Matt Bacon

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.

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.