Matt Bacon

I think Mr Plant and the boys might have something to say about that... best, M.

Those nice folks at Model Car Garage have come up with a photo etch detail set for Z-cars. I lucked into it while looking for a source for the "Datsun" scripts for the lower fenders. UK models, which became Samuris, don't use the "Fairlady" branding, but they do have all the badges in the same fonts. Fortunately this set includes ALL the options for the body badges and many, many details. Some of which I will use on this build, some I will save for later. The etch is crisp and deep (and even...), so a once over with Tamiya Matt Black acrylic, wiped off the raised detail after it's dried with a cloth lightly dampened with X-20A thinner brings out all the detail and looks "just like the real thing"... I decided to do one window part-lowered, for a better view of the interior. Both side windows are cut from acetate, but the main screens and quarter lights are the kit part. best, M.

Looks fantastic. Black, chrome, black pen or some much cleverer masking technique? best, M.

Now... where does the rocker cover breather hose go when you have three side-draft twin Webers? On regular cars, with an air filter manifold feeding the normal twin carbs, it just connects into the airbox. I assume it goes somewhere, though one of my reference cars just has a little right-angled filter "mushroom" sprouting from the breathing hole... I think that might foul the hood, though. best, M.

A bit of a milestone, I think: I had to add a couple of plastic strip shims to the chassis rails to raise the radiator and frame to the height of the engine fan, which also brings the upper frame corners "close enough" to the fender tops. This means the engine is now firmly fixed to the chassis in its final position, so I can do some wiring and plumbing around it tomorrow, when everything has fully cured. That's a relief... the hood will close fully with that radiator, ignition wiring and the shock strut in position.... phew! best, M.

Not sure that’s true… this article: https://www.vintagebentleys.com/services/rexine-magazine/ says that “Old No.2” one of the 1930 Le Mans Bentleys, is still wearing its original Rexine fabric body covering. The restorers who the article is about have put Rexine back into production specifically to meet the needs of coach builders restoring classic cars. I’m not sure they’d have gone to the effort of recovering and rebuilding the original machinery and process if you could just cover the bodies in canvas and paint them… best, M.

This is looking fantastic… I’m going to steal some of your engine bay details for my Samuri, too… best, Matt

Thanks, Carl. The slow progress continues... slowly... Ever get the feeling you know too much? Having the Tamiya engine to hand is really helpful, but it brings home that the kit engine needs some extras. (Mind you, it's only intended to be viewed from underneath in a semi-curbside kit, so in that respect it probably has more detail than necessary!) The upper water hose connection to the engine is missing completely. The lower is moulded on as a stub. There are no hose fittings on the radiator at all. Heat shrink sleeve will represent the pipes, but it needs something more structural to make it stay in place and connect the right places in the right way. The silver "wire" is nicely malleable solder, which the sleeving will slip over. The man who knew too much Pt. 2. I was going to just put the bar I could see on my photos across the engine bay ahead of the radiator (hence the orange rod). However, I thought I'd just check the interweb, It turns out that the "radiator support frame" is prone to rusting to dust on the real thing, so there are a lot of threads about repairing, replacing, and crucially fabricating one. Someone had posted a dimensioned drawing, and I couldn't unsee it. So I scaled it 1/24, and then rescaled it to fit (it needs to be a bit shorter than scale, to account for the inch thick armor plate of the hood and fenders in the model. I stuck a printed drawing onto some plastic card, and used it as a template to cut out the bulkhead, then added the horizontal bracing top and bottom. This will all need to be orange. But it will make the front end look a lot less empty and distract attention from the inside of the grille.. Several of my reference cars have braces between the suspension towers. These are fabricated from aluminium tube and fuse wire, and the mounts built up from plastic card and rod. The top one is the front, the lower one the rear. I'm not sure I can get the front one in... in real life it is bent slightly upward to clear the top of the engine and ignition wires, but thanks to the thickness of the hood, I'm not sure there's room for it. (This is why the mounts are much more slimline -- they need to fit between the wheel well and fender-tops). It's not critical... only some cars have it, but it would be nice if I can get it in, because it's cool... The rear one goes in easily enough, with a bit of fine tuning of the length. And this is how things stand tonight. The battery and brake booster are stolen from a Revell Land Rover and need some more work. But I think the next task is to get the support frame painted and then the radiator fitted and plumbed. best, M.

Especially if they did the Cielo: This review: https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/maserati/mc20-cielo Is very enthusiastic. best, M.

How about something like Oratex or Oracover that they use for R/C models (and in the latter case, real aeroplanes!) That's intended to be glued over a wooden structure and then shrunk to a perfect fit so it might work here, and it would be durable. Oratex seems to come in a version with a matt finish, and a range of colours including black and olive drab. best, M.

I just sprayed mine with Halfords Grey Plastic primer and didn’t sand it at all. It’s slight roughness (compared to Tamiya Fine Surface Primer) gave enough of a texture contrast to my eye… best, M.

Then there’s this https://manhart-performance.de/en/car/manhart-integrale-400/ best, M.

I’m sure this thread won’t get as much traffic as the Porsche one, but I’ve started it anyway because of this: https://www.totemautomobili.com/gt-super/ Comes in electric as well, but this one is a super lightweight v6 Best, M.

@Bugatti Fan There’s an Airfix Bora in 1/24 as well, which probably has a lot in common with this kit, but there’s also a rather nice and completely different Revell Bora (oddly, also 1/24) with full engine: best, M.

But what did it look like BEFORE it ran head on into a tree? best, M.

Normal service will now be resumed.... Refreshed from holiday, and mojo working again, I tackled some of the jobs that I couldn't face before... I hadn't realised how much of the inside of the engine bay would be visible, so that had to be painted orange to match the rest of the car. That entailed a lot of masking, and would have been so much easier if I'd just done it at the same time as the rest... Also the window trim needed doing. The all-chrome side trim is A*Stand "Bright Aluminium" over Mr Color Black and Gloss clear. The A*Stand paint is near-as darnit Alclad. It calls for "one medium coat at 10-15 psi, and that's what I gave it. And It works really well... The front and rear screens are Molotow chrome pen over Edding 330 black marker, because there's a lot more rubber in those trims. With luck, I won't need to mask *almost the entire body* again... Other than trimming off a lot of carrier film, the instrument dial decals worked very well. Boy, do I need to dust that interior? What you can see above as well as the dust is multiple different "blacks" in action to give some variety and texture to the cabin. ...I'm starting to believe this might just work... best, M.

Mine came today. Looking forward to some plastic-fondling this evening. It feels like a well filled box of styrene! Has anyone found anywhere that's starting to show the colours customers have ordered them in/spots on the road? best, M.

Beautifully done, and in my favourite Jaguar colour, too. Absolutely nails the look of that beautiful car. The details really pop (and that decal for the hood vent is a very clever touch…) Great job! best, M.

Beautiful build of a lovely car. That kit really is an unappreciated gem in Revell’s catalogue. Flawlessly executed with crisp details and great paint. I love it. (I wish I’d thought to “halve” the bonnet straps as you have rather than risk them pinging off whenever I open it!) One bit of advice (which may be a bit late)… the tyres on mine reacted with the wheels over several years, so if you’ve used the kit parts you might want to see if you can seal the wheels or wrap in BMF… or get some resin ones from RaMoM for later… best, M.

Academy has released the 250 Spider as “Classic Italian Sports Car” or something equally generic, with all mention of Ferrari expunged (although the Cavallino is still rampant on the grille). That’s what I built mine from. You might have to order from a Korean hobby shop to get one, though. I too was hoping Revell would do the 250 SWB (I think it was actually announced…). best, M.

A Donohue Javelin AMX and the Pink Panther show rod (Eidei?)are the two that are top of my grail list… best, M.

I’m looking forward to this! You probably know this already having done the spider, but it’s worth beefing up the joint between the rear panel and body shell. I used superglue and micro-balloons to backfill from the inside, but talc and superglue or epoxy putty would work just as well. The last thing you need is the seam popping open just after you’ve primed, painted and clear-coated! best, M.

https://www.scalemodellingnow.com/hnvehicles-motor-museum-in-miniature-1956-1962-morris-minor best, M.

I went old school: decided it was early 50s and pulled a couple of volumes of “The Observers Book of Automobiles” annual editions from the (almost) full set in my office and started flicking through the pages… It’s a reasonably quick process when there are a lot of manufacturers you know it ISN’T 😜 best, M.

That doesn’t necessarily say much about the accuracy or detail of the parts. The Easy Click Porsche 356 in 1/16, the tractors in 1/24 or the eTron GT have all been very good kits that just happen to be engineered to snap together… best, M.