Matt Bacon

model... ;-P best, M.

Thanks, guys. @zakdoggi these are waterslide decals, though I did get the vinyl as well as a backstop. The decal carrier film is very thin, but the ink is some form of CMYK hi resolution printing, rather than screen printed single colours. That makes the ink layer quite thick, so getting the decal to conform to the compound curves around the intakes is fairly tricky. If you want to do one in these colours, I'd recommend the Indycals decals, which are screen printed, and look much thinner... best, M.

Ageing Matchbox kit, first issued in the seventies. The bodyshell has a top and two sides, in a real throwback, but you can see why. Fortunately the Revell Germany site has downloadable instructions for their (Jagermeister) reissue of this kit, which are much clearer and have better painting info than the original Matchbox version. Engine modified and detailed, and aftermarket driver figure added from the Penelope Pitlane range. Decals from Patto's Place for the iconic Martini livery, which presented a few problems in getting them to fit and conform to the body, but overall not bad at all. And yes, I know that the wheels are wrong... this car should be running on gold BBSs or possibly black versions of these dished wheels, but I like the effect of the Dayglo wheels on the "Baby" 935, so since the whole kit and decals are a bit inaccurate anyway, what the heck...? It's an "interesting" kit. I'm sure there'll be a Porsche Experten along in a mo' to correct me, but as far as I can see, the kit is a bit of a hybrid. The single turbo engine and rear screen/engine cover arrangement makes it a 1976 or early 1977 car, but the front end with single headlights and slots above the wheel arches is a late 1977 arrangement. By the time that style came in, rear view mirrors were fitted using fairings on the bonnet, raising the wing topline, there were wide "running board" sills under the doors, a channeled intake instead of each rear quarter light and a second rear window streamlining into the wing. Incidentally, that's the shape that ran in the orange Jagermeister livery that Revell offers their version of the kit in, so there's a LOT of work to do to make it into an accurate model of that car. After quite a lot of searching online, and flicking through the Veloce book on 930/34/35 racers that I have, the ONLY 935 I've found with the Matchbox configuration and engine style appears to be the Tamiya 1/12 kit, released in 1977. The Matchbox was released in 1979... best, M.

That’s the entrance to some sizeable carbon air intakes feeding the engine air boxes, so although there’s no screen at the outer end, there’ll be one deeper in the duct, because you REALLY don’t want your 918 engine choking on bits of gravel... Since, as you’ve discovered, you can’t see it in real life, I guess it’s up to you to whether to add one; I can’t remember if the Revell kit is engineered in a way that makes that easy or a complete pain... best, M.

Looks absolutely fabulous. Love the colour choice and super clean build. You obviously didn’t have any issues with the red plastic and your paint, unlike me! Best, M.

The engine is looking great, but I do wonder where they got that exhaust header layout from... I’ve never seen one that looks remotely like that. beat, M.

Thanks, guys... it’s a great event, and if you’re in the UK over a May Day weekend, I’d highly recommend it. The open access to the pits and garages is fantastic, and everyone’s prepared to chat, especially AFTER their races. It’s also amazing how Donington is all about the racing. There are cars worth millions, and the odd one in the tens, contesting wheel to wheel at every corner. Wrung out to the max, blown up occasionally, doing what racing cars are meant to do. And this year, one race we watched saw the teenage son of a seasoned historic racer, on his debut race, take the family lightweight E-type to laps 2 seconds faster than anyone else, and a deserved First place... Much more engaging and fun than F1, I’d say... best, M.

Decals from Patto's Place going on. Excellent printing and thin carrier film, and very easy to use. The only issue is that they are deigned against a 3D model of the real thing, not a specific kit. In this case, the gotcha turned out to be that Matchbox put the NACA ducts on the rear wings/fenders too far forward... That's the majority of the decals on. Still a few small ones to track down, and once they are all set thoroughly I can see that some work needs doing to bed the stripes in around the compound curves. Final clean up and detail painting to do, and she'll be ready for beauty shots... but not for a few days because we're off to Paris for the weekend... best, M.

Got the the body and chassis together. The decals emphasise pretty strongly that they shouldn't be touched after they've been put on, so I figured I'd wrestle with the bodyshell while it's still white (ish... there are some mucky areas that need cleaning up!). Annoyingly, putting the interior into the body popped some ofthe 20-year old glue on the front valance, seam but it was pretty much self-inflicted because of what I'd done at the back... Look closely, and you can see at the bottom that I've made the unequal paired exhausts using aluminium ferrules cut and mounted to the ends of the plastic parts. To the matchbox engineers credit, both lined up with the centres of the moulded "pipes" (which were both the same size). But on the real thing, the narrower pipe comes through the bumper, while the big turbo exhausts though a cutaway. I drilled the moulded pipes out, enlarged the holes and cut away below the big one. And was rewarded by the narrow pipe slotting into the smaller hole, and the big ferrule centered in the cut out. Not bad for a pre-CAD design that's not been built quite the way the designers intended... Taking a break now while the nose repairs set... best, M.

Now looking like a badass Baja Buggy: Better go fix that seatbelt that's come adrift before I forget! best, M.

Engine detailing complete, and test fitted: The front suspension is pretty detailed, but does all fit together remarkably well... if you use actual plastic cement that allows a bit of "wiggle room" as it sets... And yes, it is going to be Jack Ickx at the helm. best, M.

That looks brilliant, Bruce... lots of hard work paid off. It looks as though the kit includes plenty of detail. That speedo drive is extraordinary, and what would happen if the rod broke or came loose doesn't bear thinking about. I'm reading up on HRD bikes in preparation for building a Black Shadow shortly, and it's amazing the speed of evolution of motorbikes in the 1910-1930 period. Did Ace do their own inline-four, or buy in engines, do you know? I must look into this Aoshima bike range.... I'd never come acroos them before seeing this. You should be proud of it (and yourself!) best, M.

Seconded... it looks great. Nice colour combo as well! best, M.

1965... Mustangs and Cobras Best, M.

Dash done... The silver details at the bottom are added from sprue. And this is where we are this afternoon... best, M.

So, f you were wondering what colours this one will be racing in, here's a clue... So, whose name is on the car...? best, M.

Their early Mustangs (P-51s, not Fords) were works of art, and still haven’t resurfaced. Italeri re-released the TBF/M Avenger and B-25 Mitchell, but that could have been selling off bagged plastic rather than running new kits from the tooling. I don’t where AM kits we’re moulded, but best hope would be that the tools are still with some Far Eastern production house. Worst case they’ve been recycled for the sake of a few $000s by the creditors when AM disappeared... best, M.

That looks fantastic, and well done on getting the body together so cleanly at those front and rear valence joins! Love the colour... I just wish someone would do a transkit with the Carrera grill to do a proper Hell Green GT R... best, M.

That sting in the tail.... "will NOT be road legal". So you can take it to the track and be chased by some hoodlums in a Mercedes, but that's about it. I can't really see the point of the "sympathetic upgrades" if you can't drive the thing anywhere. Frankly, I'd rather spend that kind of money on getting a refreshed and "sympathetically upgraded" throughout DB4GT fine-tuned to perfection... this is just a big Corgi toy car (or a large version of the Airfix kit on my shelf...) best, M.

The engine is done. There'll be a bit more "gizmology" in the bay around it to connect it up a bit (coil packs, wiring and some random tubes). Now I need to find a decent photo of the cockpit... best, M.

Picked up this one for a decent price on eBay because it was started. The body had been glued together (incuding sticking the engine cover down) reasonably sturdily, but was a bit messy and yellowed by now. Everything else was OK, apart from the two engine halves being joined without the bit that's supposed to fit between them being put in place. I'm not sure why the previous owner had given up... none of these things seemed too hard to fix... First job was to get the engine cover off, and deal with the gaps that were left, and then fill the joins around the lower edge of the body. Removing the chrome resulted in a bit of a surprise. Despite its strange appearance, the plastic sticks perfectly well, and it's tough. I thought the translucence might help with the fan casing, which is a weird fibreglass in real life. Rubbish photo, but all I had to do to recover from the previous owners error was spring the barely glued seam in the transmission end, and slip the axle into place. 5 minutes and the build was back on track. I wanted to wire the distributor, but I knew there was no way I could drill 12 holes in the top of that 1/8" cylinder. So then I had a brainwave. I drilled a small hole centrally, then a larger one, and glued some rod into the inner hole, leaving me with a circular gap all around the perimeter. I figured I could get a lot of wires in there, superglued in. And I did. Not quite enough, but more on that later. On the left, the part Matchbox give you for the airbox/plenum. It doesn't look like any picture of a 935 engine I can find. This is an early car with a single turbo engine, and they seem to have had a sort of horseshoe airbox. It should actually be more tapered in the "legs", but I need it to glue on top of the stacks that Matchbox have provided. So, some heavy plastic card. Some carving and sanding later, and it looks a bit more like the real thing. The wires go six to each side, and then three to the upper and three to the lower plugs. I used heat shrink tube to bundle the wires, which gave me the opportunity to sneak in a couple of extra ones that don't actually come out of the distributor. It'll be hard to spot the deception, I hope... ;-P This one will also get a driver. I've picked up some Penelope Pitlane resin figures intended for slot cars. The one destined for the Bugatti 59 just wasn't going to fit, whatever I did to him. This guy has been slimmed down and trimmed to fit more snugly into the seat, and his legs bent more toward the pedals. Body primed with Tamiya TS-101 to cover up the grey filler on a white car problem. That revealed some more areas that needed a second pass, as you can see. I've glued on the door handles and mirrors, to be sure of a good plastic to plastic bond. They';; need painting black at the end, but there's a fair bit of black detail painting to do anyway. Test fit of the airbox, which looks more or less as I want it to. The compressed air duct from the turbo was originally designed to connect to the front tube of the original plenum part, which is obviously no longer there. It should actually disappear backwards alongside the fan housing, so I replaced the plastic piece with some conveniently 2mm diameter aluminium wire, which is flexible enough to adjust to fit when everything is joined together (the brownish turbine is glued to the pointed end of the exhaust output you can just see under the middle of the transverse engine mount bracket. Time to paint the the "plug covers" and drill them for the wires. best, M.

...and these days, they could throw in the Audi R8 Spider which is Tony's daily driver... best, M

Thanks, guys! Both the Matchbox kits and the later (60s/70s) Airfix 1/32 kits are pretty impressive, and a world away from the Highway Pioneers/1st Generation Airfix kits of the 1950s. Sadly, Airfix is pretty limited in its re-releases, so although a handful of the 60s cars (DB5 and E-Type) come back regularly, some real gems like the Jaguar 420, Sunbeam Rapier, Mercedes 250SL and Maserati Indy languish in the vaults. Maybe the new Vintage Classic range will bring them back into the daylight. The Matchbox kits constantly surprise me with the detail they HAVE included. Half a dozen times as I built these, I’ve spotted something on a reference photo and thought “how am I going to make that bit?” only to discover that there’s at least a basic plastic version in the box already. The wheels are the only consistent issue, but that’s state of the art plastic moulding in the UK c1980. @peekay the wire wheels alone are a reason to get the Tomy SS100. It’s a lovely kit, and shows its finesse sitting next to the MBox in my cabinet... but I lucked in on the price of mine, so it was less than £20.... similar to what people want for the Matchbox. It’s not a Classic British Kit, but I’ve got an Arii/MicroAce 911S on the way... it’ll be interesting to see how it compares. i’ve started the Matchbox Porsche 935, which, since it’s not in a GB elsewhere I’ll post a build of here, starting shortly! Thanks again for your interest and positive comments, all... best M.

Tamiya TS-101 white sealer primer works well for me... best, M.

Thanks very much, all! Someone elsewhere wanted to know how big it is, so here you are: There's a story to those Humbrol tinlets. Both were used on this build. The 55 Copper is for sure 35 years old, because I bought it when I was painting metal D&D figures at 17 or so; the Railway Authentics Steel is probably even older, because I inherited those paints from a guy in his 60s when I was 25... Both worked perfectly after a quick stir! Here's a nice grid of 1930s Historic Racers, ready for the off: Airfix 1930 Alfa Romeo (2300), Matchbox Bugatti Type 59, Matchbox Aston Martin Ulster, and Airfix MG K3 Magnette. And finally, the current Matchbox 1/32 built cars in my collection. I have an MG TC, Porsche 935 and Auto Union Type D still to do, and there are obviously quite a few more to be had, if I can find them at reasonable prices (£30+ for a Citroen TA or Packard Victoria seems rather a lot!) best, M.