Matt Bacon

Later Cromwells, Comet, Conqueror (very big) and Centurion (very successful)... best, M.

Yes. If you imagine pulling the car body slowly up through the surface of bowl of water, each layer printed is the shape at the surface. Your design will be made up of smooth curved shapes joining at corners, but the 3D printer turns that into “slices.” If you print with the body “flat”, large horizontal areas like the hood, trunk lid or roof will be printed in only a few layers, and any subtle shapes will end up looking like the grain of a plank of wood. If you tilt the body 45 degrees nose up then all the surfaces are made of stacks of many more slices and the shape changes between slices can be more subtle and accurate. There’s some other stuff to think about like not having areas where you end up with voids in the solid printed parts filled with uncured resin, but you’ll find a lot of 3D prints have parts tilted up down and sideways… best, M.

I think they’d be fine if I could figure out how to cut away the central hub “tower” on the Fujimi neatly and cleanly. The instructions want you to stack two poly caps one atop the other in the tower, so it’s 3/8” tall… best, M.

Yup… Dragon 1/72 scale kit. The kit is 154cm (5ft and change) as built, but several of the stages are a bit short, so an accurate one is even taller. The stages are multi-part, though, so the box isn’t that big. The Revell 1/96 kit (which uses styrene sheets rolled into a cylinder for the stage walls) is only 3/4 the length, but in at least a couple of versions came in a box that is big enough to function as a “travel case” for the completed model… best, M.

That DeAg is beautiful, @Chuck Kourouklis. To be fair, the Revell convertible is pretty good... certainly better than the 60s 1/25 Revell version (though that kit is actually pretty impressive for its time, and when compared to what other companies were putting out). It's the fact that they either didn't realise that the coupe windscreen is higher than the convertible's, or did realise but couldn't afford to make it different, that means the coupe kit is "low-brow" and the roofline is off. (I mean, who could possibly imagine that the highest point on a curvaceous car's roof would be over the driver's head....?) best, M.

Has anyone got a fool (or Matt)-proof method of adapting some Fujimi wheels (which have the polycaps in the wheel centre and the prong on the wheel carrier) to fit on a Tamiya car (which has the polycaps in the wheel carrier/axle and the prong on the wheel). At first I though it would just be a matter of poly-capping both and using a short piece of rod between the two. But the hub on the Fujimi wheel sticks out too far inwards and will foul the wheel carrier before the wheel is far enough inboard. Thoughts so far: I might have some spare "converter" pins from aftermarket resin wheels intended so they can be be used on different manufacturer's kits; I could remove a chunk of the Fujimi hub, but getting access and cutting it cleanly is tricky; or I could open up the hole in the outer side of the Tamiya wheel carrier enough that the the whole Fujimi hub can be socketed into it. Anybody who's actually done it got any views on what would work? best, M.

Arrived here in South Yorkshire, UK, this morning. Looking forward to enjoying it with a nice cup of Yorkshire Gold tea later this afternoon! best, M.

Now, if only Tamiya did a full-detail 296 kit... 😜 best, M.

I’m guessing he means the iconic shot from “The Seven Year Itch” where Marilyn is wearing a white dress and standing on a subway ventilation grate and the air from a passing train blows her skirt up all around her… 😜 best, M.

This is the tutorial that I was sent: I found it very helpful… best, M.

X Plus snap together (well, very firm push really) kit... Apologies for the large size of the pictures, but it's the portrait format! The skin is all AK 3rd generation acrylics, the uniform mostly Citadel including their contrast paints, and the jacket is Vallejo acrylics. Her hair was far and away the most difficult part, and I'm indebted to Hobby Cheating's Vince Venturella for the "Blonde Hair" tutorial that helped me take it on, and to a fellow Classic British Kit modeller and good friend for introducing me to him. There's a decent amount of reference material with some rare colour snapshots online for what she looked like at the time, and handily you can buy a replica of the blue flying jacket to details of that are easy to come by. The one "gotcha," right at the end, was that I had to take out 3/4" from the vertical upright at the front to get the handrail to sit where it needs to for her hand to be able to hold it. Fortunately it's easy to do it just below the top elbow fitting so that it's not obvious. I don't know how they missed that. best, M.

Formula 560 Canopy Glue. It's ace for clear parts (as you might expect). White glue, a bit like PVA, but dries completely clear and will glue more or less anything to anything with a pretty resilient bond. Cleans up with water, and if you get any where it shouldn't go, cut a chisel edge on a matchstick and you can push it right off the surface... best, M.

Did you guys get the same Focus — the successor to the Escort — as us? Everything Bill says about the Escort goes redoubled in spades for the Focus Mk1 (and later). Especially the ST170 and RS versions… best, M.

Combination of health issues for the owner/designer and as @Bugatti Fan says the guy who cast the resin parts from 3D printed masters passed away. best, M.

Meng's excellent pre-painted snap- and screw-together kit built as a break from soldering ancient white metal racing car kits! It's a really nice kit, if you like this sort of thing. Crisply moulded, astonishing fit and engineering, and the instructions are 100%-error-free, which as we all know is not always the case! Now I'd better go and screw that brace between the rear pannier cases back in place ;-( best, M.

I can’t see any sign of any decals at all in that build up. When I see early builds of test shot kits in model magazines they very often say “Because this is a test shot I had to source decals from the spares box” or some such, so I think they are among the last things to be produced. I would certainly expect those badges to be decals… and some gauges for the dash! best, M.

I suddenly realised most of the parts trees are empty, so I guess this is the home stretch now... A couple of black cover panels over the frame and filling gaps. I see I need to touch in some bolt heads... Luggage rack and supplementary mudguard/dust catcher fitted. Protective cage is made from two parts each side. The lower fixings are very positive but the top one is a bit looser. It looks as though there ought to be a screw through the collar, but there isn't one shown in the instructions or provided in the kit. And this is pretty much it for the basic bike kit. The seat goes on after the luggage is fitted, and of course I've gone for the iconic BMW red, white and blue single seat, not the black two-seater set-up. The luggage is a separate accessory kit, but the directions for assembly and fitting are in the main instruction manual. You need to check the part numbers carefully -- the boxes all look very similar, but there are subtle differences between them, so building and fitting them one at a time as the instructions show is a good idea! best, M.

Excellent… @The Creative Explorer was there any sign what “2 in 1” means? Is it just the RHD and LHD options? best, M.

If you happen to be at the Leeds Model Show at the Royal Armouries tomorrow, 9th March, please do drop by the Classic British Kits SIG display table to see these in the flesh and have a chat! best, M.

That's the tank built. The fixings around the filler cap are black, and I've used some Citadel Nuln Oil wash to pop the detail. Very clear windscreen pops into place pretty straightforwardly. It needs very firm pressure and an audible "pop" to get the front frame pieces to click into the H frame behind... These two black body panels pop into place in the frame once you work out where they go (the instructions are not so clear....) The shifter parts fit together like this and then on to the engine. Which gets us to here: I'm at the local model show at Leeds Armouries tomorrow, so if you're around, please do come and visit at the Classic British Kits SIG table... best, M.

It always surprises me that he actually used a Merlin. Adapting one to drive a ground-bound road car when it’s intended as a two-stage supercharged aviation engine that spends most of its time at altitude must bring a host of problems. Which had already been solved by Rolls Royce when they turned the Merlin into the Meteor engine for tanks… A lot of so-called “Merlin-engined” specials actually use Meteors, for that reason. But this one… didn’t. best, M.

I've got a bright red, yellow and orange, which are great for a little dot of paint on coloured switches and the like on dashboards. For that purpose, they are dense enough to work over black. My only concern is how long they'll stay working for if you don't use them very often, if the "felt tip"/brush dries out... best, M.

Four parts clip together to make each half of the fuel tank. The upper black part is fixed by a couple of small screws from the inside. The right side clips onto the frame, and the left side presses into place to complete the tank. The "beak" makes use of two of the pre-printed parts tucked away in the foam packaging. A couple of screws hold everything together. It takes a bit of wiggling into place, and the tank has a tendency to pop off its mountings while you do, but some firm pressing, lining up the floating holes, and using an aftermarket screw with a sharp point and a bite into plastic thread gets the job done... best, M.

I dare say I'll see a goodly number of those in action at the Donington Historic racing festival May Day weekend... best, M.

@250 Testa Rossa I made them myself. For small badges like these, I’ve found you don’t need to use decal paper. I found a good logo on the web, sized it down to the diameter I needed for the bosses on the kit, and printed them high resolution and best quality on glossy photo paper. Then, with a fresh #11 blade I cut around the logo, but not too deep — you’re not trying to cut it out of the paper. Finally with a little care and practice you can separate the top layer of the paper with the ink on from the thickness below. I stick them in place with “Formula 560 Canopy Glue” which I have on hand for windows and headlights etc, but a dot of any white PVA type glue will do. I wouldn’t use this method for anything much bigger than a badge or logo, but it beats printing on white or clear decal paper. With white, even when it’s sealed with clear varnish, if you cut close to the print it’ll start to bleed as soon as you put it in the water, and with clear, even if you cut it larger, the print is much more transparent so you don’t get the colour density… best, M.