Newman Porsche 5852/58052 Decals

[RJMoge 15]

Hello everyone looking for some help with a question about the decals for the Newman Porsche kit 5852.

I am currently working through the restoration of a Newman Porsche. 

The original body was a disaster so I purchased a replacement body that matches up with the original parts numbers according to Tamiyabase.  The body came with a decal set that is the "Pierlant" set.  See attached photo.  I was intending to restore it back to the box art.  However, the decals that came with the kit originally are substantially different than the "Pierlant" set.  I only have a handful of the original decals because the previous owner used them up elsewhere.

When I referenced Tamiyabase "decals base" section and decals in the parts section both say the Pierlant set came with the original Newman Porsche.  Those don't however match up with the ones in the manual or the graphics on the box cover (see attached photos).  Coincidentally if you do a model search of kit 58052 in Tamiyabase the photo of the Newman built as an example doesn't have the "Pierlant" decals.  It has the box art decals.  So, Tamiyabase somewhat contradicts itself there.

Does anyone know why the two sets of decals exist for the Newman Porsche?

I have not seen the decals per box art or manual anywhere to be purchased yet.  Only the Pierlant version.

Thanks for reading and any help

 

Pic 1 and 2 are of the Pierlant decals and their placement

pics 3 and 4 are of the box art and manual decals

[Mokei Kagaku 2937]

The version of the sticker set with Pierlant stickers was released as part of the 50222 Porsche 956 Racing Sticker Set in 1984, before the existence of 58052. 58052 was released in 1985 and got the sticker set without Pierlant logos. Interestingly, Tamiya released a 1/24 scale static model kit with Pierlant decals in 1984 (#24049). This kit used the same basic box art as 58052, but with Pierlant logos. 24049 was re-released in 2012 with the original box art. The same year, Tamiya released 58521 (RM-01) Newman Joest Porsche 956 without the Pierlant logos. In other words, licensing doesn't seem to have any relevance for the existence of the two versions of stickers. 

In theory, two versions of 58052 may have existed to be sold in different countries (just like the "Rothmans" and "Racing" versions of the 959), but it doesn't seem likely. Restored and "New Built" models of 58052 are often seen with Pierlant logos, but considering that the original stickers and body parts set for 58052 weren't available as regular 5-digit items, they were difficult to source. 50222 Porsche 956 Racing Sticker Set, being a regular 5-digit item, is still relatively easy to find, 40 years after release! 

I haven't compared the sticker set for 58521 with 58052, but it's pretty likely that a few sponsor logos have been omitted from 58521 for the usual licensing reasons, so, for the correct restoration of a 58052, the sticker set from 58521 probably has to be combined with 50222. That is, unless able to source an original sticker set for 58052.

 

 

[Mokei Kagaku 2937]

I've dug a little deeper for information, and found something that people with even just basic knowledge about the race's history know (and I didn't): The stickers included in 50222 (with Pierlant logos) are for the 1984 LM winner, whereas the stickers included in 58052 are for the 1985 LM winner, making the reason for the difference pretty obvious and not by far as enigmatic as I've thought for decades (while not caring enough to check).

In fact, the stickers deliver the evidence themselves: 50222 has the classification-stickers (Group C1) indicating 1984, whereas the same type of stickers in 58052 indicate 1985. Similarly, the "driver" stickers for 50222 are for Henri Pescarolo and Klaus Ludwig (1984 winners), whereas they are for Klaus Ludwig, Paolo Barilla and John Winter (1985 winners) on the 58052 stickers. The boxarts for 24049 and 58052 reflect these differences too.

   

 

As the races were arranged in mid June both years and considering Tamiya's significant leadtime for new items, it may have been more or less a coincidence that Tamiya decided to include the winning car's livery in 50222. After all, 50222 was released in September, so design freeze for 50222 was most likely before the race. As 58052 was also released in September (one year later), Tamiya probably decided to release 58052 before that year's race, not knowing that the 1985 version of the car would win that year. If so, changing the stickers from 1984- to 1985-spec and modifying the boxart of 24049 to reflect the change, might have been a last second decision.

[RJMoge 15]

Mokei Kagaku - thank you for taking the time to pass along this in-depth information.

With what you have said, sourcing the decals from a 58052 kit to replicate the box art seems very, very unlikely.  I will catalog what original 58052 decals are left over from the built kit I purchased to restore, along with the decals I have from 58022 and see if I can somehow piece together everything I need to create the box art replica.

If I can't procure all of them to do it correctly it may only leave me with the option of restoring it to the 58022 Pierlant livery.

Thank you again for all the information!