Coors54

As I live in a village with no gas supply, we're all electric with storage heating, we fitted solar panels when we moved in 7 years ago and they've paid for themselves now but obviously during the long winter days we don't generate much so pull from the grid quite a bit. Using Economy 7 and not having dual fuel limits our choices of supplier but I've just switched from Bulb (who are putting their prices up in April) to PFP Energy, so any experiences with them would be appreciated, they seem to be in favour with the MSE website at the moment so fingers crossed. The switch seems painless so far. We used to be with Octopus and had no complaints, communication etc was good but their Economy 7 tariffs rose so we had to move. I'm signed up with Labrador for tariff watches but like all switching sites they don't offer all companies, also any of these switching sites don't make a point of putting the various tariffs in plain sight, you have to dig which I find annoying. I know what I'm paying for peak, off peak and daily charge at the moment so just want to see what each company is offering, not going by some pie in the sky "average usage" quote which bears no relation to reality. As we push quite a bit from the solar back to the grid on sunny days I'm considering battery storage so I'm looking at a Tesla Powerwall, mind you you can buy quite a bit of 'lecky for what they cost! So if anybody has practical experience of this I'm all ears. We could have fitted an oil fired wet system when we moved in but I wasn't comfortable with oil burning, I looked at air source heat pumps which would require a wet system too but my missus thought it was too noisy and I'm too far in now to go back but that might have been a better option over the longer term. Dave

I think @Ex-FAAWAFU might be interested in this, he's currently building a large (ish) Ark Royal with full air wing at the time of the Bismark action and is an ex Sea King steerer himself. Good luck. Dave

Interesting to see this progress Matt, it looks like the suspension and running gear is a bit more refined than the Trumpeter kit, shame they had to use screws for assembly though. Meng did at least give you a spare wheel! What colour did you use for the blue on the chassis and will it be Miles's #1 car? Dave

@Peapod I'm surprised Indycals is a 10 week delivery, I've ordered from them in the past and even with USPS's best (non) efforts it's reached me in 2-3 weeks, at my glacial build speed it doesn't really affect me! Just checked their website and they do say 4 -10 weeks but they are giving you a worst case scenario, I would think they could be with you much sooner. How quickly do you build? 🤣 If you just cannot wait (and Indycals will be much better quality) my kit is the Magnifier one with the #1 decals, and as I said I won't be using them so PM me and we'll sort something out. Dave

Welcome Peapod, if you don't have any response to your request try Indycals https://www.indycals.net/decals/lemans/66gt40-1.html There are other companies that also have the Miles decals available such as BBK in Holland. I plan to build the #6 car of Andretti/Bianchi so Indycals will be getting an order from me when It gets nearer the top of the to do pile. Remember not to put the roll cage provided in the kit in, it wasn't fitted in 1966. Good luck with the build and do a WIP here. Dave

Take it steady Crisp, Ark will wait, we need you in tip top form to continue the build. Dave

Wasn't the exchange of brown paper bags containing quite a lot of cash something to do with it? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_bribery_scandals Dave

It's been a decalfest at Coors Towers for the last couple of weeks, interrupted by home working (how very dare they?) and domestic life but my wish for some colour on the green machine has been answered. As I mentioned earlier I have been working with Frank from Taylormade Decals in Germany https://tailormadedecals.webshopapp.com/de/decals/auto/ to correct his sheet for this car which looked as though it was a scaled up version for a much smaller model and didn't fit very well and was also deficient in detail in many areas for a large scale model. Taylormade do their sheets in several scales. Long story short the new sheet is superb, very complete, even down to the clips holding the screens in place and BMW roundels. The sheet was originally intended for the car as it appeared at Le Mans in 76, but Frank has now included the race numbers and sponsor emblems for the Silverstone 6 Hours and Nurburgring races so it has variety and it's good value for money, I hasten to add that I have NO financial interest here only being a very satisfied customer. The decal set has two sheets, one in colour and the same again but in silver to provide a solid backing for the colour, so you do have to do the job twice! The sheet is also in one piece so each item has to be cut out and trimmed close, hence why it's been a fest! Anyway more pics, Decalling has thrown up a problem that I was vaguely aware of in that the rear arch extensions are wrong for this car, I knew they were a tad narrow but the angle of the front inlet is too acute which leaves the panel in front of the rear wheel too narrow. This means the race number on the sheet is the right height but too wide. This wouldn't have been a huge job to correct at the start of the project but I'm too far in now so I'm going to have to compromise and make a smaller 2, Shame it's not a regular font...... Anyway next stop clear coat, detailing and windows, nearing the home straight now. Dave

The links are to another German website rather than being hosted separately, right click the link then open in a separate tab. But @maxim-cruisers you would get more appreciation if the pictures were more easily seen, people will just click out if they don't see something straight away. It is a really nice model, handsome ship. Dave

As a dog lover through and through I'm very happy to see this thread but it seems the cat lovers are keener to show off their masters! Come on guys. Here's my boy, Harry, he's our second Golden Retriever and is the sloppiest dog ever, just wants to be made a fuss of and to be with you. Got to admit this is a while ago, he's just had to have both crutiate ligaments done on his back legs and seems to be making a good recovery but I've become very aware of the march of time.... We have a cat, he came as a short term lodger and is still here but he feels he has to behave like a dog to get any attention! Dave

Ox-AZ jab for me on Monday, booked online at 23.00 Sunday, injected at 09.20 Monday, very efficient system, in and out in 10 minutes. Felt like **** for 24 hours, better on Tuesday but have a very "heavy" left arm today. But all better than a dose of the real thing! Dave

@Admiral Puff best place is in your neck of the woods http://www.pattosplace.com/decalsP.html Find the Porsche 934 section and take your pick. Or try Indycals https://www.indycals.net/decals/lemans/79lois934.html or https://www.bestbalsakits.com/tamiya/tamiya.asp?man=37 Enjoy! Dave

Well obviously the wheels look better than I think! Thank you all for the input. I felt that it all looked a bit dark (not helped by my shocking photograph of the whole car) and the wheels were nicely shiny at the start of each race! So I thought maybe it would perk things up. Anyway I have just received my decal sheet from Taylormade Decals in Germany and it looks great so hopefully the M Sport stripes and sponsor logo's will satisfy my lust for colour! Dave

Holbay H120 Rapier! I had one for a short time, great in a straight line but didn't like corners so much, it leaked from the drivers door window frame as well. Dave

I don't want to upset the mods but it does seem that the vehicle section discussions on new or upcoming kits get shut down when similar discussions on say the armour section are allowed to run, see

I've been avoiding the bodyshell since I did the initial modifications, I'm still learning with making cars (long time aircraft builder here) so getting a good finish on bodies is an on going learning curve. I don't help myself as I HATE airbrushing. I'm an open minded, easy going guy happy to learn new techniques but I just cannot get on with using an airbrush. My modelling time is limited and the chore of masking, mixing, cleaning, de masking when getting a brush out can do the same job in the fraction of the time just kills it for me. So going into car modelling meant I had to learn to use rattle cans if I wanted a reasonable finish! Only making cars from the 70's and early 80's is a bonus as they were never totally immaculate and didn't have the knee deep shine that seems to be the go to standard for models of more modern vehicles. Enough waffle onto what I have done with the body, at the start of this thread were some pictures of the main modification, the front air dam, here it is under a few coats of Kermit sorry Gosser green - After imbibing the how to by @cmatthewbacon - excellent tips - I've used a can of spray paint intended for John Deere agricultural vehicles, this seems to an enamel, it's been applied over Tamiya Fine Surface Primer after a rub down with 4000 MicroMesh, it's got a good shine straight from the can and takes a couple of days to really harden but it is pretty cool here at the moment so the boiler cupboard is getting some extra use. I'll polish out any small imperfections, apply the decals and put on a coat of clear. The other major mod to the body is the new rear wing, this is a big son of a gun and the wing mounts required some scratch work with laminations of plastic card, this view shows the boot lid in place and also the new louvres over the rear wheel flare. The kit body has a waist trim strip moulded in, that isn't on the Gp5 car except across the doors, so I've carved that off and smoothed things out. The boot lid and bonnet (trunk and hood for my colonial colleagues) are separate items on this car, no hinges and held in place by pins and R clips, the Gp5 car also had an extra hole cut in the boot lid to access the oil tank quick fill fitting. And I just had to see what things looked like with the body on - The modified ride height looks acceptable to my eye, low and mean. The wheels got a bit of a makeover with MFH valves, some tyre bolts and balance weights, the Goodyear decals came from a generic decal sheet off eBay. They're supposed to look race worn but I'm beginning to regret stripping the chrome now. I'm waiting on a decal sheet that I've been helping out with sizes and details, I'm excited to see how this works out so next time there should be some colour to relieve the greenness. Dave

Top job Ron, you're my hero! Dave

Good work so far John. I had no idea Tamiya did this. Fiat 500's always remind me of summer holidays to Shoreham when I was 13 with my mate who's mum had a white one. We'd all pile in surrounded by luggage and their dachshund and head down the A34 from Leamington. Took ages but on one memorable trip we overtook a Porsche 911, downhill it must be said and he was probably suffering engine trouble! I think we two car mad schoolboys could be heard cheering and laughing for miles around. Dave

There's more than a few on here with connections to the Captain class, is that because the crews were predominantly Hostilities Only I wonder? Dave PS I can also recommend the Black Cat bits, bought a few for my Warspite build, excellent quality.

Not sure if you're still on this model Neil, but have you seen this link? Dave

Definitely Ron, all that effort on the finish needs the final touches, the tiny details will catch the eye and make it even more convincing. Chapeau so far. Dave

Excellent result John, a couple of those pictures just made me go mmmmmmm! That's in a good way, in case of confusion! Dave

Morning all, as I indicated last update I've moved on to the cockpit area which in all honesty doesn't need huge changes, just some extra detailing and a bit of bling. The floorpan was sprayed semi gloss black then weathered with grey and brown washes to highlight the raised pressings, the cars looked well used in period photo's and not the pristine items you see today. Centre console with added relay panel and wiring. The drivers seat had some extra framing for the base and the lap belt slots cut and detailed, the belts came from MFH The roll cage in the kit was the wrong pattern for the Gp5 car and was also oversize so replaced by brass tube and rod, epoxied together. The kit pick up points were also in the wrong place so were filled in and on the rear parcel shelf the shock towers were improved and the cage picked up there instead of the shelf. Mmm, bit more work required here I think. Not perfect but overall I'm happy with the look, once the body is on most of this will disappear from such close scrutiny. Dave

I photo host on Village Photo as well and their security certificate expired a couple of days ago so all the links have gone down and getting onto the site is a chore through Edge, it makes you feel like you are going to break the Internet or give away all your passwords! Hopefully Village.photo will sort it quickly otherwise we're into another Photobucket fiasco. Dave

They start looking for a job with Deliveroo? Dave