Bugatti Fan

Art, I was not aware that Radio Shack had gone. We used to have Tandy stores all over the place here in the UK that had Radio Shack items as regular stock. They have also long gone.. I guess that maybe Tandy was the same company as Radio Shack trading in the UK.

Mike, my apologies if my post may have seemed to appear to be going a bit political. That was not my intention. I was merely trying to express my thoughts as a concerned human being who's condolences and deepest sympathy probably like yours go out to all those folks caught up in the horror of such events.

Expressing sympathy seems not enough when these things happen. Over here in the UK one used to be able to own guns provided you were a gun club member. The police would regularly check that owners had a locked gun cabinet and the ammo locked away somewhere separate. One guy went on a rampage in Hungerford, a small country town with an AK47 and a ownership of automatic weapons was banned. The same happened afew years later to handguns when a man walked into a village school in Dunblane with a couple of handguns and shot a number of junior school kids and their teacher. From what I can gather from news coverage the hotel shooter in Vegas amassed a large arsenal of legally bought firearms. American computer technology is probably the best in the world, but there appears to be no link to flag up mass gun buying by an individual from different gun dealers. I appreciate that licensed gun ownership is very different in the USA, but some checks need to be put into place at time of attempted purchase, so that the police have some intelligence about any individual mass gun buying.

Hi Amy Further to my last post there is an auto museum that is located at Dearborn Michigan, that may be gographicallhy close enough. It is the Henry Ford Museum. Perhaps if you made an approach to them they may be interested in having the entire collection for permanent display of the car models. As another thought maybe there are museums in Detroit,home of the American car industry that may be interested. Perhaps the other models could be displayed in a Chicago museum or exhibition centre.. I saw amongst the photos a gold and white Deusenberg that may be of interest to the Cord Auburn Duesenberg Museum in Indiana.

Hi Amy, Maybe this has been suggested already but perhaps the International Model Car Builders Museum in Salt Lake City may be interested in your late dad's model if you have any left over to donate to them.

Seek out a store like Maplins in the UK or Radio Shack in the US and see if you can obtain very thin diameters of screened cable. Strip off the outer insulation to expose the metal screening. Basically this is what modellers are buying as scale braided hoses.

Not tried this myself yet but would suggest experimenting on a small piece of plastic card to see what works. Another alternative would be chrome bare metal foil over painted with translucent acrylic if the lamps are part of the main body moulding. Whilst on the subject of lights, I have used bm foil stuck to the rear of transparent plastic lamps for its reflective qualities and used the translucent red or orange on rear lamps and on the front headlamps a coat of clear. As the lamps have foil backing either a spot of epoxy adhesive or something like Humbrol Clearfix will do the job.

We all get like this at times when the enthusiasm wanes. How I got over this was to model something different and completely out of my comfort zone, a sailing ship. Try something different, a figure, aircraft, ship, science fiction or whatever needing to learn a completely different skill set in the process. Sometimes what we do becomes all too familiar, so sometimes a change could be as good as a rest.

Have read all the posts on this thread, so have a chuckle at these. Managers and marketeers are driven by emotion. Engineers work by logic. The pessimist says the wine glass is half empty. The optimist says the wine glass is half full. The engineer says the wine glass is twice the size that it needs to be. A graduate with an engineering degree is still an engineering graduate. A graduate with an engineering degree and a number years experience is an engineer. The mathematician said "I can calculate the answer to the problem!' The scientist said "I can experiment to arrive at the answer!' THE ENGINEER SAID I WILL LOOK IT UP ON MY CHART!

Fantastic model Thomas. It looks very realistic. You may be interested to have a look at British modeller Peter Buckingham's Fiat that was also finished in black. It should be on the IPMS UK website.

I wish you luck Landsman. That's a very old kit you are restoring that has been around since the 1960's I think. The Heller one has been around for a long time also. 1980's I think and a Gunze Sanyo one. I have a white metal mark one E Type kit to build by SMTS in 24th scale that is an unusual scale for them. They did a Cobra in this scale as well, but most of their stuff is 1/43rd. A retooled E type is long overdue considering how iconic this vehicle is. Revell have been reissuing their tired old E type for years but could now make a fantastic job of it with a complete new retool.

Do they make this model in right hand drive as well?

Skip Stephen Pombo has a website. Pomboworks.com. Hope this helps.

Had a feeling that Airfix produced a 1/32nd scale kerbside kit of this back in the 80's. Not aware of it ever being repopped since.

Hello Amy, My condolences to you and your family over the sad loss of Harry, your dad. I never met him in person living over here in the UK. My contact with him was as a contributor to Model Cars Magazine. He will be sadly missed by the auto modelling community. With regard to disposal of his finished models, you have had a number of suggestions already, and it would be fitting if they could be placed on permanent display somewhere. The Bugatti Trust has a small museum dedicated to the marque over here in the UK. Dads Pocher Bugatti T50 would make a wonderful display piece for them and would make a lovely tribute for UK Auto Modellers to be able to see an example of his work over here. Regarding unbuilt kits EBay is probably the best bet for disposal, but do find a local modeller friend who could sensibly value them for you. Harry was a true gentleman I am pleased to have known. My deepest sympathy and kind regards. Noel Smith

Very saddened to hear about Harry P's recent death. A true gentleman who always responded to my emails. He will be sorely missed in the Auto Modelling Community, both for his excellent magazine layout work and of course the imaginative design and layout of the books in collaboration with Virgil Suarez (Dr. Cranky). His builds on the forum were always very interesting. I was following his Pocher Bugatti build and the extra scratch built detailing work he was putting in to it. Perhaps his actual work may be placed on permanent display somewhere as his builds were up to museum standard. The Bugatti would make a superb display item in the Bugatti Trust's little museum here in the UK and would be a fitting tribute to him. His own book 'The Evolution of the Automobile in Scale' I see is being featured in the magazine in parts, and in itself will bid a fond farewell to him. My deepest condolences go out to his family at this saddest of times. Cancer is a terrible disease and to hear about not only Harry, but many citizens of the USA having to battle to get payments for treatment from their insurers beggars belief. It intrigues me that the USA is the richest nation on earth, and still does not have a proper health service available to everyone rich or poor at point of need. Isn't that what Obama Care was supposed to be? Cannot understand why Trump is looking to scrap it. Private health insurance is very expensive in the UK, so thank goodness that we in the UK have a National Health Service available to all. Harry, you will be missed.

Hi Scott I can remember a car modelling book with a white cover with model photos on it. I had a copy of a book written by Robert Schleicher from the 70s era. Cannot remember the publisher or actual title. It must have been the basics book if indeed it was one of the books that you can recollect. I think that Dennis Doty may have written a couple of books also at about that time. Bill Coulter has written a number of books that were published by Kalmbach. Phil Jensen wrote one truck modelling in the 70s. Another author that comes to mind is Terry Jessie with his Building and Detailing Auto Models Like a Pro. I am not aware if Don Emmons ever wrote any books as I know that he has written many car modelling articles in magazines. There was also a book published in the UK in the 70s by Gerald Scarborough published by Patrick Stephens at the time. Master model maker Gerald Wingrove wrote 2 books. The Complete Car Modeller 1 and 2, that describe his scratch building techniques in detail.

3D printers are getting less expensive. However, it depends also on the 3D software design program that is used. Some of these are quite expensive, and the learning curve can take quite some time to master. After all we would be looking to make accurate engineered parts as opposed to freehand organic shapes. Once mastered though, accuracy and repeatability are achievable, but this would have to be balanced against cost viability.

Skip, Have a look on the net at various peoples pictures taken at the IPMS UK ScaleModelworld 2014 Competition there may be another picture or two buried away there somewhere. The attached ones will give you some idea. I made the model in 1/12th scale

The erroneously named tulip wood Hispano Suiza is actually planked in Honduras mahogany fastened with thousands of brass rivets. The photo that Harry P placed shows the real car as it looks today. It appears to be very over restored! Having seen many photographs of the car in the past the lovely patina of the original polished wood from over the years has gone. It looks as though it has been rubbed back to bare wood and covered with what looks like polyurethane varnish and the metalwork now appears to me to be far too shiny. The lily has been well and truly gilded! I cannot understand why some restorers go so far over the top and unfortunately to my eyes subsequently destroy the essential character of what they are working on. I had a bash at making a 1/12th scale scratch built model of this car as it appeared in the 1920's long before the wooden pontoon fenders were fitted in the 1950's by a Thames boat builder in London. It originally had swept front and rear aluminium wings and also low profile windscreens fitted. The model was entered in the 2014 IPMS UK Scale Modelworld Show at Telford where it gained a Silver award. It was planked with pear wood veneer strips to simulate mahogany to scale and hundreds of 0.5mm brass rivets fitted, rubbed down carefully and sealed with button polish. The hood was set in the open position to show the engine detail and the interior was was fully trimmed in fine pale blue glove leather. The model was a bit of a challenge with all the repetitive drilling and rivet setting with epoxy adhesive. Tedious rather than difficult work but the end result was worth it.

A friend of mine has bought the Fisher kit of this aircraft and it is very accurate. The original Bugatti 100P has been restored for static display and is on show at Oshkosh Air Museum. it was discovered hidden in France after WW2 and shipped to the states. The engines were taken from it to be used in a couple of Bugatti car restorations. A flying replica is being built so it will be very interesting to see how the aircraft handles. The original never did get to fly, so how it would have performed is pure conjecture. There is a book about the Bugatti aircraft written by Japp Horst that has lots of technical details, photos and drawings that can be bought via his own website.

Excalibur's fake Merc SSK was kitted by Bandai back in the 70's in 1/12th scale.

Scott, You certainly got a real bargain getting that Merc for 30 bucks. Those Casadio kits were very expensive when they first came out. Metal kits throw up a few different challenges to plastics. Incidentally, Europe uses the ISO Metric system for threads and tapped holes. looks like you were having some problems with threads on the Bugatti kit. I expect that UNC and UNF threads are the norm in Canada and the USA. Try a dedicated engineers supplier rather than a hobby tool stockist for ISO Metric tools. In the UK try a company named Chronos Ltd who specialise in model engineering stuff, and will certainly stock metric as it is more common over here. They can probably do mail order. Alternatively, get hold of a local Mercedes, VW or Audi dealer dealership workshop manager and ask where they source metric stuff locally. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the feedback Mike. Appreciated! Afraid that I am a Luddite when it comes to facebook! I will have to look and see when they are coming back on stream. See that you are from the Berkshires in New England. I come from Berkshire over here in England, although I now live in another county in the UK. Visited the coastal area in your neck of the woods a few years back on a cruise up to Quebec in Canada out of Boston only 2 weeks after 9/11. Visited Bar Harbor, Portland and Kennebunkport on the way. Lovely countryside. I guess where you live is similar, even if inland. Boston is a nice city. When I visited, there was a hell of a lot of infrastructure work going on with tunnels and roads being built etc. I guess it may be finished now.

Depends on the kit, your skill, and how deep a wallet you have. There is a plastic kit by Trumpeter of the Ford GT40 and there will be a Multi Medium kit available from CMA (Creative Miniature Associates) both in 1/12th scale.