Matt Bacon

Ahh! You're right...maybe it's filed away subconsciously from my Observer's Book of Automobiles or Daily Express Motor Show Specials... bestest, M.

Seriously? No... No more so than Semper Fi, The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday or Sua Sponte come from Sanford and Son... It's the motto and cap badge of the SAS, which is the only organisation that was operating deep behind German lines in Libya in 1941, and was back there again 70 years later... bestest, M.

As soon as I see right hand drive, I think UK or Japan. It looks a lot like a Sunbeam or Hillman or even Vauxhall of the early '60s, but they never did the rearward-sloping A-pillar, so then it was a matter of turning Japanese... bestest, M.

...and another test: At last... something that's actually finished: the interior. The belt material is a slightly textured plastic, and not the easiest thing to thread through the photo-etch fittings! Oh, and look who's turned up again... bestest, M.

...and now, after that word from our sponsor... I'm using the white metal engine, obviously. But the plastic one isn't bad: The exhaust manifolds are clearly rather weedy by comparison, but otherwise I don't think it looks bad at all. Testing out the fit of the wheels. You start to realise how petite the chassis is when you see the wheels and engine in place. bestest, M.

Thanks, gentlemen! I couldn't resist this: The help has arrived... bestest, M.

OK, it's not a car model, so feel free to skip ahead... ;-P It's a 1/35th scale diorama set in the Libyan desert. In the centre is an LRDG Chevrolet truck. Half the diorama is black and white, half colour, with the dividing line down the centreline of the truck. In the black and white half, the truck is loaded and carrying it's LRDG crew. An SAS jeep is parked next to the truck, and several SAS troopers are gathered around the bonnet, looking at a map. The other half of the truck is in colour, and looks like this: Parked next to it is a modern Special Forces Land Rover WMIK, in full colour, with a several modern figures, one holding a GPS receiver, and the other two looking at the truck. It'll be called: "Who Dares Wins: Ghosts" bestest, M.

First of all, thanks to cobraman and afx for helping me out with a question about the orientation of brake callipers on a 427 S/C. afx sent through a link to a site with many many detail photos which not only answered the question I was asking, but provides a tonne of reference for other bits of the car. Good man! 1965 Shelby Competition Cobra This is another test fit, now the engine is fully finished: Starting to look like a car now. NB: Before you glue the engine in position, feed the lower radiator hose through the centre lower triangular gap in the chassis frame cross bracing, and leave it loose in there. It will not go through with the engine in place, past the crank pulley. It will ESPECIALLY not go through it you try and work it the way the Revell/Monogram instructions would have you do it, after attaching it to the radiator. At least the Hasegawa instructions want you to try and feed the pipe through separately, but it still won't go. (edited after the fact, in case you're reading this before or during your own build!) The exhaust manifolds are painted with a new paint from Vallejo Metal Color called, wait for it... "Exhaust Manifold". And washed with AK Interactive "Exhaust Wash". Im liking the effect very much. I polished the white metal discs, and left the callipers in rough bare metal, which looks pretty close to the real thing. Since the location of the rear discs on the frame is not very positive, I've glued them to the rear wheels instead. The front pair will go onto the chassis before the wheels are added, as the instructions suggest! Now for some seat belts... bestest, M.

I'm sure that's true... but I'm pretty sure that not having an accelerator pedal _at all_ isn't right. I shall be making one today... ;-P bestest, M.

Finally, the cockpit is getting there: The wires will become the door latch handles. A crude but workable system, and the FM white metal parts are exquisitely detailed… bestest, M

And the engines, more or less done… bestest, M.

The white metal rims, gently sprayed with Tamiya “Smoke” and flat varnished. Now, tyres… Original hard vinyl tyres, press fitted onto a socket, and spun up to sand off the mould seam and distress. Post-“wearing”. I appear to have a pair of Michelin TRXs at the front, and some Goodyears at the rear! The end result. Air filters. (R) the white metal Fine Molds version, (L) the Monogra, plastic piece, with the help of a Gundam pen… bestest, M.

Thanks, guys... Progress is being made -- don't credit me too far, please, Rob: the "staining is just "good enough" painting! The handbrake and gear shift are white metal parts, the pedals, original Monogram plastic. Pretty good, I reckon. Odd how they did the AC logos, but ignored the accelerator completely! Wheels, huh? So, these are the original white metal rims, untouched. There or thereabouts, but I’m not quite convinced… And these are the Monogram plastic parts, the rear faces are sprayed with Humbrol Metalcote Steel, the fronts with Humbrol Aluminium (56) …and this: Is what they look like built up. bestest, M.

This looks like it could be really good entertainment: A bunch of enthusiasts getting together to turn outlaw road racing into the first sanctioned motoring event in 60 years... ...and please NO POLITICS!!! bestest, M.

The kit part. The instruments are just dry brushed with white, highlighted here and there with red, and then filled with Citadel 'Ard Coat clear varnish. Test fitted. That big ol' engine is certainly shoehorned in there! bestest, M.

...gosh, it's been a long time since I documented anything on this build! Anyway, on with the show: You can get a much better idea of the colour of the body. It's Zero Paints colour matched Guardsman Blue. Not too many parts here. The FM version of the kit provides the wheel carriers and diff casing in white metal, and both are crisper than the plastic mouldings Again, you can tell which is the metal engine and which the plastic, but Monogram's original tooling is pretty good. Now for the airbox, which is noticeably too chunky as a plastic part. Crash moulded replacement. The plastic is packaging material. Thin masking tape painted black for the "foam" seal. It's amazing how much detail both companies have put in to the carb block, considering it's almost all going to disappear under the air filter... bestest, M.

Actually, most of them are in England. In fact, most of them are in the same English county... ;-P There's just a couple of pesky Italians and possibly a Swiss outfit... bestest, M.

Lovely job... it is one of the most beautiful cars I know, and one of Revell's finest kits. I just wish I could have found a kit with the real hardtop rather than having to convert the soft hood... BTW -- it looks like you have the fuel filler on the rear deck as in the original kit. The John Surtees car has it in the right rear fender, just above the wheel arch. Is that a one-off, or did BMW move it at some point, do you know? bestest, M.

You want to try the E-Type Challenge or even HRDC Academy, never mind assorted small Lotuses... They aren't the only thing you'd want on the bill at a race day meeting, but it is fantastically competitive racing where driving skills make the difference between podium and tail-ender... By far the most "pure fun" historic racing I've watched is the pre-66 <2litre class, which is essentially a bunch of Minis vs a bunch of Lotus Cortinas, with the occasional Alfa GTA and BMW2002 thrown in to liven things up... The great thing is that the Minis and Cortina are driven in completely different styles, with the Cortinas going away down the straights, and the Minis getting it all back in the corners. A BMW has won it the last couple of times I've watched, but it did have Jackie Oliver behind the wheel, and he's got form... bestest, M.

Yeah, but they ain't. They're trying to pass a law that doesn't allow street cars to be modified into race cars. Unless I'm missing something, donks (new word for me today, so bear with me) aren't race cars, they're street (show-off) cars, because as you point out, they'd never perform well enough on track to beat anything, never mind a car dedicated to on-track performance. Implication the first ==> The OP should be called out on the fact that the EPA's proposed legislation has nothing whatever to do with donks, and even if their interest may have been triggered by modified cars, the legislation they are proposing will have no effect on big wheel cars on the street one way or another. Implication the second ==> the entire foundation of auto racing that's not the top rank of specially-built dedicated racing cars on racing-only chassis originally constructed for the track is under threat. THAT'S a rather bigger deal, I'd venture, than whether or not a few self-taught auto stylists are free to mess up the safety and performance of their vehicles with inappropriate wheels and suspensions. Frankly, I could care less whether I never see another big-wheel conversion on the road (actually, I've never seen one. They don't seem very common over here). However, I do care if ill-drafted legislation starts the slippery slope of expecting cars that spend the majority or all of their time on the track to meet the same emissions regs as standard street cars or be banned. It may start in the US, but if it becomes law, before too long some EU bureaucrat will be saying "Hey, that's a neat idea..." bestest, M.

That was what I was wondering above... Bill... are you saying that somehow the EPA noticed big wheels and air-jack suspensions and as a result decided to legislate against street cars modified into dedicated racing cars ? Surely cars that fall over in corners on regular roads are more the NTSB's problem? Whatever started it, the EPA proposal is going to affect a bunch of people who like to prep race cars, isn't it? That can't be good... I would have thought that the SCCA would have had at least as much to say about this than SEMA, but what do I know? If it were happening over here, there'd be a number of one-make series that would be in big trouble. Today, anyone who wants to can buy a Ginetta G40R (which is a road car, albeit one that's mostly intended for "run what you brung" track days), and upgrade it into a track only weapon, for example. At the margins there are quite a few examples of only-just-road-legal cars that you can mod in your garage into dedicated track only specials. And beyond that, there are a bunch of people who will take a more or less standard saloon and turn it into a rally stage or touring car contender. So if you buy one of these: http://www.caranddriver.com/news/lotus-evora-cup-race-car-car-news that has only ever been a pure racing car, you're OK. But if you buy a fast-road Evora and upgrade it in your own garage to the same spec, the EPA wants to ban it? What does the EPA expect people building race cars to start with? A blank sheet of paper, some steel tubes, and a set of welding gear? And anyway, surely it's the engines and their state of tune that are the issue in terms of emissions, not the car that they are in? I doubt ANYONE is going to build a racing engine completely from scratch... bestest, M.

Err... which part of that press release says anything about wheels? My reading is that the EPA is trying to stop people modding the engines of their street cars, which have to meet emissions regulations, to create a "race-car" instead, which will be exempt from the Clean Air Act, and then driving it around daily on the roads as well as occasionally racing. You may well think that's a step too far, but it is legitimately in the EPA's area of activity. It's not the people who sell big wheels and daft suspensions who need to worry... it's an entire industry dedicated to after market tuning, remapping, blowing etc etc. I don't know whether a 900+ BHP Nissan GT-R meets current emissions regs, but I kinda doubt it... bestest, M.

Aint this a beaut...? http://www.eaglegb.com/pages/aluminium-47-litre-engine#.VrOhFsc5yi8 bestest, M. [who wishes we hadn't lost the option to "preview" a post to see whether the hit-or-miss picture embedding function is playing nice this time or not...]

It's bigger. That's almost literally the only difference, in that the parts breakdown, and what they offer, are pretty much the same... bestest, M.

Because they are? (though I'd be prepared to include the words "mass produced" in that sentence). YMMV, clearly, looking at the dreadful heap in your avatar ;-P bestest, M.