Simon

Yeah, right, and the Apollo photographs were all staged in Nevada! Next you'll be telling me Keith Richards isn't dead. Happy Birthday, Elvis. In an era when 'stars' are manufactured on TV via audience votes, it will become hard for future generations to understand what old fashioned talent was all about.

The interior detail is unbelievably crisp and well finished. I think I'm going to revisit the interior of my current project - if I can get it a tenth as nice, I'll be pleased! Looking forward to seeing more of this Freightliner.

A research question, to help me complete my Kenworth K100. I want to model the truck as belonging to a fictitious owner operator in Houston, Texas, and I am confused by US truck licence plates. I have looked at loads of photos of K100s during ths build, and some have only one plate while others have several. Why? Is it something to do with different states having different laws for commercial vehicles working within their boundaries? Also, does a truck tractor unit have to display a plate on the rear (rear of the tractor)? What plates would my K100, operating out of Houston in the late 1980s, have to display? Thanks to any of you who can share some knowledge! I looked at TxDOT online and couldn't find the info I was looking for.

Thanks for the kind comments, lads. Sorry the photos aren't that good, but I've tried to weather the engine and pipework to look like a well-looked after working truck. I can recommend this kit Chris, the detail is good, but it is not a weekend throw-together! I need a rest, like a kerbside Tamiya, after this project You are quite right Dave, the intake and exhaust pipework is really awkward to line up. If you have tube bending skills, I'm sure you could make a much nicer exhaust from scratch. The 2-piece exhaust system is a joke! I bodged the intake pipe at first, and it wouldn't let the cab sit level, so it had to come off and be refitted. I think I must have been lucky with the cab hinges, they seem OK. I really agree on the chrome too, I mean the wheels can look beautiful but other parts - diesel tanks, exhaust stacks, air tanks, air horns - either have a mould seam along the side, or a join seam where they glue together. The alclad looks more like polished bare metal, like a working truck might have. Here is the look I was going for - everyday hauler style (photo from Hanks Truck Pictures without permission)

I've been working on this Kenworth for months now, and I was so pleased to get the chassis finished that I've posted some photos. The main reason for the delay is that I decided to tone down the chrome - and cover up any joins in the diesel tanks and other pieces - by priming it all and then spraying it with Alclad laquer. I quite like the result, which is a bit duller and more like a work truck than a show truck. The delay happended when I got it all primed, then the summer came along and it all sat untouched until November! The cab is silver with a cream and brown interior, plus I need to sort out some owner operator decals for the doors. Hope you like.

Happy new year, everybody. I've just returned from my local branch of Hobbycraft with a few essentials. I also picked up these really good looking self-adhesive gemstones, which I think will look good as marker lights and tail lights on trucks. You can get all different colours, so I got a pack of amber and a mixed pack. The smaller ones are about 3mm across, and the large ones are about 6mm. The small and medium ones will be great as marker lights on the side of a truck and trailer, or rear reflectors, while the big blue and red ones might work as grille lamps on a police car. Both sets cost me UK pounds 1.99 each. I'm off now to stick some on my never-ending k100 build!

Bonnet = hood Boot = trunk Wing = fender Windscreen = windshield Front/Rear valance = front/rear gravelpan Sill = rocker panel Rocker cover = valve cover Aerial = antenna And... Chips = fries Crisps = chips Baps = biscuits Biscuits = cookies Pavement = sidewalk Road = pavement/highway Ah, that's enough - we're destined to be separated by a common language Nice Mustang, good work on that paintjob Conor.

Looks superb. If I recall correctly, that looks just like a genuine Mach 1 paint colour, or very very close to it. Nice

Hi mate, looks like a good start! Nice paint on the Mustang. I found the bonnet to be a really bad fit on that kit, I never did get it to sit right.

Nice build, Chris. MG TCs are tiny - it must be half the size of the other cars on your shelf!

That's very nice, outstanding engine bay detail too. I really like the photos - that display base with the wooden fence is excellent.

That's a very clean and smart build, Steve. Not many F12s on the road any more...

For those requiring a sportier vehicle, Doyusha presents us with this baby:

I must admit, I'm a real cheapskate when I'm building. I have recently bought a few more tools which have really progressed my build quality. But I generally only add what details are cheap or free. For example, I make ignition wires from jewellry wire or bead wire, rather than buy purpose-made stuff. Military modelling seems to be the big spending genre. I've read articles where somebody will typically use: Tiger tank kit - £20 Cast metal tracks - £12 Turned metal gun barrel - £5 Photo-etched detail set - £10 Resin stowage/stores set - £10 That's £57 ($100) on a 1/35 tank, without paint or consumables. Don't get me wrong, they often look stunning, and if you take into account the hours which will be spent building it, it works out relatively little (e.g. compared with drinking beer at about £6 per hour ). I suppose it depends where you want to go with the hobby - a bit like the previous 'how much detail is too much' discussion. Sometimes I might want to improve on what the manufacturer has done, other times I just love throwing together a kit and seeing it finished!

They certainly do - they must have worked for British Leyland Kevin, just so I'm sure what I'm doing and that I enter into the spirit of this properly, can I ask - do the builds need to be from a 100% new-in-box unstarted kit, or could I make something out of a broken older build? I recently got a few of my teenage builds out of my parents' attic, and there's a disassembled '69 442 in there crying out to be 'junked'. Then again, I've got my eye on something on Ebay too....

Really nice. Those wide whites look super-cool against the 'in progress' paintwork! I'm going to be building a rat rod or two in future, so I'll be revisiting this truck to give me some paint ideas.

As they say, 'less is more!' There's a lot of nice detail here, but it's the paint and discolouration that does it for me. Echo the engine comments too.

I'm in I'm in, like the Joker's grin! Though I'm suddenly feeling a lot less confident after seeing the start you have made on that T-bird, Kevin Looking good already. Hmmm, I need to find a suitable candidate amongst my stash...

That's so subtle, I hardly even looked at it to begin with. Then I gradually realised how clean and well-detailed it is - a lovely build and the colour choice is

Don't worry, I'm here to bring that talent level back down where it was Simon, 31, living in Kent in the UK. Work in the videogames industry. Started building model planes when I was 7, mainly because my older brother was into them, and chose a Matchbox 1/72 Canberra. Had a soft spot for Canberras ever since! My first car build would be an Esci Renault 5 police car, a Christmas present from the neighbours when I was 7 or 8. Dodgy paint, terrible panel gaps and wonky front wheels - the level of realism was astonishing (Apologies to any Renault fans). Next up amongst many planes was a Revell Hot Road magazine edition 79 Mustang which I made a better job of (but could never figure out why it looked like no other 79 Mustang anywhere - turns out to be a McClaren Mustang). Then my first 'real' effort when I was 12 - a Monogram 56 Chevy, which I built with stock rims, unpainted body and the rather ambitious twin-turbo set-up! Never looked back, apart from a break between ages 18 and 25 - the usual sabbatical to attend to beer and women, and though I haven't managed to give up the beer (the women, between them, have decided to leave me alone it seems ) I now make plenty of time for my model cars. I like building US cars from the 50s and 60s, perhaps because I was so into them when I was at school so it's a kind of weird, misplaced nostalgia???? Whatever, I dig em! Though if it wasn't for Ebay, I'd never get hold of any - the UK is at the mercy of Revell (Germany) and Tamiya. I also have a couple of BMW kits in the stash, and I'm tempted now and again by such things as the Ferrari 250GTO, and like most European lads aged 31, the 1987 Ferrari F40 This is a great forum - the atmosphere is genial, and the standards here really keep me focused on raising my own skill levels.

Very nice indeed, a proper Brooklands or Le Mans contender. The saloon versions of these are now very rare, as they tend to get converted into replicas of open racers like this. Thumbs up for tackling an obscure kit mate!

That's a great idea Raul! Could work for other things too, like badges and engine bay decals maybe. Following on from Steve's techniques, I usually dry-brush my gauges, which is similar to the tooth pick method. A little paint on the brush, work it on a paper towel until it's nearly dry, then gently stroke the side of the brush bristles over the gauge. This still depends upon having nicely molded gauges to work with though.

Nice work Michael, it's a good looking Chevy. I think the engine bay is even more impressive, espcecially those hoses - do they have printing on the sides?

There are some really nice cars being posted here. Just one request - could those of you that live somewhere warm and sunny please stop posting photos of your car next to the ocean in bright sunshine!! It's not fair and it's not clever!! Only joking. Here's my old Jag, currently in the garage having some work done for its MOT (annual inspection, I don't know if this is required across the pond?) Can't wait to get it back.

Here you go, glazing tinted with a mixture of floor wax and food dye.