Watch a Porsche 911 Diecast Restoration Go From Busted to Beautiful

Attention to detail really makes the difference.

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Watch a Porsche 911 Diecast Restoration Go From Busted to Beautiful © Watch a Porsche 911 Diecast Restoration Go From Busted to Beautiful

One TikTok channel has demonstrated how to turn a nearly destroyed Porsche 911 diecast toy into a stunning piece of automotive art.

Diecast toys are the bread and butter for kids into cars. Of course, the rigors of play mean that many end up battered and bruised. Restoring them is hard work, as demonstrated by restoration_kamasutra on TikTok. In a recent video, they work on a haggard example of a 993-generation Porsche 911 Carrera, and the results are exemplary.

The first step is always disassembly. All the various components of the car are pulled apart to be treated individually. This also gives us a full look at the shape of the car as a whole. Most of the plastic components are tired, faded, and worn. The body itself is in poor shape, too, with rust on the bonnet and plenty of missing paint. The windshield surround is also broken, and one of the door cards is in pieces.

The video demonstrates a solid understanding of the fundamentals, as you'd expect. The techniques used are familiar, such as stripping off the old paint and airbrushing the body in a rich red finish. The execution is top-notch, though, with the car's body restored to a mirror shine after sanding and polishing are complete. The video also shows what a difference outlining makes. A hit of Tamiya's special black accent paint really highlights the lines of the various panels and the fuel filler cap, for example.

The video also highlights more advanced techniques. Stretchy fabric is used as a spray template to texturize parts of the seats. The interior floors and door cards are given a coat of glue, followed by a flocking material that creates the appearance of carpet, just like in the real car. It makes the interior look so much more real than the simple hard plastic of the basic model. Blueberry Smoothie eyeshadow applied to the seats is also a particular highlight, adding depth to the leather-like finish beyond a simple flat coat of paint.

TikTok

Perhaps most impressive are the components built from scratch. A set of wheels are modeled on a computer and then 3D-printed to suit the car. As for the brakes, they're replicated from an existing Nissan Skyline GT-R model using resin casting techniques. Being able to see through the rims to the brake components adds a lot of realism to the finished product. There's a similar level of detail work in the engine bay, too, like a full set of sparkplug wires and boots made out of thin-gauge electrical wiring. The exhaust components even have realistic heat discoloration underneath.

The only disappointment is that in a five-minute video, we only get a two-second look at the finished product. Overall, though, it's a masterclass in diecast restoration. It really shows how attention to the finer details elevates the model from a fun toy to something that's a genuinely gorgeous recreation of the real thing. Beyond that, it's simply a pleasure to watch a master modeler at work.

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