Bugatti Fan

I have seen some absolutely beautiful models made from MFH kits both at shows and on various online forums like this one by highly skilled modellers. It would be interesting to know how many MFH kits actually get built as a percentage against the number of kits sold? As a parallel example there are many of the old Pocher classics kicking around either not built or part built and abandoned as their owners have either been put off by their complexity and found them to be beyond their model making capabilities. I would guess also that a number of the old Pochers were bought by real car enthusiasts without good modelling experience or equipment, looked at, and tucked away in lofts and spare rooms.

I can remember getting one of the Auto World Catalogues way back in the 70's. Apart from the glossy covers the rest was printed on newsprint paper, but they were like an encyclopaedia of model kits, accessories and even included a number of building tips back in the day. The copy I had ran a page that started 'Who's Rich Morgan? Who cares? You might!' Just one of those little captions that stayed in my mind all these years. Never did find out who Rich Morgan was though! I would imagine that Auto World has long gone along with Sinclairs Auto Miniatures who used to put out a nicely printed quarterly magazine.

Agree with Nobling. The fine white Milliput would be my go to from the range. I think it was developed initially for the repair of fine ceramics. They probably have a website describing their best product uses.

Prep is let's face it boring! Right from keying the surface, washing/degreasing, priming before that all important top coating and/or polishing is done. But, you just cannot get away from doing it if you want a successful paint job. There is plenty of advice on this forum about preparation for anyone starting out and individual modellers develop their own preferences in line with their own experiences over time further down the line.

Very nice model. Striking colour scheme!

When unlike products are used with one another the results can be a bit unpredictable. Often it is a case of experimenting to see what works ok. A general rule of thumb is that when acrylics are used and dry out it is ok to use solvent based enamel and lacquers over them. Enamel and lacquer paints take a long time like days or weeks to actually dry out thoroughly. Although they might feel dry to the touch the carriers leach out over a period of time during the drying process. Acrylic is a plastic polymer paint that forms an air tight seal when dry, so using over solvent based paints can lead to a disaster like flaking and bubbling as the solvent carriers try to escape from underneath. Future/Klear I have found to level out nicely when applied with a flat brush and have never needed to use an air brush to apply it.

The company Thomas is referring to is unobtainium. It is run by Nick Edwards in North Wales here in the UK. Look on the Britmodeller website as he has posted all of what he is doing on the Italeri 35B on there. The Bugatti parts are not up on his unobtainium site just yet, but probably will be sometime soon. His own website has other things available now and coming soon. He is also working on update parts for the big Airfix Bentley. He can be contacted on his own website where he has a contact form to use.

Rich, your perseverance has paid off! Very nice model.

Punching louvres is a tedious job that needs concentration even with a guide fitted. I have messed up a number of times by mis location when stepping the plugged through the tooling.

The Dolls House industry has a lot of useable items in their catalogues. I obtained some piano hinges a while ago that were ideal for larger scale models. They come in different sizes and just need cutting to length. As for louvres making a punch and die set is one of the best ways to go. You will however need a press and a means to keep the louvres aligned perfectly on a jig whilst punching them. No easy way to make them unfortunately.

Aaron has made a good point about motor speed on the Unimat 1 being too fast for some applications. The mains power goes through a transformer to reduce the voltage that is supplied to the motor of the modular machine. There is a way around this by substituting the Unimat transformer with a variable speed transformer such as one that Proxxon make. A variable speed transformer of course can be used with other tools too. I have a Unimat 4 lathe but that only has two speeds. If I were looking to replace it I would be looking for a miniature lathe with a variable speed control already built in.

Very nice work!

Barrett Jackson The World's Greatest Collector Car Auctions? Hmmm? Bonhams, Christies and Sothebys come more to mind to me as big league auctioneers of classic autos Over here in the UK we have a TV programme named Bangers and Cash that features an auctioneer of vehicles and automobilia named Matthewsons based on rural Yorkshire. The sheer variety of vehicles and allied memorabilia is amazing and varied from the very odd occasional exotica right down to mainly more mainstream affordable collectors cars that were everyone's run about in the past. The bidders in the main are down to earth everyday folk, not bling adorned celebs and the mega wealthy.

I have seen some spectacular models at shows built from MFH kits and will follow this thread with interest. The Lusso is a lovely looking car. Expense wise they are a bit out of my league unfortunately as I would have really liked their Type 35B Bugatti kit. Someone must be smiling down on me with the advent of the Italeri kit being released this year.

This model is coming on really well and will be very impressive when complete.

Funny how some films were considered so controversial back in the day! Kubrick's Clockwork Orange comes to mind as one, but seems tame now compared with the graphically violent films that are all too common these days. Also CGI is a brilliant thing for Sci Fi and Super Hero films, but so many these days rely on it to carry the film too much rather than decent plot and character development in them. Watched Hunt for Red October yet again recently. Not over heavy on CGI but very good on tension and the submarine commanders were cast really well.

I think maybe this thread should come to an end now that good suggestions have been made about cleaning battery contacts and type of battery to use, before it drifts into a discussion about something more contentious.

I have read about a technique using children's modelling clay (Plasticene) placed inside a Lego brick outer. The clay was covered with graphite powder to act as a release agent and the item to be copied pressed into it to make the impression needed. After removal another light graphite powder dusting of the impression and some craft resin was mixed and poured into the mould and left to set. This technique looks ok for very low relief items.

Matching factory colours. There are a number of specialist auto paint suppliers who can make up aerosols to suit. They tend to acrylic formula paints so should be ok on plastic models. I have used some to good effect and they worked very well on my models.

1/24th scale like the others in their snap kit cars range. A bit Lego like but some have a bit of potential. Wish Airfix had done them with the same snap kit approach as Revell and Lindberg a bit more like conventional kits.

Very interesting thread Matt, and the bit of history about the car being originally red and hastily having all the outer bodywork painted in British Racing Green in order to compete. That grille assembly took a bit of doing but looks so effective on the model. Apart from the Sebring MGC trans kit, I believe that C1 also make an MGB Coupe body for those wanting to build a standard road car by retro fitting the Aoshima kit that has done the rounds being issued also by Revell at one time.

This chrome product looks to be very good. Great job on refurbishing the chrome helmet Derek. I have been using a UK made product C1 Polishing Powder. It can be buffed straight onto a gloss black for the best chrome effect, but with a bit of experimentation on other base colours different effects can be achieved. Once buffed to a shine the surface is resilient to handling, unlike spray on chromes that do need to be sealed afterwards. C1 has a website and make some really nice resin trans kits too.

Look forward to seeing your 1/6th scale build whatever that might be!

Looks like the beaten metalwork is thin copper sheet. Nice to see a model that utilises some kit items and made into something special with engineered parts. It is always interesting to see how different modeller resolve problems when making parts from scratch. Did the Jaguar engine come from the Revellogram kit or as it machined from metal? I will be following this project.

Brilliant build Mark. This has been a most interesting and informative thread. I believe that Lola were based on Huntingdon about 25 miles of so from where I live in England. Not sure if they set up shop in the USA as well as in the UK. You probably have a lot of history about the company from having thoroughly researched your model. Have you already decided on your next project? Will you be going the 1/12th scale MFH route for your next model, scratch building or super detailing up a more conventional kit like this one?