Vehicle History
Porsche's 911 is a sports car icon in the truest sense, through its various iterations over the years remaining committed to its core concept of a rear flat-six cylinder engine in a sumptuous two-door coupe body, yet continuing to evolve. One particularly unforgettable 911 was released in 1973: the Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7, the first Porsche to have the RS moniker (Rennsport, which can be translated to "racing sports" in English) bestowed upon it. Based upon the 911, it was developed first as a homologation special and was lightened significantly to give it an edge on the racetrack, while it was fitted with an enhanced version of the 911S 2.4 engine that offered an extra 30 PS. It quickly gained a massive following and helped cement the Porsche 911's popularity; thereafter, RS models have enjoyed a prestigious position in the pantheon of 911 cars.
In August 2022, the line-up of the eighth generation 911 (sometimes referred to as the 992 model) was graced with the entry of the Porsche 911 GT3 RS, a car that took the February 2021 Porsche 911 GT3 and loaded it with even more circuit-oriented design and equipment, and provoked astonishment with the sheer raciness of its appearance. Air inlets and outlets are on show across the body, which also features roof and wheel arch aero fins, but perhaps the most acclaimed feature is the massive rear wing which - in a first for a Porsche road car - has a Drag Reduction System (DRS). Mounted on graceful swan neck uprights, it has a fixed main element and a hydraulically controlled upper plane that lays flat on straights for minimal drag, and it raised to improve downforce when braking or cornering. It operates automatically, but can also be manually engaged. In the nose of the car, where other 911 models have luggage space, the Porsche 911 GT3 RS has a single large radiator instead of the three-radiator layout in previous cars, and the additional room freed up is used for aerodynamic elements. Power is courtesy of a high-revving naturally aspirated 4.0-liter flat-six engine providing 525 PS and working in harmony with the PDK double-clutch transmission. The car gets the most out of its engine by being seriously lightweight at just 
1,450kg, thanks to liberal use of carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP), including on the doors, front fenders, roof and front lid. In pursuit of lightness, even the famed Porsche shield is a decal rather than the traditional cloisonne design. Impressive stopping power is also on offer from optional ceramic (PCCB) monobloc 6-caliper front and 4-caliper rear brakes employing 410mm front and 390mm rear discs, on center-locking cast magnesium wheels which are part of the optional "Weissach package". A trip to the cockpit emphasizes the focus upon racing, with CFRP full bucket seats as standard, which have an optional roll cage immediately behind them in preference to rear seating, while the driver can avail themselves to plenty of information via the center monitor. The steering wheel features four rotary switches, a DRS switch and more. Door straps in place of conventional handle underline Porsche's commitment to the car's lightening. Whereas previous 911 models have been GT cars artfully imbued with the technology to make them everyday road cars, the new Porsche 911 GT3 RS brings something different - basic concessions are made to ensure it is a safe and enjoyable road drive, but at heart it is very much a high performance racing car that promises to be most at home on the circuit. There is no doubt it will enjoy countless successes as the latest iteration of a true legend.
Kit Overview
The 911 line of Porsche cars has always been an attractive one - lots of carbon fiber, winglets here and there and always, ALWAYS a big ol' wing out back. Well, Tamiya's GT3 RS variant has all of that and then some! Upon first glance, this kit does appear to be a bit daunting with all the bolt-on goodies on the body, making it intimidating for most builders - including us! What we found out was that this kit is a bit above the typical skill level and requires a steady hand and, if possible, someone with dinky fingers! That being said, let's just dive into the build and see how it goes.
Tamiya has us starting off the build with the chassis and suspension. Because this car does not include an engine, a lot of the typical parts you'd see in a model kit don't exist - some suspension pieces and other internal parts that might show through an open hood. This reduces the number of build parts as well as possible problems right away - the suspension assembles easily with minimal paint detailing. A special note on the brake system - the rotors are captured within the calipers as one assembly. It's not a difficult assembly but the floating rotors do kind of get in the way of things - the constant 'rotor wiggle' makes it feel like something is not right. Rest assured, that's all part of Tamiya's build plan. The inclusion of the teeny, tiny, itsy, bitsy Porsche logos on the calipers was a nice addition as well.
Moving on to the interior, Tamiya has everything colored in either rubber or semi-gloss black (as per the real GT3). There's also a TON of stickers placed in the interior, adding lots of detail without (thankfully) using paint. A suggestion - get yourself a bottle of the Mark Fit Decal Solution. This stuff will really aid in getting the decals to form properly, especially that yellow ring on the steering wheel. That gave me some fits but, with a dab of the solution, made it curl up quick and easy. Finally, to add a bit of color, we opted to paint the roll bar in a complimentary orange. Makes it pop - makes it stand out.
At a recent Cars & Coffee event, an orange 911 GT3 RS showed up. We absolutely loved it and decided to use that as the base for this build. The good thing is that there's not much to paint other than the main body set - all of the extra panels, winglets, lower valances and scoops are all semi-gloss black. This makes the painting process somewhat simple but does add a few extra steps during the final assembly. Tamiya has also included an abundance of carbon fiber decals, if you decide to use them. The hood, roof, wing and mirrors all get a little trimming in CF, adding a bit more "racy" to the overall finish. The roof panel was a little tricky (due to the curature), but the Mark Fit helped relax the decal enough to look great once dry. The mirrors, however, were an absolute nightmare. They're a 4-piece build and, once assembled, are almost impossible to hold if you have chubby fingers. Then, getting the CF stickers to wrap around them - oye - long story short, we had to leave them off. Not optimum, but my sanity was on the verge of failing. Maybe you'll have better luck.
Additional notes: The Tamiya Porsche 911 GT3 RS does not come with an engine. That was a bit of a bummer but, in all honesty, you wouldn't be able to see it even with the rear engine cover off as it would be tucked pretty deep under the body work. We also found it a little odd that a good portion of the suggested paints were LPs. We don't have ANY LP paints so we had to convert them to their TS/X/SF counterparts (where applicable). This, unfortunately, doesn't give us the exact color combos for the car but, hey, ya gotta work with what you have, right? FYI, we added the Tamiya LP Paint Color Compatibility Chart on this site if you need to convert paints for future projects.
As a final wrap up, all we can say is this is one heck of an amazing model kit. Aside from a few minor build issues (on our end - hey, we're still learning), Tamiya has certainly knocked it out of the park in terms of replication. We did take a little liberty with our color choices and that's ok - this is how we'd want our Porsche 911 GT3 RS to look when we get ours - you know, after winning the lottery!
Enjoy the build!
Gallery
