Hasegawa's 1/32
1956 Porsche 356 A
Speedster

By Luiz Augusto Tinoco

Versions: Stock and Racing
Molded Colors: White, Clear, Chrome Plated
Additional Stuff: White Metal, Stainless Steel Side Trim and Photo-etched parts
MSRP: Unknown: Discontinued kit
Tool: The box bears a 1994 Copyright

Engine
The one piece engine is molded in white metal. It has crisp engraving for such a small part. It should be painted with a fine brush to highlight details like carburetors, distributor, belt and pulleys.

Wheels and Tires
There are four chrome plated plastic wheels with hubcaps and four white plastic open wheels to be used in the racing version. The rubber tires are a masterpiece, period perfect Dunlops, with beautiful tread engraving.

Chassis
The chassis is a simple platform molded in black that shows superb structural engraving and texture. The front and rear suspensions are made of white metal. The detail is good and the rear end has the gearbox.

Interior
The interior bucket has the rear seat molded in and pedals engraved on the floor. No mold marks to take care of. The door panels are separate with a nicely engraved handle. The bucket seats, steering wheel, gear shifter and heater knob are correct. The two piece dashboard has decalized instruments. There’s a tiny Porsche crest decal for the center of the steering wheel. There’s a racing driver figure to be put in the driver’s seat and a standing lady, maybe a worried girlfriend.

Body
The one piece body is a very good rendition of the timeless bathtub shape of the classic 356. The proportions are right on the bat. The kit includes stainless wires to be inserted in the body through small holes to represent the side trim. The body has openings for the hood and trunk (the trunk interior has a molded in gas tank) and shows no sink or tool marks. There’s no flash and the parting lines are very light.

The windshield and the trim are one piece, but the trim is chromed. In some way Hasegawa managed to mask the windshield to chrome plate just the trim. I have never seen anything like this before. It is perfect! There’s a lower windshield to be used in the racing version.

To finish the body there are: chrome plated door handles, license plate light, taillights (one piece, the lens are to be painted with transparent red), headlight buckets (with clear lenses), turn signal lights, rocker panel trim, bumper inserts and trunk lid ornament/handle. As said above, the side trim is made of stainless wire and there’s a photo-etched hood grille, scripts, mirrors and windshield wipers. There’s a roll bar for the racing version. A nicely engraved rag top is included, as well a boot for top down.

Decals
The superb decal sheet allows you to build three racing versions: a German, English or American racing Speedster. The German version has the number 257 in a rectangle with a Dunlop logo bellow and racing stripes depicting the colors of the German flag. The English racer has the number 356. In addition there are decals to represent tape on the headlight lenses and license plates for each country. The plates are: SPD-S 356 for German, 356 RWD for England and California CG-50-60 for USA. There’s no provision for right hand drive, so the English racer would have to drive a left hand drive car.

Comments
The Hasegawa 1/32 356 is the nicest kit in this scale that I have ever seen. It is a pity it is discontinued. It probably was part of a sports car series. Highly recommended and highly hard to find.