Matt Bacon

Seeing this mentioned in the "iconic cars" thread made me wonder... how did that happen, then? How did an animated character in the credits to an early 60s British take on a French(ish) cop film end up with THE coolest "rod" -- or whatever you guys would call it -- on TV (much, much better than the Monkeemobile...)? Bear in mind that when I was growing up, I didn't see any bespoke cars in the flesh -- they were in TV shows or the catalogues of die cast makers or plastic kit boxes. Was the Panthermobile an existing special that was "rebranded"? Did Hanna Barbera (I assume it was them -- everything animated that wasn't Looney Toons or Disney seemed to be) commission the thing to be built just for the "live action" credits to the cartoon show? Was it even a real car -- I guess that credit sequence could have been all model work... it's decades since I saw it. It had a powerful effect, since it's really the only "hot rod" that I have any urge to build, so can someone tell me the full story? bestest, M.

... you know how sometimes a project just seems like the right one to do right now? Well, I've been noodling with the Murcielago SV, but I suddenly got the urge to build an XJ220. Don't ask me why... The usual start with Zero Paints for the body. This is meant to be "Silverstone Green", one of the exclusive colours for the XJ220. It's NOT meant to be any kind of British Racing Green, and I found some excellent pictures of a car on sale that categorically is Silverstone Green. This is specially mixed by Steve at Hiroboy -- a "Pacific Green" originally found on a Mustang. The colour codes for the original paint are not in the 15 pages of database entries for Jaguar colours on Lechler mixing tool, so I had to get something close. One source pointed to Boyd "Chezoom Teal" which is available in a Testors can, but is not in the DB either, so this is the closest I could get after rather a lot of online research. I wanted to keep the wing painted with the body to make sure it was exactly the same colour -- I learned that lesson the hard way! As always, the clear coat transforms the colour. I'm quite happy with this, since it matches my reference pictures pretty well. It's hard to photograph! The headlight covers raise and lower, and fit rather well -- these are taped on for effect and came slightly loose before I took the pix. On to the rather neat engine now... bestest, M.

Yup... forgot to put Lolas in my list list. And if you know of a kit of any regular street Jaguar that's been designed in the last 30 years... just point me at it... ;-P bestest, M.

...well. I'm an _enthusiastic_ car modeller, and I don't recognise any of those "icons", nor do I have any interest in building them... A decent state of the art kit of an E-Type would be top of MY list, followed by any number of more recent Jaguars and Astons and Maseratis and Alfas and Lotuses and Lancias... bestest, M.

I was thinking more the dwarf love-child of a Ford RS200 and a Fiat X1/9... bestest, M.

It is: http://www.revell.de/en/products/model-building/cars/young-oldtimer/id/07077.html And the Fujimi one is a fantastic kit, too: http://www.amazon.com/12358-24-Ferrari-250-GTO/dp/B001OC74Y8 I'm not sure I'd have one at $60m., but $60 seems OK... bestest, m.

Nice one, Tom... I'll be watching with interest, since I just picked up the alternative Tamiya kit for about €20 _delivered_ from Japan, new from an Amazon seller! Ever since I built the LFA, I've seen a few of these around town, and I'm keen to get started on mine. What interior colour scheme are you going for? I think I'll do mine in the "red" version, just for some variety inside. Or are your sport seats going to be crazy blue or something? Knowing you, it'll be half painted tomorrow night, and done by the weekend! bestest, M.

OK... the Lambo is still under way, but this one is now done! Lovely little kit of a lovely little car. The only thing I'd do differently if I did another one would be to thin out the body at the wheel arches, to give the dropped suspension a bit more room to move... bestest, M.

If you ask Mr Callum, he'll tell you all about how the back end (appropriately) is looking backwards towards the E-Type, and the front end is showcasing the new Jaguar "signature" grille. Just because a car's "British", it doesn't mean the only thing it has going for it is "heritage"... ;-P bestest, M.

Small, nimble and chuckable? Oh, I think so.... http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/comparison-new-jaguar-f-type-r-coupe-vs-porsche-911-turbo-s The F-type R coupe (unlike the convertible) has got the 542BHP top of the range V8 that's been pushing the XKR-S along these last few years, except the F-type weighs 220lbs less... (and it's $20,000 lighter on the wallet) You need never buy another Porsche again... (BTW, @jbwelda -- there's not a _plastic_ Xj13 available, but if you want one... http://www.kandrreplicas.co.uk/jagkar2417.html ) It's a very nice kit, if you're comfortable working with white metal, and boy, does it have "heft" when you've built it! bestest, M.

You could try looking for sites that sell "70mm" or "75mm" figures and accessories. Those are the figure modelling "scales" that correspond (more or less) to 1/24... http://s1181.photobucket.com/user/LargeScaleArmory/library/?sort=3&page=1 http://armorama.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=SquawkBox&file=index&req=viewtopic&topic_id=182012&ord=&page=1 Good luck! bestest, M.

Thanks, chaps. @Cliff -- the woodgrain is painted, with Vallejo "flesh" colours overcoated with Tamiya Clear Orange, brushed to leave some "grain" visible. Life has got a bit in the way of bench time lately, but I'm still plodding on. Focusing mainly on the Alfa at the moment, so there's nothing interesting to photograph on the Murcielago, but it is bobbling along in the background. Anyway... A couple of sessions got the BMF on the side windows done, and the windows in. The kit's really well engineered -- enough so that the layer of paint and BMF on the side window "bars" makes the fit a little "tight"... I've fettled somewhat, but there may need to be another session. Last chance for a good look inside before the rear window and windscreen get in the way! And now the windows are on. Just the final bits of detailing to do now... mostly in "chrome"... bestest, M.

Very nice... though I think that's the first time I've seen the word "Refined" used to describe what Kahn does to cars. "Blinged" or "Pimped" usually covers it better! ;-P It's a beautiful replica, though I'm not sure I like the 1:1. It may be just me. but to me, those wheels make it look more like a Hot Wheels toy than a real car... BTW -- I drive under that bridge in the background most weeks! bestest, M.

Thanks, Cliff. Here's the interior more or less done (the instrument panel is just dry fitted for the moment) The complete chassis: and I couldn't resist a quick mockup: A few interior tweaks on the body shell before she's quite ready to go together permanently, but it won't be long, I'm sure... bestest, M.

Thanks, Cliff... it'd be good to see how the PE mesh compares... I wanted to see how the "stance" of the GTA would look. I've lowered the rear by about 1mm, by drilling out the spring sockets in the body shell, and the front by about 0.7mm, by removing the "pillars" at the mounting points on the front subframe. The effect is not the full on racing look, where the rear tends to be well down, but it's a little more aggressive than the standard set-up... ...back to the interior, now... bestest, M.

Hi, Cliff... I'm glad you're enjoying the build -- so am I! I haven't got any PE for the SV. TBH, I find it's quite expensive for a bunch of bits you barely see. These days, the PE grilles etc often come in the kits, and life's too short to build your own brake rotors from 7 layers of etch... IMHO anyway! As for the Carbon fibre -- yep it's going to be paint. Actually looking at my refs, there's not that much visible texture outside of the cabin. The big wing, for example, seems to be grey-black on the detail photos ins my "Lamborghini Supercars" mag/book, rather than "woven texture" so I guess it must be painted with a protective outer coat. Your teak brown Gallardo is very tasteful, to be sure. It's not a colour I'd paint a Lambo -- the more "in your face," the better, for Lamborghinis IMHO. I'd go for Arancio Argos for the Aventador, if it were me. Oh, I did: Seriously...I think black isn't a good colour for something as "sculptural" as an Aventador: you can't see the shapes like you can in a paler colour with black detailing. Same with my LaFerrari -- "resale red" for me, all the way... bestest, M.

Thanks, Robin... mostly progressing the GTA at the moment. This is the engine bay done: I need to find out where the other battery lead goes. I think round the far side of the bay to the "fusebox" on the firewall The uses of Humbrol Metalcote Steel. Polished for the discs, lightly buffed for the "metallic grey" callipers, and a nice flat primer base for the black bits. ..and finally, the front end coming together. bestest, M.

Beautiful builds all... but that Novitec pimping-package really destroys the good looks of the F12, IMHO, anyway... Hilux for me, too. bestest, M.

Thanks, Mike -- that means a lot, coming from you! Got the exhausts done now: ...as you can probably tell, I'm quite pleased with the way the heat discolouration came out. Citadel blue, purple and orange washes over Humbrol "Chrome Silver" from a can. I'm not totally convinced that the real things were chromed, and I really doubt there are many running with them in that condition now, but they certainly look cool! Not all the GTAs I've found online have a grey dash, so I decided the wood effect would provide a nice highlight in the cabin. All the wood is various "dark flesh" or "Leather" colours, with a glaze of Tamiya Clear Orange, applied with brush strokes carefully visible... And a quick mock-up . The engine is going to need some work on thinning down the mounts and refining the gearbox to make sure that it sits down properly into the chassis, at the correct slightly inclined angle (The sump is dead horizontal but the block is leaning about 5-10 degrees left. bestest, M.

Thanks, chaps... slow progress, thanks to trying to manage my stash "garage sale" eating into bench time... but at least I'm getting somewhere. I'm a little nervous about posting this while Mike Villena is crafting his masterwork on the other channel, but here are my best efforts: Engine (which is surprisingly large) is now done. The wiring is a pain, since it's a "twin-spark", with two lines per cylinder. A bit of wash and detail painting brings the kit parts up a treat. The interior is based on a real period car that I found online at Bring a Trailer. The seats are grey vinyl, not black, and the door cards are NATO Black with Citadel black details. Carpet is done with Plastikote Velvet for texture. bestest, M.

Model -- the wire wheels are very impressive, but they don't look like quite right compared to real Cobra wired rims... bestest, M,

I've seen guys racing (hard) in 250 GTOs and in a 330 GTO that is one of only three ever built. The Cuda's only worth a couple of million dollars and has some rarity value -- but why wouldn't you drive it? Granted, you might not thrash it around a racetrack like the guys with their multimillion dollar GTOs, but since it's not really a race car, you probably wouldn't anyway. I don't think any car should be "too rare and valuable to drive" -- I mean, both Ralh Lauren and Jay Leno make a point about how their cars are all driven regularly, even the Bugatti Atlantique and the Steamer... bestest, M.

These guys can sort you out: http://www.whatrecords.co.uk/search.asp?artist=Led+Zeppelin&title=&format=&catalogue=&submit.x=-312&submit.y=-314 not cheap, but impressive reissue sets... bestest, M.

Model, but a very good, large scale one! bestest, M.

There's also the distinction between "Lightweights" and "Low drag". The lightweights have major structural parts and the engine block in aluminium instead of steel. This is a lightweight in action: As you can see the nose is a bit different for better breathing, and some have wider rear ends, but they look essentially like an E-type with a hard top. Then there's the low drag version (also a lightweight, but not all lightweights are low drag): The windscreen is more raked, and the roof is very different from a coupe. From above it has a tear drop shape, almost coming to a point at the tail, giving much wider haunches -- which were often even bigger to take wider tyres as well. I think the mods are all doable with Milliput, and the recent well-documented restoration of the Lindner Nocker low drag lightweight to racing form means that there's plenty of reference material to hand... bestest, M.