Noel Smith

The family involvement aspect is really nice to hear about on the Lego models Matt. Being retired it is just the two of us now the family has flown the coop. But recently my wife has taken up making jigsaw puzzles and sometimes we sit together working on them, and occasionally when my son or daughter drop in they have a dabble too. Model making can sometimes become a bit of an isolating hobby, so it is a matter of getting the balance right and enjoy it whilst also remaining sociable.

You cannot knock Lego for ingenuity although not accurate scale models in the real sense. But however, they are brilliant for getting to learn engineering principles when putting them together with all the sets of working parts on them.

Looks like a useful but of kit.

The John Roberts Dreadnought book has been out of print for quite a while. The publisher was Conway Maritime Press. eBay or specialist second hand transport book dealers might be your best chance of sourcing it. I don't know if the Haynes book has any hull plans or not.

Keith, I don't have the ad now but the new Corgi one I seem to remember was being sold at around £25.00 so not all that pricey. They are still doing the nostalgia model in gold instead of silver as per the original issue.

During late 2023 I managed at last to obtain a copy of Andrew Bowcock's book CSS Alabama The Anatomy of a Confederate Raider on Ebay at a sensible price having kept looking at the very inflated prices that most other sellers wanted for it. Overall it is an excellent treatise on the vessel with plenty of plans to refer to. Andrew Bowcock I believe was an ex Cammell Laird employee and his research into the ship is quite comprehensive. He was on a committee trying to fund the building of a full sized replica of the ship to be displayed at Birkenhead where the original was built. Unfortunately the venture did not get off the ground, but as I understand it, a lot of Andrew Bowcock's research was done with this venture in mind. Summersell's book looks like being the other main recommended source of information about the Alabama although I have never seen a copy myself. It sounds like an extremely good alternative reference on the ship according to Boater Bill.

There is a lot of aftermarket stuff available for UK model railway enthusiasts. Trawling the web is probably the easiest way to locate items. Some of the items suggested on here may be a better way to go instead of trying to obtain replacement Dapol decals.

I have been looking at IXO's Rothschild Bugatti Atlantic in 1/8th scale. Looks very nice. They have a Volvo Amazon and a Subaru Rally Car as full kits too. Had a look at Agora's stand at Telford last year and was very impressed with their Daniel Craig Bond DB5 Model, a Cobra and Mustang models along with a 1950's Mercedes racing car from the 50's on display. There are quite a number of other 1/8th scale car model kits out there. I only recently became aware of a French part series for a Simca 1000 saloon that piqued my interest having owned one way back in the late 60's. I guess that there are others unknown to me.

Interesting wish lists so far. Keep 'em coming !

The Corgi model had a full page ad for a nostalgia reissue in a national paper last week Keith if you want to buy a new one. I expect you can locate one as they will probably have a website to obtain it from.

I wonder what Hornby will do next under the Pocher brand name? After 2 Lamborghinis, a Ducati Panigale Bike and the Lotus 72 F1 car who knows? A Bugatti Chiron would be nice as Airfix/ Hornby already have licences. Or maybe an accurate Ken Myles 1966 Le Mans winning Ford GT40. A works Computervision MG Metro 6R4 would be amazing in 1/8th scale. It will be interesting to see others wish lists on here for a new Pocher kit ?

Revisiting this thread after a while, I think that Wills Finecast has a small range of 1/43rd scale kits and have a feeling that they did a kit of the Daimler Dart. Talking of 1/24th scale white metal kits I seem to remember a range under the name BigKit that are some rally car kits. There was another company named RAE at Addlestone in Surrey who made white metal kits in 1/20th scale. I built one of their kits that was an MGRV8 bought from Grand Prix Models when they were located somewhere near to St. Albans way back. The kit looked as though two separate pattern makers developed it. The interior and wheels were nicely defined, but the body itself was not too cleverly mastered and the casting had a slight twist in it that needed correcting. Just out of curiosity, has anyone else built any of the RAE range of white metal kits?

Nice model build. Does anyone remember building the Airfix one from way back ? It never got re issued as far as I can remember. I built one with an MPC Gangbusters Villain being ejected. My LMS had it to display but lost track of what happened it as I never collected it back.

Gakken. Now there's a name I have not heard in a long time. A long time!I Just having an Obi Wan Kenobi moment like Alec Guinness in the first Star Wars film that was released. Back to the kit. I will be following this thread. I have seen some nice examples at shows over the years.

Are we talking about actual rubber tyres or vinyl in the kits. Vinyl will react with polystyrene plastic if left touching each other in storage for a considerable time. Keep them separate within the box by wrapping the vinyl tyres in some tissue. When building ensure that the circumference part of the model wheels where the tyre will be fitted has some sort of barrier like foil between the tyre and wheel. Real rubber after a considerable time will begin to degrade and perish.

That's interesting. Even though I owned an Austin Ambassador I was completely unaware of a Van den Plas version of it. So what sort of interior trim did it have? Leather seats and Burr Walnut dashboard and door trims? I thought the Vanden Plas name ceased to be used when the Allegro version stopped production. The nicest Vanden Plas to me was the Princess 4 Litre R with the Rolls Royce engine, but the previous Farina Styled ones were nice looking cars too. The nearest thing I had to the Farina styled ones was a Wolseley 6/110. Lovely old poor man's Rolls!

Matt, I suggest you try to contact Paul Fitzmaurice direct. As far as I know he is still at his Olney, Bucks address from where he ran his Little Cars and Little Tools businesses. If he has moved I suggest contacting Mat Irvine as I think that he and Paul run the Hamex shows between them and might be able to put you in contact. HTH. Noel

Nice model of the ultimate piece of American Automotive Bling!

Mention of the Austin Princess Ambassador reminds me of the one I had years ago. It took Austin ages to realise that model range needed a hatchback like mine had (eventually). Just cannot understand why they never built the 'wedge' as it was commonly referred to back then as a hatchback from the word go. BL had some weird notions back then. The Vanden Plas Allegro being just one. It was just plain ugly!

Looking back on this thread, buying either 3D printed parts of buying the use of 3D files to print there is a reliance on the supplier getting their 3D CAD designs correct. Judging by your first post it sounds as though you had a very bad experience when you made contact to complain. If people are accepting payment for goods or services whether large corporations or working from a spare room they have a duty of care to their customers.

Bozo and Zephyr. Your comments just go to show that old saying is true that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

One turned up in a lockup in one of those programmes on TV where they auction off stuff left in unpaid for lockups. The car had a tarpaulin covering it except for a very small lower portion of one wheel. I recognised it for what it was immediately, but it was obvious that the bidders on the program did not. So one woman amongst them got herself a very cheap De Lorean to sell on!

The first four words of this thread title reminded me of Victor Meldrew the principal character's catch phrase from the TV sitcom One Foot In The Grave!I Getting back to the subject, it sounds as though after market decals are a bit of a minefield. Sounds as though some makers cannot take criticism very well.

I do Telford every year. In fact been a member of IPMS UK since way back in 1974 but never got over to a USA Nationals much as I would have liked to. When I first joined the society our Nationals as it was then was a tiny affair compared to Telford. It was back then held in the upstairs art gallery on a November Saturday afternoon in the Royal Air Force Museum, Hendon. No traders, and the contestants had to win a place to compete via branch (chapter) eliminators apart from country members with no nearby meetings. First move was to a hall in the National Agricultural Showground at Stoneleigh in Warwickshire, one odd year at a venue in Peterborough, then a larger hall at the Donington motor racing circuit and finally after outgrowing that one too, finishing up at Telford.

A very nice model of a subject from a mostly neglected era. It looks very convincing.