MikeA

Thanks for the feedback Pascal! As it turned out, it was no hassle to add the material to the boot lid. After priming there was only one very minor swipe of filler needed to get a seamless transition. I suspect cutting and shaping brass sheet would have taken me, at least, a lot longer. I always need at least two or three trials before I get that sort of thing right. One last change to the body work was to use brass tube to extend the brake cooling ducts through to the inner panel which forms part of the wheel arch, and then cut a hole in each of those panels so that the air could actually get through. On the real car there is a flexipipe tube which fits into the duct and runs inside the wheel arch to the brakes. I'll see if I can make some up with some heat shrink tube over a suitable former, but not too concerned if it doesn't work out. Then it was onto the first stages of painting. After both washing and then wiping over with alcohol, I applied an overall very thin coat of Tamiya extra fine grey, as the inside of the shell is painted black over this. I was expecting quite a few sanding sessions because of the mods I had done, but was pleasantly surprised. There were small swipes of filler required at almost all of the areas modified, but easily resolved. One more difficult part was a 5mm diameter spot on the roof that refused to take the primer. Eventually I resorted to brushing some matt light grey enamel over it, sanding that smooth and then re-priming. Whatever it is inside the resin seems to be sealed in now. The other problem area was the bonnet lid which was covered over one half of the outer surface with tiny pin holes. I ended up using Mr Surfacer to sort those out. The black in the wheel arches and other areas not in the cockpit or boot, as well as the inside of the boot and bonnet lids, was enamel thinned with turps and then roughed up with a sponge. I tried to do the same inside the side vents, but there was not enough room to get a good effect. The rest was Tamiya rattle can to match the interior. I think I will do some more work on the fit of the bonnet and doors before progressing the exterior paintwork any further. The exterior will be getting pink primer followed by Zero lacquer. I've include a couple of photos of a trial fit of the body work with the wheels just sitting on their stubs - I wanted to make sure everything was lined up before committing to paint. Thank for looking. Cheers, Mike

Thanks Wolf! Having been somewhat awestruck by your work, I feel most humbled and challenged to not drop the ball on this one. Just a minor update. The first two photos show the complete chassis with struts and the engine bay cross bar in place. The top frame bars in the cockpit still have to be added as a frame that fits inside the roof panel. I think i will add these at the end as the body work seems to clip onto the frame work and its not something that can really be messed around with in trial fits etc if it is all glued together beforehand. The boot lid is a shocking fit, as seen in the third photo. I glued some solder onto the edge of the white metal lid and smoothed it all off to get a far more acceptable fit. The bonnet lid is not too bad, after a fair bit of careful panel bending to get the curvatures right. The doors are proving difficult to check in regard to the resulting panel lines as i don't want to repeatedly screw and unscrew the substantial hinge assembly they each have. Will have to ponder that problem. Thanks for looking. Cheers, Mike

Thanks for the feedback. This car has apparently been raced almost every year, so certainly driven. The body will be in very nice nick though when I finally get to it. Finally made some more progress on this - pretty much through to starting on the bodywork except for a fire extinguisher to make. I did a world wide search for another set of the MFH seat belts and finally found them at BNA Models in Melbourne. The label they had on them had thrown me off. Anyway I had enough points with them for free shipping and had them in NZ 3 days after ordering, which is nothing short of miraculous these days! The black belts are almost unobtainable now it seems. The inner wheel arches proved a bit of a problem. No matter how I tried they didn't play nicely with the body with a bit of interference right at the top. Some judicious trimming, which cannot be seen on the finished model, sorted that out. There is some sort of oil breather box which is fitted to the right hand inner arch which was a later modification to this particular car. It did make fitting the arch in place whilst making sure the pipes connected a bit of a challenge, especially as the lower pipe snakes under the exhausts. The first few photos show the finished interior with the dashboard in place. For some reason the kit didn't have the length of steering column inside the cabin, so I made this with its universal joint, which can be just seen if you peer under the dash. There is a piece of piping on the passenger seat which needs correcting - the joys of extreme close ups. The next photos are the engine bay which only needs the cross bar support added. The first photo shows the heater valve and associated rubber pipes. Air horns - I see one is chipped so will need to attend to that. The windscreen washer And the overall engine bay I've tried to graduate the weathering with cleaner at the top where it's easier to get to, although overall I think the engine bay was kept in good order. Thanks for looking. Cheers Mike

Really looking forward to the magic weaved on this one!

Just beautiful! The face is especially well done. Large scale, flies, beautiful form - must be an LSP. Cheers, Mike

Thanks for the comment! The Ferrari in that film was the predecessor to this one, or at least an open top version of that model - the Ferrari 250 GT. The designers used the 250 GT as the base for this one, so it does have many mechanical and structural similarities, but lacks the long nose and pronounced curves of this one. And nowhere near as expensive these days it would seem - $17 million in 2018 versus $70 million for a 250 GTO in the same year. Mind numbing really. Cheers, Mike

I can't imagine what it must be like to see one of these parked in the street. We used to have quite a few Lambos and late model Ferraris near us in Australia, but nothing like this. I shall content myself with a miniature.... The seats are finished and installed. The rear seat brackets were a pain to fit and I had to shorten them by almost 2mm. This may have been a result of the leatherwork as the tolerances on this kit are extremely fine. The driver now has a seat belt harness. I used the MFH one, with a couple of extra parts from a generic set. The installation was slightly trickier than anticipated, solely due to my own stupidity. The inboard lap belt should have been fitted prior to installing the seats, but I did still manage to get the belt and mounting bracket into the right place down behind the seat without having it stick to everything else on its way down there. I changed my mind about the passenger seat after seeing some video clips of the car's interior, and am now waiting for another harness to wing its way over from Europe. On the real car the belts would all be tucked out of the way and off the seat, but then you couldn't really see them - or all the work in putting them together. The small red handle in between the seats is the remote pull for the fire extinguisher yet to be made which is fitted in the rear of the car, above the fuel tank. Thanks for looking. Cheers, Mike

Thanks for that. Worked out on a dollar per hour basis, it's pretty good. probably only beaten by scratch building. However the cost does lead to a few heart in mouth moments, hoping I don't screw it up! Cheers, Mike

Got the underneath finished. I ended up pulling off the exhaust manifolds and refitting them with the exhausts clamped in place so that I absolutely knew everything would line up, as it definitely didn't when I first tried. The exhaust went together like a dream. It is engineered very well with some wriggle room, although it does take some care in fitting the parts exactly as intended. I'm definitely not putting the cover plate over all this work. My story will be that it is only used for competitions. The joint area between the exhaust manifold and main pipes is supposed to be covered in insulating foil on the car. I have found suitable foil, but stuffed if I can work out how to wrap the pipes in it. I did look at preassembling the area before fitting to the engine, but it was very problematic - too many angles and not enough room. I will probably revisit the weathering underneath the car, but will leave that until near the end. You can make out the red shock absorbers in the photo below. Despite having the shelf for the springs to fit on, the springs were not fitted on this car and are apparently left off many examples to improve the rear end handling. The next photo shows the original battery holder which was underneath the passenger seat. On this particular car, the frame has been left in place and a plate put in under the seat. The last photo below shows the detail of the fuel tank and exhaust hangers etc. Back to the interior next to finish that area off. Thanks for looking, Mike

Finally got the cockpit glued and screwed onto the frame. I used slow setting epoxy and clamped it in place. Apart from strength, this allowed me to manipulate the rear subframe and suspension struts into place as well as the linkages for the brake cylinders and the accelerator prior to clamping everything down. A somewhat nerve wracking experience due to the weight and awkwardness of the structure to handle. I started preparing some of he remaining miscellaneous parts to sit in the engine bay which are shown in the third photo below. However I quickly came to the conclusion that, despite the sequence in the instructions, it would be wise to complete the underside before doing any further work. This is because it will become very difficult to support the frame inverted without the body shell in place, whereas at this stage it is quite easy to do so. The nice detail on the gear selector box became swiftly shrouded in leather as this was needed to seal off the hole in the transmission tunnel where it sits. But, through use of some heat shrink tube and a short length of brass tube, I managed to make up the gear selector so that you can move it through the gates. And an overall shot of the body sitting in place and also the engine bay. Thanks for looking. Cheers, Mike

It's amazing how much time can be spent just attaching fuel lines, oil lines and water hoses. I got lots of practice making up the PE hose clamps, and discovered they go together much easier if annealed first. Attaching the radiator took three goes. The first time, despite fitting on a dry run, it refused to sit completely in place when glued. The second time it went in place like a dream, but half an hour later I had a thought and tried fitting the top subframe. This attaches between the radiator frame and the top of the suspension units on each side. And the subframes didn't fit..... Third time I left the subframe loosely in place and everything lined up. The twin electric fans were not provided with the kit as these were a later addition on this particular car. The radiator seems very small, so no surprise that some assistance was required. The exhaust manifolds went in fairly easily, despite the whole chassis assembly being incredibly unwieldy in its current state. I did put a very light colouring with pastels on the "ceramic" manifolds, although it doesn't show in the photos - just a hint of colour on the white. I am a little worried about lining up the rest of the exhausts with the manifold, but it wasn't possible to dry fit them whilst also fixing the manifolds in place. It is the thing with this kit - the tolerances are very tight and you need to check several pages ahead in the instructions to ensure that every part that will later connect with the part you are fitting will do so without any hassle. The instructions also leave much of the sequence in fitting the details up to the builder as different pictures for the same steps have different parts present. Makes it more like a jigsaw puzzle at times, but very rewarding. The final photo shows the firewall. The two brake fluid reservoirs look terrible in the extreme close up, but look quite ok in real life. The chassis ID plate gave me a fright. I applied the decal only to see it disappear. Turns out it needed to go on foil first, but there was no indication of this anywhere in the instructions. Fortunately the decal is made of stern stuff and survived the transfer after being loosened by some Microset. Thank you for looking. Cheers, Mike

Thanks for the comments. As expected, there was some quicker progress now that the front suspension was completed. The boot floor and fuel tank were added to the rear and the tank plumbed in. I'll probably still do some more weathering in the wheel arches but will leave that till a little later. Then it was time to take the engine out of storage and mount it. was surprisingly easy in the end, although handling the model in this state is definitely not. Basically a resin ladder frame with 0.5kg of white metal at each end. I've got it supported on the wheels until the cockpit body is screwed and glued into place. The old school frame is one of the appeals for me of this car. Very agricultural, and only there to support the V12 and allow it to power the wheels - all to be clad in a marvellously svelte body. Apparently Mason's team tried stiffening up the front of the fame with a larger anti-roll bar, and popped the windscreen out in the process! Sorry - the pictures aren't quite as sharp as they should be. Hope you like anyway.... Cheers, Mike

The screws I was waiting for from Germany finally arrived two weeks ago. Three months of waiting, but they were exactly what I needed to get the front steering sorted. So it's back into finishing off the running gear. There are some differences from the kit: the oil cooler for the diff, the dual electric Bendix fuel pumps and the master cylinder for the brakes is a twin unit instead of combined. The pedal box remained unchanged, but has a separate cylinder for front and rear. On a couple of photos you can see the cable ties used for the handbrake cable. These were extremely fiddly, as they work just like the full size ones. I learnt not to finish them with superglue as it breaks the cable down. A tiny dab of white glue works fine. I can now move on to getting the fuel tank in place and connected up. That will be the last job before the engine gets fitted. I'm leaving that till the last possible moment as the frame becomes quite difficult to handle and fragile with a great lump of white metal at the front end. Any comments welcome. Hopefully the updates will be more regular now as much of the remainder of the internals to the car have already been prepared. Cheers, Mike

Well that is some beautiful paint work! Really has been treated like a canvas, and the different textures throughout make it an unfolding story as you look at it. Cheers,

Absolutely gorgeous! I'll bet it weighs a fair bit.

That turned out great! Certainly appreciate the effort that would have gone in matching the Grey Matter conversion to the PCM kit. Those kits are great but not exactly "shake 'n 'bake" Cheers,

Well that is different! Looks incredibly different from the usual wartime Lanc, especially the sharp colours and contrasting lifeboat. Love it!

Well the seats are upholstered now, except for piping which will hide the seams, especially on the sides. I ended up using Locktite "Rubbery" gel superglue. It doesn't bleed through the leather at all and allows a precious second or two for adjustment. The first seat is marginally acceptable, but then it was my first ever attempt. For some reason the piece of leather over the seat back did not want to stretch flat over the bucket curve, so I had to nick out a triangle on each side whilst fitting it. The second seat behaved perfectly, despite using the same technique and process. Just must have gotten better at it. Each piece was glued in successive small sections and a sharp #11 blade was used to trim where necessary. I've got some fine scale leather piping from Model Motor Cars coming and, once that is on, the seat covers will get aged. Experiments on scrap leather suggest scuffing with a kitchen nylon cleaning pad and using pastels should work. The photos are close-up and highlighted to show the black, which is pretty unkind to the finish. On the next photo you can see where I painted the white resin black along the joins between the leather pieces - just in case...... and loosely fitted into place........ Under normal light and usual viewing the sheepskin leather has a very much scale leather grain effect, so I am quite happy with them. The driver's seat will eventually get a full racing harness draped over it, whilst the passenger seat just gets a lap belt. Any feedback welcome. thanks for looking. Cheers, Mike

A real beauty! Those rivets are possibly the outstanding (in the right light!) feature and seam to go a long way to reproducing what shows on photos of the actual airframes. The weathering is also great, but I think more than anything it shows the limitation of paint. Any finish is a compromise and attempting to show the metal grain and scuff marks with paint on a natural metal finish is possibly akin to the holy grail. I certainly wouldn't do more or add any emphasis to panel lines which, on this kit at least, its all about trying to hide them or at least have them consistent. Awesome job and certainly one to take notes from. Still cant quite believe how those rivets turned out. Cheers,

These kits are expensive, but in terms of hours of enjoyment getting them built they do offer value for money. Having said that, not sure that I'll ever afford another one! I managed to punch out suitable discs from the supplied acetate disc for the smaller instruments. The larger one I ended up cutting from clear acetate sheet after a misadventure trying to modify the oversized kit piece. The next photos are of the steering wheel, although it is only fitted rather than glued in place on the switch mount. Once the decal on the centre boss is completely dry, I shall use some Microscale Klear to build up a dome over it. The close ups certainly show some of the struggles I had getting all of the parts to fully align, but in typical viewing range these do not show. I then turned my attention back to the seat. The fronts were bolstered with some Milliput on the sides of the bottom cushion. I'm still agonising over how to upholster them. I think I've settled on dividing the seats up into the centre panel, sides and seat back. I used masking tape to form a pattern for the centre panel and cut some leather which is just draped over the seat to check the fit. My nervousness is that this process is pretty much a one shot as the glued leather would be extremely difficult to remove from the seat. Might try double sided tape..... Any upholstery suggestions especially welcome! Cheers, Mike

Well that is one amazing lot of surface detail! Very impressed how the slightly raised rivets give the impression of something flush mounted and only seen from certain angles. My only misgiving about it is that you do end up with a perfect surface without all the scratches and marks that appear even on the polished surfaces. But for that effect you have gained, a compromise worth doing. FWIW I painted the area occupied by the raised panel for the central bomb carrier matt black as a slither of the void the carrier is mounted in does show around the carrier itself. Cheers

Seat turned out great, especially with those textures. As for the save, amazing work!

It's been a bit of a frustrating time still waiting for the delivery of minuscule items from the other side of the planet. Until I get the screws and hose connectors I need, I cannot progress the running gear and get the chassis finished. In the meantime I have worked on finishing the wheels and moving on with the cockpit. First up are the outer and inner views of the wheels. I did sand the rubber tread slightly and sprayed a lacquer flat on the inner surfaces. I've left the outer rim surfaces and spokes as they come in the kit, but am tempted to flatten them off as well. My understanding is that these are almost always dull on the racing wheels, but I'm really not sure. They certainly do look very pretty, and the outer body shell will represent a well maintained finish. I definitely need to add some pastel and oils weathering on the inner surfaces. I got quite fast with the wheels. The first one took 6 hours of effort. The last one took two Frank Zappa albums, although one is a double. I then moved onto the dashboard. The main piece is a white resin part on which all of the individual white metal detail parts are attached. The kit has the row of switches to the right of the instrument panel having nine switches, whereas the car I am doing only has five plus the ignition. The wiring arrangement to the right of the dashboard also differs, but I ended up compromising and using the kit parts, mainly for a bit of colour other than black. The wiring is painted solder as my stocks of fine wire seem to have gone astray in the house shifts. The upper parts of the dashboard and the instrument panel are finished in a textured finish. I achieved this by spraying Humbrol flat black thinned with turpentine, which slows it's drying time, and dappling it with some fine sponge. The steering wheel parts include a spacer (2nd from the right) made from plastic rod covered with foil. Only the outer surface will show as it will be sandwiched between the parts to the left and right in the photo. Mason's car has the spacer on the steering column in front of the switch unit to position the steering wheel slightly forward towards the driver and, more significantly, just a bit higher above the driver's legs to allow for a more comfortable driving position and easier entry/exit. This is apparently the only adjustment available in the driving position of the car. The steering wheel itself is a central etched piece onto which the two clear resin front and rear halves of the wheel attach. The etched piece provides a polished metal strip around the inner circumference between the two wood halves, just as on the prototype. It was a pain - the resin pieces were warped and only partly responded to hot water. The resin was given an enamel sand finish and then burnt umber oil paint was dragged thinly over it to provide a woodgrain effect. I'll take a better photo of it once the final clear coat is on. The instruments are supposed to have a piece of supplied clear acetate over each one. The problem is that the acetate discs are sized to sit over the outer rim of the instruments, which looked shocking. I fitted them and then took them off immediately before even taking a photo. On the actual car, the glass sits within the rim so that the rim edge sits proud above the glass. I may punch some better sized discs if I have the correct size punches, or use a liquid clear to simulate the glass - either would be an improvement. Leaving the rims proud clearly shows the fine rim of the central rev counter as compared with the smaller temperature and pressure instruments, just as on the full sized original. Mason's car also has all of the switches labelled to guide the different drivers. Unfortunately the lettering would need to be only 0.6mm high which is too small for dry lettering and I am unable to print decals, so will do without. All comments welcome. Cheers, Mike

Beautiful work! Really love the photos that show just how subtle the effect is with the variation in different lights. Would never have thought it could work, but what a formidable task! I reckon the rivet lines would start dancing in front of my eyes before I got to the end of it. Cheers,

Shamelessly admit that I would have surrendered. Really looking forward to this rescue operation! Great work on the frame tubes. Cheers,