Matt Bacon

In the box for the Tamiya Jaguar Mk2 I’m building, I’ve found a nicely sealed bag of tyres and poly caps (clear, not black). The tyres are fully licensed (moulded with name and logos) Pirelli P Zeros, and all of them are 245/40 ZR17s. So they aren’t mad low profile or huge rims, and they are all the same size. I‘d guess at a Lamborghini or Ferrari, but most of the more modern ones seem to have wider tyres on the rear. I could open all 400+ boxes in the stash, but if anyone has any ideas where they belong, they’d be very welcome! best, M.

Tamiya are the gold standard. Aoshima, Beemax and Ebro produce excellent kits these days. Hasegawa, Fujimi and Revell Germany are a mixed bag with some real gems among them. But as said above, it depends on whether they make a kit of what you want to build. If you’re only interested in American cars, then you’re going to need Revell or Round2. Tim Boyd’s “Collecting Muscle Car Model Kits” is an invaluable guide to the good, the bad and the ugly of kits of US iron... best, M.

Not sure why this one has been lingering unopened on the shelf for so long, but I decided it was time it wasn't. Usual Tamiya well-engineered kit, which even includes material and templates for carpets! First few parts getting started. Body is primed with Stynylrez, which is my go-to for going under Zero paints these days. It was a choice between gunmetal with red interior, or this Opalescent Silver Blue (a homebrew using Zero Pearlescent White as a starting point). The interior will be blue and grey. And with the Diamond 2K Clear on top. Shutlines darkened with Citadel Leviadon Blue Contrast paint. best, M.

There are quite a few boxes arriving at home one way or the other these days. Seeing something similar advertised by Gunze, I thought I'd make my own stand for painting small parts. I sliced up a corrugated card box using the steel rule I have on the bench as a width guide, glued the strips with PVA glue and stuck them on a base also cu from the box. I have a packet of bamboo barbecue skewers, and one £5 bag of 50 crocodile clips from eBay and I have a handy stand for holding small parts as they dry... best, M.

Hi, all.... just been removing the (very faint) mould lines from a Tamiya Jag body shell, and it seems to have literally become a dust magnet. Evey tiny shaving of plastic, bit of crud or fragment of masking tape seems to leap straight at it. I can't believe my workbench is suddenly much dirtier, so is it possible my sanding sticks and the body styrene have somehow interacted to charge the thing, like old school vinyl albums? If I just give it a wash in water, will that discharge it, or do i need some cunning special fluid like you used to get for records? best, M.

Mine arrived today (the 1/24s), and they look fantastic. They will need painting, though. Does anyone have any thoughts on how best to prime (presumably?) and paint these things without losing the incredible fineness of detail? best, M.

Inspired by an article in a recent Octane Magazine, this is the Fujimi "911 Turbo '76" kit with a bunch of parts from a "spares or repairs" 911 Rally kit and wheels from Renaissance, intended for an Opel Manta/Ascona -- the only BBS set I could find with five lugs instead of the single centre lock nut used on 934/935 racers... best, M.

A pretty productive afternoon at the bench, with a bunch of generic sponsor decals... pretty much done. Beauty shots tomorrow, I think... ...and finally, with the article that inspired this whole thing... best, M.

Body's on and wheel hubs trimmed so the tyres sit more accurately... Body details and decals to get on with! best, M.

The engine fits in remarkably well... very impressive engineering that gets the two rear crossbeam mounts (the black dots in the angles of the frame corners at the back) in place along with the transmission mounts underneath and the gear box linkage all lined up. The wheels are just push fitted, and need some fettling, but it's starting to look the part... best, M.

Great shots of a great build, Alex... Funnily enough, I've just acquired a "graduated tint" backdrop, and after seeing these, I can't wait to get my current build finished and try it out! best, M.

Cockpit making progress: Needs some black at the top of the "door cards"... but I think it's supercool to win your class at Le Mans with door cards, electric windows and a fully-functional radio... best, M.

Finally got back to the bench to make some progress with body and chassis: And a very quick (and wobbly) mockup, just to see how it looks with wheels in place... The wheels are intended for a sporting Firenza, but they were the only 15" BBS wheels I could find with five lugs instead of the big centre lock nut that Porsche used on the 934/935s... best, M.

Oh, that looks absolutely fabulous, Jay. Stunning. I shall shamelessly pinch many of your techniques, and learn from your lessons, when I build mine. Truly inspirational. best, M

Fay Hallam — queen of the Hammond organ: best, M.

I normally hate those reviews that begin "Construction started with the engine, which was almost a kit in itself..." But in this case, it really is. The beating heart of the 911 Turbo is a complex beastie, but Fujimi really have made a great job of it... I'm paying the price for wiring the distributor and plugs, but fortunately I manged to rejig things so the wires to the left cylinder bank could squeeze under the left tube (which I think feeds air over the hot exhaust manifold to the cabin heater, if I remember the teardown I used for reference rightly...) Upper pipework and turbo fitted. Its most solid location is into a socket on the flat rectangular section pipe at the bottom, and the narrow pipe goes into a D-socket on base of that cylindrical part sticking up at the left. Last two ducts bringing air to and from the centrifugal blower. Considering that this kit predates widespread CAD, it's extraordinary how well the multipart pipework all fits together. Any problems I had are almost certainly due to the plug wiring, not the original design... A dust down and some final touch up painting, and it'll be ready to be installed in the car... best, M.

Beautiful crisp build in a lovely colour scheme. I think all the SA Apertas have incredible paintwork, and there are plenty to choose from. Great photography, too. @89AKurt it’s basically the same kit as the 599(GTO) not the 612... beat, M.

I have exactly the same problem; Safari on a Mac and Firefox on an iPhone. Very slow loading of "unread content" and "load more content" in that list... best, M.

Tamiya TS-29 Semi Gloss Black. Or Citadel Chaos Black in a big can... beat, M.

...I've never really lusted after an MFH kit before but THIS.... https://www.spotmodel.com/product_info.php?products_id=53681 Wouldn't it look nice next to my big Airfix 1930 Blower Bentley? Shame about the 1000-euro price tag ;-( best, M.

That looks very slick... nice crisp build and colour, and the interior detail painting looks good. Surprisingly unloved car, IMHO: you can buy one with 30,000 miles on it for less than £60K, and it's a properly quick and very well equipped Ferrari! I've done one for a friend in the metallic grey scheme he would choose, but I've got another one and I'm going to experiment with one of the two-tone liveries, which I think suit the 'expensive limo" positioning of the real deal... best, M.

Very nice indeed... whose paint is it? You’re almost tempting me away from my plan for gunmetal grey over deep burgundy upholstery for mine... Great to see you back in action as well, Alex... your database and builds were an inspiration to me when I switched from mostly big grey jets to Ferraris a decade or so ago. best, M.

Thanks, guys! All that time to put the masking on turned out to be worthwhile in the end! best, M.

Dontcha just love masking? Tamiya's new Lacquer Paints in a jar.... tomorrow, the great reveal! best, M.

...you don't want to "over-tire' it, Dann... it won't go sideways in the approved Mini racing style properly! ? best, M.