Roncla

There is a chap currently building the Meng kit on YouTube. We are now up to episode 5 and i still can't understand a word he says but you can follow along and see how it goes together along with the fit and appearance of the model

The shape of the Meng kits roof is something i just can't unsee. it just looks plain wrong to my eyes.

I'm not aware of anything in resin but Tamiya did make a racing version of their Morris Mini Cooper kit that included flares/ Minilite wheels and a roll cage but had the same road tires that were included with the stock version. https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10002204

I use a Dremel 8050-N/18 Micro 8V Max Tool Kit to knock the worst of the flash off then finish up with the usual fine files and sandpaper. There is a huge selection of different tools available for these rotary tools going from coarse to fine.

I don't have that issue in print but can do a screen shot of the CD....

If some one knows the issue of SAE that article appeared in I may have it here and could scan it and repost.

I've ordered off Gravity Spain numerous times now and they have always provided an excellent service with the paint arriving all the way down here usually in a week.

Mclaren owners handbooks, including the Senna, are available for download from their website. https://cars.mclaren.com/us-en/ownership/service-and-maintenance

Looking at photos from back in the day my impression is Alfa were making a range of versions of these cars and they were all raced at one time or another by their wealthy owners.

Italeri have announced a new version of their 1/12 scale Alfa Monza kit. https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10738950

The taller fenders of the MK11 #1 car can be seen here in comparison to the MK1 #6

We are blessed with so many YouTube channels devoted to the hobby these days we can count on someone doing an open box review soon after its released and thus saving all of us a bundle if this new Meng kit doesn't measure up.

http://www.meng-model.com/en/contents/59/313.html

The shape now looks far better than the prototype that was being shown last year

Cheers Day. Just take your time with the rims and you will find the assembly will go smoother as you progress.

You've done an excellent job Day. I just left all the spokes at the supplied length during assembly and tacked each one to hold in place till the rim was assembled then slopped a healthy amount of epoxy in to the grove to ensure a solid structure. It all looked like a hedge hog at this stage and I then went around with the snippers and cut off the protrusions The inner hubs in my kit were of a poor quality when you put the two pieces together so i ran JB Weld in to the the gaps and redrilled the holes with a pin vise to ensure the spoke were positively located. I can't help but feel there has to be a better way to manufacture that inner hub to ensure a more positive fit for the spokes but working with what was supplied it worked out okay. There is no rocket science or special techniques needed to assemble the rims. Once you've got your head around how it all goes together the rims don't present any dramas.

I started my GTO kit #K468 by doing the wheels first and treating them as a kit in themselves as Bill suggests which is always an excellent idea. I initially found the first wheel a bit challenging as it was all new to me but once I had it figured out how they assembled it all fell in to place and subsequent wheels were a breeze. I never timed myself as it wasn't a race to finish them. I just took my time and enjoyed the experience of seeing the wheels come together. I've got no tips or techniques to pass on other than to thoroughly read the instructions so you are conversant with the assembly process and then everything will come together without issues. Having the right attitude towards the process will see your battle won and give you immense satisfaction when finished.

She looks a treat Walter. Our roads over the ditch here have no shortage of Holden/ HSV utes but Fords are thin on the ground and a XR8 like yours is as rare as hens teeth.

Tamiya makes a Base White # TS-101 which is useful when spraying transparent colours over grey primer or dark plastic. https://www.tamiya.com/english/products/85101/index.htm

I did read recently that the Meng kit is scheduled for release next year. Meng themselves have not provided any updates on the situation.

i can relate to your shipping experience James. I just received some decals yesterday from BestBalsaKits in Belgium that were posted back at the end of February but then our borders here in NZ have been closed to everyone but returning residents since then thus restricting the number of commercial flights arriving to a trickle. I understand that a lot of mail is being redirected to surface mail or just stockpiling. On Thursday I had an order shipped out from Hobby Link Japan but payed the extra for DHL Express and tracking is showing it arrived here in NZ 4 hours ago.

Meng are active on Facebook and are always posting updates on their coming releases but their GT40 has dropped off the radar with no news since last year.

Steve has answered a post to his Facebook page asking for any word on the models by responding that because of the virus everything will be delayed !!!!

I missed that Ford on the stripe. Looking at the instructions it looks like the Ford decal is made up of four seperate decals and the builder gets to spell it out.

Magnifier is a spin off name of Trumpeter/ Hobby Boss. Maybe it's all due to licensing as no where does this Magnifier kit have the the word Ford mentioned where the original Trumpeter Kit had Ford on the box. https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/image/10696114