Alan R

Very sorry to hear of your loss, Olivier. To lose a friend is sad enough, to lose a Family member is sadder still. My Father died about four years ago, and I am still recovering. Each day becomes a little less painful. Take your time and grieve your brother's death well. So appropriate that you have dedicated this project in his memory. My condolences, Alan.

It does that to you. We are always careful about checking or getting the belt replaced. One and a half grand isn't something you wanna spend too often... Cheers, Alan.

That happened to me. I had a Volvo V-40. Cam belt snapped. Bent 14 of the 16 valves, so they replaced all 16. Cost me the thick end of £1400! Cheers, Alan.

I'm not sure, but I think that while the front and back valances don't hold the interior in place, their presence would probably prevent you from fitting the floor-pan into the body. Cheers, Alan.

I have often wondered about getting one of these 'Manga tie-ins', but worried that they had been simplified. That doesn't look simplified, I may invest in one and do it my waaaaay... (To quote ol' Blue-eyes!) Cheers, Alan.

Hi Spiny, Apart from some mould lines (vary light, actually), there were few if any sink marks. I must have just been licky. Cheers, Alan.

Poor pilot's a bit exposed, but then with that gun, he's pretty well protected... Cheers, Alan.

Hello all, A small update on this one. Here is the floor pan primed. I have decided to paint the body Gun-Metal, I am going to use Gunze Mr Color paint for this. Hasegawa suggests this colour as one of the body colour options. I have primed the body and valances semi-gloss black. They look a bid red here, but I have further painted it, to make the coverage better. And, I have painted the front seats: They look a bit "matt", but they don't look as bad in reality. More to come, Thanks for looking, Cheers, Alan.

Hi All, After a long hiatus, I found the missing part. It had got lost in a storage box next to my pile of models. So, progress has been made. Her it is with grille and vents installed. Here it is fitted: This looks fine to the naked eye. The rear valance, being fixed in place. The read after the glue has set: The colour is quite different here. The reflectors chromed with Molotow chrome The front lights chromed: Rear lights: The front with all lenses installed: More to come. Cheers, Alan.

Hi Al, Second instalment for today. The engine and chassis. The disc brakes on the Esprit are inboard and they fitted easily. The front. There are a number of hoses that connect various parts of the induction system. As this is a 40 plus year old model, the original PVC piped had become rigid and brittle. This kind of scuppered progress. Eventually, I sourced some various diameter silicone rubber piping that fitted the bill perfectly. I now have several metres of suitable piping for coolant and breather hoses. How accurate this is, I don't know, but it looks busy enough. Here we have the coolant hoses installed. Here the engine has been installed in the chassis. This wasn't entirely straightforward, as at this stage you have to install the drive-shafts after the engine has been installed. In my first attempt to fit the drive-shafts, I managed to demolish the rear sub-frame! Eventually, I managed to find a solution. None of the pictured show the drive shafts installed. More soon, Cheers, Alan.

Hi All, Just doing a catch-up with all my builds, so this post is probably the result of about five sessions on the bench. I think that because there are so many things done, I might just split this up into a set of logical sessions. I had primed the body grey, as this shows the imperfections better, but isn't ideal for covering in my chosen colour, red. So, I sprayed Zero Paints White Filler primer over the body shell: This took some time (Sever days) to completely cover. It could do with another couple of coats, but there "Best" and there is "Good Enough". Sometimes best is the enemy of progress... So, good enough it is. I have stocked up on sufficient ZP Red to paint all the body parts. While I was at it, I started on some interior parts. Namely the seats. These are not exactly brilliant mouldings. The backs that fit in to the seat 'shell' don't fit great: These are the seats, after a bit of sanding to round off the edges. With the backs fitted: They don't look too bad from here, but the top of the seat and head-rests are a very poor fit. I had to overlay the top of the back with some poly sheet, thus: Then start the process of filling the remaining gaps... Milliput is your friend here. It's great at filling large voids. A quick splosh of grey to highlight the imperfections: The instructions suggest that you paint the seats grey, and then some kind of Tartan for the inner parts. I decided that my Esprit came with Black leather: So that's the main body shell primed and the seats done. More soon. Cheers, Alan.

Afternoon chaps. ...and on nearly seven years! I did state in one of my earlier posts, way back in 2015, that my plan was to spray all these bits with white primer, then yellow. Well, finally, after a long hiatus, I did just that. I used Zero Paints White filler primer, thinned down a bit further with Mr Color Levelling thinners. And this is the result: Slightly overexposed. It is solid white. White is always a blighter to cover, and I made the problem worse by thinning it. However, it's good enough. Now, I need to do the same to the engine ancillaries. Which I have started to do. More pictures soon (Not another seven years, I promise! ) Cheers, Alan.

Over thirty years ago, I owned a Honda VF750F. It was red-lined at 11,500 RPM! The howl it made at the red-line was just mesmeric. A 750cc V-4 on full chat, brilliant! Cheers,. Alan.

I have used wire-wrap wire for ignition leads before now. You can get it from amazon. It comes in many colours and a whole reel with last you for a very long time. I have had my reel for so long, that I can't remember when I bought it! Must be 30 years ago! Cheers, Alan.

This looks fascinating! Drawn up a seat. Pop-corn ready... Cheers, Alan.

I discovered that one by accident. I have a very old 1/32 scale Hasegawa F-16. The canopy (as with a number of Hasegawa aircraft kits) has a big seam right down the middle of it. I craped off the worst bits with a sharp blade, the sanded it down with various grades of sandpaper, which still left a visible mark. Then I thought about fine abrasives and thought "Why not try tooth-paste?" That did the trick. I might even finish the F-16 some day... Cheers, Alan.

I think that Magnum drove a 328 Targa. Still beautiful though. Trawling my memory here... Cheers, Alan.

That makes sad reading! Alfasud - 7 Ford Fiesta XR2 - 287 Vauxhall Astra GTE 16v - 59 Honda VF-750 - 11 I have owned all these vehicles over the years and it comes as a surprise (well maybe not the Alfa) how few are left... Cheers, Alan.

Today while taking my car for it's four weekly run ... A Silver Mk1 Golf Cabriolet, with GTi grille. Two smaller lights inside of the normal headlights. Looked in good nick. Then ten minutes later an immaculate E-type FHC in red. Not sure of the age or series number. Cheers, Alan.

This agricultural machinery is pretty damned expensive these days. I hear that they are still using keys from the dark ages, hence all the rural crime... Cheers, Alan.

I grew up in west Kent. There are some beautiful parts there, but I do prefer the west country. Mind you, where I live it's all a bit suburban... Cheers, Alan.

What a miserable looking soul! What with a brand new tractor and all... Lovely build, by the way. Cheers, Alan.

We live only a few miles from Lacock, so it is one of those places we visit on a quiet Sunday afternoon. You often see some good (and not-so-good) examples of older British cars there. Must be the ghost of Miss Marple, or something! There used to be some pretty good hostelries, pre-pandemic. Not sure what it's like at the moment... Cheers, Alan

Nice looking build. I am much inclined to add this to my stash... Cheers, Alan.

Hi Mr Mansfield, I believe I saw that self same Daimler Dart a couple of weeks back. Would the 'sleepy village' be Lacock, by any chance? The Dart was a rather nice example, if I recall. Cheers, Alan.