Matt Bacon

I'd like to build an early Corvette racecar. The Revell 62 kit seems to be the one to go for, but I need a hardtop. Is it only in the gasser kit? If it is, does anyone have one spare, or does any aftermarket resin version exist? best, M.

Mark Donohue’s Javelin AMX. Don’t really mind if it’s a Jo-Han or AMT box… beat, M.

It seems there are not many people other than me interested in these -- just picked them up for pocket change. Automobile Year was a high end yearbook of motor cars and motor sport which ran for several decades, initially in French and English and then just in French. These (in English) have the same sort of format. In depth articles on auto model related subjects (A Tour of Tamiya, Large scale metal models focusing on Revival, SE Finecast and others, a build of a big Pocher kit); a month by month review of the years releases in plastic kits and diecasts, with lots of colour photographs, and a bound in listing of all the years' releases by manufacturer on cheaper paper. They run 150-200 pages in all. It looks like only three years were ever published,and here they are... Worth a look if you're a car-modelling plastic kit or diecast historian, like me. In my case these cover the years where I first err.... discovered... girls so I wasn't paying attention to models and kits, and they fill in the blank in my memory nicely. best, M.

That’s absolutely lovely, Jason.. A stunning build of a beautiful car, fabulously photographed. It could be the real thing in most of the pictures, save for having the cleanest engine bay any DS has ever had in the world… Fantastic job… congratulations. best, M.

Well, T50JOY is a perfectly legal registration… and it’s currently on a red Ford Focus with a 1 litre ecoboost engine. Best, M.

Harti20 posted this one on Britmodeller: https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235116888-lamborghini-veneno/#comment-4528075 It sounds to have been hard work, but the end result looks amazing, if a little bit… unconventional! best, M.

Arrived here in the UK this morning and took a look over lunch. So far, some great car carriers, though for me the Ferrari team loader takes the biscuit… best, M.

...or at least, why a Gremlin and a Pacer, which are quirky choices to say the least, rather than a Javelin or Hornet? I think Jo-Han did both as promos, but the AMT Javelins in Follmer or Donohue boxes seem to be rarer than rocking horse do-do. Just picked up the new edition of Cranswick's American Motors book, and there's a lot in there that seem to deserve more styrene love... best, M.

Looks brilliant, Jason. I think DS's HAVE to be in some subtle, elegant and slightly quirky colour combo, and that one suits it perfectly. I slightly wish I'd bought the 21 instead of the 19, because I think it looks cooler, but on the other hand the 19 is the spaceship-groundbreaker. And with a 19, I can choose a fabric interior that looks like THIS: None of your luxo-barge tasteful ruched cognac leather for me... You've reminded me just HOW cool they are, though. Time to get building... Thank you for this! best, M.

Yeah, that full engine detail, opening parts and photo-etch really screams entry level skill rating, doesn’t it…? The most challenging plastic car kit I’ve ever built — the Fujimi Enthusiast Ferrari GTO — had a body moulded in red like the real thing. Go figure… best, M.

I’m guessing that for the best part of $3m. you can have pretty much any colour you want… though I’d probably start with the F1 palette for old times’ sake. Silver is a bit boring, though, and although the black one looks wicked, I always think it hides the shape and details a bit, especially in scale in a display cabinet… best, M.

The doors aren’t the show-off feature anyway… it’s the rear clams that at open to reveal a decent volume of luggage space, which must be a first for a 2020s high end supercar! best, M.

Count me in... best, M.

On the original issue, I think the paint is laid on too thick. If it’s wet on the model, it pulls back from raised bits and the edges of shut lines. Lots of very light coats until the coverage is even works for me with any Tamiya paint. If you need it, Novus polish in the “fine scratch” flavour works wonders. That TS-11 was originally for the Tamiya 1/12 240ZG, and according to Octane, that colour was _meant_ to be “Marron” or Chestnut, so it’s a red-brown, not a purpley-red… Best, M.

The knowledgeable and observant will point out that the livery is not strictly correct. I wanted to do "Mabel", as she appeared at Sebring in 1968 for aesthetic reasons -- I have many race cars wearing wire wheels, and none with Minilites, and the dayglo orange front end goes better with dark BRG than yellow or smaller red patches. But the whole thing turned into a tribute to Paddy Hopkirk, who died after a long and fulfilling life just before Christmas, and his name only appeared on the car with hsi co-driver at the '69 race. So I've mix and matched the decals to combine the look I wanted with Paddy's driver ID, and hang the consequences! It's been a challenge, but also a blast, and this is one REALLY well designed, manufactured, and instructed transkit. best, M.

Right, I'm calling that done: Beauty shots over in Under Glass... best, M.

Thanks, Pierre. I used “Formula 560 Canopy Glue” from Pacer (or Zap). Brilliant stuff… clear, strong, quick-drying and softens in water if you mess up. I use it for all my clear parts, and a lot more besides. Best, M.

Tamiya AS-12 Bare Metal Silver for the unpainted areas, and TS-17 Gloss Aluminium for the painted areas of the wing. As Bill says, chances are the paint probably got dinged up and worn, but this is what a freshly built one looks like: https://www.key.aero/forum/historic-aviation/141825-p51-mustang-wings-painted-or-not Personally, I think a lot of models are over-weathered. Yes, the aircraft were worked hard, but the average life of a wartime aircraft was measured in months not years, and hundreds of hours in the air, not tens of thousands. Plus a beat-up airplane is slower than one that's kept clean and smooth, and a plane that looks like that might make a pilot wonder how well the important bits under the skin are being looked after as well... (Cue lots of pictures of famously beat-up looking airplanes...) best, M.

The headlightlight cowls are on. They are well defined, and the combination of an Optivisor, very sharp nail scissors and an angled light made cutting and trimming them relatively straightforward. They overlap the bodywork substantially, as they do on the original. I'm mulling over how to make the riveted panels that actually hold them on. Embossed aluminum tape, maybe. The bonnet strap is more wine bottle foil and the etched hardware from the transkit. I threaded the two straps with the buckle still attached to the fret -- it made it a lot easier to hang two U-shaped loops over the central bar. Flattening it out held everything in place and let me cut the buckle free. Then I adjusted the top and bottom lengths to get the fittings in the right place before folding the etch over each end. Back door hardware and reflectors attached. The effectiveness of the red interior at "lifting" the whole thing is clear, and what I was hoping for. Identification light, red for Sebring '68 in position. Now the tape is off, most of the handling will be using cotton gloves. ...as you can see from the dust! Time for the rest of the decals, and then the final hardware details which again sit on top or very close to some of the markings... best, M.

I have one of these for “big jobs”: https://www.air-craft.net/acatalog/Mr-Procon-Boy-SQ-PS-268-Airbrush.html It’s more of a small scale spray gun than a sophisticated air “brush”, but it’s brilliant for coverage, and the single action is easy to adjust in the fly if you suddenly decide to draw lines. best, Matt

Auto Kits were independent, and then were bought by South East Finecast http://www.sefinecast.co.uk/Car Kits/1 24 Scale Autokits Page 1.htm They are not quite as nice as the kits originated by SE Finecast, but pretty good. I would recommend investing in a couple of varieties (fast and not so fast) of two part epoxy resin, and three flavours of superglue: gel, gap-filling and thin. You'll also need a couple of decent fine files. The white metal cleans up nicely, but you will need to test fit and adjust some of the pieces before committing to glue. The epoxy provides real strength, and having fast and slower curing varieties will give you a bit of "wiggle room" and time to get everything exactly square before it cures. To see what you're getting into, check out my Finecast Rolls Royce Silver Ghost build thread here: Happy to answer questions you may have... best, M.

Thanks… I know most are painted metal, but this one is modelled on a specific car featured in Octane, which has a leather panel there… it’s also where the striping detail on the hood came from. Nothing like having big colour pics of a 1:1 to work from. best, M.

On to the details now. Light clusters are fixed, and I have to do the rear race roundel because various bits of furniture fit over it... The light cowls are the last bit that worries me. Once they are done, we're on the home straight. I think whoever has done the decals has done a really good job... best, M.

Lynx, Westlake and Proteus all made "recreations", which were generally very convincing... though now Jaguar is getting heavy on recreations and replicas, I guess they are unlikely to make any more. best, M.

It's a very nice kit. This is OOB apart from some lead foil for the tonneau cover and side screens from acetate instead of the heavy kit parts. Fit of the windscreen is challenging, but there's plenty of detail, and a very nice engine. This is 12 of the 16 "real" ones at Pebble Beach. Jaguar has made some "continuation" cars, using the Chassis numbers of the ones destroyed in the Brown's Lane fire: https://www.jaguar.co.uk/about-jaguar/jaguar-classic/authentic-cars/classic-continuations/index.html best, M.