Mark, The Master Modeller

I hate to say this, but it's already been done! Comag released Amazing Dinosaur Discoveries about 8 years ago which was a T Rex build-up. Here's a Youtube link to a review of the first mag. Having said that, I'd be happy to do the official build if Agora were to buy the rights!

Stage 76 gives us the circuit board. Before starting assembly, check that the instrument light LED is securely fixed in the dashboard. If it's not tight, fix it with a drop of superglue. Otherwise it will fall out after you've fixed the front subframe in place and you'll have to disassembly everything to put it back. Go on, ask me how I know!!! Offer up the dash to the central body. It's secured with two screws the go into the bottom of the front of the body. Once fitted it looks like this. Take the circuit board and remove the protective caps from teh connectors. These can be discarded. Fit the board into the recess in the bottom of the front subframe. Note that connectors 13 to 16 go closest to the steering rack. When handling the board, hold it by the edges to reduce the risk of stating electricity damaging the board. Now we fit the front subframe to the central body. This should be easy as we've had a practice and sorted out any fit problems. Make sure that you don't trap any of the dashboard wires. Fit the two screws under the front of the body. I found it best to fit drive these screws fully home as they pull the front subframe into place and help line up the other two screws. Now fit the other two screws below where the door hinge will go. The model is upside down in the photo below. We connect the steering column next. Turn the steering wheel so that the half of the joint is facing up. Then carefully place the steering column on the joint, ensuring that the pin goes in the hole. Place the half of the joint supplied in this stage on top of the universal joint, ensuring that the pin locates in the hole. Then fix it with a screw. Make sure that the steering wheel turns the wheels. The wheels only turn a small amount, not as far as they would on the real car, but this is a compromise necessary as you can't scale the steering rack mechanism. This completes the stage and is a bit of a milestone!

Stage 75 gives us the fuel pumps and front subframe reinforcing plates. Before we make a start on pack 10 I'm going to suggest that you test fit the front frame and rear frame on the central body. It's easier to do this now and carry out any minor adjustments needed before the dashboard and cockpit assemblies are fitted. Then you know that these parts will fit when you do come to fit them. Try fitting the front sub-frame to the central body. The bottom parts of the body should line up. The top of the firewall should be very close to the bottom of the front valance. There should be almost no gap. I found that the central body was a bit tight and the bottom (The areas where the bottom of the door front edge will be.) had to be sprung out a bit. It didn't need any filing, and it sprung out quite easily because of the U shape of the body.. Make sure that the holes under the front valance line up. Make sure that the screw holes in the side line up as well. Remove the front subframe when you're satisfied that it will fit properly. Now try fitting the rear subframe. There are two pairs of screws. One pair are near the bottom of the front of the subframe, and one pair are at the top of the front of the frame. Make sure that these all line up properly. I found that the ones at the bottom of the rear subframe lined up easily. The ones at the top of the rear subframe were a bit more difficult. I needed to sand some paint and mould lined off the rear subframe and the screw post. I also needed to drill out the holes in the central body assembly a little. Not much more that just clearing out the excess paint from the hole. This must be kept to an absolute minimum or it could lead to a poor panel fit with the rear hood. Once you're happy, remove the rear frame assembly. This preparatory work will make future assembly much easier. Now, on with stage 75. Take the right reinforcement plate. It's identified by having 4 holes. The left plate has 5 holes. Remove any mould marks and flash, and fit it on the right hand side of the front frame. The top must be flush with the fire wall or the front frame won't fit on the body properly. Take the left plate and fit it on the left side of the front subframe, and again, the top must be flush with the top of the firewall.. Take the two fuel pumps and fit them to the bracket. The tops of the fuel pumps are domed and the bottoms are flat. Remove any burrs from the pins that will be used to connect the fuel lines. Note that the pins on the bracket go to the right of the fuel pumps when viewed from the back. Take the two red Y fittings and fit the long and short pipes to them. Now fit the fuel pipes to the fuel pumps. You will need to expand the pipes with a cocktail stick and glue them in place as the pins on the fuel pumps are a little short and fat. Pump the fuel pump bracket pins into the holes in the right reinforcement plate. Bend the pipes round and insert them in the holes in the front frame. I shortened my pipes a bit to get a more pleasing bend to the pipes. This completes the stage.

Not quite. Push it in to sound the horn and pull it towards the steering wheel to switch on the front and rear lights. A second pull will turn them off again. Have a look at the instructions at the end of Pack 12 as that gives full details of the electrical functions.

Stage 74 gives us the spare wheel. Fit the tyre onto the wheel. This can be fitted by hand. No need to soften the tyre in hot water. Screw the spare wheel support onto the front subframe. Now push the spare wheel over the support. It needs a very firm push, but it does definitely click into place. I suggest placing a finger under the subframe, directly under the spare wheel support, to support it while pressing the wheel in place. You risk breaking the frame otherwise. It's a tight fit, and it must have been a right game trying to get the spare wheel out if you needed to use it. This completes the stage and the pack.

Stage 73 gives us more details for the front subframe. De-burr the holes as before with a 2-3mm drill bit. The two bonnet latches are in bags marked L & R. However, I couldn't see any difference between them. Regardless, I did fit them on the correct sides. Here's the right one. This is the left one fitted. The bonnet support buffers are fitted, one each side. This is the left side. This is the right side. The voltage regulator and relay box are pushed into the holes in the frame. This completes the stage.

Stage 72 gives us more details for the front subframe. Before we start assembling this stage, de-bur all the holes on the front subframe. Simply take a 2-3mm drill and give is a few twists by hand to bevel the hole slightly. Don't be tempted to use a power tool (Dremel type) as that's far too aggressive for this task. This will make it easier to insert the pins of the components as they are fitted. You can also remove any mould lines from the pins of the parts. The observant will notice that this is the right side of the car; I only realised that the burrs were making it difficult to insert the pins after I'd started assembling the stage. Fit the relay box. Assemble the clutch and brake reservoir onto the mounting plate. The instructions say to mount it like this, but it's actually easier to mount the wipe motor first. So I removed the clutch and brake reservoirs and fitted the wiper motor. Then re-fitted the reservoirs. They were a bit wobbly so were glued in place. Then I fitted the indicator relay. This completes the stage.

Stage 71 gives us the cooling pipes for the radiator and the mounting stays. Take the right pipe and push it into the hole in the right side of the radiator. Now fit it over the pins on the bottom of the front subframe. I found these to be quite stiff and needed a very firm push. Take the left hand pipe and push it into the hole in the left hand side of the radiator. Again, push the tabs on the pipe over the pins on the bottom of the subframe. Push the two radiator tie rods (stays) onto the radiator and front subframe. These benefit from a drop of superglue as they tend to fall off with handling. This completes the stage.

Stage 70 gives us the second half of the radiator, and we get to fit it. Place the two fans on the upper half of the radiator. The fans have a square corner and a rounded corner. The rounded corner goes on the clockwise side. Place the grills over the fans. The opening goes to the left and the radiator mounting lugs are at the top. The grills have 2 pins in them which locate in the grill. Carefully turn the assembly over and secure the grills with a couple of screws. Now we come to mounting the radiator on the front subframe. It's a bit awkward getting the screws in. I'd suggest pre-threading the holes in the front frame, and also insert the screws in the mounting lugs before putting the radiator in place. Edit: Before fixing the radiator in place, sand the paint of the top of the screw posts on the front sub-frame. This will lower the radiator a little and allow the front body to close properly on the finished model. Then, using a long cross head screwdriver, screw the radiator in place. This completes the stage.

Stage 69 gives us the first half of the radiator panel, but we fit the front subframe details supplied in the previous stage. Take the two screw covers supplied in the previous stage. They cover the screw heads near the top of the shock absorbers. These push into place, but they aren't a very secure fit. I'd glue them in place with a little superglue or PVA. Otherwise they are likely to fall out while you're handling the front frame, then you ned up spending hours trawling the carpet looking for them. Ask me how I know!! Screw the tank tube to its support. Push the tank cap onto the tank tube support. Push this assembly onto the front frame. THe support fits into three holes in the crossbar, and the other end of the tube fits into a hole in the front frame assembly. Assemble the two parts of the master cylinder. They push together. This pushes into two holes under the rear of the left front wheel arch. This completes the stage.

Stage 68 gives us various details for the front subframe, but we fit the cross bar that was supplied in stage 67. Fit the fuse box and teh relay box to the front cross bar. Mine needed a little superglue to fix them. Push the battery isolator switch onto the crossbar. Feed the battery cables down the side of the battery and out under the front subframe. The left one went fairly easily. The right one took a bit of fiddling to get it through the gap, but a pair of tweezers soon helped it find its way. Put the cross bar in pace and secure it with a couple of screws. This completes the stage.

Stage 67 gives us the front cross bar and some details, but we fit the front brakes. If you haven't already done so, assemble the front brake discs. The two halves push together. Fix the steering arms (track rod ends) to the hubs with the type F screws supplied in stage 60. Take the left inner brake caliper and press it onto the pins on the hub. You could use a little superglue if the fit is a bit loose. Put the brake disc in place. Now push the caliper outer halve in place. Repeat on the right hand side. This completes the stage.

You only need add 1-2ml of oil. I.e. About 20 drops. It takes at least 30 seconds for the smoke to start, but as with the real tank, there is only a small amount of smoke from the exhaust. Don't expect don't expect dense white smoke as that would be unrealistic.

Stage 100 gives us the final decals and the battery cover. Apply the decals to the model. The process is the same as before, but take care to remove any air bobbles carefully. These large decals are more prone to trapping air bubbles. Use decal softener when necessary. I started with the two side fairing decals. First the left side decal. Get the decal to align with the decal on the door as close as you can. Here's the right side fairing decal. The front Porsche logo is places on the pencil guide marking on the front of the car. This decal seemed a little odd. It slide off the backing paper after a few seconds of soaking, but it seemed to stick to the paintwork and didn't want to slide. I lifted it with tweezers and placed in down note correct position. Perhaps, they used a different type of glue, or perhaps I had a rogue decal. Anyway, it went on and stuck with no problems. Decal on the top of the rear hood went on without problems. Now fit the bonnet (front hood cover) using the hood cover locks supplied in stage 82. They just push in and can be pulled out easily when you want to show off the under hood detailing. Insert two AAA batteries in the battery box. Fit the battery box lid and turn on the model. Pressing the light switch will light the head and tail lights, and also the instrument light. Pressing the brake pedal will light the brake lights, but I couldn't find anything that would reach the brake pedal! Pressing the horn button sounds the horn and pressing the starter button plays the sound of the engine starting up. I did find that the rear spoilers (parts 94A & B) didn't like staying tight against the rear hood, so I glued these in place. Just a little superglue applied to the underside to keep them in position. That completes the model. If you've been building the model, I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have. Here are some beauty shots of the finished model. I did decide to remove the headlight protectors. I think the model looks cleaner like this, but it's less authentic.

Stage 99 gives us the bottom panel. Retrieve the speaker that was supplied in stage 34 and place it on the bottom panel. Note which way the wires lead out. Secure the speaker with the clamp and a couple of screws. Fit the on/off switch to the bottom panel with a couple of screws. It doesn't particularly matter where the cable lies as long as it doesn't foul the screw posts or the battery box. Turn the bottom panel over so it's the correct way up, then connect the speaker cable. Tuck the speaker cable out of the way so it can't be seen and doesn't get in the way of anything. Notice that screw holding the front of the silver fuel tank? If you haven't done so already, remove it. One of the bottom panel screws will go in that hole. Tuck the switch connector out of the way as well. Put the bottom panel in place so that the screw holes line up and use 5 PM type screws in these holes. 6 BM screws (3 each side) are used to secure the sides of the bottom panel. This is the bottom panel screwed in place. Now I'll fit the wheels. You'll need the plastic washer, screw and wheel nut for each wheel. There is a slot in each brake disc and there is a matching tab on the inside of the wheel to locate the brake disc properly. Put the wheel in place, making sure that the tab drops into the slot in the brake disc. Drop the washer in the wheel centre and secure with a screw. Don't over tighten the screw. Push the wheel nut onto the centre of the wheel. Four wheels on my wagon! Apply the Gulf-Porsche decal to the rear hood panel. Some decal softener will help the top of the decal go round the top edge of the panel. Fit the rear hood to the model. The hood support can be used to hold the hood open. You may need to adjust the screws holding the bottom of the support to get the top end to fit in its recess. This completes the stage.

I've received the replacement fuel lines now. Unfortunately I overlooked taking a photo of the new lines before I started to fit them, but you get a length of black plastic tubing, and a short and longer length of silver plastic tubing. If you have glued any of your fuel pipes I would strongly recommend that you don't try fitting this replacement tubing as you will end up breaking the locating pins as you try to pull the pipes off! It's possible to fix this, but it's very difficult to do it neatly. The model looks great without the modified plumbing. While the plumbing may be more accurate once modified, I don't suppose anybody but the most enthusiastic Porsche 917 enthusiasts would spot the inaccuracies. First, on the left chassis plate, remove the 2 braided pipes and the thin black pipe, already removed, but indicated by red lines. It's probably obvious, but I'm a much better modeller than I am Photoshop artist! You can see where two of the pins have broken off where the braided pipes were glued in place! To fix the broken pins, replace them with a short piece of brass rod. 1.5mm dia. for the braided pipes and about 1mm for the smaller pipes. Cut the remnants of the broken pin off flush, then drill a hole that you can glue the brass rod into. Start with a smaller drill, then drill the final hole to size. It's easier to drill a smaller hole accurately! You'll also need to make sure you remove any burrs from the brass, and rub the brass with sandpaper to give the glue a good key. You'll also need to drill the broken pin out of the pipe connector. Here's a pin I fitted to the fuel filter. Moving to the right hand chassis plate, we need to disconnect all three braided file lines (drawn in red), and also the silver plastic pipe (removed, but drawn in green). One of the braided pipes from the fuel filler neck needs to be refitted on the Y connector. You'll notice that this has a pin fitted to the fuel pipe as the pin broke off the Y piece. Here is the braided fuel line reconnected to the Y connector. Now we need to fit the new pipe 93D. This goes from the rear of the right chassis plate to the fuel filter. Here is the connection on the right chassis plate, highlighted with red. Here's the connection onto fuel filter. Pipe 93E goes from the fuel pump on the left chassis plate to the fuel manifold. Pipe 93F is the black pipe that goes from the fuel filler neck to the fuel manifold cap on the left chassis plate. Here's the connection to the filler neck. Here's the connection to the cap on the fuel manifold. A bit difficult to get a decent photo as it's hidden behind other pipes. These are the pipes that you will have removed and can be discarded. This completes the re-plumbing.

Stage 98 gives us the door sills and trims. This iso a nice easy stage. Push the driver's door sill in place. Now push the trim in place. This is the more rounded of the two trims. The cockpit housing will flex a bit as you push it in place but don't worry about this. Push the passenger door sill in place. You will need to slide the back end under the voltage regulators first. Then the front end will clip down in place. Finally, push the passenger door trim in place. Again, the cockpit housing will flex a bit as you clip it in. This completes the stage.

Stage 97 gives us the right side fairing. Assembly of this side is virtually the same as stage 96. The brackets are all identified by their numbers engraved one the parts. Fit the 4 brackets, upper bracket and front plate. As with the left side plate, leave the brackets not quite fully tightened so that they can be twisted slightly to align the screw holes. Put the fairing in place, clipping the upper edge over the chairs/chassis plate. Fix the upper bracket with a screw fitted in the hole in the cockpit housing. Fit the bottom brackets, twisting the brackets if necessary to align the screw holes. Remove these two screws from the top of the wheel arches and replace them with the counter sunk screws SM supplied in this stage. The round headed screws may stop the rear body closing properly. This completes the stage.

Stage 96 gives us the left side fairing. There are 3 different, but similar brackets, type 1, 2 & 3. They can be identified quite easily as the numbers are engraved on the parts. Fit 2 type 1 brackets to the rear of the fairing. These brackets should all be left very slightly loose. Tighten them so you can twist them with a bit of resistance. This will make it much easier to align the screw holes when you fit the fairings to the car. Fit a two 2 bracket to the front of the fairing. Again, only tighten them just tighten enough so you can twist them with some resistance. The type 3 bracket goes in the middle. Again, tightened so that it can just be twisted. The upper bracket goes to the top of the fairing. This brackets also needs to be able to twist a little with some resistance. The front plate is fitted with a couple of screws. Fit the fairing to the model. It will clip definitely into place as the top lip clips over the chassis plate and chassis. The yellow wire should come out the bottom of the chassis in front of the fuel tank. Screw the top bracket in place in the hole in the left cockpit housing. Screw the bottom 4 brackets in place. You'll probably need to twist them just slightly to get the screw holes to line up. Remove the screw that is holding the back of the fuel tank. This screw isn't needed now and it will interfere with the bottom panel. This completes the stage.

Stage 95 gives us the cockpit vent pipes and we also fit the front body. Fit the two halves of each pipe together. They are fitted with a single screw, but I'd also secure the other ends with a drop of superglue. Mine opened up slightly after I'd installed them, so please benefit from my experience! Take the chassis and secure the seat belts if you haven't already done so. I used a drop of PVA to make sure that they stayed in place. Secure the wires for the headlights with masking tape to keep them out of the way. Take the front body and tape those headlight wires with masking tape to keep them out of the way too. I finally removed the front body brace. It's worth pre-threading the holes for the screws holding the front body. One right at the front. One by the grills over the wheel arches. This is where it starts to get fiddly! The cockpit vent pipes are definitely challenging to fit! This first one isn't too bad. It will go under the dashboard like this. Fit it to the front vent, but don't glue it yet. It needs to be able to flex a bit in order to get the front body in place with the pipe going under the dashboard. Put the front body in place on the chassis while feeding the vent pipe in through the dashboard. Note that the rear screw posts go behind the fire wall. It's a bit tricky getting the vent pipe through chassis under the dashboard and getting the back of the front body behind the firewall, but it can be done. Get the vent pipe in position, then lift the rear of the front body over the firewall and hope that the vent pipe doesn't drop off the vent under the bonnet. When you're satisfied that everything is in place, fix the body with 6 screws. These go in fairly easily. The front and rear ones are obvious, and the ones by the grills are fitted from under the wheel arches. You'll need to remove the front wheels if you've fitted them. The vent pipe can be seen in the corner of the bonnet opening. I'd suggest applying a little superglue to where the pipe joins onto the vent and it can come off. Put a drop of superglue on the end of a cocktail stick and place it against the join. Capillary action will draw the glue into the joint. Next connect the headlight cables. Tuck them out of the way so they aren't too visible. The shortest pipe comes next. This is the hardest one, but improvising a special tool makes it easier. Take a piece of brass rod and bend around the pipe into a semicircle. You will also need a small flat bladed screwdriver. Put the pipe in place as best you can. You can now hook the brass hook behind the pipe, press onto pipe with the screwdriver blade, and you can now manoeuvre the end of the pipe over the end of the vent duct in the front body. Again, glue this pipe to the vent as it falls off quite easily! The two pipes disappear under the dashboard like this. The last pipe goes on the other side of the car and isn't too difficult to fit. The brass hook helps, and don't' forget to glue it in place to ensure it stays put. This is how it disappears under the dash. The pipes are just left open under the dash. Not a brilliant photos, but it's really difficult getting the camera and light under the dash to take a decent photo. This completes the stage, and apologies for the dodgy colour balance on the photo. I hadn't spotted it until after I'd taken the photo.

Just for info, the guide is behind a paywall. The cost is about $12. I haven't seen it so can't comment further.

I'll second that! You're doing an amazing job!

That looks like a manufacturing defect to me. Contact customer services and ask for their advice and a replacement.

Stage 94 gives us the rear spoilers. The brackets on the spoilers are hinged, but the hinges are quite stiff. If the brackets don't line up, gently twist them with tweezers or fine pliers until they do. Screw the left hand spoiler in place on the rear hood panel with 2 screws in each bracket. Repeat with the right hand spoiler. Fix the rear hood panel to the rear hood using 4 screws. 2 in each side. The spoilers can be adjusted on their hinges. Move them up until the front of the spoiler meets the back of the rear hood. Push the hood light onto the hood, with the white lens pointing forwards. This completes the stage.

Stage 93 gives us the panel for the rear hood and some replacement fuel pipes. Unfortunately my fuel hoses were missing from the pack, so I'll have to come back to them later. My fuel pipes are all glued in place, so I may find that trying to remove them will spoil the model. If so, I'll leave them as they are. I glued them before I saw this pack, hence my red edit to the relevant stages in the official build. Agora have now added a note to stage 69 advising builders not to glue the fuel lines. Push the locks onto the lock bases. You may need to scrape the silver paint and/or mould lines off the pins to get them to fit without a gap. Fit the lock bases to the rear hood panel with a couple of screws. They look like this from the front. This completes the stage.