Matt Bacon

The Quick Build’s are unique to Airfix, and are a cross between Lego (held together by studs the same size and spacing as Lego) and a snap kit (external panels and parts in a realistic shape). In terms of building, much like regular “Creator” Lego (as opposed to Technic Lego). They look more realistic than the Lego Speed Machines which are the closest competitor. Revell is going for an even younger market with their Junior Kit range: https://www.revell.de/en/products/junior-kit/city-life/ In ten years or so we’ll see how many Junior Kit or Quick Build kids have caught the modelling bug... best, M.

The implication of the QBs is that they’ve now got license deals with Ford and Jaguar as well as the VW-Audi-Group; I wonder if the McLaren license is still in place? A Senna or Speedtail would be cool! best, M.

I’d like to see a kit of the first Panhard, which debuted the front engine, rear wheel drive, steering wheel, front-facing driver and passenger set up that has survived to the present day, unchallenged except by VW and Porsche for over half the existence of the automobile... Though by rights that should be issued by Revell under the Heller brand... best, M.

It might be safer, if we want to keep this thread alive, to focus on what those of us who want one know and learn about the kit, the references that are available, how we might build or improve it... and how much Harry would have welcomed it... which was a true and insightful posting in the previous thread that shouldn’t be forgotten... best, M.

Looks like the licensing issues are resolved, and Airfix is listing the 1/32 Maserati Indy as "New for 2020". If you've always wanted to try one of their 1/32 kits, it's not a bad one, and looks very cool when built... https://www.airfix.com/uk-en/shop/new-for-2020/maserati-indy.html best, M.

? It'd be interesting to know how heavy it would have been with conventional gel-coated coloured fibreglass for the body instead of an overall layer of stainless steel on top; I bet the power to weight and hence performance would have been noticeably better, and probably the handling as well. Given what John Z was "officially" trying to achieve, he'd have done better to fund and license the V8 Esprit that Chapman couldn't afford, and Lotus didn't build until a lot later... best, M.

To go back to the original topic, it'll be interesting to see if ICM go for etch for the wheels. The etched wires in the Gunze Hi-Tech kits are actually pretty easy, because they come with a dishing tool and jig moulded in plastic, so making them up is just a matter of dishing and stacking the spoke disks and gluing the plastic wheel halves together to trap the spokes. Something similar (but larger)could work well... the Daimler spokes aren't too complex in terms of crossing and interlacing, unlike Borranis... Of course, they might have come up with a way of 3D printing them in some tough-ish plastic, which is the reason for the price... best, M.

Well, in that it was fibreglass car made with Lotus production techniques and engineering on a Lotus-designed steel backbone chassis and Colin Chapman suspension set-up, and driven by a Renault engine... It feels a bit as though the Esprit was the pur sang replacement for the Europa, and the de Lorean was Chapman dusting off a redundant "here's one I made earlier" and moulding it to de Lorean's requirements to make a bit of cash (and the less said about that the better...). best, M.

So do I, Vince... what I’m looking for is the four light front end piece, because the UK spec car has the slit lights replaced with four individual headlights, like the US one. The JDM kit has the correct right hand drive for the UK (and Japan ;-P) but the lights are wrong for a UK car. Even “grey imports” shipped over from Japan more recently usually have the front changed over... best, M.

I see the Revell 1/25 Acura Integra has the US (and Euro-spec) four headlight nose moulding. Does anyone know of a resin copy or aftermarket one in 1/24 that I can use to build the JDM spec kit in my stash as a UK car? best, M.

Mostly what the de Lorean should have been is “not covered with heavy, expensive, hard to look after stainless steel.” After all, in the fibreglass it was pretty much the next Lotus Europa... best, M.

Lovely, and excellent photography as well. Great job! best, M.

They both look great, and really capture that iconic look. Excellent job! BTW, if you want to accessorise your outfit to match: https://heeltread.com/collections/all/products/gti-socks best, M.

There are four of them based on the Airfix/MRRC slot cars of the late 60s/early 70s. For some reason (licensing most likely) the Ford P68 has been out more often and more recently than the others. There’s the 917 and a Porsche Carrera 6 and a Ferrari 250LM as well. It may be that since the P68 wasn’t a factory Ford, but a private venture by Alan Mann Racing using the then-new Ford DFV engine which went on to power Formula One for a decade or so, there are no Ferrari or Porsche licensing lawyers and stratospheric fees to contend with... One thing I noticed when I built mine is that in period it carried quite a lot of sponsor logos, so if you want to reproduce it in racing trim, you’ll need one of those mixed logos decal sheets... best, M.

They all look fabulous — very well done indeed! And I too wonder when you have time to eat or sleep... Great collection, and the subject choices show that you are a man after my own heart... best, M.

Thank you all, and a Happy New Year to you to you and yours. @Modlbldr as @Tom Geiger says the genuine Airfix 1/32s are great. There are 3 generations: the 1950s-issued "vintage" kits are like Revell Highway Pioneers, and generally crude and occasionally off scale; the 1960/70s kits split two ways: adapted slot racing cars (eg Ford 3 litre, Porsche 908 /917, Ferrari 250LM) and "everyday" family cars like the Ford Escort/Maxi/Triumph Herald which are well-detailed, broadly accurate, and complex to build...the Jaguar 420 is my "grail kit " of those; finally, there are the 1970s vintage racers, like the Bugatti 35, MG Magnette and Alfa 2300 which are accurate, detailed, complex and a bit brittle... Matchbox 1/32s cover a broad range, all of which are reasonably detailed and usually can be built opened up or closed. There are some great pre-War models like the Bugatti 59 or the Aston Martin Ulster, and 70s racers like the Surtees, Tyrrell or Porsche 917/10. None of them are bad kits -- it just depends what you are interested in building best, M.

A bit of a slow year modelling-wise, thanks to an eventful year in real life. With luck, though, health and employment issues are behind me now and I can get back to the bench more often in 2020... 1. Huracan Performante, Aoshima, 1/24 2. Triumph TR4A, Airfix, 1/32 3. Austin Healey Sprite, Airfix, 1/32 4. Ford Escort Mexico, Airfix, 1/32 5. Bugatti Type 59, Matchbox, 1/32 6. Porsche 935, Matchbox, 1/32 7. Porsche 911S, Arii Owners Club, 1/32 8. Little Owl, Airfix, 1/1 (ish) 9. Lamborghini Silhouette, Gunze Sangyo, 1/24 10. Lola T70 Mk1 Spyder, Union/IMC, 1/25 (or so...) There are a couple more that will soon be the first completions of 2020, but in the circumstances I'm well-pleased to have managed 10 this year! Happy New Year to you all... best, M.

What a varied selection, and all beautifully executed.. the Delahaye, Ace and Lincoln Roadster are my favourites, but I’d be proud to have any of them in my display cabinet! best, M.

Excellent work... and what a productive year! best, M.

Big Christmas present finally arrived after being lost by the courier for a nerve-wracking couple of weeks! It'll sit nicely next to the big Airfix Bentley in my cabinet. Now I just have to decide whether to build it in iconic red, or as the specific prototype detailed in this rather excellent book... best, M.

I don't know, you'll be telling me next that legendary country singer k.d.lang is Canadian... ? Apologies... that post was not my finest hour, hence the fact it's now been replaced by "***" best, M.

A little bit of fun for the holiday season... just identify the 12 cars below and send me your list BY PM. Please don't post your answers in this thread. There are ways you could cheat, but where would be the fun in that. Closing date January 1st... there will be a small prize for someone randomly chosen from those who sends me the right answers. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. Have fun... best, M.

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The big problem with all this stuff is that you need the apparent lighting in the background to match the actual lighting of the model. In the example above, you clearly have a strong light source at the upper right, but the light from the windows is coming from far centre left. Look at where the shadow of the car goes versus the light from the windows on the printed floor. It’s nitpicky, but your eyes and brain are good at this stuff as a result of millions of years of practice, and you’re quickly in the “uncanny valley” where you feel something’s wrong even if you don’t quite know what... I think the square on curbside view is probably a better bet. Assuming a photo studio set up like mine, with lights on each side and above, a street scene with a background wall is lit the same way: light coming along the length of the street from each side, and the bright sky above, narrowed by tall buildings. Whatever... shoot what you want, the way you like it, but this thread has inspired me to try a few different things, so thank you all for that! best, M.

Great concept! In the spirit of improving the effect, the background is way too yellow. I think you need to get a background, lighting and camera setting that all have the same “colour temperature “, otherwise you’ll struggle to blend them together convincingly “in post-production”. The last one is definitely the best. For a “realistic” effect, you want somewhere between 40-50mm focal length in the lens, shot from a couple of inches above the surface the model is sitting on. That’s for a regular DSLR “35mm” digital camera. You’ll need to look at your camera manual to see what the equivalents are. If you use a wider angle (20-40mm) you can get the look that real life car magazines get, but the shape is distorted. If you shoot from further away, but with a longer (60-120mm) focal length, you’ll get a more “accurate” picture, with all the dimensions and proportions as they are in “real life”, but it won’t look quite like what you’d see looking at a real car in the street. HTH, best, M.