Jo NZ

Thanks! It went through Bonhams in 2014 and fetched about £5M. I think it went to a private collection in the US.

Scratchbuilt front crossmember and giant carburettors and manifold (63mm SU)

Thanks all. Yes, the wheels will go, but probably after the body is finished. The main attraction of the kit wheels is that they do, in fact, keep it off the ground.

I'm occasionally struck by madness. I think that this was one instance... I decided that the Airfix Bentley could be turned into Tim Birkin's Brooklands car. So far I've: Lengthened the chassis Built a complete new body - from plastic strip over formers Made a new bonnet from aluminium Here's where it is so far. You may recognize a few Airfix parts...

When I worked on the AEW Nimrod radar fit we were naturally trying to squeeze as much as possible into the aircraft. Discovered at the time that the Comet fuselage length (from tolerance buildup) can vary by +/- 6 inches.

This is probably only going to confuse, but.... Scale Models magazine May 1981 had an article on Zakspeed Fords. It shows drawing and pictures for the Tamiya Capri, and then goes on to discuss the new Esci kit of the 1979 Gr2 ETC Escort. It mentions that it's based on the EATON rally Escort, and for the GTC car the front suspension is too high, and the front and rear track too narrow. The article goes on to say the the holes for the filler caps need to be drilled out of the bootlid, and there are markers for these holes inside the bodyshell. So it had bootlid fillers in 1979, you just need to find out if the regs changed by 1981.... BTW, the price of the Escort kit in 1981 was £3.50!

Really nice build - especially given the base kit!

The major problem with the early Stag engines was wire circlips on the gudgeon pins. They popped out and scored the bores. I know because I spent my student "workshop experience" re-boring and sleeving heaps of them, all replaced under warranty...

Nice build! Before you put in the cabinet, I'd suggest making a couple of blocks to support the model. The white metal is a little soft, and after a couple of years the suspension will sag.

To clean up white metal before painting, what Black Knight said - I use emery paper or a brass wire brush, and wash in washing up liquid with a hot water rinse. Then spray with automotive primer..

There is a book available "The World of 43rd" by John Simons of Marsh Models. Personally with SE finecast kits, as they are usually cast in "flats", I assemble the body with CA until it's square and true (if it isn't it will come apart in hot water) and when I'm happy with it, back up the joints with epoxy. An advantage with metal is that you can strip the paint with thinners if you're not happy, and chrome parts can be replicated by polishing the white metal.

Shame Tamiya went down the 1/20 road instead of continuing what had gone before in 1/24! I have a few 1/24 F1s, mostly in white metal. Only Casadio and Bellini went the the 1/20 route in the '70s and they were expensive and "quaint".

Seen a couple of weeks ago in Wellington NZ. 650S? It's difficult to tell...

Don't discount sterling silver. For the quantity you need it won't be too expensive, and it anneals, works and solders well.

It's crying out for an Ed Hillary South Pole version...

I've just found this... Brilliant work, as ever, Roy. A couple of notes: The gauges in pre-electronic racers (if you're a pro) are set up so that "normal" i.e. temperature, oil pressure and temp, max revs, and anything else, are all set vertical. That way, when you get a chance to glance at the instruments it's easy to see if anything isn't right. If it's a dual gauge then the most important thing goes at the top. A mechanical rev counter will also have a red "tell tale" needle that shows max revs. There's a small reset button on the back of the rev counter that's (hopefully) out of reach of the driver.... Standard car wiring colours in the UK used to conform to BS.Au7 (I have a copy somewhere). Most of the racers that were professionally built that I've come across at least loosely followed the spec, as it's easier to diagnose faults for any auto trained electrician.

Thanks all. It's painted with PPG dulon1k from a rattle can, over Dupli-Color barrier primer. The colour is 1966 Ford Arcadian Blue. The paint dries flat, but only needs a 5 minute session with automotive cut and polish to bring up the shine. Nice paint to use, too, it shrinks to nice smooth finish.

Built almost box stock, tyres by Icon Miniatures, and decals from Best Balsa Kits. This took a lot of willpower to finish, rather than hiding it in the bottom of the cupboard.

I did - 3 tries so far, maybe photobucket is down? Any help appreciated.... OK got it. After I added them to photobucket I moved them to an album. Sharepoint style file management - it loses the link.... All OK now, I hope?

Some scratchbuilding included. I could only remember two parts that I haven't modified or replaced... Due to Photobucket, all the pictures are gone However, you can still see them, and more, at https://www.modelmotorcars.com/jo-martins/ PS Following on from a request by Codger, here they are again, courtesy of Flickr And here it is at the moment...