Bugatti Fan

Chris, it looks like Squires are trading the kits using the South Eastern Finecast brand name as it is well known. if you look up Squires I think that it will be the same address as on the info you posted. Forgot to.mention in my last post that all the South Eastern Finecast kits are in white metal for those reading this thread and are unfamiliar with the Finecast and Auto Kits brands.

Hi Frank In answer to your question Auto Kits was founded in the early sixties and I think had a shop in Holborn in London. The shop closed and the moulds were acquired by Wills Finecast and supplemented their Finecast car kits range. The Finecast ones had engine details whereas the Auto Kits were mainly kerb side models. Wills Finecaxt company was acquired in the 70's and became South Eastern Finecast operating from the same premises in Forest Row, Sussex here in the UK. The company' s main line of products was for 00 Gauge model railways, and they also did a nice range of 1/32nd scale traction engines. Fast forward and all the ranges were acquired by Squires at Bognor Regis, Sussex here in the UK a company that supplies a huge range of tools for model makers. As far as I know they are marketing the kits, but not sure of the availability of any of them as it depends on what they got as full kits and what they may have to produce to fill any gaps. I have an Auto Kits MG TD to build and a Finecast Bugatti Type 59. The fidelity of detail on the Finecast kit is the better of the two, but the MG TD will make up into a nice model also. I will be looking to replace the wheels on the Bugatti with a set of Le Mans Miniatures photo etched wheels from Grand Prix Models that will really set the model off well.

Agreed!

That would be a very nice classic car to own.

Very nice imaginative model utilising parts box items. Did you literally throw away the multi part body? I could actually do with those for part of a UK restoration workshop diorama I have in mind. Did they came from that old Pyro kit?

Superb exercise in creativity! Out of curiosity, where did the Allison engine originate from?

Nice model. Quite an unusually futuristic styled car for the era.

Thanks for putting up the information about the VW Type Numbers Hanjo. Those links made interesting reading. The Type 34 is what I thought quite wrongly to be a Mk 2 version. I can remember driving one way back in the 70's when delivering it from one garage to another. A type 34 would make an interesting companion kit to the one you built , but it probably will never happen as the car is a less familiar VW model.

I wonder if Revell will ever bring out the Mk2 Karmann Ghia V W to go along with this one? I don't think as many of those were made Hanjo, but remember it being a nice looking car.

Nice model build. Coincidentally, I saw one for real on the road recently.

Chassis in last photo looking good Francois.

Cabdriver. I was looking through Where's Waldo and simply came across the name without checking the date it was posted when looking. Andy Martin's very old post before mine mentioned that he may have been scared off the forum that prompted my response. So, was he scared off, and why?

I believe that Mark is a lawyer by profession, so I would imagine his spare time can probably be a bit limited.

Looking good so far. Retro street really suits this type of vehicle where the original bodywork remains intact as Ford intended, but otherwise customised underneath. The use of a plain colour rather than a metallic is a good choice here.

The Avanti was quite a futuristic looking car back when produced. Studebaker's understated styling by American standards of the day appeared to have more European styling influence as was also evident in their earlier Skylark. Looking forward to following the rest this model build!

LOST CAUSE Trying to convince mice that black cats are lucky!

Forgot about the E Type. Had the rest sort of right from memory!

I often wonder what happened to those Frog car kit moulds. Did they go to Novo along with some of the other Frog kits? Apart from the Cortina, there were a few other 1/16th scale kits in the range. I seem to remember a BMC 1100 (not sure if Austin Morris of MG version, a Vauxhall saloon possibly a VX490 and a Dennis Ambulance that I once had and sold on. Cannot remember if there were any more in that particular range. Did Novo ever repop them if they got the moulds?

This model is really coming together well. Actually, it is very nice to see a vintage kit like this actually being built rather than hoarded by a collector. Incidentally, talking of collectors, there is I think I a market for those old kit boxes on their own, so don't throw the box away after it is built as it may be worth a bit on Ebay!

Interesting further developments on the brakes.

Mentioned earlier was the Spirit of Ecstasy mascot being way overscale. I have heard of ship modellers making diminutive crew figures by twisting very thin wires together and using acrylic artists paint straight from the tube to sculpt around the wire. I would imagine that a very fine filler like Magisculpt, much loved by figure modellers could be used similarly. Or maybe even some of the acrylic based decorating paint from a match pot could be used on something so small as it can be built up and shaped by brushing around the wire frame and left to harden off before finishing off with a touch of silver.

Looking good so far!

Such a data base is a nice thought Mike, and agreed it would be very handy. But, the logistics of setting it up with potentially thousands of items to list for comparison in the first place, and also who would be prepared and have the time to do this, plus maintain and update it regularly? Cannot see many volunteers stepping forward unfortunately due to the sheer commitment it would entail.

Well guys, I looks like my masking tape tip took a bit of a hammering! I tried it way back when vinyl roofs were in vogue on real cars at the time and was happy with it back then. The model was disposed of shortly after I built it so it did not hang around long enough for me to observe any lifting after a period of time as shown in a previous post. So in light of the other better techniques to simulate vinyl described on here, I have to concur that the masking tape is probably best left alone.

Masking tape does have the scale texture of a vinyl roof. Where the seams run the length of the roof, a very slight overlap of the masking tape will simulate them. My experience with masking tape is that it becomes more difficult to remove the longer it is left in place. More so if painted and left.