Matt Bacon

Done... and what a cracking kit! I can't recommend this kit highly enough... superbly detailed and engineered, and a real pleasure to build. The only issue is those darn metal transfers, which I (finally) figured out that I should apply to some of the "spare" bits of decal, like the number plates, and then waterslide them into place. Colour is "homebrew" Carbon Black - Zero Paints black with some graphite powder - with a "Madagascar Orange" interior. The "Carbon Edition" has more visible carbon fibre interior and exterior (splitter plates and diffuser) and crackle-black coated exhausts. For those not in the UK, that's a genuine, legal UK number plate, BTW... bestest, M.

Thanks, Gentlemen! Good progress today: This is the back end, with "smoked" rear lights (special option for the Carbon Edition) tinted using Klear and a couple of drops of black ink in the airbrush. There really are no visible colours in the light lenses at all... ... and the front end. The lights go together brilliantly, even though I've forgotten the zebra stripe decals for the silver surrounds. They are lost inside the mounting, anyway. I left the lighting bay surround in black plastic, since that's what it is in real life! Clear parts painted. I used the excellent precut masks, and started out with a "write on anything" pen for the first coat, to ensure that there was something for paint to "take" on, and finished off by spraying with Vallejo Model Air black to get a good density. This is a "Because God can see" detail... The carbon edition has quilted leather headlining, which is replicated here using painted textured card from small daughters greeting card making kit... You can't see this at all when it's together, but I like it! ...and now, time to take a last look at that shiny interior... And at last! It's together... Once again, the fit and ease of assembly is superb. There's still a fair bit of detailing to do, and the final decals, but I think I'm on the Home Straight now... bestest, M.

I thought the Hasegawa Miura was one of the best kits I've ever built: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=48008&hl=miura&fromsearch=1 I was coming at it after a Fujimi Enthusiast Model 288GTO, and I thought the Hasegawa engineers had done a great job on creating a kit that fitted together superbly, and had exactly the right amount of detail in all the right places. bestest, M.

Keeping on keeping on over here... Final version of the dash with as much detail painting as these old eyes can manage! And here it is in place. I made the window controls and whatever the little levers on the tunnel are by printing out bits of photos and sticking them in place, and added speakers under the dash... which you can't see at all! Now got it on the chassis, where it fits perfectly. And, again, I couldn't resist (the mechanism for attaching the body to the chassis is simple and repeatable, so why not give it a try?) I suspect the Tamiya chassis doesn't have the full depth wheel arches that Fujimi kits do, which means that the fitting of the body to the chassis is not a "once-and-for-all" gamble with lots of bodyshell springing! Though I say it myself, I'm liking this colour scheme! bestest, M.

Thanks, guys! Killing time with the online plate maker at http://www.licensepl...ngland-719.html ... I know which one I prefer! Any views from the assembled crowd? To see which one I like, click below: bestest, M.

Good progress on the cabin this evening: Not quite finished yet -- there are a few details left to add in the doors and central tunnel, and the decals for badges and auto gearbox indicators. And the colour isn't really a good reflection of what it's like in daylight. But I think I'm getting there... bestest, M.

Thanks, guys... the wheels are FG Model, bought from Media Mix Hobby in Singapore... brilliant, speedy service (6 days to the UK) and a great price. The interior orange is a mix of Vallejo Model Air yellow and firery red, toned down a little with their medium skintone. Chassis is now complete... the wheels went on more easily than I'd feared they might. I have some silicone "plastic parts" grease from the bike shop, and I applied that to the polycaps before sliding them into place. The "chroming was done using a Pentel Silver marker, with very liquid ink, which dissolves in white spirit. I also had some "rub n buff" silver leaf. By using a paintbrush to mix the ink, rub n buff and occasional brushfuls of white spirit to keep it all liquid, I got a controllable colour which could be carefully brushed onto the high edges. When it had set after several hours in a warm place, I could gently buff it with a soft cotton rag on my fingertip. And finally.... couldn't resist trying it... Now hard at work on the interior... bestest, M.

Thanks, guys! Positively galloping along, now... this is Stage 8! It may be all black and silver, but it's amazing how many different kinds of black and silver you can use if you put your mind to it! I'm very glad this is done now! The back end is beautifully crisp, fits well, and is brilliantly engineered -- typical Tamiya! I have to confess, I didn't paint some of the parts -- the plastic is _already_ a nice "semi-gloss black", so what's the point of priming it and painting it the same colour, and making it fit less well while I'm at it? These are the FG DBS wheels in "diamond-turned" form, as featured on the "Black carbon" edition, fitted with Pegasus Models Pilots for the real low-profile look. They were sprayed gloss black with a Humbrol acrylic in a rattle can, and then "chromed" with my own witches' brew of Pentel silver pen ink mixed with "Rub n'Buff"... The centres, with nuts, form a separate piece including the pin that becomes the axle. My only worry is about the strength of the join between that pin and the wheel - I used gel super glue, and will give it plenty of time to set really hard before trying to plug them in to the poly caps in the wheel bearings, but I can easily see a wheel falling off if I'm not careful... bestest, M.

That's absolutely lovely Simon... I think mine will be heading for the bench as soon as I get the DBS finished! Colour looks great, and all your usual exquisite detailing is present and correct. I, too, find it hard to imagine what could be worth First Place if that's "just" a Second! I only have one regret: you put a "Ferrari" badge on it -- I think Dinos should just be Dinos, as they were originally... ;-P bestest, M.

Another major milestone today - I have completed Stage 2! There have been lots of other activities as well -- decalling in the cabin, priming the FG wheels, which arrived from MediaMix Hobby today, six days after I ordered them from Singapore -- but the main focus of effort has been that engine. And I have to say that Tamiya's metal transfers let me down. I've used aftermarket ones before with no issues, but these lifted the paint and came off with the carrier film. Fortunately, I only destroyed the 6.0 V12 transfer for the middle of the engine. The "Aston Martin" lettering I applied to some self adhesive matt clear film and then stuck it on in one go. Although you can see it in this close-up, it's really not at all obvious at a distance. The 6.0 V12 had to made as a decal on white decal paper, after some Photoshopping of a picture of the engine from the web. getting the engine top onto the suspension and then onto the chassis was also a pain -- it's darned hard to locate the shocks successfully in the lower wishbones, but finally... bestest, M.

Thanks, Dan... still plugging on: The masking and painting and remasking and more painting on the chassis is finally done: The exhaust is just dropped into place to add another metallic tone to the mix. Equally, the cabin is just test fitted: But you get the idea.... quite striking, I think. I'm not sure about the demarcation between carpet and orange leather at the back (no clear pics), but it looks believable to me and I'm NOT repainting it! Lots of detail painting still to go, of course... bestest, M.

Hi, all... it seems like a very long time since an update. I've achieved a major milestone today... but you'll have to wait for that until the end! This build seems to be even more "fragmented" than usual. I'm spending ages preparing parts without ever seeming to actually get any of them together. Lots of complicated maskin and spraying, and also gathering together bits with the same kind of finish, even if from widely variable places in the build sequence. This is where I was at lunchtime today: Lots of parts in primer, the chassis starting to be painted, exhaust components in Titanium Gold, brake disks etc... it really did take this long to get to this pile o bits! I'm building the Black Carbon Edition DBS, which means the fascia plate is carbon fibre. This is done using paint - black first, and then Zero "Graphite Grey" sprayed through a bit of decorative ribbon from the local haberdashery shop. The diffuser is done the same way along with a bunch of other detail parts. Still missed a few, mind... Chassis involves yet more masking and multiple colours. Nearly there, now... just the body colour undersills to do, which I'm going to cheat and use TS-40 Metallic Black for... Dreadful photo, which exaggerates the effect, but it looks fine in real life. The Carbon DBS has crackle-coated black exhausts, and this is my best shot, done with Plastikote Velvet overlaid with Halfords satin black. I guess you can now tell which interior scheme I'm going for! This is the optional "Madagascar Tan" interior, which I think will liven up the black on black on black car no end! And finally... Drum roll and fanfare please. This is the MAJOR MILESTONE I mentioned. What you see here is Stage 1 of the instructions completed! How has it taken me two weeks of building to get to the end of stage one, I hear you ask. Well, I have no idea, but it's all downhill from here, surely..? ;-) bestest, M.

This may help a bit: http://www.scalemodelnews.com/2011/11/renwal-teracruzer-with-mace-missile.html bestest, M.

Thanks, guys! Danny... I also got the Hobby Design wheels, and I'm very disappointed... they are too small for the Tamiya tyres. Not a lot, but enough to mean that there's a very loose fit between tyre and rim, and a gap at the top if it is sitting on the tyres. I thought about "wrapping" the rims or cutting a section out of the tyres, but in the end, I've just given up and ordered some of the FG Model wheels from MediaMix Hobby, which I've heard nothing but good about... bestest, M

Got the body painted in homebrew special "carbon" black. I mixed powdered graphite into the black base coat to get a more subtle "metallic" look. It's darned hard to photograph. I've also obviously got to have another run at cleaning the polish out of the panel lines! The 2K clear coat is also slightly tinted with "smoke" to go for a deep black on black look... Silver wheels and yellow or red callipers, I reckon, and I'm now having great fun on Aston's DBS configurator to find a colourful and interesting combination for the inside! bestest, M.

Hi, all... this is the Airfix 1/32 scale MG Magnette. For those who aren't familiar with Airfix's range of car kits in 1/32, there are really three "classic" generations. The first, mostly veteran cars, dates from the late 50s/early 60s, and is very much in line with the "Highway Pioneers" range from Gowland and Gowland and then Revell - old-fashioned cars with very simple models, somewhat crude, and occasionally dodgy in scale. The second generation, in the later 60s, were often issued as slot cars, and included many "current" racing and family cars, like the Sunbeam Alpine, Ford Escort or Porsche 906. Finally, in the mid-1970s, Airfix issued several vintage racers -- an Alfa Romeo 8C, Bugatti 35 and this MG Magnette -- the Vauxhall "Prince Henry" and "Monty's Humber", a WW2 Staff Car with figures. These kits, although kerbside, are characterised by very high levels of detail and moulding finesse, and along with Matchbox's 70s range, probably represent the pinnacle of mainstream 1/32 car kits. This Magnette is destined for a diorama alongside a Spitfire IX and several RAF pilot figures from various sources. It's one of the few readily available (on eBay at least) 1/32 cars that is believable in a WW2 RAF setting - the Matchbox Aston Martin Ulster, for example, looks the part, but was really a pure race car, built in small numbers. Although the Magnette was a race car, it was a road car as well, and there were rather more of them than the 28 or so Ulsters. ...and for the diorama: The kit is moulded in rather brittle plastic, which cause a few problems, but it's basically out of the box. The only modifications I made were to widen the seats (the Airfix driver figure is tiny, because the seats are narrowed to fit inside the out of scale thickness body and its attachments to the floor, and there's no way any of the diorama figures could possibly have climbed out of this car as it is moulded); to replace the shallow and uneven radiator grille detail with a piece of Easter Egg ribbon; and finally to redirect the exhaust over the rear fender, because as moulded it stops the rear wheel fitting properly. I also made some tread decals for the tyres to give them some texture. All in all, a very nice little kit, and worth seeking out if you either have Tamiya Spitfire looking for some company, or you want to expand a collection of 1930s racers in 1/32 beyond the obvious Matchbox suspects... bestest, M.

You gotta love that Camry beige! What a fine colour TS-22 is for Italian exotics (I suspect that I may use some on the upcoming 599 SA Aperta...). I had the same trouble getting a photograph that really showed the colour properly with my Miura. Looks really good... it does polish up nicely, doesn't it? I guess things will slow down now while you build that EM Dino engine... bestest, M.

That looks to be a really cool build. I know what to expect from an Enthusiast kit, and I _love_ the Stratos, so I'm really looking forward to seeing this WIP. Are you going to use the kit decals/scheme, or go for a true Stradale look in fluorescent red or virulent lime green? bestest, M.

Thank you very much for the kind comments, everyone. I'm glad the motion concept worked for you -- I was looking for a way to deal with teh fact that the doors had to be open or closed, and the engine wasn't full detail. It needed to be built closed up, and that gave me the excuse... Chris... the "Stig" is from the Fujimi drivers set - the most modern figure. He's so iconic that if you paint the right colours on the suit, no one will notice that the helmet and suit are the wrong, somewhat dated style..."White suit... check; blue visor... check; black detailing... check; it's the Stig!" bestest, M.

Thanks, guys! Since the action shot seems popular, here are a few more.... still need to work out how to do some convincing flames. Thanks to Ennis Fargis for the track base image, which is a real Imola corner from a race simulator. I processed that in Photoshop before making the base. All of those are just photographs. This one has a little more help from Photoshop so the wheels are moving... bestest, M.

That looks really good... very interesting and different. I must admit, when I saw the picture my first thought was "so that's where Bonnie and Clyde's ride got to..." bestest, M.

Inspired by Top Gear's run around Imola in three supercars that weren't Ferraris, this is the very nice Fujimi kit, with a Stig slightly adapted from their driver figure set. Paint is Zero's colour-matched Arancio Argos, with 2K clear coat. A beast: A couple shot from a more "people-sized" perspective, which gives a better impression of what one looks like to a bystander in real life... Family portrait: On the track: There's still some more work to do on this display concept, but it's why the Stig is in the driver's seat, so watch this space... bestest, M.

Thanks, guys... apologies for the picture-heavy post! As you can see, the beast is now spitting blue flames. The blue is actually transparent, although the lighting doesn't show it to best advantage. The number plate is a correct Italian one from http://www.licenseplates.tv/european-plates.html, and the number is deduced from many viewings of the Top Gear film and the plates on test cars in Evo and Top Gear magazine. Because I'm a sad number plate obsessive, I've also discovered that Jeremy drove two different Aventadors at Imola. If you look really, REALLY carefully, there's one that has a front number plate, in shot very briefly in a couple of sequences, and one that doesn't (the one he drove in the majority of the film). I suspect that after he cooked the brakes, he took out one of the Lamborghini Academy cars, which was conveniently the same colour... Construction of the car is now complete. I need to do the decals, and fine-tune the surface finish, but I'm pretty happy with it now. The base is just getting started. The track is a texture from an open source track from a race simulation. A nice track-designer chap called Ennis Fargis provided it for me after I sent him the Google Earth KMZ file for the corner at Imola I was after. I then blew it up and motion-blurred it in Photoshop. It needs to be mounted up properly, and I'm still debating exactly how to present it. But it is achieving exactly the effect I was aiming for... I'm away from the bench for a couple of days now, but I think we're on the finishing straight! bestest, M.

Apologies if you guys know all about this already! You may want to create realistic license plates for your vehicle (either with "special" combinations that spell something or use your initials, or maybe you know the number of a real vehicle that you are modelling) This site: http://www.licenseplates.tv/european-plates.html Lets you type in any letters that you want, and generates a picture of the resulting plate, with the right layout and fonts, for pretty much any country. If you copy the image and print it out at 400dpi, it's the right size for a 1/24 plate... bestest, M.

Well, thanks to Chris for spotting that the engine bay window surround is black, not body coloured! Fortunately, the blades were glued in with Formula 560 PVA, so after softening it with some strategically applied water for an hour or so, I could pop them off again. 20 minutes of masking and three minutes of spraying later, and here we are: ...it certainly looks much better to me. Otherwise, it's more or less time for decals, with just the windscreen wipers to add of the detail parts... Tonight I'll get the flames on! bestest, M.