Matt Bacon

Carelessness and failure to spot them on the instructions. I’ll fix that now! best, M.

Very nice kit out of the box, but that V12 deserves a bit of TLC in the shape of detailing, wires, hoses etc to reproduce the fiendishly complicated real thing! best, M.

... but since the expert advice is get the 1.6 ltr engine instead of the 1.8, because even that extra weight throws off the balance and the driving delight of the finely tuned chassis dynamics, why would you want to hang a boat anchor out front? beat, M. (who’s just been looking up how much an NA would cost locally, and thinking “it’s less than £2K... that ain’t so much...”)

Thanks, guys. I think that's it. Beauty shots in Under Glass tomorrow... Now I think I need to go buy a 1:1, or at least an XK8... best, M

Thanks, Noel! Nearly there now. Last few details in the engine bay... before: Some bits: Radiator expansion tank, some relays (I like the blue ones for a touch of colour), a dipstick and an aircon condensor (or something aircon-y, anyway...) And with them all in place, along with some wires and hoses: Time to deal with the last few bodywork details, and wrestle with the ageing decals for the cheatlines best, M.

What great result on this quirky little number, and what a fabulous collection overall. A year’s work for me, and I wouldn’t get them close to that standard! What does your built model display look like, Alex? Please tell me you don’t put them away in a box in the basement... best, M.

Both look cracking builds, and I love the NSX... what a car! I must admit when I saw one IRL for the first time, I was surprised by how small they are. I’m afraid I parted out the charity shop Mythos in my stash... it just looks like a kit car Lamborghini to me.... best, M.

If you have a smartphone, something I've found incredibly useful is the Google Translate app. If you download the Japanese dictionary, you can point your phone camera at the instructions and see all the Japanese text magically transformed into English. Very handy for paint colours and those "Make sure you glue parts 5 and 6 to part 7 before adding the whole assembly to the chassis" build notes that tend not to be translated into English in older Tamiya or Fujimi instructions, for example... best, M.

Yep... that says that the wheel carrier is Yellow H4 plus Silver H8, which I guess means something like Tamiya Titanium Gold, and the disc is a Silver H8 plus Flat Black H12, so graphite or steel, with a black centre, and the calliper is pure Silver. If they aren't half and half they'll give you a ratio. Sometimes it's not a mix, but a flat color with a gloss clear over the top... that is indicated differently. And finally, often you'll find PHA and PHB, which are custom colors they give a mix ratio for early in the instructions and use throughout. They are often the bodywork colors, or occasionally a mix for all the "carbon fiber" areas. I usually just find a picture to see what color they REALLY mean... (clearly if you can afford a Huayra, you can have the callipers in your choice of color!) best, M.

Thanks, gentlemen. I'm on holiday today, so a bit more bench time and the big cat is assembled... Some detail painting on the wheels and a dose of 1:1 "Bumper Black" on the tyres has improved them no end... There is no way the hinges as molded are going to allow the hood to open properly. There's plenty of room inside the bumper, so I decided that I could extend the U shapes inside the bumper to get a bit more wiggle room. I used some black electrical tape inside the front wheel arches to stop the "see through" effect that you get OOB (I think Hasegawa trimmed back the upper wheel arches so you didn't have to stretch the fenders over them while you were trying to get the engine fan into the right place in the radiator shroud). Time to finish up the engine bay... best, M.

Oh, I'll definitely be picking up a Super Seven... not sure the wing and JPS livery is enough to persuade me that I need another Europa, though. Thanks for the heads up, Geoff. You seem to be planning out my spending for me for the rest of the year! Now, who'll be first to market with a resin Patrick McGoohan driver figure? best, M.

Thanks, guys.... chassis is now built. Further detailing will wait until the engine bay is inside the body. Tried a test fit: Had to paint the grinning cat on the hood... a nice raised plinth but no decal! Probably the best view we'll get of the interior in place... time to get the windows in. best, M

Thanks, guys.... sorry for the delay. I spent one weekend's modelling time building paint storage, and life got in the way last weekend... First up, the rear suspension, which (amazing, eh?) looks very much like an E-type's! Detail shots in case anyone is wondering how it all goes together (I found the instructions were pretty good, but you can't beat real photos...) So that's the fairly simple chassis completed. Interior in parchment and kinda mushroom grey... Interior done. Look closely, because this is the closest you'll get to seeing the nice decal dials in the dash, which are an "inside-out" decal that goes on the back of a clear "glass" behind the dial cut-outs. The tyres. Uh-oh. Two had turned into biscuits, one had solidified, and the fourth was fine. Fortunately, thanks to @Spottedlaurel I have some replacements on the way. They pretty much have to be Hasegawa XJS tires, because the rims are weirdly small and the sidewalls quite high-profile (which is prototypical, but unusual) I think I'm getting to the point of being able to start bringing the major assemblies together... best, M.

That’s definitely why you don’t want to be sanding the whole of a car in 2K. I use skinny sanding sticks 800-4000 grit, a nail polisher stick, Meguiar’s Scratch X2.0 and finally Novus No.2. It sounds a lot, but since I’m only polishing a few dust spots out, I’m only covering a few 1/4” square areas of the surface... best, M.

IIRC I used some plastic “fake nails” from the make-up aisle to make the “sugar scoop” headlight tunnels on my last project that had that problem... best, M.

Hi, all... where can I find some Pirelli Cinturato 15" (215/70 VR15) tyres for my XJ-S? 3 of the 4 tyres in my Hasegawa kit have become "biscuits" and are in several pieces after trying to fit them to the rims... best, M.

Finally got round to doing something about this: Bought four dedicated racks from EBMA Hobby, laser cut from MDF And now my workbench looks like this: Very easy to assemble, with a minimum amount of gluing... highly recommended. best, M.

It’s not so much you “dying free”, it’s the people you pass it on to who get no choice in the matter, and the people they infect... best, M.

Seems like a pretty heavy and inefficient way to get 600 BHP. Mind you, the Meteor is a Merlin detuned for reliability and ground level operation, so given the amount of effort he’s putting in he could probably double that if he tried. As a project though, it seems more like an “I’ll see if I can...?” rather than a “What’s the best way to...?” Best, M.

Try lemon juice? The “Sticky Stuff Remover” I have is based on lemon/orange extract (and you can smell it!). Does the job very well on BMF or Tamiya masking tape residue... not tried it on something that old, but worth a shot... best, M.

Thank you, gentlemen... This is a milestone: all the BMF is done, at long and eye-strainingly last. Still not quite sure how the hood works so it can be raised, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. Dechroming the grill, painting it black, and applying Molotow chrome to the front make it look a lot less heavy and more realistic than leaving it chromed front and back, I think. Still not quite sure how the bonnet works so it can be raised, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. Dechroming the grill, painting it black, and applying Molotow chrome to the front make it look a lot less heavy and more realistic than leaving it chromed front and back, I think. Time to start work on the interior, now... best, M.

Slightly OT, but looking at that picture, I wonder if you could take the sills off the Heller lower section in the middle only (not the rear valance), fix them to the upper body, and have enough room to slide the interior up and in through open back end after eliminating the seams fore and aft of the doors. I’d forgotten there really is a seam behind the rear bumpers... best, M.

Thanks, guys! Got started on the BMF today... it's not a job I like much, and doing it in several sessions eases the pain a bit. Mind you, I also needed a break from engine duties... Pretty rubbish picture, mind you! Then I thought I'd see how the engine sits in the engine bay as a test: At some point, I'm going to have to start looking at all the stuff that goes around the inner wings and on the radiator and bulkhead, but today is not that day... best, M.

I just use the Zero recommendations... half a jar of gloss, 1/4 jar of hardener, about 10% thinner (I have a jar with some masking tape down the side with levels for each marked on it). In practice 10%-20% thinner doesn’t make that much difference. A little bit less hardener on a hot day to make sure the mix doesn’t start to go off before all the coats are applied... best, M.

Looks great to me... and well done on beating the orange trim decals into submission. They do put up a fight, though, don’t they? 😜 best, M.