klubman01

Thanks Keith. I have some on display, typically six or seven, on the bookshelf unit in the dining room. Each is mounted in a BBR display case. Keeps them dust free, which keeps "senior management" happy. The remainder go back in the boxes they came in, but get cycled around as the mood takes me. Trevor

Not sure about perfect, but thanks anyway. Trevor

Thanks very much. Trevor

Cheers Chris, thanks very much. Never got to a Boxing Day meeting for some reason or other. And that's despite living only five miles away until I joined the RAF in 1977. Went to plenty of races though, all the way from humble club meetings to F1 and BOAC 1000. Trevor Thanks very much. Trevor

Thanks very much. Can't say the BT8 is particularly attractive, but it was effective. Personal choice, Lotus 23. Trevor

Future F1 and double Can-Am champion - Denny Hulme was a bit underated IMHO. Trevor

Thanks Jeroen! Trevor

Completed a couple of days ago, this is my model of the 2.0 Coventry-Climax powered Brabham BT8 entered by Sid Taylor for Denny Hulme in the 1965 Guards Trophy race at Brands Hatch, which was the first race meeting I went to. Hulme easily won the 2 litre class in both heats, and finished fourth in the overall standings, beaten only by John Surtees (6 litre Lola T70), Bruce McLaren (4.5 litre McLaren M1A), and Jackie Stewart (6 litre Lola T70). The base kit is by Automodelli Studio and is, I think, based on the old Kaiser kit. I had to make a few changes - the alloy scoops on the nose section and lower sides were not very well defined, so I made replacements. The tops of the doors were not the correct, curved, shape so I corrected these with sections of plastic card. This, in turn, meant that I needed to vac-form a new screen to match the new door profiles. In addition, the "holes" in the top and rear of the engine cover weren't very well formed, so I constructed replacements from sections of plastic tube and strip, ground away the resin, and fixed the new items in place. Finally, I scratch built the spoiler as the photo-etched kit item wasn't to my liking. I also added a bit of extra detail to the cockpit by way of chassis tubes, etc. The rear view mirror was also scratch built. There were quite a few air bubbles on the underside of the body, but no more than I would expect from a resin casting. I made the name stickers from Letraset on sections of white decal stripe and I sourced the race numbers from my spare decal stock. Yes, the 3 and 6 are meant to be of different styles and sizes. Here's a picture from the Autosport race report. (I couldn't find an exact match for the sixes.) I'm quite pleased with the end result, and it's a nice memento of my first race meeting. (A model of John Surtees' winning Lola T70 is in the stash!) Thanks for looking. Trevor

That looks really fabulous. Love the worn effect on the seat leather. Trevor

Beautifully finished. Trevor

Of course, FEV 1H, the London-Mexico winner! Trevor

The suffix letter on registration plates was introduced in 1963 with the letter A. In mid-'67, the system was changed slightly with the suffix E changing to F, which then continued until mid -'68 and the change to G. Subsequent changes were then made each year. With me so far? From the beginning of 1973 reflective plates (white front/yellow rear) became mandatory. This was when the suffix letter was L. Previous to 1973, reflective plates were legal but not mandatory. Your FEV decals use EV as the area identifier which, according to my research, is somewhere in Essex, with E signifying Essex and V indicating the part of Essex where the vehicle was first registered. I could not find any region using FV as an identifier. If you opted for FEV 385L, then you have the option of black plates pre-January '73, or reflective plates post January '73. I hope this helps in some way. Trevor

Here's one at a classic car show from last year' Trevor

Wow! A Bond Bug! Very different to your previous projects. Not seen one on the road in the UK for a very long time, but they do occasionally appear at classic car shows. I shall follow with a great deal of interest. Trevor

Just read about the sad loss of another legend. Paddy Hopkirk, racing driver who had a celebrated victory in a Mini Cooper at the 1964 Monte Carlo Rally – obituary (telegraph.co.uk) Trevor

Stunning! Trevor

Thank you very much for your kind words. I only do corrections if they are obvious errors. I do, sometimes, build them straight from the box (but not that often!). Trevor

Thanks very much. Trevor

Thanks Keith. The Le Mans test weekends have always been a source of unusual configurations/colour schemes. Trevor

Yes, I do. It's a ReStart version of the Automany kit. Still got the Automany decals though. However, not so many compound curves to contend with. I plan to do a few modifications so that it looks like the sprint version that raced at Brands Hatch in 1987, a race which I attended. Trevor

Thanks very much. I was very pleased that I managed to salvage something from the disaster of the decals. Trevor

Thanks very much. I have a couple more Automany kits to build, Aston Martin Nimrods, but I am concerned about what the decals for those may be like. Trevor

All nice, but I especially like the 1275GT! Trevor

Well, I didn't know that he lived in Sleaford. I remember his books though. Trevor

Brilliant video! Bravo! Great model as well. Trevor