sjordan2

The true shade of "Bugatti blue" is actually all over the place, with multiple repaints over the years (and after each race) based on what was available to owners, confusing the issue. You'll see blue Bugattis in shades ranging from pale blue to deep French racing blue. All I know is that the legend (never refuted) goes that Mrs. Bugatti liked the blue color on Gauloises cigarette packs of the era, and that's how it began.

The piano wire wheels seem to be a big problem for we who want to build a T59, since they aren't properly represented in kit form. The LeMans Miniatures wheels are excellent in 1/24 and 1/32. The kit I want to build is the Bburago die cast body kit (supposedly 1/18 but actually closer to 1/15), and I was able to track down very nice aftermarket wheels made for that kit, with a front axle with the proper camber. Unfortunately, according to the maker, those parts are no longer available.

Just to add to that last post. the instruction sheet says they had access to the original car and took meticulous measurements. That's evident in the kit. Here's the kit, and I can provide excellent reference if you want it. Beautiful kit, molded in accurate maroon: Poor reissue with lots of flash and bad chrome, molded in red:

Jo-Han's original 1/25 Gold Cup Mercedes 500K hardtop roadster limousine (coupe) is outstanding (the later issue is loaded with flash and poor chrome).

After the Packard, you could do a superb job on the 1/16 Revell Rolls Phantom II Continental, and turn the 1/16 Rolls Phantom III Sports Saloon into a woody shooting brake.

Immediately on receipt at home. Most of my kits are older and I get them on eBay. If a listing says "sealed," most of those have been resealed; I ask the seller to open the kit and vouch for the integrity of what's inside. I've been about 50% successful with getting cooperation.

Ditto. You can't go wrong with painting everything. This is particularly important on larger scale kits where light show-through on bodies can occur, and I may be fantasizing, but I think painting the inside surfaces of bodies adds a sense of realistic "density." That's hard to explain without putting together a detailed presentation.

I built that one back in the Fifties, and I recall that it builds into a beautiful model, but I really struggled with the multipiece body.

Preorders must be going well. Today I see an HLJ ad on this site featuring a Gullwing photo.

Not related to the Excalibur. Its stablemate was the much worse Zimmer Golden Spirit.

I thought you'd been very quiet lately and now I see what you've been up to. Nailed it.

A similar car to the one Art is referencing, though I'm not sure exactly what it is, and I think many liberties have been taken since the radiator doesn't match anything I've found. But it's been brilliantly scratchbuilt in 1/8 brass by Ken Foran. He documented the build in 102 pages at the link below, and he also featured it in his authoritative book, "Model Building With Brass," which is available at Amazon. The build journal: http://www.scalemotorcars.com/forum/showthread.php?2592-Article-1-8th-Scale-Model-T-Racer-Build-Journal The book: http://www.amazon.com/Model-Building-Brass-Kenneth-Foran/dp/0764340042/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1423768690&sr=1-1&keywords=ken+foran+model+building+with+brass

I can hear champagne corks popping across the MCM universe. Not only was Revell listening, they guaranteed sustained kit-bashing sales for years to come. Smart.

White with red wheels and a red interior is also cool. But be careful of bleeding from the red plastic into the white paint. There are some tutorials here about preventing that.

I'd say the MG is an excellent warm-up for building an outstanding SS 100. Needs more detail including outer wiring for front and tail lights, and grille modification using real mesh. The up top is not accurate and needs a more antique look. If you really want to be a rivet-counter, it needs more rivets on the fenders. You can also go extra-anal and make the windscreen fold down to see the Brooklands windscreens better.

The Bianchi kit shown at the top in 1/32 has also been offered in a motorized 1/16 version, which is quite rare and expensive. While you can find images of the built kit, I have never been able over the years to find a single picture of the real car. In one inquiry, I was told it might be in a museum in Milan, but that research was a dead end. There have been a number of opera-style cars like that, including Ford (probably with tall roofs for top hats). I think this is the Ford...

Killer.

Gorgeous. What brand is the maroon paint?

It would be great to see still photos, too. Videos are too time-consuming for we ADHD types.

?

There were 1,400 production Gullwings beginning in 1954 and ending in 1957, when the car was joined by, and shortly replaced by the roadster (1957-63). No such thing as a 1958 or 1959 Gullwing.

For some reason, my preorder at HLJ automatically set a quantity of 3 for my order, which I just caught. Those who are preordering might want to check.

Well, okay then. Another jaw dropper.

Uh...superb, obviously.

These are superb and look better than most larger scale versions I've seen.