. Very nice.

Pieces attached to the firewall are all plastic molded and not very 3D. The 2 regulators seems to be an after though and possible even racetrack side build. I used some wood pieces and orange yarn to catch the look.

The plastic molded ignition boxes lacked the depth of the cooling fins. I scratched build (laser cut) replacement parts.

The manual showed the cable going through the firewall and than cut them off. I planed to chase each one and attach it to the right pieces. I soon found out, that would be almost impossible, since some of the cable in real life never went anywhere, either for other race applications or per-installed in case of a defect. So I cut them off, too.

The trickiest parts were the fuel lines. Those to panels with the fuel injectors attached needed to be on top, while the lines had to go in and around other parts. Every time the lines were perfect, the panels popped up and when ever it seemed to be holding, a fuel line jumped out of the holders or plugs.

I added some plastic rods to the seat to simulate the possibility to adjust it to different drivers. I also added 2 U-shaped wires to attach the seat belts to the frame and not the seat.

I also made the iconic gear shifter with the wood knob. It is actual a plastic bead from Michael's after failed attempted to make it out of wood.

The fire extinguisher got a pull rope that connects to the lever underneath the steering wheel. Not my best paint job but the seat eventually covered everything up.

The dashboard came flocked which was a nice touch. Unfortunately the decals for the lettering would not stick on the surface. I found a free font that mimics the embossed label strips and printed it out on regular paper and CA glue did the trick.

The model comes with oversized knobs since you can press them for sound and lights. Only a few knobs had the right shape but I did not have enough. I contacted Agora and the sold me the blister package with additional knobs. That is what I call customer service. I also had a missing pieces and the replacement came very quickly free of charge.

Some other improvements I made are on the gauges. Instead of a single LED, I placed smaller ones behind each gauge. I also redrew the dials and printed it out on paper since the plastic piece was pre-printed and let too much light through for a 1970s dial. All supplied LEDs were bright white and just did not fit 917K.

The big colored warning lights are correct for the era but I had to place them in the right spot.

The next step would have been adding the tires to the car. I skipped that step since they are metal and heavy and the model was already multiple pounds.

The front oil radiator needed some TLC to get the mold line off. The supplied hoses were a strange silver painted and I liked the look of the woven hoses better, although they were not yet used in 1970. I also attached the other side to the metal rods of the frame as they did back then.

The details of the model are very high, if you switch all the rubber tubing and replace it with electric cables found online. I also repainted the hand brake piece in a more pleasing color and used Tamiya black panel liner which does a great job on other parts as well.

Now to a part of the build, that seemed to be rushed at the time when Agora designed the 917K. The car has to fuel tanks, different sizes for each size to balance the car with the driver in it. That means, hoses go from one side to the other through different pumps and a filter before it hits the main fuel pump.

The manual did not make any sense and following each hose, I realized they goofed majorly. The fuel would have been pumped from one tank to the other and nowhere else. Studying pictures on the internet, grainy pictures when zoomed in, I believe I got it right, maybe, could be ...

Each of the component had molded on pins for all the necessary power and sensor cables but the manual skipped the steps and no cables/hoses were supplied. I believe, that decision to simplify was made after everything was fully designed. With a few styrene rods, I build the plugs.

Since the build had only three month left, the pieces got increasingly bigger (doors, body, etc.) and less parts needed to be attached.

Just for fun, I added some lights that were either missing or just dummies.

The car number light was just a painted pieces of clear plastic. In this scale, it was possible to cut of the clear part and add a tiny LED. The light is not very bright but that is almost prototypical. The regulations mandated it, like the parking light and turn signal, which I added with a clear rod and attached a LED from underneath the body.

I did not had to hide the cables to the light, since the real one did it either.

The roof of the cabin got the fiberglass patches, never to be seen again.

I added to LEDs on engine hood. The number light is identical to the door. The green light on the side was turn on by the driver at night when he entered the pit lane. The spotter at the entrance radioed the crew which of there cars approached the pit unexpected. Since I could not find a color picture from the 1970 race, I don't know if the color was actually green or something else. I went with the provided plastic piece and add only the led. I used magnet connectors since I display the car mostly with the hood off.

Everybody assembling this kit complaint about the same thing. The 4 massive cooling vent tubing needed to be added while attaching the nose part to the model. Since there is no room for any size of fingers, some guys reported they spend hours to get it right. I don't have that kind of patience and I just shortened the 4 pieces enough so I can just push it while the end is covered by the body. The only difference is that you cannot see the end of the hoses inside the cockpit. Yeah, like anybody takes a look at the model and would complain about that.

Since I had the tank with the windshield washer fluid, I added also the hose to the wiper.

Here is my honest review of this model: It is expansive with a price tag of $1,500.

Even with just building the kit the way it comes, it is an impressive piece and with some scratchbuild parts it is gorgeous. I enjoyed the build and particular the search on the internet for references for the 1970s look. Luckily Gunnar Racing documented the restoration of a 917k on Youtube which was a great help.

I was only interested in this car since Joe Siffert drove this car and I have been a fan of him since I was a kid in Switzerland.

There are nice other cars from Agora and other manufacturers, but I highly doubt it, I will sign up for another one. The price is to high and the level I like to build is only achievable with a lot of add-ons. It cost me even more money and way more time as suggested by the manufacturer. But who I taking to.

But all that said, I had a lot of fun.

In all, a fantastic build Roland. I like your lighting approach and the way you researched and realized the tubing. Have you ever build a Model Factory Hiro kit? It´s half the price and the detailing is outstanding. I built four now and loved the experience. One of the few downsides of MFH kits is the tubing and the manual with the tubing reference. There is a lot of guess work included.

Cheers Rob