Matt Bacon

The 1/24 Lambo Revuelto will be out in October, apparently, with this to come in November: I shall certainly have one of these, but not in boring Papaya Orange... best, M.

From what reference I can find, and preserved cars, the 1930s racing Alfa P3s were a rich red, but not the virtually Maroon colour that some Alfa's sported, nor the brighter Ferrari Rosso Corsa. So I've decided to use Tamiya Italian Red, but over Red Oxide Fine Surface Primer, rather than the white (or pink) version. Of course, it's really hard to photograph so you can see exactly how the color looks in daylight in my workshop, so for now let's just say the red is on and I can move ahead with assembly... best, M.

Master Box in 1/24… best, M.

A fair bit of activity with files and sanding pads later... Time for a test with the driver... Definitely sitting too high, so out with the razor saw... Better. I've taken off pretty much all I can without the figure looking really odd in the cockpit. Perhaps the body is a bit overscale, unlike the "60s driver" I used for the Graham Hill BRM, who was definitely a bit weedy. His head is definitely above the windscreen in the Roy Cross image, so I'm not going to worry about it too much... best, M.

Looks lovely. Really nice build and photos, and I love the little door opening vignette at the end. I think I'll have to get one of these stock versions. I shouldn't worry too much about handling the stainless steel dulling it -- you're just reproducing what happens with the real thing! (The "stainless" is rust proof, but far from easy to keep looking pristine, if you happen to own one.) I saw one on the road in front of me last Autumn, and it's surprising how small and low it is... best, M.

Body assembled and mocked up on the chassis, This is the result of a couple of hours of trimming, filing and flexing, but I think this is not bad, and some glue and clamping when I finally assemble the two main elements will do the final fine tuning of the fit. I used low temperature solder on the body again. You can see it on the outside on the scuttle panel, which doesn't have a seam between the top and sides, and from the inside where there need to be shut lines between the folding and opening bonnet panels. A couple of repairs using solder as well on the cockpit coaming,and replacing the sheared off front left pin that the springs fit to with some piano wire. That needs to be strong -- the weight of this car is all supported by 8 1.2 mm diameter white metal pins. (And yes, it will have the traditional perspex stand underneath...) And finally... The man himself... aren't those heads great sculpts? best, M.

Time to move on with the next one, this time more of a vintage classic: This one is going to have to use a bit of "artistic license." I'm pretty sure the "Kings of the Road picture above is the drive of Tazio Nuvolari's life, when he won the 1935 German Grand Prix in an out of date Alfa Romeo, holding off the pride of Nazi Germany: the six streamlined, state of the art Silver Arrows of Mercedes and Auto Union . The kit I have depicts the 1932 Alfa P3, which had a different front axle that didn't feature the independent suspension shown in the artwork. But it's close enough for tribute work... The main parts (there's no engine in any of these older Auto Kits). The chassis rail extensions need to be firmly fixed in place, and the tail end of the body needs to be joined and smoothed. For these two, because I want a strong joint and no filler, I've used the low temperature solder again. They are firmly fixed, so it's time to break out the files... There needs to be some careful fettling to make sure the body sits squarely on the chassis. The upside is the the white metal is can be "adjusted" with care; the downside is that parts may have _become_ adjusted in the box in the years since the kit was cast. The bonnet top helps set the inward angle of the sides, but that curve under the cockpit also has to match the curve of the chassis rails while the front end is sitting flat on the chassis. And the inner end of the rear spring mounts at the end of the curved chassis arms need to match up with those little projections at the bottom edge of the tail... It may take a while and a few steps to get there... But progress is being made. That's it for today, though... best, M.

Yes, I think there was an issue where they did that. Hopefully, it also came with clear instructions describing what has to be removed from which parts if you decide to do the low exhaust option, and two full sets of clearly marked exhaust pipes! best, M.

The set grows, with the addition of the Graham Hill 1961 BRM: best, M.

Managed to get outside to take some pictures of them all together... best, M.

@1959scudetto Oh yes… I’ve been prioritising the ones built from Classic British kits for display, but there are definitely more to be done. Genuine CBKs are the Auto Kits Alfa P3 and Lotus 25, the Western Models Mercedes W125, the Maserati 4CLT from Merit, and the Matchbox Auto Union Type D (in 1/32). But if I spread my net wider, I can do the 1963 Leader Card Watson Roadster from AMT, the 1930 Bentley and Talbot Lago from Heller, and the Healey 3000 from Revell… best, M.

I know they won’t do anything sporting a prancing horse, but IMHO their 1/12 line isn’t “complete” until it contains an Alfa 158/9 and Maserati 250F 😜 best, M.

The next in the series, pairing the Auto-Kits period white metal kit with an Immense Miniatures Graham Hill driver figure to recreate an Eagle comic cover painted by Roy Cross in 1962. And in place on the display base to reproduce the magazine cover: I'll have to wait for weather to improve to try and take a picture of them all together -- that needs to happen outside! best, M.

@Eagle36 it’s Tamiya TS-9 British Green straight from the can… best, M.

Excellent news ! I can see at least a couple in my 2025 build plans… Though I see they say the 1/12 range “Will be completed by…” a new version of the Bugatti 35. I wonder if that means no more new 1/12 tools in the future, or is just translation thing? best, M.

@Pierre Rivard RS Slot Racing in the UK has the Immense figures back in production. Mail Colin Spark at rsslotracing@gmail.com and he'll tell you what's available... @absmiami AK have a range of "flesh" paints, which I mixed and blended, but broadly he's standard flesh with highlight flesh and luminous flesh. I have them all to hand for a large scale Marilyn Monroe figure, who obviously requires subtle and sophisticated flesh tones to do her justice (and don't get me started on painting platinum blonde hair convincingly....) So, I think this is done, and ready for beauty shots. Bit of clean up required, but I think that's it! best, M. PS -- sneak preview of the final display model: I popped it in the photo booth pre-finishing, with the snapshot camera, which if nothing else demonstrates the value of decent lighting!

Not an entry in the Game, but I knew at least two people who named their baby girl Daenerys after Season One of Game of Thrones, when they thought “what a lovely name for a beautiful blonde princess.” I don’t know what they did when they discovered they had a daughter named for a murderous, incestuous, genocidal paranoiac… best, M.

A rather boring but essential small piece: Perspex disk cut off a piece of rod, and sanded to 5mm thickness, which will support a lot of the weight of the car and protect the suspension from distorting over time. My technique for these is making a slightly too tall cylinder of Blu-Tak and squishing it under the car until all four wheels touch down on the marble cakestand. Then I lift the car off and very carefully measure the height of the flattened remains. As you can see, from the side it's pretty unobtrusive. Graham ready to take his seat. The white markings (representing the blades of the oars of his London rowing club)* are sliced crossways from a white "1" decal. I'd never have been able to paint them so neatly. Les Leston Dunlop fireproof racing suit. His face is painted with AK acrylics, the suit and helmet with Citadel. Goggles filled with clear epoxy again. He's just dropped in here, but I can't get him out again until the gloss on his helmet has solidly cured tomorrow! Taking the racing line through the final bend now before emerging onto the finishing straight, I reckon (I have also cut out the windscreen, which was making me nervous, but it's impossible to photograph off the car!) best, M. (*) Damon Hill also used the same helmet design during his 1996 F1 World Championship run...

For the price, I’d really expect not to have to need “the aftermarket to provide a fix…”. They’re not exactly mainstream kits in the first place, so the opportunity for an aftermarket supplier is pretty limited… best, M.

I know 1/24 race cars are not the most popular subjects on this board, but if anyone is interested, I think the astonishing work that's gone into the Immense Miniatures range is worth acknowledging, especially since they are now available again from Colin at RSSlotracing in the UK. These are the Graham Hill heads I'm working with: I understand that the sculptor, who is the wife of the immense Miniatures founder, created these heads as 1:1 maquettes, and then they were then 3D scanned and printed as masters. The likeness is uncanny, whether it be Graham Hill, Stirling Moss, Dan Gurney or Jack Brabham, all of whom have dedicated resin heads. They are works of art, portraits in resin. best, M.

Oh, he's got one ;-P. When he's painted, he'll be pretty recognisable... best, M.

Progress on the other essential component of the tribute -- the display base: Graham's arms are now attached.... there may need to be a bit "adjustment" of the steering wheel... best, M.

I thought you might like to see my sophisticated stancing and wheel alignment jig for precision adjustment of toe-in and camber: Clearance sale marble (heavy!) rotating cakestand from IKEA for $20 and a pair of $10 3-4-5 blocks from eBay. Look at the car from any angle, and hold the wheels and suspension in place with all four tires on the ground while the glue sets. Which has got me to here: The rear track rods which may or may not have been in the kit I got but are pretty fragile in white metal, have been replaced with lengths of piano wire. Look at that distinctive and unique profile. The car's a striking shape as well.... Time to get Graham's arms sorted and fitted around the wheel. Hopefully I can do that and still get the unpainted figure out of the car, but if not I'll have to paint the arms and body separately and join them at the last moment. And I need to tackle the windscreen and mirrors, which are both a bit more complicated than on the previous white metal builds. best, M.

I’d like to have seen the video of him figuring out what was wrong with FIRST one… though it might’ve had a pretty epic run-time… I have say, though, even with much simpler, older cars you can get some pretty bizarre and hard to diagnose faults… I mean, who knew that a 2013 FIAT Panda has TWO binary “stop light switches” which can both work perfectly for their main job, but if they don’t switch in and out exactly in sync, they trigger a Christmas tree of warning lights and messages telling you the ABS, hill hold, stability control and electronic diff are disabled. Your first thought is “must be one or more of the ABS sensors, right..?”. But no, it’s just one of the computers “unable to reconcile brake position sensor signals”. So you change the switch that’s actually pushed by the brake pedal, and it doesn’t fix it. Two weeks later, a lot of reading forums by me and then my excellent mechanic dudes, and a visit to the garage later, we discover there are two of the blimmin’ things, one of which is nowhere near the brake pedal… It’s only supposed to turn the little red lights on! At least most problems, someone else has seen and posted about it online these days… best, M.

The most recent issue also lists Wes at the above email address as the guy to contact for "Advertising Inquiries", so I suspect he's your man... best, M.