Matt Bacon

Yep... if you compare the front of that 1971 Le Mans long tail with the nose of the cars in the factory lineup, they are VERY different. My guess is that since those cars were the 25 needed to homologate the 917 in class, Porsche had to keep the 917 designation throughout some pretty drastic evolutionary steps. The Can Am cars were still “917”s even if they were even more dramatically different visually (though I don’t think the homologation rules applied to Can Am). best, M.

First draft drawing, 917-001: Short tail, 1969: Long tail, 1969: Long tail, 1970: Skin draft, Le mans test Coupe, 1971: Short tail, 1971: All drawings from "Porsche 917: Archive and Works Catalogue 1968-1975" by Walter Namer, Published by Editions Porsche Museum https://www.amazon.co.uk/Porsche-917-Archives-Works-Catalogue/dp/3768838374 (...looks like I bought it just at the right time, when it was in the discount clearance bin, not the rare and hard to find collector's shelf!) best, M.

...reading this month's Octane. Anyone know of a kit of this iconic Mercedes in 1/24 or 1/25? There's an Airfix 280SL in 1/32, but it's rare as hen's teeth, and much more expensive! best, M.

Clearly a matter of personal taste... for me, the Thunderbird is the only car I can think of where every generation is ugly, some more so than others! best, M.

Absolutely lovely setting for a great build. Nice to see the accuracy extends to typical French parking as well... best, M.

It looks great! @sjordan2 the A class is different from a Smart; it's actually quite a lot bigger. You really can get four adults in it. It was pretty innovative -- the engine is slung low, and in a front-end shunt is pushed back under the passenger compartment, rather than into it. It famously failed the Swedish "Elk Test" and was recalled and fitted with stability control and revised suspension to cure the problem.... which cost Mercedes a few hundred million dollars... best, M.

Search on eBay for “uninsulated bootlace ferrules.” They come in all sizes, and I bought a set of 100 each in 6 different sizes for about £5. They’ll keep me in velocity stacks and exhausts for years... best, M.

Your wish is Mr Hiroboy's command: https://www.hiroboy.com/Citroen_DS19_Paints_60ml--product--2533.html best, M.

White coating reduces the amount of heat radiated from the exhaust pipes, especially if it's also a ceramic barrier coating (like Zircotec). That means less need for additional heat shielding (extra weight) and/or more tightly packed components in the engine bay, plus the energy stays in the exhaust gases which is good for spinning up the turbos... probably wasn't as well thought-through in the 60s, but there certainly were sports prototypes running in late 60s and 70s with white exhausts pipes... best, M.

I guess that with luck there’ll be a few knocking around with vendors at Scale Model World, then... best, M.

Me, too, though it’s a bit of a stretch, really... best, M.

If you can find a copy (or get your library to get it in for you), "Intermeccanica: the story of the prancing bull" provides a well-written and pretty complete history of the marque and its various adventures and automobiles: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1787112535/ It's an "insider" story, so may not be fully balanced, but it covers the ground, and has some very good looking cars in it! best, M.

Looks really good. I shall definitely be having a couple. It'll be interesting trying to figure out a good paint effect for the ?galvanised? bits of metalwork, which IIRC have quite a distinctive "crystal" pattern... might be another application for a sponging technique. Although the kit may come with left and right hand dashes, there'll be some more substantial reorganisation to be done in the engine bay to switch sides. Looking forward to getting my hands on the real thing! best, M.

There’s a 1/24 Heller Hispano Suiza K6 which would give you the chassis, engine and front end at least. Then I think the best bet would be to look at some of the Monogram or Italeri classics and see what comes closest to the shape of the rear end, and find a glue bomb to steal the rest of the cabrio body from... best, M.

<irony> ;-P M.

...of course, it would be very wrong for an enterprising caster just to copy the Esci/Italeri bonnet in resin... ;-P best, M.

Let’s add a “dished” bonnet/hood to the list of things for the enterprising aftermarket provider to make! A proper expedition roof rack would be a winner as well, and maybe the sun visor “peak” for the windscreen.... best, M.

I couldn't figure out from the sprues whether this kit has the centre facing fold up seats along each side of the load bay... I can't see any sign of fixing points on the raised areas at the back of the floor pan part, but they might mount only onto the walls if folded up. It seems that Series Landy owners have been known to mount the spare on the back of the transverse bulkhead behind the seats, trading a reduction in load space inside for not overstressing the rear door hinges or making the bonnet heavy to lift, and painful indeed if it drops on your head with a 75lb wheel on the top... best, M.

I've been poring over the sprue shots for some time (saddo that I am), and I can't see anything that looks like the "pie dish" mounting plate (17 in Luc's helpful pic above). If it's not there, that and the rear door mount should be an easy one for an enterprising resin or 3D printed aftermarket detail parts maker to come up with... best, M.

Round pattern.... it's a typical Iwata airbrush adapted to use a pistol grip and trigger action. The TRN-1 is able to do fine detail work and spray at low pressures. Personally I'd rather do that with a traditional-style airbrush held like a pen or paintbrush, but YMMV. My big breakthrough using an airbrush came when I was shown that it it's a brush that uses air, not a spraygun. If you just want to lay down even coats over a large area, base colours or clear coats, then save yourself a lot of money and get one of these: https://hlj.com/procon-boy-single-action-0-4mm-gnzps-268 It's a great little airbrush and should cost around $50... best, M.

Or you could get a Jada diecast for <$30 and see how easy it is to “fine tune” into a convincing model... best, M.

I’ve seen that photo. But like I say, I’ve never seen one like that in the real world on (or off) the road in the UK in the last 40 years. Ever. It’s certainly not a “common” or “typical” arrangement. And Revell wouldn’t be the first model company to bring to market a kit of what turns out to be a unique or highly unusual prototype or a well-intentioned but inaccurate “restoration.” I’m not disputing that there’s a Land Rover that looks like that, just saying that when I build mine, the spare’s going to be in one of the places that every Landy I’ve ever seen has got it fitted... beat, M.

I don't think I've ever seen one carrying the spare on the front slope of the roof, as that artwork suggests: bonnet occasionally, and back door regularly, but not on the roof (without an expedition rack, anyway). Especially since that picture seems to show the double skin "hot climate" roof, which our imported from Spain station wagon had. IIRC it was a very lightweight sheet of aluminium supported on fairly thin pillars... not something you'd want to bolt a wheel and tyre onto... best, M.

I was idly contemplating this, to make the cream 88" station wagon we had when I was a teenager. I think the cut n shut needs to be done in several sections: 1) The roof, where you need to bring the very back section to a position immediately behind the oval rooflights, so there's more or less the same solid area in front of and behind them 2) The upper side panels, where you need the rectangular rearmost window section moved forward to replace the rear doors. 3) The lower side panels, where you need to lose the rear doors and shorten the section behind the rear arch, with a steeper slope at the lower edge 4)The chassis, where you need to reduce the wheelbase to 88" instead of 109" wheelbase (22mm). Fortunately there are various brochures online showing "naked" SWB and LWB chassis and drivetrain, so it should be easy enough to figure out where it needs to come from... Revel kit shouldn't be too expensive, though, so I'm happy to experiment on one! best, M.

Never had any issues at all with the paint. I usually use it over Tamiya Fine Surface primer in grey, white or pink, but I have also used it over Halfords Plastic Primer with no troubles with either... best, M.