Matt Bacon

I don't know if I'm the only one who likes to have drivers in their model cars from time to time, but if you do need figures for a build or a diorama, then the supply of good 1/24 figures has been pretty limited lately. I've been snapping up generic Fujimi driver sets whenever I see them, but now there is an alternative. Immense Miniatures made an excellent range of resin figures back in the day, but they have been mostly unavailable for a while. However, Colin at RS Slot Racing has taken on the moulds and is now selling them again. You can find them at https://www.rsslotracing.com/Immense.htm Since I'm focused on the 50s/60s "Kings of the Road" tribute dioramas I've been building, I've mostly bought period figures, but there's a wide range. And there are specific individuals who are very well depicted, as you'll see below. Fangio (pale) and Nuvolari (brown) Graham Hill (who else?) early and later career Generic heads 50s (L) and 60s (R) Generic seated bodies 60s (L) and early (30s-50s) (R) Generic 50s-60s part-bodies. The left hand one will suit the Merit kits well, the right hand can sit on some Fujimi legs. There are more available than are currently showing as available on Colin's web site, so get in touch and ask him if there's something you see listed that you'd like. best, M.

Got the base done... The cover picture is from a lower angle than the Delage and Vanwall, looking more along the car as it turns, and one of the back wheels is breaking the frame, so the "Eagle" title arch needs to go further back than on those two as well... best, M.

That looks like a great start, Jay. Top choice of colour and great finish on the body. I love the interior colour choice… that black exterior needs zingy upholstery (mine’s bright orange, more or less…). My only suggestion, particularly if the kit’s been sitting around a while, is apply the metal “transfers” to clear decal film, and then slide them Into place like regular decals. I found on mine that they tended to come apart when I tried to peel the plastic carrier away from the part they were supposed to stick to! best, M.

Slow but steady progress. For an early 1960s white metal kit, the detail in the important (and visible) parts is pretty good: The cockpit is only six pieces, but they are well cast and work together.... White enamel discs on the dials, followed by black acrylic paint on the smaller outer instruments, then scratch markings with a needle and finish with Citadel 'ardcoat for the "glass." Red... Ferrari 250 GTO wheels from Ukrainian Scale Car Productions, thinned down to 6mm at the front and 7mm at the rear. They aren't quite right, but they look a lot more realistic than the white metal inner and outer rims that came with the kit... best, M.

If anyone has a strong desire for a Speedster and already has an appropriate generic Fujimi 911, then let me know, and I can post you the Speedster-specific parts. I picked up a Speedster kit for £6 in a local charity shop to steal parts from for other 911 builds including the never ending (never starting?) Singer project, but I have no desire to build a Speedster because I really don't like the way that incarnation looks. Ping me a postal address by PM and the parts are yours... best, M.

Oddly, the 250F doesn’t feature in the Kings of the Road series… the only Maserati is a 4CLT with Von Graffenried driving… It’s surprising given that Merit does the kit, which I have, and that it was Stirling Moss’s favourite Grand Prix car. I might do one in this style with Moss driving, if I can find a background to re-use. best, M.

The only time I’ve ever seen anything like this was a result of not letting the model fully dry after washing off sanding residue. The paint (in my case Tamiya primer) will “skin” over water droplets as you spray it, and then pull back as it cures and shrinks properly. Fortunately I only got caught out in the headlight details and rear light buckets on a Lambo, so It was contained and easily remedied. Also, if I read their web site right, Splash paints are like Zero, and the colour coats are meant to dry matt, with the shine coming from the gloss coat. If you’re spraying them heavily enough to get a satin or gloss look, that’s too much, and I’d hate to think what the solvent might do. In the past, when I’ve had issues with Tamiya spray paint coats “pulling back” from panel lines etc, it’s because the paint is too wet and has time to move. That’s why I adopted the “splatter coats” method for TS sprays instead. best, M.

Well, it's not modelling as such, but it IS a job that needs doing for these "dioramas" After a couple of hours of Photoshop: I don't know yet how much of which bits of this I'll need for the display base and background, but I do need it without a car or titles on. There's a separate front panel image which retains the "Kings of the Road" caption and Roy Cross's signature. Now to go and play around with some cardboard. best, M.

Boats are an even better way to throw away your money than keeping horses, never mind investing in "affordable" but temperamental classic cars.

So, the Ferrari 156 wasn't the most successful of Ferrari F1 cars, nor Willy Mairesse the most rewarded driver. However, in 1962, he did drive to victory at the non-Championship Brussels Grand Prix, run to F1 rules. And this is what Roy Cross chose to paint for this Eagle "Kings of the Road" cover. The 156 is a iconic car, for all of its failings, with that distinctive sharknose. And can you really have a series of racers without a red one? I should have taken some "before" photos, but it has taken a fair bit of work with files, sharp knives, the Dremel and sandpaper to get to this point. There were some heavy seam lines and casting gates (you can still see them inside the cockpit coaming), and a lot of flash in the apertures in the body to be got rid of. Both halves are vulnerable to bending being softish white metal, so there is some gentle flexing to be done to get them to sit properly together when the time comes. Today's first pleasing discovery... As you can see at the top, the dynamic picture I'm recreating requires the car to be turning hard right. I was wondering how I would tackle re-aligning the wheels, but then I discovered that the kit is designed to allow it. There's no steering link to keep them parallel automatically, but that's not a problem. Good job, Auto-Kits! ..and it also looks like this vintage Cox figure won't require too much radical surgery to get him in place and driving, which is a relief... best, M.

Yep… the three cars ran with yellow, white and no band, according to the period docs. It should probably be a brighter “chrome yellow”, but the couple of period colour pics I found show it more like this Tamiya “Camel Yellow”. Mind you the colour reproduction in those photos isn’t great… the car looks almost black! I wanted something that would be believable as “yellow” but wasn’t so far removed from Roy’s orange original. He was normally pretty hot on the details, so I don’t know where the orange came from… best, M.

An ancient kit, more or less contemporary with the hey-day of the original racer. These Merit kits are simple, but the proportions and shapes are generally good, and they make a nice period collection in the cabinet, representing the 1940s-50s era before rear engines, aerodynamics and DFVs changed the way F1 cars looked for ever. The wheels are replacement white metal items from the spares box to model the car at the 1958 Italian Grand Prix. Originally the team tried replacing the wire wheels with cast magnesium solid discs all round, but Stirling Moss in particular disliked the negative effect on the steering, handling and front-end grip that the stiffer wheels gave, and all three cars reverted to wires at the front. The small intake on the nose is for a separate oil cooler which was trialled in Portugal and Italy in 1958. The kit doesn't have it, so I found some plans and plunge-moulded the fairing using a carved balsa master. This build is part of our Classic British Kits SIG tribute to legendary Airfix box artist Roy Cross, who died earlier this year aged 100. Roy also painted a series of covers for the Eagle boys comic in the early 60s, and many of the subjects coincide with the Merit and Auto Kit ranges of 1/24 model kits. This is the cover: Tony Brooks driving the 1958 Italian Grand Prix winning Vanwall. With its display base. The view from the wings. The first two tribute models completed. More to come. best, M.

I would have thought the trend towards much taller and heavier SUVs instead of regular saloon and estate cars over the last 20 years has had at least the same impact as EV-ness or not. We’ve had to replace lots of Armco central barriers on motorways with taller and more elastic dividers over the last decade because SUVs roll over earlier vintage protection and end up the wrong way on the opposite carriageway instead of being contained among traffic going the same way… best, M.

Right, that's the build of this one finished. Time for a bit of a clean and final polish here and there, and off for beauty shots for Under Glass at the weekend... The numbers are Fantasy Printshop precut vinyl "Pit lane numbers" intended for R/C cars, and the Vanwall titles are from Patto's Place to replace the pretty shot 60-year-old kit decals. best, M.

You could go with the scheme that has the lower half black, with burgundy above the belt/character line and a black or paint or vinyl roof above the upper chrome accent over the windows.... that really shows off the shapes... best, M.

The exhaust on the '58 car is different from the earlier models. The kit part has a fan of four pipes coming out from the cowl and merging into a single straight pipe. Roy Cross's picture has three pipes. But what actually happens is that four serpentine exhaust headers merge into two under the hood, and the second pipe joins the first out in the open, then they go into a thicker chromed and insulated single exhaust running alongside the driver. Like this: This is all plastic rod and tube, with SMS Hyperchrome for the brightwork section. I've also glued the cockpit screen in place. Dipped in Mr Gauzy Agent Glass Coat, the kit part actually came up pretty well. Cleaning up the seam and painting the rear section has also been completed. Tomorrow, the wheels go on permanently. best, M.

@1959scudetto you are a star. I have ordered some, as long as I have managed to navigate German eBay successfully in translation... Thank you very much. All the best, Matt

Me too.... I've stashed it away for when I can finally get a hold of that most recent green-box re-issue. I want to build it as Charlie's car from the TV series Poker Face... Plus I'm sure there must be one of those Master Box 1/24 figures that would make a passable Charlie best, M.

Really looking forward to this! And if anyone felt like 3D printing a set of accurate wheels in 1/16, I’d take them like a shot! best, M.

That looks fantastic, Jason. Brilliant work, and the distressed effects are to die for. Bookbinders leather and a pizza cutter, eh? I shall have to file THAT one away in the back of my mind... best, M.

Try lemon juice on a rag or get some “Sticky Stuff Remover”… no risk of damaging the plastic… best, M.

Thanks, all.... a quick mockup to settle the seat and dash in place... and to see how it looks! I went for Tamiya Camel Yellow instead of a brighter chrome yellow, as a nod to the orange in Roy Cross's original painting. The British Green is actually green, but you can see why it looks black in some period photos. Now to leave the paint for a few days to harden fully before joining the body permanently and masking to paint the rear shell, so the tape doesn't leave marks. Then it'll be time for a polish. best, M.

Reasonable progress off-screen. First, the dash: Primed with white, Tamiya semi-gloss black for the dials, AK matt black for the "crackle" dash, white markings scratched through the dials to the white primer, finished with Citadel 'ardcoat gloss varnish for the glass. The wheel rim is red-brown primer overcoated with Citadel contrast paint "Wyldwood" brown and varnished with Tamiya Clear Orange.. Body colour is Tamiya TS-9 "British Green." A-Stand "White Aluminum" for the cast magnesium rear wheels and Humbrol Metalcote Polished Aluminium for the front wires. Tony Brooks in his seat. Colors are based on the only color picture I can find of Tony in a Vanwall, possibly the previous year. The helmet is some kind of moulded leather or bakelite, I think. His goggles are not as dark as they look in this! So, he can hold the wheel (which is not glued, to give a bit more wiggle room when we have to fit all the parts together) And I've started the green for the body. The horizontal seam is mostly there as a panel line on the real thing. I've masked the rear shell, which doesn't have a seam, so I can glue it then clean up the seam and reprime and paint the rear shell separately from the rest of the car. best, M.

I can highly recommend BBC Radio 6 Music, which you can stream in the USA with the BBC Sounds app on your phone or via the website: https://www.bbc.co.uk/schedules/p00fzl65 Eclectic music for grown-ups curated by a variety of experienced DJs and musicians… in proper radio shows. There’s a wide range of tastes and styles represented over the week, but Craig Charles’ funk and soul show on a Saturday, Cerys Matthews, Guy Garvey and Iggy Pop’s shows on a Sunday, and Stuart Maconie’s Freak Zone are all favourites of mine… best, M. PS: re below. And NO ads!

I’ve heard lots of people being very positive about Gaahleri brushes… a step up from no brand Chinese quality-lottery products, but not A-brand: https://amzn.eu/d/46gNAVP This is a UK link, but I’m sure they’ll be on Amazon.com. Grex are very popular your side of the pond, it seems (hard to get in the UK so I haven’t tried one), and the Tritium fits your need, if you can find an offer at the right price… best, Matt