Hasegawa 1/24 Porsche 962C OMRON

Porsche has created countless competitors over the years. However, the 962C remains one of the brand’s best designs over thirty years after its original release. The 962C competed in 1989’s All Japan Sports Prototype Car Endurance Championship, where it took on Fuji Speedway’s ten taut turns and impressive 0.9 mile (1.5 km) long straights.

Let’s very briefly examine the evidence. Here is a car that won Le Mans six times on the trot, a feat managed by no other car in the history of the race. It won the world sports car championship five times in succession, also an unparalleled achievement in the sport. It won the IMSA championship three times despite not even being allowed to enter for the first two years of its life and in 1991, in its tenth season of racing, it was still good enough to win the Daytona 24 hours outright and for the fifth time.

In 1994, 13 seasons after it first started racing, the Dauer version of the car won Le Mans for the seventh time. And there were five Japanese championships, numerous Interserie wins, but I think you get the picture. The 956/962 was the most long lived and successful sports car the world has ever known and there’s nothing even the mighty 917 can do to change that.
Andrew Frankel, GT Purely Porsche Magazine

KIT HIGHLIGHTS
  • Highly detailed plastic pieces molded in white and clear
  • Limited edition
  • Waterslide decals
  • Illustrated instructions
  • Scale: 1/24
  • Length: 7.87″ (200mm)
  • Width: 3.26″ (83mm)
  • Skill level: 3
  • Hasegawa kit # 20280
  • Parts: 59
  • MSRP: $54.99 USD
  • Street Price: $42.99 +/-
  • MARKING
  • All Japan Sports Prototype Car Endurance Championship, 1989, Omron Racing Team, car no. 55.
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Another beautiful model kit from Hasegawa models. This time I was faced with the Porsche 962C. It is an oldie but goodie and I’m glad Hasegawa brought this model with this specific OMRON markings. The OMRON version of the 962C is pretty much reserved for diecast collectors and/or slot car enthusiasts -in 1/32 scale- commanding a high price. For those of us mortals not willing to spend much, this kit from Hasegawa is the answer.

The Hasegawa Porsche OMRON 962C is molded in white and clear. It comes with waterslide decals which I found to be of very good quality. The tires are molded in vinyl and have a noticeable seam line. I took care of this as I do with all of my tires except that instead of #400, I used #320 wet/dry sandpaper to get rid of that line. The dry transfer did work perfectly and here is a tip between you and me. When placing the dry transfers on the tires, I found that they stick faster, better and more consistent when gently rubbed with a cotton swab moistened with saliva  😀

There was some flash on the clear parts. Maybe the tooling showing some age or a random sprue that had flash. Nothing that a new #11 blade can take care of. All clear parts were submerged in Johnson Future Gloss. Overall the kit is printing VERY good. Ah, just so you know, this is a curbside model. In case you don’t know, that’s a body only model kit with no engine. I have build many subjects and sub-subjects over the years. This is the OMRON Porsche 962C I was looking forward to adding to my collection.

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PAINTING THE OMRON PORSCHE 962C

Painting was very straightforward. The body shell was primed with Tamiya FINE SURFACE PRIMER. Then it was preceded with Krylon Short Cuts Gloss White SCS-053 from the craft store. They are good paints, cheap and don’t run as easy as the Testors counterpart might. Worth mentioning that the Krylon drying time is faster. After masking the body with Tamiya masking tape, I used Testors Gloss Blue 1110 (square bottle) diluted with Testors 1156 enamel thinner. I applied the blue color with my Aztek A470 airbrush using the blue medium flow nozzle. Thanks goodness the wheels are not chrome plated. All decals were placed on the model after the colors cured -after 48 hours.- Then the white, blue color and decals were sealed with two coats of Testors Glosscote spray.

The wheel set was painted with a coat of Alclad 2 Gloss Black primer topped with a fine coat of Alclad 2 Lacquer Chrome. The rim interior was painted with Testors enamel gloss black and the bolt-hub with Tamiya Gold Leaf X-12.

The Porsche 962C belongs to the era when I used to watch LeMan races on a big butt 19” T.V. I’m 50 years young and I treasure my yesteryears with fond memories. This 962 is definetly part of it. It was a fun 6½ hours build. If you like the OMRON markings, be aware that this is a limited edition run from Hasegawa. Get one while you can. While finishing this entry, the guy from the brown truck knocked the door in my office with another delivery. Without knowing what was inside the box, I was like a kid on Christmas day. Inside I found another 962C but this one bears the TRUST TEAM markings. YAYYY!!
Coming on early January Hasegawa will be offering also the KENWOOD TEAM, so stay tuned amigos!

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My sincere thanks to Hobbico and Hasegawa for the review copies. Without their help this site wouldn’t be possible.

PICTURES OF THE HASEGAWA PORSCHE 962C OMRON

Hasegawa 1/24 Porsche 962C
in the box



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Author: George Collazo

George has been hosting review sites and blogging about toy collectibles, travel, digital photography and Nikon digital imaging since 1998. His first model kit build was a Testors 1/35 DODGE WC-54 in 1984.

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