Matt Bacon

That's the boy! I'm thinking of cutting it at the line separating the "engine bay" from the floor under the tub... bestest, M.

Thanks, guys.. I will take some pics when I'm back at the workbench on Friday, I promise. I notice most of the EM series kits I've seen are the Targa-topped GTS. I wonder if that's more flexible than the solid-roofed version I have... bestest, M.

Thanks for the advice, guys. I think you must be talking about the "Enthusiast Model" version of the kit, because I've tried every which way with the kit I have and there is no way the chassis goes in intact. And that's just trying to get the single chassis piece into the body, without the tub or anything fitted to it. The front goes in deep but the chassis is about 1/4" wider at each side than the rectangular cut-out in the rear valance, and I can't twist it or bend it (both of which would be more difficult with the tub fixed in place) to go through that hole. However, there's an "obvious" cut line at the back of the tub, where the "curbside' lower part of the engine and rear suspension is. I think if I cut it there, after attaching some strip to the back of the tub to provide a solid fixing to rejoin the two parts, the rear end will go in after the front is in... Film at 11, when I get up the nerve to cut it... bestest, M.

...if only they'd removed that hideous script on the side while they were at it... bestest, M.

Couldn't resist adding some new pictures: ..that last one is a bit quirky, I know, but I really like the composition, somehow... bestest, M.

If anyone wants any more details of the set up I'm using, there's an explanation here: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=2305&p=1387674 bestest, M.

I wanted to improve my model photos from this: To this: The original is not bad... it's taken outside, on a bright overcast day, using a little point and shoot Canon camera and macro mode. However, to step the game up to the next level required some investment... I wanted the images to be "pin-sharp" everywhere, so I needed to get the best possible "depth of field". The trouble is, when most camera books talk about "macro" or "close-up" photography, they are trying to achieve a sharp focus on the object you want, but also to BLUR the background or nearby other objects, so they want a _narrow_ depth of field. To get the depth of field, you need a small aperture (high F-stop) and LOTS of light. So my first investment was these: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151545726620 They have equivalent of 2000W of lights on each one (fluorescent, though, so they don't get hot), and the "softbox" in front diffuses it. My second investment was an old Canon EOS400D ("Rebel Xti" to you guys) digital SLR. It's a few years old, cost very little, but gives you full control of everything, unlike the point and shoot. I made my own background from an old and large printer box we had lying around -- about a 30" cube. I cut off the top, front, and most of the sides (just leaving a "web" triangle to hold the back up vertical. The background is just a piece of white card held in place at the front and the top with clips. It forms a natural smooth curve from the flat bottom to the vertical top (the equivalent of what photographers call an infinity wall) I have put the lights on each side, up close, so they're flooding the whole white card, and the car in the middle. After a lot of messing around, I figured out that actually the basic 55mm single focal length lens that comes with the camera rather than the zoom was the best. That will take full screen images of a car from about 45cm away, the closest it will focus, and as you can see from the prancing horses on the SA Aperta's sides, wheel and boot-lid, it'll be in focus everywhere. I have the aperture set to F/25 or 29 in aperture priority mode, which gives exposure times of 1/4 to 1/2 second. As a result, you absolutely need a tripod to keep the camera still. And I happen to have a remote release which means I can trigger it without touching the camera -- another potential source of wobble. You can get the same effect by setting the timer, though, and letting it trigger itself after you've stepped back. So the answer is a tripod, lots and lots of light, small (high f-stop number) aperture and slow exposures. In the earlier pictures, I left the garage lights on to show more of the set-up. Taking pictures for real, I turn all the other lights off, to prevent any stray light affecting the exposure of the real subject. The end result is this: bestest, M.

Thanks very much, guys... here's a new one: ...you can tell that this one has been on my shelf a while! bestest, M.

Fair enough... ...though I do HAVE a Heller kit, and the Tamiya one is just a promise over the water, today. Am I likely to build the Heller kit _after_ I have the Tamiya one? No. It actually looks pretty well-shaped compared to plans. And I learned my lesson from the Uhlenhaut Coupe that expecting gull-wing doors to open (and close) was a fool's game, so that's not so important to me. As an paid-up member of a "Classic Kits" SIG, where we believe that old kits have much to offer, and we shouldn't all be waiting for the "state of the art", then it's almost my DUTY to build the Heller, just to show that it can be done. Right..? bestest, M.

I think, just to be contrary, I'm going to have a go at my Heller kit BEFORE my splendid new Tamiya one arrives... I must have some Dark Admiralty Grey somewhere, left over. bestest, M.

Great! Thanks, Jeff... that was what I was hoping... Yours looks brilliant. I'm going for the ex-Keith Richards car, in silver also... bestest, M.

Thanks very much, guys... @MikeG -- the SA Aperta is my take on Ferrari Rosso Fuoco, made by using Tamiya rattle cans: TS-39 Mica Red over TS-84 Metallic Gold. I came up with the idea after building an Iron Man armour, and thinking that the red over gold looked very like the "electric red" of the Ferrari. There's no visible flake at all, which matches the original rather well... @Randy D -- softboxed powerful sidelights and a white background (plus a tripod) is the key. I'll take a photo of the set-up next time I construct it! bestest, M.

Hi, all... looking for some advice. The Fujimi Dino 246 has a separate lower nose valance, which kinda "fits where it touches". The chassis won't go in with it in place, so the instructions have you add it last after the chassis is in. The problem is that there is no real panel line at the join: What I'm wondering is, has anyone found a neat way to deal with this? I'm thinking that If I separate the chassis into two pieces, under the interior tub, I could get it in with the valance in place, by putting the rear end with tub in first, and then rotating the front part into position "up n'under" to glue into place on the base of the tub. Anyone tried that and discover that it won't work, or got an alternative plan that definitely does? bestest, M.

A few taken to experiment with a new photography set-up which I thought I'd share: bestest, M.

Thanks so much, guys... I'm beginning to get the hang of the new photo set-up properly now, so, without further ado: bestest, M.

Thanks for the kind words, guys. Tom -- the blue is Zero Paints "French Racing Blue", which is described as "similar to TS10". I used it rather than a can because I really like the Zero system with 2K clear. The windows I masked myself. There's only one tricky bit, the base of the windscreen, which I just cut freehand parallel to the edge. All the other areas are defined by the raised mouldings inside the clear part. The opening side window "frames" are just cut out of electrician's insulating tape, using a card template which I flipped over to get two identical side when I was happy with how it looked held up against the window. ...and here's a nicer picture, taken to test out a new photo set-up: bestest, M.

Brilliant! Where's he headed? On display somewhere, I hope! bestest, M.

Thanks, guys...and now, the blue beast is back, and this time it's brought a friend: ...a pair of early 90s supercar classics. Just the F50, Diablo and NSX to go now! bestest, M.

Thanks, guys... Mike, I've had another run through the images and cleaned them up slightly differently. I think the blue tint is a lot less noticeable now! bestest, M.

The EB110 is a car that looks much better in the flesh than photographs, generally, and looking at the model has the same effect. It's a much better-resolved design than it looks at first glance. Probably one of the hardest kits I've ever built. The level of detail is fantastic, especially around that complex engine bay, but sometimes it's more ambitious than the toolmakers could live up to. The body shell out of the box is pretty flimsy, with "working" front bonnet and engine cover, so I glued them in place to help straighten out the main body piece. Full build WIP, with all the gory details, here: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=99294 bestest, M.

Because I had two kits (one bought very cheap for spares to get some tyres) I could use the two headlight covers that fitted best, by flipping one over. I also noticed that all the photos I have show the EB110 with funky split side windows. These are made from electrician's insulating tape, using a single card template flipped over to ensure that they are identical one side and the other... Proper photos to come in Under Glass in the next few days. bestest, M.

The inside's inside the outside. As you can tell from the tape, there's a lot of inside to get inside... Interesting popping and clicking noises as it flexes into place, but I don't think anything critical has fallen off. One important point: if you do as I did and fix the front bonnet into place to beef up the structure, before you glue it, tape the body shell down on a tile or glass sheet to ensure the base is completely flat. On mine, the "nose" ahead of the front wheel arches droops slightly, which makes it harder to get the front of the undertray in place. I don't know if this is a result of gluing in the bonnet panel, or just another example of the potential for warping this fragile bodyshell in the box. Now to leave this to set very solid for a good 12 hours. bestest, M.

Thanks, gentlemen... The chassis is now complete, and ready to squeeze into the body: ...the body, however is not yet ready! bestest, M.

Where did you find the code? I looked high and low to try and find one so I could get Steve at Zero Paints to mix it. For him, it needs to be in the Lechler database, and I couldn't find any Jaguar Silverstone Green in there. JD3 isn't a code in the Lechler database, and it looks pretty short for a Jaguar code in that DB (the are a few that start JD, but they are all JDx NNNN with an extra letter and several numbers) The tricky thing is how different it looks in different lights: bestest, M.

Could be -- but at best part of $40 a can it'd be a brave man who took a gamble ;-) bestest, M.