Matt Bacon

Most of the Zero colour matched paints are supposed to dry matt and be clear coated, so I suspect the semi gloss black must be a different formulation, which might explain why it behaves differently. As to the issue you’re having… what airbrush are you using? That pattern can only be a result of uneven paint flow or uneven air flow. For the paint, if it’s a gravity feed brush, then all you can do is make sure you mix the paint and thinner thoroughly in a jar, and only then put thinned paint into the brush. If it’s a siphon, take a close look at the little hole in the top of the jar and make sure that’s properly clear. For the air, then do you have a moisture trap, regulator and curly “rebound” hose? What compressor do you have, and what pressure are you spraying at? It could be the compressor pulsing, or pressure building up and being released in the regulator or moisture trap. I wouldn’t give up on the Zero satin black just yet: there are plenty of things to try. But if you do decide you need something else, the Gunze Mr Colour range spray really well… best, M.

Amen to that! And particularly, they seem to have forgotten how you’re supposed to use them at roundabouts: I’ve learned from a few close calls that you can’t make any assumptions about what people are going to do at a roundabout from their use of indicators, or lack of it! best, M.

I finally figured out where I need to look, and: This is a chunk of the "view new posts since my last visit" listing. You can see the "thumbnails" that are displayed in the page body for this post. Looking in the Network tab of the Web Developer Tools in my browser, every one of those 12 pictures is between 450 and 600K, which means just to render those images is taking 3MB of download.... and more importantly for you guys, @Xingu and @Dave Ambrose, 3MB of outbound bandwidth on your server plan. And I may not even want to read that thread. Looking in the console, some images used this way genuinely are thumbnails at 10-12K each, others are clearly the full size images. I can't see any rhyme or reason to it: it doesn't seem that it's only images hosted locally on modelcarsmag..com that end up full size, or ones that aren't that do. Anyway, I think it would improve performance for all of us, and save you money, if it was possible to find out why some "thumbnails" are full size image files and and put a stop to it! All the best, M.

Year after year I wish for Tamiya to release an accurate, full detail 1/24 kit of an E Type coupe to the standard of their 300SL and 240Z, and every year, no matter which other makers give it a go, I am disappointed. M.

Thanks, guys.... I literally just found these as well, which are still live on the web: http://www.cscra.co.uk/classic-slot-car-racing-association-prototype-parade.html There are more of them, even if some overlap with the MCM ones... best, M.

For others who may be interested, the MCM plans are online in an archive here: http://web.archive.org/web/20071211013214/http://vsrnonline.com/Mags/MC/MC_Plans.htm Best, M.

Never mind the humanoid ones… the REALLY creepy ones are the Boston Dynamics snake-headed dogs with tentacles that can open doors… best, M.

What a beautiful build! Particularly from what you started with… I loved the car as a kid thanks to a die cast, and the Alan Mann livery is so iconic. I built the Airfix one a couple of years back, but as an adult I realise that its poor track record is probably why there’s no more recent kit. So we have to make do, and you’ve achieved a stunning result. Well done! best, M.

Oddly, they are releasing it as a “gift set,” with small pots of paint, glue and a brush. Now, that might be more profitable because they can boost the price by way more than those things cost them. But I’ve built the Uhlenhaut Coupe, and it is not a beginners build by any stretch. Anyone who has the skill and experience to build it successfully will have all the paint and glue they need… best, M.

The three 1/32 kits are definitely the Matchbox tooling. That’s not to say they are bad or out of date, especially in the 1/32 market where there are very few state of the art kits. I’ve done the Mercedes and the Porsche and they build up very nicely. For the Porsche specifically, the biggest issue in the old one was the decals, but a new release will come with brand new decals and likely resolve that problem. There are aftermarket sets for the Donohue/Follmer L&M cars if you’d prefer one of those to the iconic Martini livery. The Surtees is an oddball… not very successful and in the range because it was sponsored by Matchbox in period. You have a couple of colour options for the livery, but that’s about it… best, M.

And here they are on the table for the weekend in our tribute display at Scale Model World (the IPMS UK Nats) best, M.

The transatlantic shipping probably rules it out for me, but to possibly help make it easier for you to find one… Does it have to be the Airfix box of the MGB, or would an Aoshima one or a Revell box do? They are all the same plastic, and Aoshima have re-released both the chrome and rubber bumper versions of theirs recently… best, M.

Not cheap, and I know nothing about them, but: https://www.tbdecalsmodels.com/product-page/1-8-decals-f1-lotus-72d-1972-1973-full-jps-decal-tbd544 best, M.

I’m afraid that won’t work, Noel… the vast majority of the livery and detail markings are pre-painted/tampo printed on the parts of the Pocher kit. If I remember correctly, there is a tiny decal sheet with the instrument faces and a couple of small warning markings, but that’s pretty much it. best, M.

There are a number of threads on Britmodeller about this. Bottom line is that the Zero primers just aren’t very good. Tamiya Fine Surface Primer or Stynylrez work fine, and in a couple of dozen builds using Zero colour coats and clear coats over them, I’ve never had any adhesion/masking issues. Bin the Zero Primer and buy a can or two of Tamiya primer in grey and white… best, M.

If you have a smartphone, get Google Translate, download the Japanese language pack, and you can point your camera at the instructions and watch them transform into English in front of your eyes. It’ll struggle with the big blocks of text, but for colour call-outs or “make sure you do this in this order” notes on the drawings, it’s invaluable. Or grab these later multilingual instructions from Scalemates: https://www.scalemates.com/products/img/7/4/6/122746-28-instructions.pdf best, M.

Greg Sacks, it seems... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Sacks He was stunt driving for Tom Cruise as well, so it's not like he was only involved in development... best, M.

The fourth in a series of displays to pay tribute to illustrator and Airfix box art legend Roy Cross. This is the Merit kit from the late 1950s, and it's still a better shape than the much later Protar offering... The body is painted with Tamiya Gloss Aluminium spray, the supercharger intake is built up in Milliput, and the rims are 3D printed Mercedes 300SL wheels from Ukrainian Scale Car Production. The Fangio figure is an Immense Miniatures generic body with "Late career" Fangio head, now available from RS Slot Racing in the UK. best, M.

Back from holiday now, and moving forward (the Scale Model World countdown clock is ticking loudly!): I was a bit worried about getting these home-brew decals to settle down around the curves and over the detail, but they've worked out OK, I reckon. I've got a "recipe" for doing these bases now, so it's pretty much rinse and repeat -- helped by the fact that Roy uses a small handful of different points of view over the whole series, so once you've figured out the front to back slope, the side to side slope, and how low or high the front panel needs to be, they are all variations on a theme... Until I've glued the wheels, it'll roll off, so this is the closest I'll get to the cover pic before Under Glass! ...and a couple of off-axis angles to give a clearer picture of how the base works... Nearly there, now! Best, M.

^^^ Either the nozzle is blocked completely, or the needle seals are gone, or both. Somehow, the air is forcing the paint backwards through the brush instead of out the nozzle… which should be the path of least resistance. I don’t think it has anything to do with decanted versus “ready to spray”. If the latter is acrylic I suspect it has gunged up the nozzle and now you have gone back to decanted the thinner paint has pushed past the seals. You are gonna have to take the whole thing apart and thoroughly clean it, I reckon… best, M.

Goldfish, and their memory, are the subject of this excellent comedy sketch ( ) by John Finnemore, an excellent British comedy writer. best, M.

I most certainly will.... Classic British Kits SIG display this year is a Roy Cross tribute, and I fancied trying something different from Airfix Box Art... best, M.

Thanks, all.... Juan Manuel is now pretty much done. Conveniently, Collector Studio has had some replicas of Fangio's racing helmet made, which provided excellent reference (https://collectorstudio.com/product/1955-7-juan-manuel-fangio-replica-helmet/) The clear epoxy trick with the goggles has worked well again. I'm a fan! Moment of truth: Yes, he can climb aboard and hold the wheel with it on place on the dashboard! Phew.... best, M.

BTW… “Snap!” I think that means they are both mine now… ? best, M.

Absolutely beautiful, Jay. Great finish and colour combo. I love the shot with the orange reflections… fabulous with the green interior… ? best, M.