Matt Bacon

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.

Man’s a genius... though I speak as a Brit. I suspect there’s a a bit of resentment knocking around from people who didn’t realise what the message of “Born in the USA” was until too late... Whatever you think of his politics, in the rest of the world Springsteen is up there with Dylan, Pete Seeger, Leonard Cohen and Prince as a Great American Songwriter... best, M.

As I understand it, the classic English 109 has longitudinal benches in the back, and the one piece round cornered rear windows, so that it reached 12-seater capacity and therefore qualified as a commercial minibus for tax purposes... The jump seats (were) are a European and US thing... best, M.

It's not an easy skill to master (but what is?), but thanks to the liveries on British steam locomotives, "lining" is something railway modellers over here do a lot of: https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/86831-what-is-better-for-lining-a-bowpen-or-a-bob-moore-pen/ A lining pen, or bowpen, is a specialist device that has two wide but thin parts to the "nib" which trap a reservoir of paint between them, and the width of the line is set by a threaded wheel. Paint then comes out at the point by capillary action. You can use pretty much any kind of paint, as long as the consistency is right. Let's just say a LOT of practice is needed, but once you've got it, you'll never have to worry about pinstriping anything again... best, M.

Have you ever seen a picture of the real Ken Miles? “Better looking” is not a selection criterion... And no, I’m not telling you you’re not allowed to have a dissenting opinion... I’m disagreeing with you. This is a “discussion forum,” after all... beat, M.

Talk about “cutting off your nose to spite your face”... I’d bet you couldn’t tell which special effects in the movie are digital, and as for the acting, well, Christian Bale and Matt Damon are the equals of Messrs Newman, McQueen and Eastwood, I’d say... best, M.

I don’t know if you saw it on Britmodeller, Geoff, but for the folks here, there’s also a small error with the transfer box selector levers. They are always on the right hand side of the transmission tunnel, whether or not the vehicle is RHD or LHD. Revell gives you two tunnel parts, so just always use the one called out for RHD... best, M.

Oh, I’ve learned lots... but not what this pickup is! South American dictators are fascinating, though, so I really don’t mind... best, M.

I didn’t know that... however, I do have a Meng “snap” P-51 in 1/48, and it’s a fantastic kit, not compromised in any way by being a snapper. Just some very clever design and engineering... best, M.

Very sharp indeed -- looks great! It's one of the best, if not the best, kit I've ever built... I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did! All the best, M.

Thank you very much, gentlemen! No I just need to decide whether, while I’m on a roll, to start the Union/IMC Ford GT Mk IV I have, or take a bit of RnR and do something easier! best, M.

Thanks, guys! I think the driver figure is actually pretty good; if someone wanted to make one up and cast it in resin, I’d have a few (with a pencil moustache he’d make a good Graham Hill, and he’s more or less OK as is for Dan Gurney... ;-P) beat, M.

Thanks very much Phil... yours looks blinkin' amazing; I hadn't seen it before, but I'm super impressed. I've actually got the same Tamiya slot body awaiting something similar...one day. The scale on the IMC is interesting -- the wheelbase seems pretty much bang on for 1/25, but the track is, as you say, more like 1/27. Seeing that the very undersized engine is probably driven by "squishing" it to fit under opening and well over scale thickness clamshells, I wonder if the narrow track is caused by the same design compromise. I measured up the engine block and heads, and it's pretty much right for a 289 fore and aft, but at least 25% too narrow, which seems to be dictated by a combination of having to engineer the serpentine headers so they can be assembled by a "normal" modeller, and fit inside the too-narrow track inside the overly thick clamshells... best, M.

Well, it was a bit of a battle, but we got there in the end... There's a fair bit of work in getting the doors and clams to fit, and I've added some extra details like the oil coolers in the engine bay and fire extinguisher. But it's the only way you're going to get a 1/24 injection moulded Lola T70 on your shelves. You'd think that Tamiya would scale down their big Mk 3 Coupe, but they haven't yet! best, M.

Wow! That looks excellent. I've done the same with Tamiya Jag wheels, as well... they are really good! Very crisp detail work, and the engine looks brilliant. Nice choice of colour as well; it's good to see one that's not Silver Birch... Great job! best, M.

https://www.scaleproduction.de/advanced_search_result.php?categories_id=0&keywords=Minilite&inc_subcat=1 best, M.

I noticed that, Skip... though I thought it was this kit, because it's top of my mind! So the cowl/scuttle is now fixed and blended, after several rounds of filling and sanding, involving microballoons as well as superglue and cement... Now to see how those rather ancient decals have held up... best, M.

Very clean build of a sharp looking original, and excellent photography. Great job... All the best, Matt

Back to the bench... made a few steps forward, and the odd one back! Turns out it IS possible to get the spare wheel in flat, as it should be! I couldn't figure out the battery location from the instructions so I first put it where my reference photos showed it, in the front bay. However, they were clearly pics of a slightly later version, after the regulation requiring the carrying of a spare wheel was dropped, and the front end re-organised. As you can see, it really belongs in the "passenger" footwell, where there are actually a few small blobs on the floor to show where it goes, which I hadn't spotted before. The fire extinguisher is a home made addition... I just like the extra colour and "clutter" it brings. I decided the engine bay needed a bit of busy-ing up, so made a couple of oil cooler radiators based on my references. Solder for connecting pipes. Also added the alternator on top of the transmission: it's driven by a belt from the left hand drive shaft. In theory, the oil cooler radiators should be higher, but I didn't want any chance of them interfering with the fit of the rear engine cover. The eagle-eyed will note that I've painted some of the bulkhead body blue. In real life, the upper section of the bulkhead is part of rear clamshell. If I was doing this again, I'd cut those sections off the bulkhead before installing it, and attach them to the clam before painting the whole thing... but I'm not taking it all apart again at this stage! So, now it's time for the last major operation: fitting the cowl and doors to the main chassis. The join is seamless, and bonded only at that 1/4" section by the slot in front of the door hinge pin sockets. So I'm using a combination of gap filling superglue and styrene cement, in the hope of getting the seam solid and filled in one go. It'll still need to be cleaned up and sprayed body colour, with some precision... Wish me luck... best, M.

That was me... with my tongue firmly in my cheek ? Believe me, if you were an 11 year old Scalextric mad English lad in 1976, that year’s F1 story was only ever about “Can James Hunt do it?”. Racing fans knew Lauda, but that year that charismatic, rebellious, slightly anti establishment “golden boy” was a National Treasure, in way no racing driver had been since Stirling Moss and Jim Clark... best, M.

Look for seller roymatthewblack on eBay... Roy has made a big range of 1/8 E-type upgrade parts and details for the Monogram kit or DeAgostini part work... best, M.

It's obviously the hot subject at the moment: http://www.hyperscale.com/2019/reviews/decals/x48210reviewbg_1.htm best, M..

Yes indeed, though most of the time they ran with big Chevrolet engines, rather than this smaller Ford (which is undersized for the scale as well, which makes it look even more lightweight!). They are pretty common in Historic racing these days: watching a field of T70s and GT40s battling it out is pretty good fun, but deafening... best, M.

So, the front end is done: There's going to need to be a tire in there as well as these wires and pipework. You can see the fake "ducting" at the sides, directing air to cool the brake disks -- in theory. So I had to carve off a fair chunk of tire and wheel to get the spare in place. It needs to sit low enough for the front clam to go on with the top intake duct sitting down snugly into the cutouts in the side walls of the front compartment. In real life, I think the radiator on the Mk 1 was more upright, with the tyre lying flat on the floor of the compartment. Later, the requirement to carry the spare was dropped, and the front compartment completely reorganised with the radiator further back and an air box sitting in front feeding the brake cooling ducts. Just checking that the bodywork fits: Paint is Tamiya spray Light Metallic Blue, which I have on hand, and looks OK to me... best, M