Review: 77239 Porsche 911 GT3 RS
Posted by CapnRex101,
The iconic Porsche 911 is instantly recognisable and appeared several times earlier in the Speed Champions range, though not since the move to a larger scale in 2020, until now. 77239 Porsche 911 GT3 RS certainly seems to be worth waiting for, however.
I think the Porsche 911's distinctive form has translated well on the whole, but the headlights continue to be problematic, an issue affecting various LEGO Porsche 911 sets. Otherwise, the design looks good and I hope the headlights are effective from particular angles.
Summary
77239 Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 348 pieces.
£22.99 / $26.99 / €26.99 | 6.6p / 7.8c / 7.8c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
Despite a few inaccuracies, the Porsche 911 GT3 RS looks beautiful in LEGO form
- Authentic shaping
- Attractive colour choice
- Plenty of brick-built details, plus printed parts
- Headlights look odd from certain angles
- Rear proportions could be better
Minifigure
The minifigure included is fairly simple, although I like the Porsche Track Experience branding alongside the usual stitched details. We have seen plenty of racing drivers before, so having a track day uniform is a good alternative. Decorated legs would have been appreciated, but plain legs presumably allow more printed parts on the actual car.
As ever, the driver comes with a helmet and an alternative hair piece, plus a wrench to remove the wheel inserts. The hair element is interesting because it looks great and has only appeared once before in this colour, in 76316 Fantastic Four vs. Galactus Construction Figure.
Reference
Source - TopGear.com
The Completed Model
Highly distinctive cars tend to make the best Speed Champions models and the Porsche 911 clearly qualifies, given the characteristic shapes common across the 911 series. On the other hand, these cars are famously curvy, which can be difficult to translate to a LEGO model. This rendition is therefore quite impressive, in my opinion, definitely capturing the silhouette of the 911 GT3 RS.
In addition, flame yellowish orange is an appealing colour choice. Not only does it look superb alongside the black accents, but the shade has been used just once before as the main colour for a Speed Champions car, on 75909 McLaren P1 from the theme's initial range. We were due for another and the Porsche suits this livery.
The black details on the nose and bonnet are especially effective, including accurate vents on top. The louvres above the wheel arches are perhaps oversized, but I can easily excuse minor compromises like this to accommodate brick-built features, rather than applying stickers.
While the silver details on the front need stickers, the Porsche emblem and the headlights are printed. I think the headlights look alright from above and the new 2x3x1 curved wedge slopes create a nice shape, although the view from in front is awkward. Perhaps moving them inwards would improve their appearance, but that would reduce their visibility from the sides as well.
The 2x4 tile in front of the windscreen is also printed, creating the illusion of a more rounded windscreen, which works remarkably well. Similarly, the pillars printed on the windscreen are fairly realistic and the stickered patterns along the sides look good too, including the essential 'GT3 RS' branding.
Removing the windscreen and roof reveals the typical space for two minifigures inside, with a large steering wheel and the gearstick represented by a microphone. There is not much detail otherwise, although I do like the dashboard clock inevitably showing a time of 9:11!
The side windows incorporate a couple more printed elements to complete the curved shape, which is partly effective, but the decoration is not flush to the edges. Maybe this is a very rare case where stickers would have been preferable, although better quality printing would clearly have been ideal.
The stickers flanking the rear windscreen are a good example of how the printed parts should look, with minimal yellow lines between black areas of the stickers and the neighbouring trans-black pieces. Moreover, the fins on top look great, using black 1x2 panels with flame yellowish orange panels clipped in between to create a smooth surface, interrupted only by those fins.
While it seems enormous, the rear wing is in proportion with the rest of the car, connected with robot arms. The bodywork underneath looks too bulky, however, as the flame yellowish orange section between the rear light and diffuser should be narrower. I love this dark red band though, featuring the Porsche branding printed in metallic silver.
Overall
Given the frequency of Porsche 911 sets in Speed Champions prior to 2020, I am surprised an eight-stud-wide version has taken so long to arrive. Fortunately, the vibrant 77239 Porsche 911 GT3 RS does not disappoint, as even features I expected to dislike, such as the headlights, are more realistic in person than official images show.
They are certainly not perfect and the proportions of the rear could be better, but I am pleased with the design as a whole. Its shape is fantastic and the designer has managed to build many external details, avoiding the need for too many stickers. The price of £22.99, $26.99 or €26.99 feels fair given the car's complexity, so this is another lovely addition to the Speed Champions garage.
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17 comments on this article
I was worried, but I think I'll get this and build it without stickers. I think it'll come out OK.
Not sure I'll go for full price though.
Very nice. I always wonder though do they do something to the official photos or is your camera setup on the light / bright side. Quite often I open a set and the contents seem to be a different colour from the box, particularly in magazine gifts which may not be official Lego photo/ products. Your photos don't seem to match he stock photo which I assume is what Lego were trying to match. Unless its my monitor / eyes this looks more Bright Yellow that Flame Yellowish Orange.
@Lego34s said:
"Very nice. I always wonder though do they do something to the official photos or is your camera setup on the light / bright side. Quite often I open a set and the contents seem to be a different colour from the box, particularly in magazine gifts which may not be official Lego photo/ products. Your photos don't seem to match he stock photo which I assume is what Lego were trying to match. Unless its my monitor / eyes this looks more Bright Yellow that Flame Yellowish Orange."
I was thinking the exact same way. I looked at the IRL vehicle in the review and thought "what a shame Lego built it in Bright Yellow instead of Flame Yellowish Orange" as I assumed it was the case from the pictures in the review... then proceeded to read that the actual set IS Flame Yellowish Orange.
This looks very nice out of the box. Utopia and this tempts me to get into 8 stud...
@Lego34s said:
"Very nice. I always wonder though do they do something to the official photos or is your camera setup on the light / bright side. Quite often I open a set and the contents seem to be a different colour from the box, particularly in magazine gifts which may not be official Lego photo/ products. Your photos don't seem to match he stock photo which I assume is what Lego were trying to match. Unless its my monitor / eyes this looks more Bright Yellow that Flame Yellowish Orange."
You are right, I had not adjusted my screen brightness for editing. I have updated the images to reflect the actual flame yellowish orange colour a bit better now.
@Lego_lord said:
"This looks very nice out of the box. Utopia and this tempts me to get into 8 stud..."
The 8-wide are cool from a mini models perspective. Less so for town building, but the level of detail and shaping is much better than 6-wide. The use of doors on the Utopia is so good.
I got jumpscared by this one on BlueSky--I thought it was a new toy of Energon Hot Shot for a second.
Based on the top image, I might swap the tiles on the side of the rear spoiler to have the cutout be on the back bottom. Or maybe put in two of the 1x1 curved tiles instead so it's got cutouts front and back.
https://porsche.ua/model/911-gt3-rs
@dimc said:
" @Lego_lord said:
"This looks very nice out of the box. Utopia and this tempts me to get into 8 stud..."
The 8-wide are cool from a mini models perspective. Less so for town building, but the level of detail and shaping is much better than 6-wide. The use of doors on the Utopia is so good. "
I agree, 8 wide looks better and more realistic but having a dozen 6 wide it's too late for me, save yourself... :))
Looks good, though not the most standout SC model I've seen. Surprising that this is the first 8-wide 911 they've done.
I think this has been a really good wave. Particularly the Porsche and the Bugatti. All grabbed as each one fell to around a fiver off!
@Lego_lord said:
" @dimc said:
" @Lego_lord said:
"This looks very nice out of the box. Utopia and this tempts me to get into 8 stud..."
The 8-wide are cool from a mini models perspective. Less so for town building, but the level of detail and shaping is much better than 6-wide. The use of doors on the Utopia is so good. "
I agree, 8 wide looks better and more realistic but having a dozen 6 wide it's too late for me, save yourself... :))"
I kept some of my 6-wides for city, I have a bunch of 8s for desk models.
It got far too much hate when it was revealed. It's easily the best Speed Champions set of the August wave.
Incredible model! The snot techniques - and in particular the roof panel between the fins - really demonstrate how far LEGO sets have come in the past decade. The density of parts at such a tight scale make this all the more impressive. Well done to the designers. You could teach a masterclass on brick geometry and building methods with this one set. Really good job!
I built mine recently, and the print on the side windows was actually better than the one you showed. My prints were flush against the side, and I live in the U.S. where print quality is usually lacking.
@Lego_lord said:
" @dimc said:
" @Lego_lord said:
"This looks very nice out of the box. Utopia and this tempts me to get into 8 stud..."
The 8-wide are cool from a mini models perspective. Less so for town building, but the level of detail and shaping is much better than 6-wide. The use of doors on the Utopia is so good. "
I agree, 8 wide looks better and more realistic but having a dozen 6 wide it's too late for me, save yourself... :))"
I'm rather grateful I didn't discover Speed Champs until after the switch to 8 wide - but as mini models they're superb, and they tend to have amazing build techniques as well. I've never used them in a town setting though, most of mine are on some 3D printed mounts on the wall!
This one is too iconic a car to miss out on, and it hits most of the right notes for me!
To be honest, I cannot get onboard with the headlight shaping/positioning. Such an iconic part of the car's design that seems like kind of an afterthought on this model