Matt Bacon

You could check out the Donington Historic Festival May Day weekend: http://www.doningtonhistoric.com It's only about 35 minutes drive from Mallory Park according to Google, so should be reasonably accessible for you! And there's a whole lot of the sound and smell of the exhaust and oil going on... https://cmatthewbacon.smugmug.com/Cars/Donington-Classic-Festival best, M.

Hi, all... I'm on the hunt for a Porsche 911 964 kit, mostly for the chassis. Ideally, it would be one with a full engine. So far I've found the Fujimi kit, which comes in Carrera 2/4 form (which I have) and Carrera 3.0 RSR, which I don't, but the chassis in both kits is exactly the same, with a very simplified rear end. I have a Revell (Germany) Carrera Cabrio '93, which has more detail, but is going to be a lot harder to fit into the Fujimi-sized body shell that it is destined for. Anyone know of any other 964 kits with a decent chassis, or am I doomed to trying to hack the back end of the Revell kit onto the Fujimi Carrera 2/4 chassis? Thanks! best, M.

If you want to learn more about the biggest robbery in English history, then this: http://a.co/hqYFI4f If a very enjoyable lightly-fictionalised version! As for the Mark 10, I'd have to agree, it's a pretty ungainly beast. Though why no one has kitted is successor, the XJ, which was out of this world in its day, and remained Jaguar's flagship for an astonishing 24 years 1968-92. All the best, M.

If you have a gaming shop nearby, Citadel’s washes... Nuln Oil (black) in particular... are very good, and come in assorted colours which can be used for more subtle panel lines on coloured vehicles... best, M.

I sold off a bunch of built 1/48 airplane models on eBay when I moved house. The standout success was an Aeroclub (somewhat obscure limited run manufacturer) Chipmunk (aircraft flown in by many Air Training Corps cadets). They were all built to the same (reasonable but not genius) standard. What made the difference was the fact that it was unusual and that it meant something to a wider audience. Still, it barely paid minimum wage for the hours I’d spent! best, M.

Thanks folks. I think I've now done all the engine detailing I'm going to: And I'm glad to confirm that the engine cover will still close around all that wire: best, M.

Well, I certainly won't dispute the brilliant mind, but let's give thanks that we had him for _50 years_ more than the doctors thought possible when he was diagnosed. And maybe the failing body is part of what drove the mind to be so brilliant: "Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see, wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious. However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at. It matters that you don't just give up." RIP Prof. Hawking best, M.

http://www.hyperscale.com/2017/reviews/tools/brevecosinglebladenipperreviewjh_1.htm They're GRRRRRREAT! best, M.

http://www.hyperscale.com/2014/reviews/kits/kinetcik3207reviewbg_1.htm https://www.largescaleplanes.com/reviews/review.php?rid=1655 https://www.largescaleplanes.com/articles/article.php?aid=2778 https://www.largescaleplanes.com/articles/article.php?aid=1776 https://www.largescaleplanes.com/reviews/review.php?rid=835 I thought I remembered it being a Vintage Fighter release originally... best, M.

Thanks, guys... and thanks to Tim for the reference material. A quick test fit with the roof, just to see how the engine bay frames work when complete: Wiring and detailing the fenders begins: This will all be tamed, honest, with the help of some heat shrink tubing... ...and end up looking like this. Meanwhile... There's a bigger hose running through the engine bay. After various experiments, I think solder, wrapped in wire, with heatshrink tubing overall, results in something that will go just where you tell it (unlike guitar string, which I tried) and will snug down underneath the body shell components, bending as needed. Speaking of which, I had to try it out... ...brilliant engineering, as you'd expect from Tamiya... but not much room for paint! best, M.

The two stage supercharger for the Merlin was invented at Rolls Royce, and refined by Stanley Hooker at RR, who went on to be a leading light in the development of jet engines right up to the Pegasus which powered the Harrier, and recovering the RB211 from the issues that bankrupted RR in the 70s... Not Much of an Engineer Credit where credit is due... best, M.

This is a late-Griffon-powered Seafire: the rather excellent Airfix kit from the '90s of a Seafire 47... The proportions are very different when there's a Griffon upfront. The Griffon marks were different enough that originally they weren't going to be Spitfires any more... over twice the power, half as heavy again as the Mk 1, though the fuselage from the firewall to the joint in front of the tail remained the same, everything else was different. The only comparable example in more recent times is the F-16's evolution from lightweight fighter to badass mud-mover. The Packard Merlin powered examples of anything (Lancaster as well as Spitfire) were always given different Mark numbers, because the spares weren't interchangeable (I think the Packard Merlin's also used US standard threaded fasteners as well as mass-production suited manufacturing techniques...) best, M.

The Meteor is a Merlin adapted for powering tanks... ie only at ground level. Most “Merlin” powered mad cars you hear about are actually Meteors... best, M.

Polystyrene and ABS are chemically related: you can think of ABS as like polystyrene with added rubber for toughness. So glue that works on regular polystyrene works on ABS, but not as well... hence you need the "hottest" styrene glue to bond ABS. Scalextric slot cars are moulded in ABS, because it takes crisp detail almost as well as regular polystyrene moulding, but won't be terminally trashed if you flip your Mini Cooper off the table cornering too fast... Not sure why you'd mould a regular "kit" in ABS, though: the upside in toughness to resist being played with regularly seems like it comes with a big risk that most people couldn't put it together so it stays that way! best, M.

Thanks, all... today I have mostly been applying carbon fibre (and there's also some I'd done earlier!) Boy, I'm glad I've broken the back of that task now! The last is just press fitted together... there some more detail painting to do before it's all glued. But you get an idea of what'll be visible when it's finally all together... best, M.

Thanks, guys! @Gt fan I'm a bit nervous of the hairdryer, since the last time I tried, on the slow speed, medium heat, it STILL blew the decal in question half-way across the room and under the bed! @Dann Tier Oh, yes, I'm a big fan of the new sprue nippers. This is the first kit I've used them on, and they go through anything like a knife through butter, with a amazingly straight cut. Tamiya has been pretty clever about the sprue attachments, and these will cut cleanly across the flat edges of the parts with minimum clean up need... just a swipe with a sanding stick. That said, the sprue attachment points on the wheel carriers are the only ones I've found so far which even the tiny pointed nippers can't get at to cut cleanly... best, M.

I'm not sure what brought this to the top pf the build pile -- re-watching Chris Harris's excellent film online, maybe... Anyway, time to get on with a serious build of a serious kit: Being Tamiya, I know the fit and engineering will be amazing. To make life harder for myself, I've also got the Tamiya photo-etch and carbon decal sets. Gulp! I alos bought this: Perhaps overkill to get some orange wires, but this lot should last my entire car-modelling life! It's 30AWG, so pretty fine, and has a solid copper core, all the better for drilling tiny holes and gluing in place. The journey of a thousand miles, and all... it's quite the power plant. And don't worry, I'm not going to continue at this pace all the way along... Those wires are coming in handy now... A closer look at the exhausts... I'm quite pleased with the heat staining effect. They are sprayed with Molotow Chrome, and then AK True Metal wax in purple, brass and blue applied over the top. Subtle, but really easy to do... Rear frame and the top pf the tub in place. Great fit, as you'd expect from Tamiya. It's not too obvious, but I've started applying the carbon decals. They are strong, thin and flexible-sh, but don't respond much to the setting solutions I have (Micro-sol and Daco Medium). I'm doing them a few at a time so as not to go mad, and hitting them with a hot damp cloth when thoroughly dry, which seems to work. I've also finally figured out that I really do need to cut the carrier film from around each one to get a good fit with the smaller pieces. It's a pain, but then so is the whole process, so it's not too much EXTRA pain... I've got all the carbon on the main chassis now, but it's drying in the airing cupboard, so no pics yet. best, M.

You'd better just hope that the prize isn't one of these ugly beasts, or even a model of one... ;-P best, M.

Well, the guys writing in Octane and Modern Classics all say that any tyre that's over ten years old should be replaced, whatever state the tread is in, and actually low mileages or storage accelerate the ageing process. Bottom line is, if you buy a 90s classic with 50K miles on the clock wearing original tyres, change them, pronto. Especially since if you're buying a 90s classic, it's likely to be one you want to drive enthusiastically, and the consequences of catastrophic tyre failure could be fatal for the car, you, or some innocent passer-by. As Leno said in the Garage ep on the XJ6 I just watched, those four contact patches are the only thing that connects the car to the road, so it's worth making sure you've got the best tyres for the job, and it's not worth skimping on cheap, old, unreliable, second-hand, part-worn or inappropriate rubber... best, M.

Model, definitely. And maybe a Palmer one at that... best, M.

That's the plan... the kits has all the normal parts in: the only "Patrol Car" extras are a beacon for the roof and an extra radio, IIRC (There's a "Sprue D") with just the police parts on... best, M.

Oh, nice one... and very irritating! I bought one of these because I thought it looked cool in an issue of Hemmings Sports & Exotic: And I still didn't recognise it... best, M.

...she wasn't supermodel-tall... the D-type is pretty petite. best, M.

That is truly beautiful, Bill, and inspirational! These days, though the internet is a fabulous resource, you can probably get away with one book (for the model at least, history is another matter...): http://amzn.eu/8Y0scDb Came out last year: I bought mine for £6 in a "remaindered" book shop in the Autumn... best, M.

I hope even a Tamiya kit would come out at less than £1,000,000... best, M.