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This is the Model Factory Hiro 1/43 kit of Vic Elford's Porsche 917/30 in the scheme it wore when he won the 1973 Hockenheim Sudwestpokal race. I think it's the only time a 917 ran in Jagermeister colours. The 917/30 is more famous for the Penske/Donohue partnership in the Can-Am, but a short-tail version of the same car ran in European Interserie events alongside similar 917/10 cars. These are probably still the most powerful circuit racers of all time, fielding up to 1500 bhp in race trim. It's a standard MFH 1/43 kit, comprising circa 300 parts mainly in white metal but also featuring 3D-printed chassis and wheel arch louvres plus lots of photoetch and metal rod. The orange is Zero Paints' ZP-1057 and the remaining parts are a mix of Mr Color and Vallejo acrylics, with fuel tanks and lower rocker panels (sills) in polished bare metal. Somehow I managed to drill 13 holes in each distributor cap (red leads - 12 leads for the plug wires and one for the coil), expending only three 0.3-mm drill bits for the entire job of 26 holes and leads (two distributors to give twin-plug ignition). The fuel injector leads (12 this time, black hoses) were done in a similar fashion. Every time I wire a 1/43 distributor I wonder if I'll manage it; the key seems to be to have as many drill bits on standby as you can, and a good pair of pliers to pull out the broken drill bits when the inevitable happens. So far so good! And a close-up of those louvres: impressive 3D printing! Finally the customary 'pencil' shot for scale:

Quite some years ago - 33 to be precise here - and almost on this very days (it was 16th of February, a Friday), it was when I had my first motorcycle driving lesson. As it was mid february, I was a bit concerned about the weather, as I didn't want to have my first time on two motorised wheels on icy ground - but it was a moderately warm, rather beautiful February day, and from this on the 16th of February, or the 3rd Friday in February, is my very own private first day of spring. Apart from the first driving lesson, the year 1990 was a year of many firsts for me; not only did the hope for my own driving licence promise for a totally new level of independence and autonomy - my parents didn't have a car - it also was a childhood dream come true! Me, young (I was 20 then) CC, will be able to ride a bike. I was always infected by the motorcycle virus, and it wasn't the fast, sporty machines I was longing for, no Honda CBX or Kawa Z1000s, but the big Tourers, like BMWs or, of course the big American V-Twins, like Harleys or Indians. Also this year marked quite a change of lifestyle, while up to that I didn't really know what to do with my life, leading quite an "alternative" (isn't that a beautiful term for dying your hair colourful and living from day to day?) lifestyle. But as the ability to drive enabled me an possibility to earn my own money, it also enabled me to go to evening school and earn my engineers degree, while in daytime I worked as a whatever would pay the bills. While later on I worked as courier or cabdriver, worked in garages, selling Harley parts (how approbriate), later made my first steps in consultancy work - but in the summer of 1990 my "special skill" was working in areas which couldn't be reached by public transport, or working at times when no there was no tram or subway - which was in Vienna from midnight to dawn, more or less. So, young me spend a whole summer working at night, enjoying sunshine in daytime, and driving around on my used Kawasaki 440LTD, I bought from my first money - a juvenile decision to buy a bike instead of a car, but man, did I have a great summer. So, it was a summer of easy work and good money - working at night meant I did earn quite some more, which I didn't mind at all - and when I drove home from, say work at the postal delivery center at dawn, I met some friends at a place at the river danube, sharing a sunset whisky before going home and seleeping til noon. What a living! I have to stop here, not to post the entire playlist of this summer - from Alannah Myles Black Velvet, the Stones' Goats Head Soup, Peter Murphy's "Cuts You Up", and so much more. Once in this magical summer months I drove by a modelling store and saw a model of the venerable 1:9 ESCI Harley WL, the civilian version with the deep fenders (so it was labelled incorrectly, as the "A" designation stands for an "Army" model. The WLA had the side parts of the Fenders removed, among some other changes.) https://www.scalemates.com/de/kits/esci-6002-wla-45-harley-davidson--608810 It was great times, building this in this summer, not careing too much about the build - but I kept this crudely build model for quite some time, as it did remind me of this juvenile and carefree summer I had back then. But as it happens it got lost in some move to a new flat, which I kind of still regret. I did look for some time to find one for a nostalgia build of some sort, but failed. I did find the Army model, which is still in production from Italeri, who acqured the ESCI molds, but this is something different. But then, some years ago, I stumbled across this weird and wonderful Japanese company called Model Factory Hiro. By the times I came across them they had the Vincent Black Shadow (another favourite of mine) as an offering, among the Brough Superior. But soon after they introduced the Knucklehead in a 40 and 47 version - and this is to me maybe the most beautiful bike ever build, in line maybe with the Indian Big Chief, the forementioned Black Shadow or the BMW R75 "Elephant" sidecar. It took me some time to have the heart to spent the money, as well as overcome the fear of the unknown white metal work, as well as some other new to me. But fall last year I finally pulled the trigger on this and here it is; MFH's wonderful Harley Davison Knucklehead in it's 1940 incarnation. That's what inside the box - a lot of ziplocs with white metal parts in it, some chrome, rubber and wires: And, some looks at the instructions, which will lead me through the build: It looks good at first sight, but will it be enough to guide me sucessfully through this terra incognita? I expect dragons... But anyway, if you want to join me on this nostalgia-lead build, wipe your hands clean of grease, don't mind the chips and splinters and have seat on the barrel over there, or right here on the workbench. This will definitely not be a quick build, but the fridge is full with beer, there's whisky enough and if you don't mind occasional swearing, I'm happy if you join me on this journey.

"When the Hurlyburly's gone, When the Business Lost and Won..." (Lucky me more of the latter, less of the first...) ...I want to start a truly daring adventure! Yes, I got me my first Model Factory Hiro Kit and I want to start this for sure long and even more sure cumbersome endeavour in the days after the big madness we all call christmas (and in my case year ends closing). It's the wonderful Early Knucklehead, and working on the first parts a bit, like sanding and polishing some larger parts like the fenders already revealed the so different, but in a strange sense truly satisfying nature compared to the plastic kits we all know so well. What I already found out, but no surprise; sanding and polishing sticks, pads, you name it of all different sizes and shapes is key. And a lot of them! Oh, and of course some reference information on this topic. I plan to build this as close to factory specs as possible, so the internet alone might not be enough. But what else is needed or recommended for the build? The first recommendation I already received I hesitate to follow, is a magnetic tumbler. I get along quite fine with manual polishing, so I guess I can skip this. Or would you recommend it as necessary? What I consider is a drill stand, either generic or including the machine itself, as the Dremel I have is quite ancient. I'm pondering for quite some time now to move to a different ecosystem, if possible to one that uses rather a jaw chuck than a collet (is that correct? I miss a bit the vocabulary here 🥴) . What else would you recommend to consider? Obvious things I missed, or something I didn't think of? Oh, and of course not only tools but also colours or chemicals suitable for use on white metal, which I most likely I'm not aware? I would use the regular primers, but some other treatments for the metal to be considered? You see, many questions before the start here, so any suggestion is more than welcome! A big thanks in advance from Vienna, Guenther

This is the MFH 1/24 Ferrari 488 GTE of Clearwater Racing, Le Mans 2017. I saw this car at the 2017 Silverstone WEC round and loved the colour scheme. Though I am also a fan of the Risi and JMW schemes, when MFH released this version, it was a done deal. It's a resin body/white metal details curbside kit but still has a LOT of detail, right down to individual PE panel fasteners and bonnet latches. Paint is Zero Paints' Clearwater Racing set. And the sun came out!

Hi, I've recently started a new project: the Ferrari 312F1 1967 from Model Factory Hiro, 1/20. This is one of the greatest kits I've worked on. Here are few pics: First, test fit. No glue on the parts... nice fit :wink: 14 first engine parts: few parts of the gearbox: some of the cockpit parts: assembly of oil tank by welding: preparing front cooler for welding: Small progress on engine, some of the parts glued together... Few holes and...few rivets: Resin rivets: Backside view : I set about installing mirrors on the body ... not so easy! I noted the dimensions depending pictures of the car and decorating instructions for positioning. Drilled two holes to be able to insert copper wire in each mirror, and drilled the upper body including one hole slightly larger on the front for adjustment. I let a bit length for inserting two bolts on the inside face of the bodywork part. Few things were done on the engine and you can see the comparison with his little brother from 1969... Wheels painted gold: Onc again 67 & 69: Time to test the "Surface Primer" from GRAVITY COLORS. the good point is that it works upon resin, metal and plastic. First of all some parts need to be prepared or finished before painting process. ... And holes need to be done once again! But it seems I like rivets :roll: 1st, drilling the PE: In position: holes drilled in the resin tub : another test fitting next to the 1969 little sister. Mirrors details: Time to play with the gun Mr Sparmax Flat Pattern & the Primer from GRAVITY COLORS Pics with and without the camera flash: Surprising 1st almost transparent coat, then miracle and a real pleasure to work with! The nose Still little work to do on the nose Top results: Slight problem on the nose and upper body part due to Staedtler permanent ink marker: still visible after primer... Wet sanding and putty Mori Mori Next step of the painting process. A light color coat is done over the grey primer. That will be the Giallo Modena for a great and bright Rosso Corsa! Sanding and primer... ... Yellow: Rosso: prepared and primed: ZP Black Here are the "wrongdoers"... :twisted: GRAVITY paints are AWESOME!! Easy to work with, extremly thin coats can already give a beautiful result and a strong deep satin finish. They also dry very quickly: perfect!! Next step is the finnish coat that will be given by the Clear. So let's go for the Gravity Colors clear coat test! New gloves, stirrer and cup for the mix. 3 components: clear, activator and thinner with a 3:1:1 mix ratio. I always let the mix at rest for about 5 to 10 minutes in order to let allow to the chemical mix to degas. You can add more thinner if necessary. Then, one mist coat and, 5 to 10 mn later, a wet coat (or more): that's all! Parts drying in the "magic box": To sum up: Great and pleasant product. The gloss is... SHINNING!! Deep gloss even if thin. Only 6ml of clear 2ml of activator and 2 of additive thinner were used... Alclad gold on the center of the wheels. The ones shown before were the 1968 312 F1 The tub is drilled and equiped with 0.5 stainless steel rivets. Then the tub parts are assembled (welded) with low temp solder (70°C). Same thing for the front tub part with Calibre 35 0.7resin rivets this time. The frontwhite metal bulkhead and his PE part are drilled, but I didn't used the PE part... I just used it as a template for, I think, a more realistic result. Once again, Calbre 35 0.7 resin rivets were used. The steering column is cut and the external part of the steering rack is replaced by stainless steel 1.2mm syringe needle cut at the right size. 0.7 resin rivets once again. Pedals won't be visible at the end... http://i21.servimg.com/u/f21/12/38/43/52/dsc07214.jpg[/ Front face of the dashboard installed in the tub: Aft: Close up: Gauges are covered with a "glass" made of Rodhoid cut with a Waldron Punch & Die but it's not really visible on the pics :? ... Cavallino ! Radiator is ... empty! I've tried to make it a bit more realistic or, if not, just more pleasant for me :mrgreen: Brass 0.8 and Alu scotch "aircraft" type: Nice and still bright... Fwd and aft mesh: Primer GC: Dampers are great: made of machined aluminium. Just a detail added from F1 Specialties. I wonder if I haven't already seen the same detail added somewhere... Not perfect, but not bad Black ...is black: Almost invisible once the engine is assembled to the body, but I couldn't resist :twisted: Teflon mask and Orange FRAM from Gravity Colors. Oil filter done :wink: Hope you'll like it... Thanks for reading. KR, Pascal FORZA!

This is my first post for a while, what with work and pottering about in the house I've not had anything to really contibute. Anyway before Christmas I was able to purchase MFH's 1/12 scale Ferrari 126C4 version A. I may have mention this before I'm not a Ferrari fan but I have to admit they do make a beautiful car,growing up in the 80's, I love the this era of f1 and have had a growing interest in the style of car which came out after ground effects were banned and love the cars with the reduced side pods, I had previously bought the 1/20 S27 Tyrrell 012 and also got the Brabham BT52 this Christmas but this kit tops the lot. I've never attempted a 1/12 scale kit before, cost, doubts on ability and display possibilities being the main reasons but this kit had been luring me in for a while so started saving in the summer. This is my second MFH kit (first is an uncompleted Ferrari 312 T4) so don't be overly scornful if I ask some blindingly obvious questions during this thread, any advice will be genuinely appreciated. On opening the box, parts and packaging wasn't that much of a surprise saying that it was still pretty impressive and the quality of resin casting was exceptional. Just a size comparison to my 1/20 Fujimi 126C2 The metal parts came rammed in 3 plastic bags, the only real issue with this was part of the rear suspension which snapped in transit, I'm thinking of upgrading these sections with a rod end set from RB Motion, but not sure if they have a UK/EU distributor as I don't want to get stung with customs duty again. Some of the smaller white metal parts Some of the main engine parts, polished and ready to prime of varnish. Broken rear suspension part, bit gutting but the only damaged metal part I've found so far. As usual I started on the engine block, the casting was pretty good and did dry fit a number of sections prior to the fixing priming. The whole gearbox rod thing is a surprise along with the 'cog thing' (did I say I know very little about cars) in the engine block, it suggests the gear box is detachable from the engine block. The engine block and gear box was built it was sprayed with Halfords grey primer, to be honest I was surprise how the main resin block was less defined than I expected, whether this is down to my experience with 1/20 engine blocks I'm not sure. The engine block was finished with 'Xtreme' Polished Aluminium and the gear box a 50/50 mix of 'Zero' Light Gold and Light Aluminium, I'm not overly sure on the block finish but still have to weather with a wash in the grooves and maybe a dry brush over the raised parts. That's it for know, I have started on some other areas so next post shouldn't be to long. Please, any advice would be welcome, be harsh if need be, I want this to look good. Regards John

Latest kit from MFH - this will be another sleeper - got plenty on the go, but if anyone is interested on what is in the box of this latest 1/12 offering from MFH... New box design! Quite a few plastic parts Grrr - my pet MFH hate...delicate, thin parts, wrapped in tight cling film. Another minor point - MFH include templates for cutting out ali-foil, masks etc etc - but you have to cut them out yourself - which is no problem, except they are printed within the instruction booklet - ie: they have other stuff on the back - so you have to copy and print your own. No big deal if you have a printer etc, but be nicer for these to be supplied on a separate sheet of paper. Red circle shows a useful visual guide to all the similar pipe fittings you have to sort through... This will be fun! Decals... Lovely detailed PE parts... Detail parts... Big canopy to trim... Body is huge! Full size keyboard behind for scale... ....so, a very quick over view. I am sure someone will start this soon. I'll probably do my usual and start with the engine shortly.... cheers

Hi! Kelvin here from Portland, Oregon, USA. Like a lot of the folks here was into modeling as a kid and teenager (ultimate builds for me were the Tamiya large scale Tiger with internal detailing, and the Tamiya 1969 Matra). My 11 year old son just discovered the joys of building but not into it as much as I was, but what his discovery did was to inspire me to get back into the hobby. We just built our house here and I've been doing woodwork and casework building out the interior of the house but I'm hankering to change scale and work on something different. Been holding on to a Tamiya 1/12 Ducati 888 Superbike as a warmup. Got the Lotus 1/12 49b as a project I want to build (reconnecting to my Matra experience as a kid) and just got a hold of the MFH Brough Superior (for my 60th b'day) and looking out for tips here. Does anybody know if there's a way of reconnecting to all the images hosted by third parties and not showing up in the forum boards. I would love to be able to see the pictures in the Brough Superior builds on this site that have been "unhosted". Looking forward to talking to all you folks! Kelvin

First off I'd like to take a minute and admit that I am a weak person. I planned to leave this alone until atleast the end October and use it as my winter build when the f1 season finishes, but after looking through the box couldn't stop myself from having a little fiddle (not that way ) and as more and more came out the box more bits were trimmed and cut off the mountings and placed together. So on to the kit. The obligatory box shot. I find it hard to believe how they fit the whole car in this as it's not much bigger than a couple of tamiya boxes. First thing out of the box is this plastic wallet. It's a nice touch compared to the last mfh kit I made. Inside the wallet are the assembly instructions and decal guide. Under the decals guide was the decal sheet and carbon decals. So moving into the box again and first out is the etch parts. There's not as many as I thought there would be considering the size of the car. Also on the etch plate it comes with some helpful guides to show how the diffuser strakes need to be bent. The tyres are really nice and don't have the fujimi/tamiya centre seem. Also it helps that the Pirelli markings have been pre printed like ebbro as it saves me messing them up like normal. A little comparison between 2 front tyres 15 years apart. On the left is the mfh front tyre and on the right is a revell f2002 front tyre. So it's now at this stage where I got a little impatient and just took every thing out the box. This is all the little bags with all the smaller resin and white metal parts. The rims are nice aluminium, very light and the tyre fit on them like a glove. So in bag 1 was the rear wing, gearbox/rear crash structure, seat, roll hoop/intake and the part for the lower part of the monocoque. In bag 2 are the unique side pods, nose cone, radiator parts, lower body parts and cockpit horns. Bag 3 was the front wing and clever oil cooling sheets. In the last resin bag are the wheel hubs and other little misc parts. Now the floor pan. This is a bit that I have spent around half an hour just looking at today, it is literally a work of art and half the bits for it are not even one yet. And finally the main body section. As you can guess for being a new kit there is little to no extra material that needs sanding off but obviously with resin it's not perfect as there are a couple of bubbles that need sorting and from a few little test the fit in some areas will need a bit of work. So this Is where I left the big beastie at the end of the day. It's easily 45cms long from tip to tail and that's before you count the rear end which sticks out another few cms. None of the white metal parts have been touched yet either as I am waiting for a new polisher to turn up. More soon Shaun

OK, so for my next build I've decided to build the MFH 917K 1/24th Ver B in the JW Automotive Gulf colours ( yes I'm doing the Gulf Colours! ) This is my first MFH kit too so I'm kinda excited and a little nervy as I have no idea what's ahead. Another learning curve I guess. Also haven't decided whether to build the No.19, 71 Sarth 24 hours or the No.1 Monza 1000Km version yet. I'm leaning towards the Monza car at the moment. But anyway, the kit arrived this afternoon. And very nice it is too. Santa came early in my house. So basically I now have to start sorting though this lot. Unfortunately, and annoyingly, it's all gone back in the box as the kit is completely missing the PE parts and the bulkhead section. Not a good start really. I've contacted the supplier and I'm waiting for an answer on that. Anyway.... To mix it up a bit. I also have the Fujimi 22 Martini 1971 Le Mans winning 917K. Which I intend to build in tandem with the MFH kit using the MFH as reference to see what kind of standard I can detail the Fujimi. Whether I can get it anywhere near the MFH kit only time will tell I guess. On order for the Fujimi are PE parts, upgraded brakes and the Historic Racing Miniatures HRM-303 engine and bulkhead transkit. I'll be scratch-building everything else; including the frame. I'm also thinking about moderately weathering both kits for a bit of race authenticity. So there you have it really, bit off way more than I can chew again. What could possibly go wrong? Thanks for looking.

Just a few in progress shots of my MFH Brough Superior

Here we go - another 1/12 on the go! Engine first obviously...for my F1 engine 'group-shot' plan. So a bit of 'un-boxing', as I have shown with my other kits. Its nice to show the parts and detail in these MFH kits, and maybe encourage others to give one a go. Usual folder of instructions, decals, foils and PE parts. This instruction manual seems to be quite a few pages more than some others I have... Templates for carbon, foil and ali sheet... Very nice PE parts, including radiator mesh, clips, paint masks, wing endplates, pins etc etc Pack of other detail parts - seat belt ribbon, clear parts, rods, pins, tie-wraps etc... Wheels and tyres always look cool - turned ali hubs, molded tyres including the 'Michelin' logo, and lots of other tyre info molded into the rubber - also there seems to be a very nice mildly-buffed feel to the tyres - won't need to scrub them in much or remove any mold lines (on the contact surface anyway) On to the metal components - usual plastic-ziploc-bags-in-bubble-wrap packaging......grrrrr Lots and lots of bits! lovely details.... The legend... Nice seat belt buckle... ...and a LOT of rivets! This kit seems slightly cheaper than other recent 1/12 kits - I think it is because it is such a simple, pure shape, there is less 'bodywork' than other kits! Resin parts very crisp... And here is where most of those rivets will end up! As before, I'll start with the engine...

http://www.modelfactoryhiro.com/new/en/archives/24269 Three versions, to be released in April. Just a single teaser photo so far: Based on that pic, suggestions elsewhere are that it's a Ferrari 312PB:

New 1/12 for March. Four versions to be released. Let the guessing begin: http://www.modelfactoryhiro.com/new/en/archives/23906

http://www.modelfactoryhiro.com/new/en/archives/24251 Due in April, in three versions: McLaren Orange (Canadian/US Grands Prix); Sunoco (Canadian/US Grands Prix); Yardley SA/Belgian Grands Prix) The Donohue kit is going to be tough to skip.

The MFH website uploaded an interesting picture this morning. It appears to be some kind of motorcycle. Maybe some sort of British bike? Knowing MFH, I'm sure they'll do a stunning job on it.....

Just arrived, silly money but really wanted a 'full body-work' car to try...it will probably be ages before any actual WIP starts, but I know it is sometimes nice to see how the kit looks... It's huge! A lot of bodywork! I think the extra cost over and above the F1 models must be the wire wheels. The turning and machine work is stunning, and many many wires and sleeves, but no experience of building the wire wheels, so a bit daunting... Nice, many paged instruction book! Lots of PE parts here! ...and lots of spokes here! Less decals than F1 cars! Mesh, suede sheets etc... Very nice crisp PE... This small PE sheet is extra shiny (mirrors etc) Massive one piece body... Not that much resin parts apart from the main body - bonnet and boot are metal... Wheels and tyres are beautiful... Many bits! Spokes... ...and of course, my favorite bits - the loose bags of delicate metal bits! :roll: ...more to follow.

OK, I'm thinking about taking the plunge and buying the MFH 917K 1/24th for my next build. Just want to consult Britmodeller's ever throbbing brain on the prep you guys use for the metal part on these kits. Do you use special primers etc. etc. Thanks in advance. Also anyone here actually built the MFH 917K 1/24th? I'm still on the fence whether to build this kit or just go with the Fujimi and upgrade/scratch it.

Pulled this thing off the shelf of doom today. Got as far as the decal stage so my question is, does anyone have experience with MFH decals? What, if any, setting solution is best used? Appreciate any hints or tips! Geoff [/url] [/url]