Bugatti Fan

Really showing the potential of those old Matchbox car mix !

Very nice model of this show rod. Skeleton looks good too !

Not a lot !

Not a lot !

Coming on nicely this build. Those old Hubley kits are a bit clunky so a bit of a building challenge to whoever takes them on.

Pure nostalgia. It's how us folks here in England saw the US of that era. I England absolutely dull by comparison , until the Beatles that is.

My late father served in WW2. Try as I may I could not get him to talk about any of his experiences. All he would ever say was that God willing I would never be dragged into being called up like he was.

Great progress. What woods did you use on your model Charlie ?

There appears to be a bit of confusion in this thread about machine origins The Unimat was made in Austria originally and I believe the later Unimat 4 was made under licence in Taiwan before being discontinued. My machine is one of the Taiwanese built Unimats and built quite well. I do not know why the parent company decided to discontinue production of those very nice little machine tools. The Sherline was built in Australia originally, but the rights were acquired and bought out by Joe Martin and production moved to the USA. The Sherlines are currently in production and able to take advantage of the market space now that the Unimats are no longer in production. The Sherline range is an excellent high quality package available for miniature machinists.

If you like geo political techno thrillers have a look at the series of books by Frank Gardiner who still works for the BBC. He was shot whilst on an assignment in the Middle East a few years back and paralysed from the waist dosn. His books due to his personal experiences and being still very much hands on as a studio researcher reporter give him a very good insight into the political, espionage and military things happening in the world today.

Why is it that as you get older the years seen to have got into top gear !

The Sherline miniature machine tools look like quality pieces of machinery and available. They do have a UK outlet. I have a Unimat 4 that is an equivalent that I have had for many years and use it regularly. Unfortunately the Unimats were discontinued a few years back. The Proxxon machine is the nearest equivalent now in Europe. To anyone starting out with a miniature lathe and/or milling machine no matter what make, I would thoroughly recommend Joe Martin's book by Sherline that will give a very good general grounding about using miniature machine tools.

I guess there are people out there willing to pay silly money on eBay for kits that are often indifferent quality wise. I would love to get hold of a Pocher Bugatti T50 even a started one, but not at the crazy prices being asked. Well over 1000 UK pounds generally for what is basically a big old plastic kit of 1970's quality.

It may be possible to simulate a textured valve cover by spraying the matt colour you want, sprinkle with fine talcum powder whilst the paint is still wet and shake off the excess. The talc shou!d absorb the colour whilst sticking to the paint and give that textured finish.

The posted methods described are good solutions to the white wall painting dilemma of the model tyres have no raised sections to work up to. If a model tyre has a raised section that can act as an edge to paint up to, so much the better. I have used a Posca Acrylic White fine line marker to draw the circle by the raised section that will be the outer edge of the white walled area. The fine line marker being rigid is much easier than a paint brush to use for this type of application. Once the circles have been drawn as a guide the rest of the white wall on each can be brush painted with artists acrylic titanium white.

Having done quite a bit of magazine writing in the past, I habitually take photographs of my works in progress as an aid memoir and do the write up having those pictures to refer to. Digital photography. What a Godsend ! At model shows besides taking photos of the models, I always take photos of the entry slips with the model descriptions on them for reference. If I am building, converting or detailing a kit as opposed to scratch building I tend to write one of two worded notes on the instructions on tbe relevant areas and use a highlighter marker. Like Pierre Rivard, I stick with a particular project and see it through rather than have a number of part builds on the go.

Superb vignette ! Is Imrie Risley still in business ? Heard of them many years ago as being big in the figure modelling market.

Nice one Zippi !

Pat, my late father had a 100E that was in black way back in the early sixties. He gave me my very first driving lesson in it. 3 forward bears and reverse. Funny how some things stick in your mind down the years as I can still remember the registration number ERX 780. Zippi's street rod of the earlier Anglia/Popular is really coming on well. We used to call the original bog standard cars 'puddle jumpers' back when they were common in UK roads. The Ford model Y has been rodded quite a lot by UK enthusiasts along with the Anglia/Populars.

Any 3D printing auto model enthusiasts out there contemplating reviving (if you will excuse the pun) the Exner Revivals ? An ideal opportunity to remake kits of those vehicles with better detailing than before.

The white Sunbeam Alpine poster reminded me of my late brother's car. He was best man and took me to my wedding in it back in Sept 1968. He loved that old car and it was a nice alternative to the many MGB's around at the time.

Thanks for the mention of Norn as another UK language Les. I don't think it is a case of everyone forgetting about it rather than never having heard of it. It is nice to know that lesser known languages are still used and part of the culture of the British Isles. This thread has drifted a bit since I used the English spelling of vice when describing a pin vice. Talking of which I tend to use a couple of small Eclipse brand pin vices that are good quality tools that I have been using for 40 or years of more. I have also bought cheapo pin vices of dubious origin in the past and found their quality left much to be desired unfortunately. It's that old adage that you only get what you are prepared to pay for.

Pete, did you know that a question by an American on Quorum asked why the British people use Englisn, an American language? You just couldn't make it up ! Being English , I found that quite amusing.I Incidentally, if you think about it where US English differs from the definitive Oxford English is in the written form. If I was having a conversation with you (apart from our respective accents) we would understand each other perfectly well. Britain is very small compared to the USA, but has mainly four indigenous languages. English in England and generally in the UK. Welsn, Gaelic and Irish.

I think the OP was asking about the best drills to use in a pin vice. The shanks on PCB drill bits would be too large. There are shed loads of cheap rubbish drill bits aimed at model makers out there. My advice would be to sort out the sizes of bit used most (generally only about 2 or 3 by most of us when we look at it) and go to a good engineers suppliers who only stock good quality HSS drill bits for the trade. Really good quality items are an investment in the long run, and a few good quality bits won't break the bank either.

I built the Hubley Duesenberg kit some years ago. Agreed there is a lot of flash to clean off the die cast metal parts. But no need to go too heavy handed removing it. Some small fine warding files that are available in sets of different shapes should be enough to do the job, finishing off with some abrasives. Unless you have a lot of experience with a Dremel or similar power tool using burrs I would be more inclined to use the little cylinder shaped bits with abrasive paper around the circumference and don't go at it hammer and tongs. Once done it might be an idea to use filler primer when painting starts. Those Hubley kits are quite crude by modern standards,but with some extra work can be made into excellent models. My Duesenberg had printed vinyl stickers for the interior door panels for example that had to be replaced. Being hybrids, working the plastic parts will be familiar.