Bugatti Fan

Nice off the shelf model. Would a did cast website be a more suitable outlet?

Model Making as opposed to Kit Building................Superb!

Has the magazine ceased production since two years ago? Lost track since delivery schedules started to go out and my copies stopped coming. The magazine has never been available off the shelf in UK retail outlets so cannot gauge what is happening by that aspect.

Got a feeling that either Bandai, Gakken or Nichimo may have kitted this prototype car in the late 60's early 70's. There was a Lamborghini Marzal prototype kitted at about the same time as well.

Force, maybe it was the AMT R600 that Alistair did the conversion kit for. It was a very long time ago since he showed me his box of bits.

Force, you are correct that the Ertl kit is not a best starting point. I saw Alistair McLaughlin's conversion kit when he was developing it.. There was a huge lot of stuff in it including a completely moulded cab sleeper to the correct size. Not sure if he ever got around to marketing it or not. The AITM resin kit is probably the best way to go as you I timated.

A guy in the UK named Alistair McLaughlin was making a conversion kit for the Ertl kit with Vac form, resin and PE parts to correct it. Do not know if still available or not. Would imagine that AITM's kit is a complete resin kit. I think that the same company makes a resin front end hood cab to build a Peterbilt Needle Nose like the Duel rig.

Paasches at bargain prices? You lucky guys in the US! Paasche never really seemed to promote their air brushes much to model makers, even though one of the very oldest manufacturers dating back to the 1920's I think. Way back in the 70's when air brushes became the newest must have model making accessory, Thayer and Chandler, Paasche and Badger flew the the US flag and DeVilbiss in the UK with their Aerograph range. Badger seemed to latch onto the model making market first whilst the other 3 still aimed at the Graphic Design market. Many good and not so good airbrushes have appeared since.

As auto modeller we tend to forget that the core market of the big manufacturers are the aircraft and military modelers. RevellI are sure to survive one way or another..

The UK stores were dreary anyway despite not selling model kits. The way you were guided through passage ways into and out of the stores made you feel as though you could not be trusted! Staff were generally indifferent and the ones I spoke to lacked product knowledge. Not surprised they went to the wall!

Coronet, it is surprising now many languages owe their development in part derived from aspects of the Latin language. Not surprising when you consider that Latin was the language of ancient Rome and it's influence throughout the Roman Empire. Chris. Interesting that some words from our side of the pond have found their way into common use in the States.

Don, The 'Some one ought to tell Microsoft there is no such thing as US English' was a tongue in cheek joke! Most of us Brits can understand and use both versions like yourself. US English tends to be more phonetic in the way many words are spelt, for example the English English word Tyres is spelt Tires in the US. Regarding your mention of Welsh English, well actually no, Welsh is altogether a completely different language to English spoken mainly in North Wales and is derived from ancient Celtic, as is the Gaelic language spoken in more remote areas of Scotland, and the Irish language spoken mostly in the far West of ireland. As you mentioned the Robbie Burns poem you posted is written in an old form of English from that period. It does however have a number of local Scottish colloquialisms thrown in for good measure. Due to the influence of Movies and TV programmes over the years from the States, many Americanisms are now becoming more common place in use over here in the UK. What we used to refer to as flats are now referred to as apartments, and a post mortem is more frequently being termed an autopsy.

There is a joke here in England that someone ought to tell Microsoft that there is no such thing as US English!

Do I get offended by all this peeving? No! Amused by it all? Yes! I think I will just have another Bud!

It is just a hobby at the end of the day! Each to their own. Everyone has their own skill level so just chill out, live and let live!

James, regarding diecast models, generally they are aimed at collectors rather than model makers. However, they can have their uses to the Model maker. Just recently I have grafted a load of resin and white metal kit bits from a very crude M G Metro 6R4 Rally Car kit onto a Burago diecast Metro, carving the more accurately shaped diecast body about a bit to fit the bits and get a more realistic model.

Darwin wrote the Theory of Evolution. This hobby is no different to anything else. It will simply evolve to suit the circumstances at any given time.

As a veteran model maker I have seen many changes over the years and many exciting new developments in the quality of kits, materialx and paints etc. On the downside, however there has gradually been a demise in hand skills amongst youngsters generally. I am an engineer by trade, brought up old school through the apprenticeship route, and find it hard to believe that there are people out there purporting to be engineers who have never physically made anything! Sorry but cannot see how any one can be an engineer without experience 'on the tools' so to speak. Having worked at a senior school just before retirement I was very disappointed to see the lack of practical skills most kids have these days. It seemed difficult to them at aged 16/17 to put an axle through a piece of wood and attach some pre cut wheels on it! When I let school in 1960 at age 15 I had made a coffee table with all the proper joints etc. Just a sign of the times we live in I guess.

Best thing is to decide what you want to do with the airbrush. Overall spraying or retail and mural work? Will you be using it frequently or on the odd occasion? Research what will suit your needs most and go for the best quality airbrush you can afford. Read up about the different types of airbrush and their capabilities as a little research can help here. Forums like this will show many different opinions, but in the end you must decide what will be the best for your needs and budget.

If you want a reasonably priced model of the Bugatti Atlantic , Burago makes a die cast in 1/24th scale that could be worked on.

OK Pat, understand your predicament. Will still try to find out if any of our club members is in or comes through Buckingham if this is any help to get over the transport issues if still interested. Seem to remember that one of our guys was coming over from Oxford area some time ago, so would come through Buckingham. I used to pass through regularly when my daughter lived in Oxford, so know the road between Milton Keynes and Buckingham well unless it has drastically changed within last 7 years!

Pat, I will try to find out if anyone in the club comes from or through Buckingham. Maybe it you talk to your wife that you would like to go to our club regularly she might be able to concede one evening a month. She would only be losing one evening out of the nine or ten evenings each month from her regular activities. Not an unreasonable request?

Pat, I have not had a copy either since the first instalment of extracts from the late Harry P's book Evolution of the Automobile In Scale was starting to be used as fill material in the magazine. They must have removed me from the editorial contributor mailing list at that time. It has never been sold in retail outlets in the UK as far as I know unlike Scale Auto from time to time. Fine Scale Modeler appears to be regularly available off the shelf in the UK. Unfortunately, under current circumstances you will need to decide on whether to renew or not. I see you live in Buckingham. There is a very active model club I go to not far from you. Milton Keynes Scale Model Club. We meet on the fourth Wednesday evening of each month at the Cranfield University Social Clubhouse. Hope to see you there sometime!

Been following Tim Ahlborn's Truck Stop in the magazine but it seems to have disappeared from later issue(s). Has he stopped writing his column?

Hopefully this magazine will get a handle on subscriber deliveries soon. What with Model Car Builder as a competitor and the fact that Scale Auto now has a new editorial team on board, Model Cars Magazine is now faced with a few near future challenges imposed on it by its current circumstances.