sjordan2

Your English is fine and your builds are wonderful.

Judging by the overdone side bulges, I'd say it's the MagnumXE. http://www.magnumxe.com/

Here's an older progress thread from the late Martin Swire, who did a superb job on this kit: http://cs.scaleautomag.com/scacs/forums/t/45399.aspx?PageIndex=1 Finished model with comments: http://cs.scaleautomag.com/scacs/forums/p/56621/614505.aspx#614505 Martin's web gallery on the finished model(and many other 1/16 stunners): http://www.freewebs.com/martsmodels/1934rollsroycepii.htm As for wire wheels, you'd have to bash them from other kits, depending on the type you want – 1/16 Mercedes 540K has good but somewhat thick wires, and the 1/16 Mercedes SS Sonder Kabriolet comes with wire wheels that you have to lace yourself and look amazing (see Martin Swire's gallery on this kit). Otherwise, you can create your own wire wheels. Here's Martin's tutorial: http://www.freewebs.com/martsmodels/jagss100wheelconversion.htm

Your info on what's coming up at Pebble Beach led to finding this, which is a pretty good look at Alfa's darker red. http://atspeedimages.com/search.php?s=Alfa+Romeo+6C+2500+SS

Just superb. And I'll have two scoops of strawberry with sprinkles.

Just terrific work that's even more impressive in how well it stands up to these extra-large images.

The name and usage of a product is what the manufacturer says it is; they're the ultimate authority. There are those who like to pronounce "Porsche" as if it were French… Porsh. But the manufacturer and the TV commercials pronounce it Porsh-uh." As for the Jaguar, it was the North Americam arm of the company itself that determined the name XKE, not interloping American boors who decided that it should be marketed in the USA as an XK-E. The idea was to help marketing by reminding people of the well-liked XK 120, XK 140 and XK 150, making it part of a series. By the way, how do you pronounce "Jaguar?" Americans say "Jag-war;" the original, unerring Britons say "Jag-you-ar."

One nice thing that Matt has done (that has not been successful in many other builds I've seen) is that the cylinder block is correctly gold, though a bit dark, and the air box is a satin silver. As for the seam part, here's what I was referring to: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=33836&st=0 Just a note. I was 13 when my Dad took me to the Jaguar dealer to see the brand-new XK-E, a red one with a black interior and whitewall tires. I was far from a connoisseur of fine automobiles at the time, but I noticed the following: The seats, much like the Austin Healey 3000, were made of a thin frame material that guaranteed instant death in an accident; the metal interior pieces with shiny dots on aluminum plates on the dash and console were totally cheapo; the leatherette pieces on the instrument panel and elsewhere were already peeling away, and the paint, fit and other finish elements were not high quality. Over time, the mechanical aspects of the car proved it to be a total piece of junk. A car, as described by Beyoncé, as a "Beautiful Nightmare."

Looking good so far. Keep us posted (I don't understand about the missing sugar scoops. How odd). Did you see the other recent post about dealing with the seam?

This kind of nomenclature can really get weird. Let's say there's a huge difference between OOB and Factory Stock. For example, in my case regarding the Mercedes 300 SL, you need the Entex or Minicraft Gullwing, The Italeri Gullwing and the Italeri 300 SL Roadster all put together to build an accurate factory stock Gullwing or Roadster. Not one of them has it right, but bash them all together and you've got one of the best models in the world. And all of them need a tiny bit of scratchbuilding (I choose to go with the one-word version of scratchbuilding).

Beautiful, clean work, though the metal flake seems a bit large for the Miura. I haven't seen chrome door vents on a Miura and was wondering why you went there. Those questions aside, quite wonderful builds.

You're getting ahead of me. Here's a Jaguar showroom poster: But however beautiful it is, it was always a rust-prone bucket of bolts with the infamous Lucas electrical system, and with a manufacturing approach based on the company's racing theory that the C-Type should be built to last for about 30,000 miles.

You are correct, sir.

Is that the Revell body? Looks perfect. My grandmother had one of these in light yellow and white.

Thanks, I know about your tutorial but couldn't find it. I think it will help a lot of people. I have to think, though, that blending metallic paint would be harder at 1/25 scale.

One more note that may affect your color choice... As I recall, this kit has the same issues as the 1/8 Monogram coupe, in that when the upper half of the body is joined to the floor pan, there is a very noticeable seam at the joint of the cowling and the rear wheel well area. If you want to fix this with putty, metallics are not a good choice for touching up this area, since the paint blending would not match well. Here's how a modeler dealt with this issue using non-metallic paint on a 1/8 coupe: http://www.scalemotorcars.com/forum/large-scale-cars/6550-1964-jaguar-e-type-xke-1-8-monogram.html Let me know if the link doesn't work.

This is my favorite E-Type color combo, with the darker Opalescent Gunmetal. (You might note something that most modelers overlook: the rear-facing part of the seat back is a woolen material similar to the carpeting, not leather) I might add that I built the Revell kit when it first came out and painted it black with a tan interior, and it looked great. I did overlook the fact that the headlight "sugar scoops" for the Series 1 should usually be a satin-finished silver/aluminum.

Very odd. I just clicked on the link copied in your own response and it took me right there. This is Alex Kustov's site, and maybe it will help if you just Google Italian Horses.net, then click from whatever comes up.

I'll just interrupt the glue question for a second to say that if you're just getting back into modeling, it can't hurt to have a bunch of other how-to knowledge on hand. Here's a great start: http://www.italianhorses.net/Tutorials/tutorials.htmd We now return you to your program, already in progress.

I've seen one of your Westchester builds, and it's stunning. You really ought to post some pictures here.

I thought the long set-up is what made it funny.

So I understand, based on days gone by many decades ago. Are there still styrene plastic promos as in those eras? I guess I don't understand the current meaning of "promos."

This must look something like your build, though it's very white. (But a great color for this car, and very Hollywood – recalling the name of a Graham saloon using the same body molds) I have a really hard time getting the Tom Mix story out of my mind, and his biography and the tragic ending bring to mind climactic scenes from Slim Pickens in "Dr. Strangelove" and "Thelma and Louise"; the last witness to see him as he missed the roadwork signs and went flying off the road at 80 mph, said he stood up in the car, hanging tight on the steering wheel and standing on the brakes before he smashed into the side of a gully wash. I kind of like to think of him shouting "Yaaahooo" as he went down. The plume of smoke was seen from a great distance. When you look at his biography, his life would make a great movie. Here's one reason why, from a special "spy decoder" box-top premium from Ralston, detailing the injuries through his life: I vote for Woody Harrelson or Matthew McCoughnahey to star in a script by David Mamet.

By the way, Monogram made a pretty nice 1/24 version of the 5-seater Phaeton like the Mix car. Like the 1/12 AMT, one of the toughest tests of skill is adding the thin chrome trim to the strips on the coffin nose. In my estimation, no kit of this car is complete without attention to this detail.

Referring back to the article I linked to above, it appears his Cord was yellow, not white as I remembered (well, everything was in black and white in those days). Here's the memorial you referenced: EDIT: Art (as usual) was right, this Cord (below) has been restored. Further research shows that Mix's Cord was a supercharged phaeton seating 4; the AMT kit is a 2-seater convertible coupe. According to a writer on the subject, "it has unique details like the “TM” embossed leather stone guards on the rear fenders and a clumsily preserved partial “Tom Mix” license plate frame. Sidney Craig’s 1937 Cord 812 Supercharged Phaeton is the last monument in Tom Mix’s career. It is documented in Josh Malks’ Cord 810/812 The Timeless Classic as delivered new to Mix. One of the great designs of the classic era, the Cord’s front wheel drive chassis, supercharged Lycoming V-8 engine and open 5-seat coachwork was inimitably linked with Tom Mix, featuring an exposed rear-mounted spare tire with extended rear bumper, raised rear license plate bracket on the left bumper spring, two Kilborn Sauer fog lights and single Trippe driving light which are seen in period photos with the famous cowboy star." The car was offered for sale at Bonhams in 2009. Details at: http://www.bonhams.com/cgi-bin/public.sh/pubweb/publicSite.r?sContinent=USA&screen=lotdetailsNoFlash&iSaleItemNo=4225432&iSaleNo=17327&iSaleSectionNo=2 One thing I just noticed; the old photo of the Cord appears to have flagpoles on the front, probably for parades, etc.