Matt Bacon

You’re right… I didn’t spot that at the time, when I took the picture. There must have been a decent proportion of the Samuri’s made on the field there; I think there are only 25 or so real ones, and there were at least 8 at Donington. Most in the orange and brown original colours… best, M.

Well, it's taken a while, thanks to holidays and some actual work getting in the way, but here we are today: Base coat paint is Zero Paints: BMW Sienna Brown and Henna Red which, I happen to have on hand. I primed with Tamiya Fine White Primer and TS-101 Base White, and then applied the pinstripes using Kyosho 0.4mm R/C striping tape, which is intended for panel line gaps and shut lines on radio control models. Tamiya tape to mask the main areas, and then peel off the Tamiya tape and finally the pinstriping. The gloss coat is still to come, but I'm happy with the overall effect. The firewall in the kit is half-height and completely flat. I copied the detail from the Tamiya 240ZG using plastic card (which will be a common theme -- I'm doing the same with the engine.) The beginnings of which you can see here... It's more orange and less red in daylight, but I think it pretty much captures the look. best, M.

They are incredibly useful, I agree. I searched for “bootlace ferrules” and got a set of six different sizes in a neat sorting container. Mine didn’t have any plastic so are good to use out of the box. One trick I’ve learned is to cut them to length without squishing, just roll gently under a sharp knife blade: if you get the “flare” over the edge of your cutting mat, the cylindrical portion will roll back and forth in a straight line… best, M.

You’re very welcome, Chris. I started out thinking a few pictures might help other people, but we all hadn’t realised how bad the instructions were in some places! A great community effort from everyone and it’ll be there for others in the future… best, M.

G-S Hypo is 50% Xylene, so it will dissolve, craze or mark clear polystyrene, which is why I stopped using it. True, the hypodermic applicator makes it easier to get in the right place in small quantities, but after I'd discovered Formula 560 I've never felt the need to switch back... best, M.

And that's the lot... best, M.

...and some arty details...

....which is great for reference... ...but mostly it's the atmosphere or mood...

...some fabulous hardware on show... ...and you can get properly up close and personal...

A grand day out... and a lot of photos, which have taken a while. Let's start with some actual racing... A bit of "Who's the Daddy?" going on here.... Where's the racing line? A day of all-in racing, despite the value of some of those cars... and now...

There was a row of 240Zs at Donington Historic Festival last weekend, and quite a few of them were Super Samuri high performance models fettled by tuning legend Spike Anderson. Like this: I decided I'd like one of those on the shelf. In the stash is a Fujimi PS30 "432R" kit, which is the hottest homologation version from Japan. Despite being curbside (the hood is moulded shut) it has full engine and chassis detail and some Minilite-alike wheels (amongst others). It's a very full box of plastic. What it doesn't have is a front air dam or spoiler. Given all of the engines in these things are constantly being upgraded, I figured that starting from a 432R (which has a Sklyline GTR engine) wasn't a too off the wall. The air dam is not super sophisticated. Looking at a bunch of pictures, mine and other peoples', I worked out that it's essentially vertical, and bends around the corners, but no compound curves. That was a relief... Looking closely at those reference images and the front of the wheel arches, I decided that the logical place for it to fit was where the valance starts to roll over sharply to "tuck under". I marked the line with tape and chain-drilled it. Then I sanded it all flat on a piece of sandpaper on a ceramic tile to get an even horizontal plane to mount the plastic card air dam on. I just cut a strip of card 7mm wide, after measuring from the reference images (which I scaled to 1/24). Coincidentally (or not...) this means the bottom of the air dam is level with the bottom of the rest of the body. I glued it on in stages, starting in the middle at the front, and leaving long "wings" to bend round and meet the arches, which I trimmed off last of all. I need to finish the blending and work out if there's any hint of the wheel arch coming down onto the rear edge, but comparing these two pics to the reference images above, I think it's pretty much where it should be. The eagle-eyed among you will notice that I've also cut out the bonnet.... what's the point of having that nice engine and hiding it? I've got a Tamiya 240ZG, so I'm going to copy its hinge mechanism and the engine bay details that aren't included in the Fujimi kit, as well as doing some wiring based on the photos I took last weekend: best, M.

Oh, she does… it’s hidden in the back of the chair ? best, M.

This is the X-Plus kit, which goes together really well if you follow the instructions exactly. The only "gotcha" that got me was that you can't build the entire inner figure as a mannequin and then add the outer suit. Read the order of building in the instructions and follow it. The second leg has to be fitted in place AFTER the rest of the body and some of the suit has been assembled. You can still build the "dummy" and paint it first -- just make sure that leg is just press fitted when you do. It's very well engineered, so that isn't a problem. The body is Tamiya Gloss Black oversprayed with Tamiya Metallic Silver and a touch of Titanium Silver for warmth. Base lighting courtesy of a £4 string of battery powered LED lights from Dunelm and some gaffer tape... best, M.

Thanks @Pierre Rivard the nose and tail are big clamshells (basically the silver is the body, the green is the clam). I assume they had to open up or remove the clamshell to access the wheels. I don’t think the real bodywork can have been as tight, though… there’s not much room to turn the front wheels the way the kit is set up (though the real body shell is probably not 1” thick, either…) best, M.

Thank you all… I didn’t spot these later replies until now… Yes, the Merit wheels, ground out to take Heller XKE wires. You pretty much have to use the kit tyres… nothing accurate will fit! best, M.

I hope they are going to include the tailored luggage set that fits into those two trunks in front of the rear wheels... ? Lots of the real things on show at Goodwood last weekend, to whet your appetite... if it needs it: best, M.

That looks fantastic! Brilliant work, and full marks for going with an unusual but very striking livery! All the best, Matt

It’s mostly pre-painted… the livery is especially nice. Quite a few of the details are painted but the wrong colour, or painted without cleaning up the parts first, so there’s a fair bit of tidying and refinishing needed for an authentic look… best, M.

I've been building this since Christmas, more or less, so a few more pictures than usual! Let's say that while the kit parts are generally excellent, it is let down by incomplete and inaccurate instructions (now on the fourth revision and steadily improving, but still...) and engineering that takes little account of buildability. That said, it's a very involving build, and really lets you challenge your skills. Good tools are essential, and there is no way a novice is going to be able to put this together out of the box with just the instructions and screwdriver provided! Anyway, on with the show... I now need to go and build something a bit simpler.... and quicker! best, M.

I've built the 1/12 GT40 and a couple of the 1/9 bikes from Meng, and the detail is plenty crisp, and there's lots of it... best, M.

Formula 560 Canopy Glue from Zap. Fantastic stuff. Very strong bond when set, dries completely clear, fills gaps, cleans up with water, and you can use water to soften it again if you need to remove something later. best, M.

Pretty sure that will take the chrome plate off as well... it's a standard technique for stripping chrome, after all. OP wants to remove paint FROM chromed parts without removing the chrome plate. (Actually a very thin layer of aluminum, which is why oven cleaner or caustic soda dissolves it so well...) best, M.

#218 landed here in South Yorkshire, UK this morning. It had some guy's build of the little Airfix XK-E in it, as well... ? best, M.

Try 99% Isopropyl alcohol and be prepared to leave them in it for a few days. Or an ultrasonic cleaner. Neither should damage the chrome or plastic, and with a bit of luck, the chrome layer should have stopped the paint “keying” to the surface very well… Best, M.

Thank you. Will a clear face shield do the job (ie it's about chips and fragments), or do I need to wear my painting respirator (because it's poisonous)? best, M.