Matt Bacon

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/classiccars/11067858/Jaguar-Mk2-reimagined-by-Ian-Callum.html ...I guess it helps if you're the design director of the company that built it in the first place. I want one... (and if anyone knows a good source of those wheels, I'm all ears...) bestest, M.

"I bought a horseless carriage for my baby", 1899, by Robert Allen Cole, according to Amazon... ;-P bestest, M.

Fantastic work and colours so far! (I think if you can afford to buy a 599GTO, you get to choose what colour the interior is...). The exhaust is great -- what paint did you use for your "hot metal" colours? I can't tell from your pictures whether or not you've done the bonnet (hood) yet. The Achilles heel of these kits (the 599 GTO and SA Aperta) is the front left corner of the bonnet. If you don't do something about it, it will not shut properly closed (look at other builds online, and see how many people didn't fix it...). The fix is easy, if you do it before you paint! You need to bend the corner down just a little (I held the bonnet part in steam from a boiling kettle before bending it) and thin down the "pins" at the end of the bonnet hinge so they have freedom to move inside the housing (they need to be able to lift a little as you close the bonnet). The friction with the side parts of the hinge will still keep the bonnet open perfectly well. ... I know, it's an Aperta, but both kits have exactly the same issue.... bestest, M.

Could you use some of these: http://www.ebay.com/itm/10x-Anti-Dust-Mesh-Anti-Dust-Mesh-for-Apple-iPhone-4-Speaker-Earpiece-and-Mic-/330729400839?pt=US_Cell_Phone_Replacement_Parts_Tools&hash=item4d01022a07 and round the end of some sprue of the right size into a "punch" that you could press into the mesh over a suitably sized hole? bestest, M.

As it says... "The finest known copy of the most sought after comic book in the world"... I guess if you're a comic book collector, that's worth a bob or two. Makes $38 million for a beautiful piece of fantastic engineering with real history seem like a good deal, though... bestest, M.

For anyone who's interested in the recent history of Jaguar Land Rover, this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jewels-Crown-transformed-Britains-Jaguar-ebook/dp/B00DFM72D8/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1408127478&sr=1-1&keywords=tata+jaguar+land+rover http://www.amazon.com/Jewels-Crown-transformed-Britains-Jaguar-ebook/dp/B00DFM72D8/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1408127478&sr=1-1&keywords=tata+jaguar+land+rover Is actually a really well-written and well-informed book by a senior staffer at Autocar, which you can grab for only 99p... (or a dollar sixty-six) bestest, M.

And it is in fact the "actual factory," not just the manfacturer - the new JLR "Special Vehicle Operations" "Heritage" activity is based on the Brown's Lane site in Coventry where the C, D and E-types were originally built. They seem to be doing a mix of personalised and one-off vehicles (which may not be built at Brown's Lane) and a sort of "Jaguar Classiche" for owners and restorers of classic Jags with its own restoration services as well. Apparently, the spark of the idea came up in a conversation between Harry Metcalfe and John Edwards over dinner last year... bestest, M. And a big +1 on Burt Levy's books. Get all of them! The Buddy Palumbo books follow US "sporty car" racing from the MG TC era through to Phil Hill and Wolfgang von Trips, and the linked follow-on trilogy -- still only on its first part -- will lightly fictionalise the GT40 vs Ferrari battle.

I've just been re-reading "Car Design America" as a result of being reminded in the latest Hemmings "Sports and Exotics" that "Car Design Asia" is out. At the risk of being branded a heretic here, it did remind me why, generally, I don't build Detroit iron. However, it also provoked a shopping list of US classics I would like to give a home to on my shelves. So I'm appealing to the collective wisdom of this fine institution -- can you give me an idea of if it's possible to build the following, and if so the best route -- and the most accessible one? 1933 Cadillac Fleetwood Aerodynamic Coupe 1955 de Soto Flightsweep 1956 Continental MkII Coupe 1959 Buick Invicta Coupe 1963 Corvette (Corvair? The caption is a bit unclear) Fastback Coupe 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado 1970 Dodge Challenger 1971 Ford Mustang Mach 1 Oh...and if anyone knows of a model of a 1957 Cadillac Sixty Special Fleetwood hard top sedan -- please keep it as far away from me as possible! ;-P bestest, M. (I know there are others that should be on a list of great-looking designs, but I already have several Shelbys, and later Corvettes...)

I guess it depends on what you want it for. IMHO 2-part 1:1 auto body filler is a sledgehammer to crack a nut for filling the odd sink mark and seam on a plastic car kit. I agree that the Tamiya isn't great (which is unusual for Tamiya tools and accessories) -- I have a variety of Tamiya filler products, and the regular plastic filler is just way too thin and "sloppy", so it's no surprise it shrinks a lot as it dries. Their UV curing "putty" is probably for RC models, since it's slightly soft and very resilient when cured, but no good for sanding, and the two-part epoxy putty is OK, but no better than Milliput or Citadel/Games Workshop. I've never had issues with shrinkage using Humbrol filler (let's face it, you'll almost certainly have to do any serious filling twice -- once on bare plastic, and again after you've primered, sanded back and spotted where it isn't pristine). I tend to use filler for sink marks and ejector pin dings, but if I want a seam to disappear (and I do this on aircraft in bare metal finish paint, which is a much less forgiving task than a car body which will be under primer, Zero base coat, and then a good layer of Zero 2-pack clear) then I apply "runny" plastic cement (ie not tube glue, and not thin liquid like MekPak) such as Revell Contacta or Humbrol Liquid Poly to both sides of the joint, let it sit for a minute, and squeeze it together hard. You get a "bead" of melted plastic squishing out. Leave it to dry until tomorrow, and then you can take it off with a sharp knife, sand the seam with a four-way nail care "buffer", and it's completely invisible -- the whole surface is just styrene. bestest, M.

I've never looked beyond Humbrol modelling putty for smoothing scratches, dings etc, and adhesion to plastic, and Milliput 2-part white "superfine" for building up larger volumes. Squadron white and and green are coarse-grained compared to the Humbrol. Revell Plasto seems to be much the same as Humbrol, but the latter is easier to find near me... bestest, M.

Really interesting "war stories" from the designer here: http://www.tsrfcars.com/toys-heller.htm bestest, M.

These pieces were all done using a black base over-sprayed with Zero Paints "Graphite Grey" through some fine mesh bought from the sewing+materials department of the local store. I've also used ribbon from an Easter egg -- any flexible mesh will do. You can vary the sizes a little, and for variety, sometimes lay down the graphite as the base and overspray with black. It's easy, quick, and allows you to spray all kinds of complex shapes much more easily than getting decal to lay down over them. The mesh technique also comes in handy if you need to replicate the technical fabric of a superhero's suit: ;-P bestest, M.

I'm going for real. And "lake"? ;-P bestest, M.

Tamiya's Lexus LFA is hands down the best car kit I've ever built. The DBS was pretty good, too. Hasegawa's Ferrari 250TR and Lambo Miura were fantastic, with exactly the right amount of detail that you can see, but not much that you can't. The Moebius Chrysler 300 has nice detail, good engineering and great instructions, though there's something screwy in the interior, because the steering wheel more or less touches the seat bolster! Any of the Fujimi Enthusiast Series kits are amazingly detailed, but challenging to build because of that (the only kits I've ever come across that give you the valve gear UNDER the cam covers, and the pistons inside the block! Apart from Pocher Big Boys, anyway). Beyond cars, the Tamiya 1/32 Spitfire IX and P-51 Mustang are probably the best kits anyone has ever made of anything... bestest, M.

I think it's fantastic -- especially in HD over a fast broadband connection. Watch the 20-odd minutes on the Jaguar XKSS, or the three or four shorter episodes on the restoration of his Maserati 3500... (actually it's that sequence, recommended to me by Skip Jordan, IIRC, that led me to discover Leno's Garage). I don't think it's on regular TV over here, or of it is it's buried on some channel I've never found. Even now, I've no idea whether it's a TV show in the US, or just a well-written, high production value "podcast" that Jay does as a favour to all us classic car fans out here... I always can always rely on it to find something to entertain and enthrall me for 20 minutes or so. If you're interested in British cars at all, keep an eye open for a 7-part series called "For the Love of Cars", which has just aired over here. Each episode is a restoration drama -- from barn-find to auction house -- of some more or less "everyday" classic British car -- Mini, Stag, Landy, Escort, TC, De Lorean (De Lorean!!!?). I know these shows are ten a penny, but it's presented by Philip Glenister (Gene Hunt in Life and Mars and Ashes to Ashes if that means anything to you) and the restorations are done by Ant Anstead (http://www.evanta.co.uk) and his team. The chemistry between the two of them is great, and the restorations are brilliant... bestest, M.

I guess 1/8 scale might give you some chance to build the chassis framework (and before anyone posts it, yes I have seen that fantastic teeny-tiny scale one with the photoetch "birdcage"). But if servicing a 1:1 required cutting out the odd tube and welding it back, the instructions for a 1/8th had better be a peach! Personally, I think I'd go with 1/12th -- I've got the big Airfix Bentley, and it feels like a nice compromise between 1/16th (a bit too small for a "big boy") and 1/8th (just too big) I'd like an E-Type as well; a DB4GT, an XK120, a 250SWB and GTO, and Alfa Tipo 33 Stradale, a Bentley Continental S1 Mulliner Coupe, a BMW 507... you get the gist... bestest, M.

...you don't want to let the fluff, dust and threads from sewing and quilting anywhere near your painting area! ;-P bestest, M.

Thanks, guys. Byron -- the kit was about £15 -- bit under $30. It's not state-of-the-art Tamiya, but it is pretty nice! And now...a few more pipes going in. The big ones are electrical wire with the original flexy copper pulled out and replaced with thicker wire that holds its shape. No idea what these do, but it's starting to look crowded round there, which is definitely a characteristic of the real thing... bestest, M.

it just so happens that we are preparing to move house, so we were packing up my now 18 year old son's collection of small diecasts and organising them a bit: Most of them are Matchbox or Hot Wheels, with a few "SIKU" brand, which can be identified by generally being slightly larger and more accurate scale models. (see the Veyron at the back right, for example). There are 270 in total, the product of 6-7 years collecting. Some of these are oldies from the charity shop (most of MY old collection is still with my parents for the grandchildren to play with...) These are somewhat organised -- if you put your mind an your magnifying specs to it, you should find vertical lines of different manufacturers. Ferrari, Lambo and Aston clearly out in front, though Mustangs and Corvettes make a good showing as well! bestest, M.

Hi, Glen... it's going to be stock. Those wheels are part of the heritage of the car (and not to mention very weird dimensions so it's rather hard to find alternatives!), so I'd like to build it as "original" as possible. There seem to be some fine-spoked wheels used on racing XJ220s, but I think it'd be a fair bit of work to convert them -- you'd have to hollow out the current rims and fit new centres from other matching wheels because of the sizes. And if you're doing a racing-ish version, there's a whole new TWR front end as well.... So, I think I'll stick with stock... bestest, M.

Thanks, guys. Lots of things going on in real life at the moment, so progress is slow, but it hasn't quite ground to a halt completely. The value of good references! This is one of two books on the XJ220. One costs £1750 in a limited edition of 1000, with a leather slipcase and signed by many members of the XJ220 team. It's definitive. This one, on the other hand, cost £8 from one of many Amazon marketplace sellers, and gets the job done! Basic colours are Humbrol Metalcote "Polished Aluminium" and 56 Flat Aluminium. Citadel washes and detail painting in various metallics, and the Jaguar and XJ220 titles picked out in chrome silver marker pen ink. Cats and exhausts in Humbrol Chrome Silver spray, with discoloration added using Citadel purple, blue and sepia washes. Dropped onto the chassis and test fitted to see what you can actually see through the rear window area. Quite a lot... Some plumbing under way. There's no way I'm doing all the tubes and pipes that are under there, but a reasonable selection of them should busy it up nicely. That's the downsideof having excellent reference images. When do you stop detailing? ;-P bestest, M.

Err... no. Supermini is the Fiesta/Audi A1/Polo/Ibiza/Mini/Jazz segment: http://www.carbuyer.co.uk/reviews/recommended/best-small-cars It may be that the Adam is actually _smaller_ than a Supermini, though for that money it's in the same price bracket... bestest, M.

It's a "supermini" in European terms -- but if you choose the right (or maybe "wrong") set of options, you can make that a $40,000 car... bestest, M.

Hasegawa Historic Car Series kit 18 is a regular Z, it seems: And I think you could probably also make one by combining the more easily found ZG and Safari kits -- you really just need the regular nose from the Safari. If someone will cast you one, then you don't even need the kit. The ZG has a normal interior etc, and you just need to leave off the wheel arch extensions and spoiler... And it's a fantastic kit, in terms of fit and detail: bestest, M.

Thanks so much, guys... I don't know why I've suddenly developed a "soft spot" for the XJ220, but I think it IS a pretty cool car. I think the XJR-15 IS pretty good looking, but I know which one I'd rather drive 1000 (autobahn) miles in 8 hours in... bestest, M.