Matt Bacon

Thanks, Rob! The engine isn't complete, a fact which caused some ructions when the kit first appeared, because people expected full detail for the price. Me, I REALLY don't think you can tell one way or the other looking at it, and the build is foolproof as a result... bestest, M.

Cockpit is finally finished, with belts, pedals etc: ...and I tried a mock-up inside the car: I need to have a look at how that glass works in real life. It certainly looks here as though it'll need a black marker run along the edges or something to tone it down... bestest, M.

It certainly is. One of the easiest to build, best-engineered kits I've ever had the pleasure to put together: ...can you tell that the engine's not complete, but just a top section in a tub? bestest, M.

Thanks, guys! Smudge? What smudge? ;-P Cockpit is almost finished -- just the pedals and kick plate to add, which turned out to be chromed, so are going to be stripped and repainted. The red pinstripes are decals supplied in the kit. I thought that they would be a nightmare, but they turned out to be tough, the right shape, and to respond well to Micro Set and Sol. A light overlay of matt varnish blends them in. The wheel colour scheme is copied from the ones that the rather tasteful blue SA Aperta in Harry Metcalfe's Evo video blog is sporting (worth a Google if you like the look of the car...). Chrome silver callipers and the silver Cavallino wheel centres are rather restrained again. And as far as I can see, SA Aperta wheels are MEANT to be painted, rather than polished metal... bestest, M.

Things have been rather quiet on this one lately... holidays, plus a couple of 1/72 wingy-things to build. However, now I'm back to the bench seriously: Humbrol Tank Grey, Tamiya NATO black, Citadel Chaos Black, Citadel Charadon Granite, and some Klear for the "Piano Black" shiny bits. The back of the seats even have carbon effects, though you'll never know! A few mockups, just to see how it all looks. I think the effort required to do the body-colour strip on the dash was worth it. Apparently these cars are all intended to be spec'd up exactly as the owners want, so that no two are the same. My guy likes how piano black rather than carbon fibre looks, and i aiming for tasteful rather than bad-ass. He also thinks that if he has GTO power under the go-faster pedal, he'd better have GTO brakes under the go-slower pedal (the real thing doesn't have the same disk set-up as the GTO, but Revell have given us the same parts as in the other kit...) bestest, M.

There's this: http://www.missing-lynx.com/reviews/modern/mengss002reviewbg_1.html You might have to "de-armour" it, but I think that's mainly the cab. 1/35 might be a slightly odd scale, but who's going to notice vs 1/32 cars, since it's so darn big! I don't know of any 1/25 version... bestest, M.

Mine would have to be the AIrfix 1/24 James Bond Aston Martin DB5, in excellent condition, complete and unstarted, picked up in a local charity shop for £6. it seems I could sell the BOX for £30 if I wanted to. However, I plan to build it... bestest, M. ...and THEN I'll sell the box, obviously... ;-P M.

Personally, I prefer the short-tail version I posted up the thread, so it wouldn't just be a case of accurizing, but a fairly major rebuild of the back end... bestest, M.

I'm sure that's it, Skip, but this is what I see when I'm thinking of the Tipo 33: I didn't know there was a "long-tail" version... and I've never had the Fujimi kit, though it is on my "saved searches" now... bestest, M.

You're right, it does look a lot like a Tipo 33. I was confused by the long tail, which doesn't look like the photos I have of Tipo 33 Stradales, which also show black mesh covered vents behind the front and real wheels. But looking at a picture of the plastic in the Fujimi issue of the kit (I don't have one, but there's one for sale on eBay with pictures...), it seems that the Otaki/Nichimo model DOES have a long tail and no vents. Mystery solved, then... (Oh, and the windscreen wiper on the ones in my pictures is at the bottom...) Thanks, all... bestest, M.

http://tinyurl.com/oe5cc8t It looks a lot like a Ford P68, but there are a bunch of detail differences, and it's quite like a Lola T70 road car, but it's not that either. I think it must be that era, though. The colour makes me wonder if it might be some Alpine that I've never come across, but I think it's too big and beefy for an Alpine... Any ideas? bestest, M.

That looks absolutely stellar. The paint and detailing do full justice to that amazing chassis build, and I love the driver figure as well. My only niggle is that given the awesome work that's gone on to make everything as prototypical as possible in the paint and detailing, why make the stance so aggressive, and inaccurate? Is it to keep the CG lower for racing? bestest, M.

Very nice indeed. That looks great to me, and I love the interior colour scheme. Did you do like me and fix the door hinge parts so that you can switch them in and out, or have you built actual working hinges? I love your roadway for display -- though in some of the pictures it does make it look like there's been an emergency stop or a shootout, with the angle the car's at! bestest, M.

It's gone, now, anyway! ;-P bestest, M.

Just the body painted so far: and a couple in the sun: When I did my Moebius Iron Man, I was struck by how good the TS-39 Mica Red over TS-84 Metallic Gold looked, and I thought it was a pretty good match for the "electric red" of the SA Aperta. So I promoted this Modelzone bargain (£12.99) up the build list... bestest, M.

I use Copydex rubber cement when I tack things together to paint as one unit and then disassemble to fit other bits in around them. It's not super strong and only really bonds when it's fully dried, but it will glue everything together AND peel off completely with no residue, and you can just pull all the assemblies apart. bestest, M.

Try looking here: http://tinyurl.com/puacosv It may be more than you want, but it's pretty detailed! bestest, M.

And here she is... one of the most enjoyable £4.99s-worth of modelling I've done in a long time ...time for your close-up, Ms Johansson Really nice kit, with very good fit, even without glue. And the sculpt is very faithful to the delectable Ms J, although I suspect her legs aren't quite that long, nor her thighs quite so robust. However, this is Natalia Romanova, international super spy... bestest, M.

Thanks, Ira! Very nearly finished, now. I just want to see if she needs a few more highlights and shading in the daylight... Proper pics in the studio tomorrow... bestest, M.

I just could't resist those Modelzone prices -- £4.99 for this... Not a complex kit, and intended to to snap together. Nicely detailed, though, even if her legs do seem unfeasibly long! Primer everywhere to start with. The sculpt is extremely good, I reckon. It's got Ms Johansson's turned up nose and full lips rather nicely, and the eyes have slightly raised detail for the iris and lashes, which will help painting no end... She's not actually as yellow as she looks here! Citadel colours mostly, with Elf Flesh as a base, Dwarf Flesh for the lips, and a lot of mix and matching, wash and blusher from chalk pastel. Hair is mostly Vallejo -- I started with "Saddle Brown" overlaid with red "Woodgrain", then progressive dry brushing in lighter colours, finished with a coat of Citadel "Fuegan Orange" wash, because the home team all though she was too much a brunette, not a redhead... The suite is actually blue, not black or grey. I started by spraying the body matt black, and then used my "carbon fibre" technique of spraying through a fine mesh (salvaged from a bunch of flowers we bought this weekend) to mask a dark blue top-coat, which now has the look of a "technical fabric" of some sort. Actually, though it's hard to see clearly in this image, the effect of the mesh stretching and distorting over her curves makes the fabric effect even more realistic... And this is where I'm at tonight. Most of the details painted in Vallejo German Grey with some dry brushing for relief. She's not quite a "weekend project, but not far off. Should be finished tomorrow, I reckon. bestest, M.

And here are a few with the granddaddy... bestest, M.

This started life as a nicely moulded but crudely painted (and in many places not painted) Mondo die-cast. I stripped all the paint, and detail-painted the nicely detailed black plastic parts for the interior and engine. I still need to add some chrome badges and scripts, but that may take a while since I'm still working on how to do it! bestest, M.

Now we see the advantages of a "kit" with only 20 parts that press or screw together. I did say the fit was impeccable, didn't I? This'll be the last "in progress" update. I need to figure out how to make some "chrome" logos and badges as decals, but then it really will be done, and proper photos in proper light will be on their way... bestest, M.

Thanks, chaps! I agree, Tom... but this one was half the price of a Revell 599 or California, say. If it's the only game in town AND it's cheaper... Our friends at Mondo decided to make the tails lights all in red. After looking closely, I figured out that it was paint, not coloured styrene. Caustic soda wouldn't shift it after a couple of days, so, I tried putting it in Surgical Spirit and running it for a while in my ultrasonic cleaner. That turned it first into pink jelly and then took it off completely. Hooray! Once they were properly clear, I painted them in the right places with Tamiya Clear Red. Headlights finished with lenses in place. I outlined the glass with a Sharpie, and put some black paint on the inside ends of the locating pins to prevent a rather weird "light pipe" effect. The grille got a chrome surround courtesy of a brilliant paint marker. Last good look at the inside before it's all closed up. I hate DOING BMF, but I like the results when it's finished. These are just raised lumps in body colour on the die-cast. They shouldn't be... Door handles BMF'd and shaded with Citadel dark wash for red to give a bit of relief. ...and now we have a kit of parts to put back together! bestest, M.

I don't have both to hand, but I think the consensus is that if you don't have a 250 GTO kit already, then the Fujimi is the one to go out an buy. The shape is better than the Gunze (and the MFH, according to Tom Tanner) -- I know, for example, since I HAVE built the Gunze, that the rear wheel arches on it have more angular "corners" than the the real thing, which is a smooth semicircular curve. However, if you HAVE a Gunze kit, especially if you have the full on version with the white metal engine, then you have a superb set of wire wheels that are way better than the Fujimi ones, which you'd have to pay a LOT of money for in the aftermarket. The Fujmi has a full engine, which my Gunze kit (actually an Airfix rebox) didn't. Although, oddly, the Airfix rebox of the Gunze E-type DOES have the white metal engine, and very nice it looks too. In the end, I think if you've got a Gunze kit, especially if it's the full-detai version, then there's no need to buy a Fujimi one. The wheel arches could be fixed pretty easily if you start with a bare body shell (I didn't find out until after mine was painted and there was no way I was starting all over...) bestest, M.