Matt Bacon

The cockpit is finished: Which means the chassis is now complete: best, M.

After seeing my Huracan Performante build in progress, @Mike Chernecki, asked me what the difference was between regular Zero Paints 2K clear and the "Diamond Finish" version. I thought some others might be interested to see what they think. Mixing, application and clean up is the same as any of the Zero 2K urethane clear coats: gloss, satin, matt or diamond. <compulsory public service announcement> Wear gloves, a good chemical filtering mask, and use a spray booth with outdoor extraction. So, does the diamond look different. Well, I think I can see a difference: the shine seems richer somehow, and the colours really pop. Why, I have no idea: both the diamond and gloss coats lay down with a super smooth surface. Let's see what you think: neither of the bodyshells below has been polished, they are both as sprayed. The Lambo is Diamond, the Cali spider is regular gloss. Of course, I don't happen to have two shells the same colour, one in each type of clear -- I've switched over to the Diamond all the time now. One point to note: the Diamond hardener will cure and go solid by itself in about 6 months after opening the bottle at room temperature, so it's worth keeping it in the fridge... PS: looking on the Hiroboy.com site, home of Zero Paints, it seems that the regular gloss isn't available. The Diamond is now at a "new low price", of £18.96 for the full set of three components, which is the same as the matt and satin versions, so it looks like Steve has also phased out regular gloss in favour of the Diamond instead. best, M.

Definitely the Revell kit reboxed... and quite expensive! This is what it looks like OOB with some wiring: best, M.

If you’ve found a Fujimi EM kit of an XKSS it’s a new one on me. The Revell is a nice 90s kit, with a reasonable level of detail. It is a bit tricky to get the front shell together so that it opens properly, and it benefits from adding the highly visible rivet detailing on the body. The good news is that unlike an E-type, the real thing has visible join lines on the body, so you don’t have to worry about how to get rid of them. best, M.

Thanks, Mike... all the forged carbon you’ll see on this car is painted the same way. The trick is to do the sponging first, and then finalise the paint on the non carbon areas around it, in case your sponge is a bit wayward. You could mask around it of course, but the idea was to come up with a quick and simple solution! best, M.

Thanks, Dann... I've been stealing some other ideas from you, as you'll see... Cockpit is coming together now: Unforgiving close-up, that last one, but you can see how the "forged carbon" sponge effect works. The dash top is "alcantara" effect, as demonstrated by @Dann Tier using chalk pastels. I used the same method to weather camouflage on well-used Spitfires a while back... it's very subtle and highly controllable, and easy to redo if you mess up... More sponging effect using various shades of flat metallic silver for the "ceramic" brake discs. best, M.

Sure that's an antenna? It looks to me like it might be the top of one of the four turrets that secure the polycarbonate body to their R/C chassis... the others would be hidden in silhouette at that angle, though I do wonder what's happened to the rear wing, which looks rather broken! best, M.

Fantastic job! I know all too well what a bear that kit is to build, but it’s worth the struggle! best, M.

Thanks, Thomas... Deviating a bit from the instructions, I've built the engine now. It's hard to find a decent picture of the engine out of a car, but with the help of some eBay listings for Huracan engines, I've done some gizmology with wires to make it look a bit busier... The exhausts are are wrapped in flexible metal heat insulation, and given these are buried deep inside, scoring the surface is easier than trying to attach embossed foil... That little complicated bit on the left is all you can see of the bottom through the undertray... Now, back to the way it's _supposed_ to be built. best, M.

Thanks, Atin! Got the body painted now using real 1:1 Sikkens aqua auto paint (with thanks to Paul, who made it up for me), with Zero 2K Diamond clear over the top. Verde Hydra (LB-0062 paint code) is not a standard Huracan or Performante colour, but it's what's on the one I'm copying... This is as it comes, with no polishing of any sort. There are a couple of small specks to tidy up, but that's all... The Performante has various parts made of "forged carbon", which has a distinctive look... no weave here. As luck would have it, when I was in town yesterday, someone had parked up in a very nice Huracan Performante Spider, so I took some reference photos: Now, I could get some decals, at some cost in time and money. But I thought I'd try painting it. A few small bits of packing sponge, and a couple of shades of Citadel grey overcoated with Tamiya Smoke, and here we are... 5 minutes, no money, and I think it looks OK. It's a darn sight easier to apply to the various places inside and outside where the forged carbon is used than a decals would be, as well... Got started on the engine now... best, M. PS: while I remember, I've heard people say the side windows don't fit into the apertures. On this body, the three sprue gates on the "spider" inside the windows along the bottom edge looked like they were on the top of the mounting ledge, but looking closer I could see that they also filled the L section a bit. If you just cut them horizontally at the top and sand them smooth, you'll leave three little nubbins 0.5mm or so square inside the rebate. I had to cut them with a very sharp #11 blade vertically and horizontally to slice them out...

It looks the part, for sure. The potential issue you might find is that these Quickbuild kits are constrained by the dimensions of the “studs”. They are defined by being “compatible with the market leading brand”, ie Lego. Basically the proportions are defined by being X studs by Y studs by Z studs at the core, and they all have to be whole numbers. The outer curved layers can take up some slack, but only so much. The McLaren is something like 1/26 in one direction and 1/22.5 in the other, for example... best, M.

Well, finally got to make some more progress... this is what I'm aiming for: And this is where I've got to.... Well, I'm happy... best, M.

Me, too... best, M.

A couple of goodies picked up at a local show: The Heller kit I know... maybe not as crisp as the Fujimi, but it has a complete engine (and three different types of spring to wind on the provided jig), so I was glad to get it for £20. The T-70 is a nice production and very well presented. But I don't know much about it; the "Union Memorial Collection" kits are often Heller, but this one isn't. It's nicely detailed, and has a driver. Anyone know what plastic is in this box? best, M.

I don't know if they do this in the US, but the local window tint suppliers in the UK will send you samples (to decide exactly how black.grey/gold you want) for a few quid. I ticked a few boxes and got 6x 4"x6' pieces of tint, which will do quite a lot of 1:24/1:25 cars... best, M.

Those pages that don’t link are always the most interesting ones! best, M.

It was the gullwings that opened the door for me... I found a list on Wikipedia, thinking it was the East German gullwing sports coupe, found it wasn’t, and then looked at the other German cars on the list I didn’t know, and there it was... best, M.

I’ll miss him... he certainly knows his stuff. That said, he also liked flying close to the line, baiting the mods, whether he intended to or not, and had more than a few sense of humour failures. I guess someone will be along to tell us whether he finally went too far for the mods, or has taken his bat home because someone crossed HIS line... I’d buy him a beer, if ever we’re in the same neck of the woods. best, M.

And for those who are wondering, the answer to my additional question “what ISN’T it?” is a Ford Capri. According to Steve Saxty’s new book “The Cars You Always Promised Yourself,” a history of “Ford’s Coupes and High Performance ST, XR and RS cars”, in 1965, Ford started work on a small coupe to emulate the success of the Mustang in the US. Work started in the International Studio at Dearborn. The GBX concept was shipped to the UK, where the British team started developing it further. In Germany, the local Ford design team were working on their own alternative coupe design based around their V6 engine. As the GBX evolved, Ford decided it couldn’t justify having two similar sporty coupes in Europe, so decided to launch the British version as the Capri, with the Cologne V6 as an option eventually. The Ford Germany design was passed to Officine Stampaggi Industriali (OSI) to produce, but even with Ford sales support, the OSI version was too expensive for large scale success... best, M.

...and a small clue from me: there's a very well-known ("cult" in some circles) car from a mainstream manufacturer that was the winning proposal in an internal design competition that this design lost, which is why it ended up being used elsewhere. The winning design is the thing that this isn't... best, M.

...I wish some vendors would realise that Facebook is not the only communication channel in the world, and that some of us have consciously chosen to get off that platform, or never got on... That said, there's a lot of Beemax stuff I'll buy when it actually arrives at SpotModel or HobbyEasy. best, M.

Probably better off praying that Academy starts selling the 250SWB in Korea as an unlicensed “European Sports Racing Car” like they do/did with the California Spider as European Sports Car... All you need are some aftermarket Cavallino Rampante’s... best, M

It’s an interesting historical artefact; with the rule changes for Le Mans next year we’re unlikely to see its like again... although the cars we DO get promise to be pretty cool looking, if a bit more familiar than the exotic LMP1s... best, M.

Renaissance do some 13” Minilites intended for ‘70s Escort rally cars, which might do. Sadly, 12” ones are harder to come by... there’s a set in the SE Finecast white metal Mini kit, but it’s out of production (and an expensive kit, when you can get Revell or Tamiya kits for £15 or so...) best, M.