Bugatti Fan

The Airfix T50 is one and the same Heller kit. It was marketed under the Airfix name when both companies were owned by Borden Holdings who also had Humbrol under their wing. The Heller Bugatti EB110 was also re popped under the Airfix banner.

Some time ago I visited the Donington Race Circuit's Classic Cars Museum hoping to see the replica Royale that the late Tom Wheatcroft commissioned to have built. The car was not to be seen. An earlier reply to this thread is showing the replica on display in what looks like a museum or private collection. Does any body have any idea if the car is in the UK and actually where it now resides?

I saw a picture of Belkits box art for a Mark 1 Escort Rally Car from the 60's somewhere. Nice to see them dipping their toes in the water with a classic rally car instead of all the new stuff. If it sells well maybe we will see other classic race/rally cars as well like a Mark One Lotus Cortina or a Metro 6R4.

A number of years ago I had a 1/8th Jaguar E Type kit that was very well detailed made by I think Bandai in the 80's. Not aware of anyone else making kits from this set of tooling. Regret selling it on and not building it as I have never seen one since. Before I get a shed load of replies this kit is not a re pop of the old Monogram (now Revell) kit that was tooled up in the 60's. Actually, the E type is such an Iconic car that a new tool in 1/12th or 1/16th would be nice with options to build it in RHD or LHD versions. Either of these would be a nice scale to super detail and not be too big.

Bob....Congratulations on your Hubley Duesenberg build, preceding my IPMS van build in the magazine. Your article is so interesting that I read it a number of times over. It is by far the very best built model Dusie from a Hubley kit that I have ever seen. Fantastic! I built one of the SJ kits about 5 years ago and re spoked the wheels, opened up the hood etc. and added some other extra details. But yours far surpasses the model that I made both in finesse and detailing (especially all the incredibly fine detailing of your model's engine/clutch assembly). Making yours with the roof up and detailing it on the inside was also a really nice touch. Your choice of colours for your model really suits the car. Mine is finished in a two tone blue and there may possibly still be a couple of pictures of it in the gallery of the Scale Motorcars website from ages ago. I certainly picked up some very useful tips from your article, as it is always interesting to see a fellow modeller's approach.

The Misko models are indeed superb, as are similarly the Amalgam Models range. But to put it into perspective, they are produced by groups of highly skilled specialists in a small industrial envirinment, where various skills are pulled together to make the components for a finished model, and they both work in large scales as well. Wingrove's models are to a much smaller scale and he did everyting from the initial research and drawings to making everyting himself in the early days, and later when he re married, his second wife Phyllis took an active part in the model making process. They have now retired to Spain. There are other well known solo professional builders of model cars worth looking at who are on a par with Gerald Wingrove. Look at the models of Manuel Olive Sans, Rex Hays, Henri Baigent, Michele Conti, Guiseppe da Corte and Carlo Brianza who's models have become highly valuable over the years. More recently hobbyist and retired Kodak USA Engineer Tom Kirn has taken the Wingrove route and made some superb 1/15th scale models, and also Francisco Pulido in Spain. There is also a superb professional car modeller in the UK named David Hayward who works mainly in wood. All of whom are individual model makers. If you have not heard of any of these artisans, a trawl on the internet should pull up some info and pictures of their work.

Just recently I noticed that Airfix have announced a pre painted snap together kit aimed at youngsters of the Bugatti Veyron. No scale given but I guess maybe 1/32nd in line with most of their other car kits? Price here in the UK about £12 ($16?US). Given this aside....Airfix are part of the Hornby group who have resurrected the POCHER brand. Looks as though they may be the only mainstream kit manufacturer to have licences from VW.....So who knows? A 1/8th scale Pocher Bugatti Veyron would be brilliant under this label. Really surprised that this car has not been kitted before in 1/24th scale by Revell Germany or by one of the Jap outfits.

Thanks for the encouragement Ira. Skip, I hope you received your magazine by the time you read this. If any of you guys out there have any ideas about how my Bugatti article could have been improved, by all means please let me have your suggestions. I hope that I did not skimp on anything too much.

Didn't know that a Raceabout kit existed in either 1/12th or 1/8th. The most similar car that Pocher did in 1/8th was their Fiat. There was a superb Bandai kit in 1/16th scale produced in the 80's and I think that there was also one by Aurora? in 1/16th scale along with a Stutz Bearcat.

Now that the November magazine has been in circulation for a while , I hope that many readers have enjoyed my Bugatti T59 scratch building article.

Being a Bugatti Fan I would love to get a hold of one of the old Renwal Revival Exner Bugatti Kits. Has any body got one that has been badly built years ago and gathering dust or knocked about that I could restore even? The Bugatti Trust has a lovely little museum next to their hill climb course over here in the UK. It would be nice to build up a model of the Exner Bugatti to put on permanent display there.

Pocher made a T50 I believe in 1/8th scale a number of years ago. Could not afford at the time. Now........Silly money on Ebay!.......Still cannot afford one! Bandai made a nice little T55 in 1/20th scale a number of years ago. Their Type 41 Royale in 1/16th scale was a nice kit to build.

My pleasure John. Just out of interest, Airfix re released this kit last year with a different number plate for another short chassis car. Hopefully, they may have sorted out the position of the Winged B emblem on the radiator shell. It should be where John placed it during his build. I cannot understand why Airfix got that detail so wrong as they had full access to the real car when it was in Neil Corner's ownership in the early seventies to develop the kit. The radiator shell is the 'face' of any classic car, so if anything should be got right on a kit it has to be the radiator shell. It beggars belief that in all the times they re released this kit over the years this one item had not been sorted out. Also, in the latest re incarnation of this kit, the parts that were previously matt plated are now just plain plastic, and the kit is not packaged so well inside the box as it was before. More loose stuff in bags.

The kit itself mint, straight out of the box leaves a lot to be desired, so having resurrected one that has been badly built is a real credit to your skills and patience. Must have taken hours of clean up ready for the black finish. That must be one of the most difficult colours to get looking good on a model car.

Hi John I have been studying your posts of the Bentley build with great interest. It really goes to show just what you can do with an elderly kit with a bit of imagination, lateral thinking and an eye for detail. My own particular interests lie with the older classic cars and I am very impressed with your superb build. Kind regards Noel Smith

There were some rumours going around at about that time that Pocher were going to make a Willys Jeep kit in 1/8th scale.

I think that there is a company in the UK that carries all the tram kits named Glendale Junction. They may ship abroad.

Lovely model Harry. The only tram kits that come to my mind are made by a Spanish Company named OC-CRE. Is it one of theirs? Besides the San Francisco Cable Car, they have a number of trams including, London, Lisbon and Berlin trams to name but a few in their series. Look on their website for more...all in 1/24th scale....nice! I can remember building many years ago a little San Francisco Cable Car kit by Hawk models in 1/48th scale (I think!). Maybe Testors have the moulds and re released it? Perhaps someone can confirm this?

Jurgen, That really was a labour of love to super detail that old 1/200th scale Nichimo kit. It just shows what can be done with something that is very basic. I had this kit once and sold it on. But I can remember it being very simplified for radio control and it is one BIG plastic kit, so I can appreciate the amount of work that you have put into it to turn it into a highly detailed display model. Tamiya have retooled their 1/350th scale Yamato recently along with a lot of photo etched stuff to go with it, but even that can not look as impressive as the model that you have built. If only you could get it from Germany to show at the UK ScaleModelworld Show at Telford in England?

Harry, I really like your model Buckboard....Looks very convincing. Some of the techniques used were most interesting also. I expect that you already know about the late John Thompson's books from the UK about horse drawn vehicle models, as you are into that sort of thing. There is a society named the 'Guild of Model Wheelwrights' here in the UK. They have a website that you may find interesting to have a look at if you do not know of them already. I am looking to scratch build a Hispano Suiza car model with shaped wood planking on the bodywork, and have noted your techniques for staining.

Further to my earlier posts my article about scratch building the Bugatti has been accepted by Model Cars Magazine. It should be in a late 2013 edition.

Glad to be of help Skip. One of my must sees is what was the Schlumpf Collection. It is now the French National Motor Museum and is located at Mulhouse in North East France. I believe that there is also a Railway (Railroad) Museum, and an Industrial/Technology Museum also close at hand.

Your project is looking good Francois. Look forward to seeing it finished. If you do not already have it, there is a book by Master Modeller Gerald Wingrove named The Complete Car Modeller 2. This second book of his on scratch building features how he built a 1/15th scale model of the Weinberger Royale. You will find this book very interesting. It is published by Haynes in the UK...ISBN 0-85429-857-6 His first book is about scratch building model cars in general. I recently scratch built a Type 59 for the IPMS Scale Modelworld Show at Telford last year. I used Litho plate to make the hood so maybe you could use litho plate for the vents on the hood sides of your Type 41. Look for my Type 59 in the Big Boyz section of this forum and you will see what the hood looks like. I formed each louver in the litho plate. It is very thin aluminium and works well. A printer may be able to give you some Litho plate.

I have been using a Panasonic Lumix LX3 for some time now. It is an excellent little camera, with a fast Leica Zoom lens. Great for taking pictures in low light without flash or a tripod, and I don't have to lug a bag full of gear around the shows any more. The zoom range is a bit limited but the optic is superb. Since the LX3 was released, the LX5 and LX7 have become available. The LX3 can be picked up second hand for a reasonable price these days. About £150.00 in the UK ($200.00? or maybe less). There are a number of other slightly older generation Pro Sumer Compacts worth looking at such as the Nikon and Canon top end compacts.

Hi Skip In answer to your question After spraying with a white primer from an aerosol, building up the solid colour from mist coats, the colour paint that I used was French Blue and it is one of the Zero paints range. It is ready to Airbrush and dries off semi matte. A coat of automotive clear laquer from a rattle can was what I used to finish it off to a nice gloss. The supplier here in the UK is a company named Hiroboy. I am sure that there will be a supplier somewhere in the U.S. Perhaps Zero Paints have a website of their own with a listing of any suppliers in the U.S.A. What is described as French Blue is basically a Light Blue colour, so if you cannot get the Zero paint another light blue should suffice. I went to a Bugatti Owners Club UK meeting some time ago and noted that the shade of light blue varied from car to car, so maybe there is no definitive Bugatti blue. As an alternative you may find an automotive light blue acrylic gloss off the shelf that looks about right from a local auto accessory store may be easier to source. Hope that this info is of some help.