Matt Bacon

This is a bit of a Grail kit, and this one was surprisingly affordable on the well known auction site. It's beautifully detailed, with full engine and interior, and includes cast white metal major components and photo-etched detail parts, plus an accompanying figure. Probably will hit the bench pretty soon. Best, M.

The new small and rather nice XK-E Coupe from Airfix, launching a new 1/43 range with the Huayra and Chiron, and who can blame them? For most of you, this will not be a problem. For me, however: Easy to fix: Decals added and Citadel (Warhammer) 'ardcote for the glass: Interior painted, mostly Tamiya Flat Red and some Citadel Shade Red... And pop the dash in place: And yes, I noticed that I broke the gear shifter, so I fixed that! Last for tonight, the chrome is no longer a weird olive color... best, M.

Have you looked into using a local mailing house to cover Europe? When I (in the UK) subscribed to Air and Space Smithsonian and Popular Mechanics, they were mailed by Dutch Post from a bulk centre in Amsterdam. That said, I’ve personally had no problems with MCM deliveries… the most recent Hot Rods issue arrived early last week… best, M.

Big flat polythene underbed storage box (24”x18”x 6” deep), sheet of inch thick expanded polystyrene cut to size in the bottom, then sharp toothpicks/cocktail sticks around each car to hold it in place. There are usually places where you can trap the solid parts between two or more sticks to stop any movement. Add soft foam below the chassis it you are worried about the wheels load bearing. best, M.

Both the Lotus 49 and M7A had a wheelbase of a shade under 8ft (96 inches). Based on the ruler in your pictures, it looks like the wheelbase on the model is around 6”, which would make the scale 1/16. 60s race cars in that scale are few and far between (1/12 and 1/20 are standard, with a few outliers in 1/24 like the Hellers). My guess would be it’s 70s era kit from one of the Bandai/Entex/Nitto/Eidai companies in Japan that we’re doing quite a few models in 1/16 at that time… best, M.

Fiats? *Fiats*? FIATS?????? They weren’t no bleedin’ FIATs… ? best, M.

Not exactly Spielberg’s MO, though, is it? If he’s doing it, it’s because he’s got a reason, and thinks he’ll make a good movie. YMMV, but for this outsider, he’s the greatest American film maker working today. Part of that is because the world’s best talent (not “just” actors) want to work with him, but frankly the man’s a genius… best, M.

It's not a remake... different movie featuring Frank Bullitt. Anyone remember the 1968 movie The Detective, starring Frank Sinatra? Based on a book by Roderick Thorp. Who also write a sequel about the same lead character, a cop, called Nothing Lasts Forever. Years later, it got turned into a movie. They changed the title. It was called..... Die Hard. let's wait and see, eh? best, M.

Thanks, all! I think “Highly detailed but a little tricky to build” just about sums it up! I had a chat with an aftermarket guy at the show who makes fantastic 3D printed wheels including E-Type 15” wires and Minilites for Escorts and Minis in various scales. He’s potentially up for making some generic pre war wire wheels and tires in a couple of sizes to improve these Matchbox cars, which could also be used for the Airfix 1/32s like the MG K3 and Alfa 2300, or to pep up some of the Pyro kits as well. I just need to send him some dimensions and spoke counts… Could be useful to a few folk! All the best, M.

No build thread for this one, since it's been a blitz for the Classic British Kits SIG display celebrating Matchbox kits at this year's Scale Model World (IPMS UK Nats) It's a very nice kit with astonishing fit for its age. There some really tricky joints here and there -- mudguard fittings and lights, especially. If I was doing another, I'd put pins in the joints where the main exhaust meets the headers coming off the engine. With more time it would benefit from a bit more detailing around the engine and accurising the cockpit. If you Google "Amalgam Mercedes SSKL 1931" you'll find a spectacular and well photographed display model, which was invaluable reference.... certainly better documented than the real thing online! best, M.

...got one of these for a very good price on the 'Bay. Would like to do a Bullitt Mustang, natch (68ish fastback). I'm not sure I can be bothered to add 2mm in length and 1.5mm in width to the body, but before I go old school, has anyone done a grille and scoops in resin that I could cheat with? OTOH, it looks like a very easy mod to do, and the patinated look of the relatively newly rediscovered original will cover a lot of sins... best, M.

Mclaren once again demonstrating it’s the “everyday supercar” that you can use just as easily use to pop to the grocery store as put in a few hot laps at the track… best, M.

Sharp, clean work @Justin Porter. I might argue about some of the decisions about what’s in this kit and what isn’t, but what they did give us is very well engineered. Looking forward to seeing more. best, M.

It does capture the pumped and pugnacious shape really well, though, IMHO… best, M.

You had a lucky escape. That thing’s ugly enough to crack the lens… best, M.

"Definition of farrago : a confused mixture : hodgepodge " best, M

The wheels look great, Justin. best, M.

I think it's these guys, Rob: There's a later (1999) picture of Wilden wearing a "TrizecHahn" sponsor logo: And the logo above is the one for Trizec before it merged/changed its name... HTH, best, M.

Thanks, both. A bit of progress... Tamiya British Green spray, and Meguiars Ultimate Compound to polish it. The fit of the interior seems stellar... Tamiya Fluorescent Red for the highlights. The valance is press-fitted to the front of the chassis. When I assemble it for real, it'll be glued in place first, and then become the mating area as the chassis goes back and in to the body. I think adding the valance to the body first and then trying to flex the chassis into place front and back is a recipe for disaster... Minilites done. Stynlrez silver primer: a bright matt silver which seems pretty accurate for the finish on the real things. best, M.

It's a great kit, which will produce a great looking result. I hope you won't think of this as a thread hijack, but I think you might find the following useful. The etched egg-crate grille looks great, but it's not straightforward... The numbering and order of the etch pieces in the instructions is wrong. This is what I did to build it. I built it on top of a ceramic tile, stuck down some masking tape double sided, and on top a piece onto which I'd copied the outline of the opening by tracing a "rubbing" through with a pencil. The vertical slats are reasonably obvious (you know which ones the biggest are); the horizontals, not so much... I bent the ends of the slats with a hold n fold, and then just tried each one in different vertical slots until it matched the outline shape of the opening as best as possible, using only the centre pair of verticals. Until I got to here. Then, I hit the cross overs with thin superglue. When it had set, I flipped the whole assembly over on the tape. Then I dropped on the remaining verticals, which I'd sorted into matched pairs. They're symmetrical top to bottom, so you can just bend the ends both the same way, and flip them left and right to match up across the grille. When they were all done, I applied the thing superglue to the joints, and I had a solid unit. Which fits into the frame like this. And looks like this. I'm adding this because that grille put me off building this kit for two years, and how to do it is probably the single most useful thing I've learned in ten years of car modelling, so I share it with the hope that it will flatten a potential bump in the road in what is otherwise a fantastic kit of arguably one of the coolest cars on the planet: Enjoy! best, M.

Journey of a thousand miles, and all: The rear deck of this racer is ready to carry a spare wheel, or not... Thanks to an error with the 3D printer files, the resin deck part as supplied in the kit is a mirror image of what it should be. The fuel filler should be on the right, the wheel mount displaced to the left. It's not a tricky fix, especially with the help of the 1:1 drawings in the instructions, but this is how it should look after surgery. The first major step is cutting away the rear wheel arches and flattening the back end of the chassis piece: You want to get everything level with the top of the ]-shaped raised bit between the arches. The medium-grey and black parts are from the original Aoshima kit (Airfix version). The paler parts are the C1 transkit. Body looks like this in primer: Very impressive, generally. A couple of bubbles and flaws to deal with at the edges, but mostly very well designed and cast. Thoroughly recommended. best, M.

I'm hoping they'll do an Ioniq 6: https://www.hyundai.co.uk/new-cars/ioniq6 best, M.

@Dpate All I know is here: https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234956647-matts-tips-for-painting-cars/ I’m a big fan of Zero Paints, for the right models, but they do need a specific technique… best, M.

Yep… that’s classic behaviour of Zero Base coats sprayed too thick. In the picture, I think it’s run and gathered at the edge of the panel rather than being laid on too thick overall. Zero base coats are meant to be matt. You don’t need super light coats, but several speedy once-overs about 5 minutes apart, until the colour stops changing. Don’t try to get an even colour density on the first or even second coat. If it looks at all shiny, stop and move on. If it looks wet, you’re likely to get the effect above. It’s the clear coat that gives Zero its shine (and usually transforms the colour to really “pop” as well)… Best, M.

Thanks, gentlemen... with a bit more distance from the battle to finish the build, I'm remembering WHY I wanted to have a Stinger on my shelf! I don't think anyone will ever do a Corvair again, so we have what we have. best, M.