Bugatti Fan

Lovely well built model. It was not before time that Revell replaced their old kit that dated back to the 60's. Funnily enough a few days ago I was at the Shuttleworth Collection Air Museum close to where I live in the UK and there was a black E Type Roadster in the visitors parking lot. Beautiful looking car to this day.

Dave, it's horses for courses as far as wrapping models for shipping goes, and as long as whatever method works it is OK whichever is used. As I generally make just for myself the extra cost involved with reinforcing the packaging to ship one model to a museum was acceptable. I can fully understand that if you ship large models on a regular basis then keeping the cost to a minimum is very important. It appears as though you might be running a business making and selling models so shipping costs have to be factored in to your pricing. If it works for you, fine!

Jason, your Mefistophele has turned out into a fantastic model. A kit that size is well worth the investment in time and effort with all the extra detailing. Following on from my last post on this thread, my prayers have been answered. Italeri are releasing a Bugatti Type 35B during 2022! Another thing happening on the big car kit scene is that some transkits for the big Airfix Bentley are in the pipeline by a UK modeller. His name is Nick and he has a thread on the Britmodeller website showing what is being developed. If you go on there look up Bentley may contain some Airfix for the details. He has his own website named Unobtainium.

Interesting technique for comparing. A thread with a dossier of these would need to be made up with captions about what one is more accurate to be useful to would be kit buyers. Mind you, if you have already invested in a kit and it looks about right, this becomes a bit academic really. Bill has made a good point about how differences in the measurement process of a prototype can vary from one manufacturer to another. Back when photography and tape measurement were the norm, I guess this is where discrepancies creep in. For example if an angle of a windshield was taken and about one of two degrees out it can make a lot of difference by having a knock on effect on the roof line and pillars on a model body. These days with laser scanning technology this should not happen in theory. But I have seen an odd review criticising something on a modern kit being wrong about a body, so who knows? Maybe an odd compromise has to be made to suit manufacturing, but with modern moulding technology I would imagine this should not be so in theory. If you have a kit, just build it and enjoy it if it looks about right.

Is any other manufacturer developing jars of something similar, just as good, and a quarter of the price? Molotov is very,very good but also very, very over priced for what it is and the quantity in this user's opinion.

Tony, that's life unfortunately. Manufacturers have a habit of releasing a model or product for a while before dropping it. So by the time a modeller writer obtains a kit, takes the necessary time to build, detail and paint a model, then write up an article, submit it to a magazine that may already have the next couple of issues material spoken for, then you can see why the process can appear a bit drawn out. One also has to remember that nearly all writers of magazine articles are not professional and make and write in their spare time that has to be fitted in with each of their own full time job, domestic and family commitments. Even if the model being written about is proving difficult to source, generally articles have plenty of worthwhile information, hints, tips and techniques within that can be used on other models.

My Customised 50th Anniversary of IPMS Austin A30 Van Model that appeared in a copy of MCM some time ago was shipped from the UK to the Model Car Builders Museum in Sandy Utah where it is now on display. I found a thick cardboard box with plenty of all around clearance for the model that was mounted on a base. Kitchen roll tissue went directly around the model plus bubble wrap. What I did to ensure the box strength was to line the sides and bottom with mdf or thin plywood, pack the model in the box with whatever was suitable. More bubble wrap, scrunched up newspaper, and expanded polystyrene nuggets etc. This made the model immovable in the middle of all the packaging used. A final packaging material layer was placed on top of the model and another sheet of MDF or thin plywood cut to fit snugly under box lid when closed and sealed. Yes, the MDF and Plywood adds expense to the package both in cost of material and adds to the carriage weight, but it makes a very tough inner layer to the cardboard box that is very resistant to shipping damage. Ideal for bigger models. On smaller stuff like a 1/24th scale car model for example the same principle can be applied when packing a smaller cardboard box but thick cardboard could be used to make an inner box liner instead of ply or MDF for extra protection.

Rex, you could well be right about the CMA kit. It has been under development for quite a while now. It MFH brought one out, and it is surprising that they have not done so already, then the CMA kit might not be realised and CMA would possibly sell their GT40s as built up models.

Daylight saving was introduced way back when for farmers I believe to take advantage of longer summer days. Right? Last summer I was driving at midnight and was blinded by the battery of LED spot lamps on the front of a combine harvester working in an adjacent field. Thought it was a landing UFO!

Back in the day, The 60's Don used to have a feature article named 'Detail for Real' in the long gone Model Car Science magazine.

A nice take on the typical London Black Cab.

If the kit is not an expensive one, just replace it and put the salvageable bits in your spares box. Dogs unfortunately cannot distinguish a scale model from anything else they can chew.

This model is taking shape extremely well, and it is nice to see an older subject being modelled. Just a tip, not a criticism, try photographing it with a plain background as clutter and floral paper distracts from your excellent build.

Pete has made a point about old kits and paints plus accessories that are no longer available. The hobby is in a constant state of flux and yes it can be bewildering to a newcomer or returner. There are products that keep going on year after year and some that fall by the wayside. So, lists either can or might not be helpful. The newcomer will be looking at what is available, whereas the returner might be a bit reflective and seeking things that they remember that are long gone. No easy answer to this unfortunately, but any returner or newcomer has a wealth of knowledge at their disposal as us modellers are mostly very generous with both help and advice.

Model Car Builder was a good magazine as was Scale Auto back in the day. Roy Sorenson retiring and deciding to close MCB and Kalmbach deciding to axe SA as it was probably making a loss are both disappointing to us automotive modellers. It was touch and go for MCM for a while, but at least it has survived despite the odds, and long may it carry on. Apart from a couple of truck modelling magazines from the UK and USA, it is the only English language automotive magazine left that I am aware of. I don't know if Roy Sorenson has sold the title of Model Car Builder on or not, or simply closed up shop!

Andrew mentioned about the tyres in his Auto Kits Miller reacting with the expanded polystyrene packaging. Model kit tyres made with vinyl has a chemical reaction to polystyrene plastic. I found out the hard way when I had a kit that was stashed away for years. Upon opening it I found that the vinyl tyres that were against any of the kit parts had sort of moulded themselves into the plastic. Both tyres and parts were ruined as a result. I always now ensure that tyres are bagged or wrapped in tissue to separate them within the box before storing. Not sure if real rubber would react in the same way, but err on the side of caution .

This is a most interesting build. Brooklands Museum had a very original GP Delzge on loan a few years ago and I was most impressed with that beautiful racing car. Brooklands is one of the most interesting transport museums in the UK and we'll worth visiting.

Dr Luxe Materials Super Phatic Glue might be good for this purpose. Otherwise, PVA adhesive as suggested already may be one of the safest to use. Many contact adhesives have warnings about being used on polystyrene plastics and Pete has described what would happen.

The Wills Finecast range are more detailed kits than the Auto Kits. I have the Finecast Type 59 Bugatti to bui!d and plan to obtain a set of Le Mans Miniatures photo etched wire wheels for it. Also in my stash is an Auto Kits MG TD kit that is a kerb side model. However, both ranges carry some subject matter not done by any one else in 1/24th scale.

Not built any of the Fisher car kits but recently built the Fisher 1/24th scale Bugatti 100 Racing Aeroplane with the engine details. A very impressive kit. If that is anything to go by I guess that the car kits were just as good. My build article appears in the January 2022 Airfix Modelworld Magazine. I hope that Paul Fisher and his family are recovering from the devastation of the Paradise wildfires that destroyed his home and business and hopefully rebuilds the business eventually.

The /24th scale Miller 91 in white metal as Andrew mentioned is still available. A bit of history about this kit is that it was originally made by a company named Auto Kits who way back in the 60's had a shop.in Holborn, London. The Auto Kits range was sold on to Wills Finecast at Forest Row Sussex and was added to the Wills Finecast range who's kits were more detailed than the Auto Kits Range. Wills was bought out and the company carried on from the same Forest Row address under the new name South Eastern Finecast. To bring this right up to date, Squires at Bognor Regis in Sussex has bought out South Eastern Finecast fairly recently. Squires are very well known in the UK as suppliers of extensive ranges of model making tools, material and accessories. I would imagine that they will continue to market the car kits under the Finecast and Auto Kits brand names. South Eastern (ex Wills) also made a range of Traction Engines in 1/32nd scale but are better known for their main focus in the UK, namely things for the model railway enthusiast. Requires will no doubt be marketing all those other ranges too.

Chris has done sterling service by sharing his charts. One poster noted that they were in inches. To work out the metric equivalents see below. Inches to Metric. Divide by 25.4. You will need to use inches expressed as a decimal measurement. For example 3/8ths of an inch is .375 and that will have to be divided by 25.4 to give the metric equivalent. Regarding bolt sizes. In engineering terms sizes referred to are the thread size of the bolt and not to be confused with the head size.

Mike, yes different styles of wheels need a bit of research as you pointed out about wheels with three spoke layers. Your method is perfectly good as a starting point for those too. Regarding plated wire. I would imagine that there are craft shops in Germany that sell bits and pieces for jewellery making and might well sell beading wire. I got some of mine from a department store in the area where they sold needles and threads etc.

Dave, some time ago besides the MG I think that you mentioned that you also had a Morris car too. What model? The Minor was very popular. The last car that Morris produced to supersede the Minor when part of British Leyland was the Marina. It had limited appeal and the Morris name disappeared when the Marina stopped production.

Mike, I have used your method and a few others down the years to re spoke wire wheels, like lacing and fitting individual spokes. Your tutorial will be very helpful, particularly to modellers who work in smaller scales to show that there is a reasonably straight forward method to achieve better realism. This goes to show that there is no great mystique about making wire wheels to scale, just the willingness to give it a go and a bit of patience as the process is a bit time consuming. But it is very rewarding. I can remember clearly how good it felt when I completed my very first wire wheel and saw how much better it was than a kit or photo etched item. I have found that plated beading wire available in different gauges is very good for simulating chrome wires when fitted to pre prepared wheel rims and hubs.