Matt Bacon

Looks great.... where was it on show? best, M.

Dusty blue, dusty grey-green, dark bronze green, or cream are all good Series Land Rover colours (the iconic one is the sage-y dusty grey green, which is the same as RAF Interior Green, because it was using up surplus stocks. Available from testors or Mission Models as well as in many other paint ranges). The hood is a very standard place for a spare wheel fitting, as is the centre of the rear door. Or both, if you're planning a long off road expedition... best, M.

Wow... thanks, Gerry: that's really kind of you. Hope the move goes smoothly for you! All the best, M.

Just been reading Leno’s monthly column in Octane magazine about a recent acquisition and it got me thinking... does anyone make a 1968 Firebird Sprint kit with the straight six engine included? best, M.

Liquid Reamer airbrush cleaner worked for me... best, M.

That looks excellent. Very crisp overall, and the colour looks convincing to me. Very nicely photographed, too... I’ve never got a black background to work successfully. I must dig mine out: there’s a crack in the cabin glass that keeps putting me off, but it’ll have to have one window rolled down! Great job. best, M.

Polish as little of it as possible. Zero Diamond does NOT need to be polished overall, as you can see. If you have the odd little dust speck, then use a medium sanding stick or small bit of 320 wet and dry to get it smooth (cured 2K is much harder than hobby lacquer), then use Meguiars Scratch X followed by something like Novus or Microscale polish to restore the shine. It really is a case of just fixing blemishes, not polishing the whole thing. If you have orange peel, and you’ve let the 2K cure for more than 24 hours, you have a problem, because it will be very hard to polish out. To be frank, if you have bad orange peel in 2K, I’d put it down to experience, move on, and fine tune your airbrushing to avoid it next time (I’ve only seen it happen with Zero 2K once, when it was hot, and I was distracted and left it about 20 minutes before starting to spray the mixed up 2K, which was too long). Full write-up here: https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234956647-matts-tips-for-painting-cars/ best, M.

Looking at the short, wide, deep trunk on the ‘vette makes me think it’s been designed around “two golf bags”... clearly golf has a rather different profile in the US, ‘cos you don’t see a lot of Ferraris, Lambos, McLarens and other mid engined supercars in our local golf course car park. The people who take their sports cars golfing have big Jags or Astons, and the people who have mid engined supercars also have Range Rovers... ;-P best, M.

I don’t know if it’s just me, but I’ve always thought the Hawk 200 had some Hurricane DNA: Best, M.

More or less “aerodynamic” is a pretty meaningless thing for the paper to print. If they read anything, I guess it might mean that its drag coefficient is higher than the previous model. But drag coefficient is only part of aerodynamics; downforce is important for handling, and even if it’s not generating F1 or hypercar quantities you don’t want lift at high speed. To generate more downforce typically ends up increasing drag a bit versus a more slippery shape. Unless you’re Adrian Newey, or Gordon Murray in his new successor to the McLaren F1, which is going to use a fan to cool the engine and manipulate the air underneath through the diffuser, which in theory gives massive amounts of downforce with no additional drag... best, M.

You and me both! I actually made a start on this to mark the Centenary of Flight. You can make a case that the Hawker lineage runs through from the Sopwith Camel (TOM Sopwith ran Hawker Aviation, which came into being when the Sopwith company went bust post WW1) right through to the Eurofighter. I had the Camel and Snipe at the beginning of your list, and then Sea Hawk, Hunter, Harrier, Tornado, Hawk 200 and Eurofighter at the end. 100 years from Camel to Eurofighter... best, M.

At last! Someone who knows what “beautiful” means! ;-P How did I forget the Bugatti? Especially since I have a 1/24 Fisher kit waiting for me to build it... best, M.

I know you said you tried freezing, but here’s a tip that I recently picked up... soak the kit in water before you freeze it. The water gets into all the tiny gaps, and when it freezes, it expands slightly and pops the parts apart. Apologies if you already do that, but I only learned it recently... best, M.

Two trunks, eh? Unless it bucks the trend, the front one will be big enough for a bowling bag, and the back one will cook a salmon nicely in a half hour drive up in the hills... I’m looking forward to someone getting it on some nice twisty stuff with an Alpine A110S, Cayman GT4 and an Exige S, which are the driver’s car benchmarks at that price... beat, M.

Do they do the Zero mix-to-order stuff? If you can supply an OEM paint code that’s in the Lechler database (instructions for logging in to it can be found in the Zero section on Hiroboy’s web site), Steve will make it up to order. A lot of the colours you can see on the web site will have been first made up for a customer order, but now Steve has the “recipe”, he can offer it without any research time. For most of the big manufacturers, like Mercedes, he lists some specials like Merc-McLaren SLR colours or SLS AMG, but on the main Zero Mercedes listing it just says “I have a Mercedes Paint Code I will supply.” I think for those you just need a definitive name and era (and paint code if you have it), but cross matching between say PPG and Lechler paint codes is easy for him... best, M.

It looks like Zero actually has the exact thing Bill is after: https://www.hiroboy.com/Aluminium_MercedesBenz_W125_Paint_60ml_--product--11787.html best, M.

Personally, I’d say Silver Leaf was too “bright” for Porsche or Mercedes racing Silver, but YMMV. I don’t know if Scalefinishes does the same service, but I’ve had Hiroboy make up some Zero Paints using pearl instead of metallic flake: I just had to ask when I ordered them. 1960s Aston Martin Silver Birch for example, has no flake visible in real life. Also, what you’re after is very much what the RAF called High Speed Silver in the 1950s: if you Google for “best match for RAF High Speed Silver” you’ll find various recommendations on aircraft modelling forums. best, M.

I guess he can make rather more money as an "artist" than as a Modenese metalworker... Seriously, a good thing I read in Octane (I think) recently is that Aston Martin Works and a couple of the restorers are taking on a bunch of 16 year old apprentices who are being taught these traditional metalwork skills by some retirees, using the original equipment, ensuring that the skills and creativity don't become extinct. There was also a nice little bit about a lad who was retrimming some seats, under the watchful eye of his dad, who had retrimmed them during a restoration 30 years ago of seats that HIS dad (the lad's Grandad) had trimmed when the car was first built in 1965... best, M.

That's beautiful... and probably a lot better built and finished than the originals were! (Though I expect some of the "survivors" were restored to that standard...) Interesting, as well... on the web site he says "Please don't ask me to build a complete body" best, M.

That’s a really kind offer, Len. Let me look into shipping... one of the reasons I’ve not just bought one from US eBay is that the sellers want $15 for the kit and $50 for postage to the UK, which may mean USPS is REALLY that expensive. With the £ in its current low, that makes for an expensive kit, even with your extremely generous offer! Let me see what I can find and get back to you... and thanks again. best, M.

That looks really excellent! Now I just have to find one... best, M.

Thanks, guys... Lights stolen from a Jaguar Mk2 parts car, with gap filling panels cut at an angle from some styrene tube. Some fine sanding with a nail buffer, polish with Novus no.2 and a dip in Mr Gauzy left the windscreen a lot clearer (and less yellow, amazingly). The actual size of the perspex is a lot smaller than the clear piece in the kit, hence the masking tape. And this is where we are this afternoon (real time updates have resumed). I just like the way this one turned out ;-P best, M.

I gave up on the transverse "axles" and decided just to fit the wheel carriers to the moulded bulkheads. The rear wheel arches were reshaped to better match the real thing, and give enough room for the wire wheels with knockoffs. Which got us to here. The panels and shutlines have all been rescribed. The front and rear clams are one piece shells, and will be filled, but the central part remains divided top and bottom. And here's Stirling in situ for a test drive. Permanently fixed in place, and with a gear shift lever made from a pin. The interior is now complete. Since I need to fill the seams on the clamshells before painting, I think it has to be closed up, and Stirling won't slip in through the cockpit opening after assembly. Same for the wheels, which only fit from above. So there'll be some masking to be done, to say the least. The white half-round strip represents the hinges which allow the doors to flap down on each side. The large panel on the driver's left can be removed IRL to allow the car to function as a two-seater, and the aerodynamic fairing is also a removable "bolt-on". Apologies for the long posts, but for various real life reasons, I've been taking pictures for a couple of weeks, but not got round to posting them best, M.

Thanks to a kind member on another site, I have a Classic British Kit to polish up a bit: a Merit Lotus XI, built some years ago, now a barn find and in need of some TLC. This is how it arrived, ready for restoration. And work begins. Note the wheels. My original plan to use white metal "wobbly web" wheels fell apart when it became clear I couldn't get the hubs into the slots in the chassis. These are some not great wires from a Heller E-Type (which in turn are being replaced by Tamiya Jag Mk 2 wheels). Chrome stripped. and a lot of grinding out of the tyre centres to get the discs to fit. And this is how they look after painting, washing and drybrushing. So, this Lotus will need a driver. And who better than this chap? Fujimi figure, representing one of Britain's finest wheelmen (the Suixtil shirt and identity bracelet should be a dead giveaway...) Original dashboard with a plastic card panel, holes punched for different dials, painted white, black over the top and then scratched with a pin for the markings and needles. Trial fit. Not much will be seen in the end, but I'll know it's there. best, M.

I’m liking your #2 photo there a lot, Richard. Thanks to you and Mark for the pointers! It looks like I’m free to improvise a bit from my paint locker, and possibly even leave off the top and irons... best, M.