DocRob

Today a true classic landed on my doorstep. Fujimi´s Ferrari 250 GTO. It´s the limited edition with turned aluminum rims and PE spokes and a set of PE and metal parts for further detailing. I also got a huge array of colors for different car projects from Zero Paint and Number Five paints. These are for my different Ferraris and as well for my Williams FW 16. I hope the blue fits the Cartograph decals. As I primed some McLaren parts, I used the chance and sprayed some dummy parts in Williams blue, to show if it matches. Lastly, I got a Tamiya painting stand, which will be helpful with car bodies. Cheers Rob

Thank you Maru, I have lots of photos from different museums and like to share them, when questions arise, like with the 262. I cannot tell you about the meaning of the red circle on the nacelles. It´s present on my Revell decal sheet as well and also the HGW replacements. I found it on some historic pics of -B types too. Cheers Rob

Some builds are like this and it´s not only a kits fault, but some projects lack the groove from the beginning. Cheers Rob

After a long pause and the Crocker motorcycle near finished, I thought, I could finish a started build and continue with the McLaren. This project fought me from the beginning and in deep contrast with the Crocker, it continues to do so, but I want to have the kit off the bench or bin it. I finished the cockpit, using many parts from a Studio 27 detail set. The switchbox and it´s steering mechanism came out good enough, but was extremely fiddly. The steering wheel was even worse and I used the kit part, which was not too shabby. The seat belts are completely wrong and should be black, but the Studio 27 belts tested my patience too much and I used a Tamiya set. These look a bit toyish and were so shiny, that I flat coated the seat assembly. Well if you don´t look to close, it might work . Cheers Rob

Great progress on a truly demanding build. Scott, I can only marvel about your patience. Cheers Rob

Good to see the Furies back at the bench. Landing gear looks good and will be strong enough for the beast. Cheers Rob

Nice car, PW. I owned one myself some years ago. Like others said, these are indestructible. Best, if the sunroof is still working. You know, there is a decent kit of the Benz, made by Diopark out there. I built one, many moons ago. Cheers Rob

Thank you Kevin, but she´s not for sale. We are talking about the most expensive motorbike in the world . Cheers Rob

Thank you Peter, not showing the seat too closely was on purpose, because I touched it with a dot of CA on my finger, when I added the last rivet and have a paint lift there. I will redo the leather finish, when the spare parts arrive, which are on their way from Japan, thanks to MFH. I even thought about applying real leather to the seat, but the contour would have made it very difficult. Cheers Rob

Looking great with all those stencils, Chris. Somehow you seem to have some serious bad mojo with clear parts right now. I couldn´t really see the scratch on the photo and might let it be there, If I were you. Cheers Rob

Looking good, Carl, the Canards alter the whole appearance of the bird. Cheers Rob

I have no idea about the Vallejo metal colors, but the Tamiya lacquer colors can be brush painted. Some colors of the LP range cover better than others, but the blacks are especially good and my go to specially for car modeling. Gloss black is really high shine, mixed with about two thirds of leveling thinner and a pefect base for chrome or polished aluminum. I tried this with Alclad and AK`s Extreme Metals. The semi matte black is perfect for non shining car parts, there is nothing better out there. Cheers Rob

Thank you Paul, I hope for the best. It´s my first contact with MFH, other than purchasing kits. Cheers Rob

Today, I attached the foot rest, and finished the instrument panel, which is a little kit in itself. The main instrument consist from different PE layers, which receive decals then, to add some depth to it, nice touch, MFH. As the fuel tank is polished, I decided to only brush finish the IP for a bit of contrast. There are also tiny PE hands for the main instrument, but I´m not sure, if I use them. Then, I airbrushed the saddle with semi matte black, after some relatively less thinned black Mr. Surfacer 1000, to achieve a tiny bit grainy finish to simulate the leather. Afterwards, I inserted tiny rivets around the saddle, which was extremely tedious. With the last rivet, I smeared a tiny dot of CA glue onto the saddle and will have to finish it again. Maybe, I will use the hairspray method for this, airbrushing flat black on top and then rub partly away, for a slight worn finish. The seat is not finally attached in the pics. I hope, MFH reacts soon and I can purchase the missing parts. Other than that, the Crocker is near ready, but I hope the bad mojo of the last days doesn´t carry over to the next built, as it already spoilt this builds end. Cheers Rob

Thank you Carl and Peter, it´s indeed annoying. I´m nearly done with the kit and this is some kind of a sour ending, but totally my fault. I sent an email to MFH and hope they will answer soon. Cheers Rob

looking very good, the decals crept beautifully into the panel lines, the shape and quality issues with the canopy are strange though. Cheers Rob

Despite some progress, today was kickback time. In the morning it dawned to me, that I haven´t seen the round clear acetate instrument glazings for a while and after a very long search it was confirmed, they were gone . After that, I installed various bits and pieces around the handlebar. Among them the very prominent finely engraved and polished large head nut, which seems to pre-tension the fork suspension. When wanted to glue it in place, I saw a tiny dot of CA, which was left by my fingerprint. Back to polishing, but guess what, the part flew away, never to be seen again . I heard it hit somewhere in my shelf and searched for more than two hours without finding it, browsing through all the tools and boxes there. I´m pretty frustrated now and will reach out to MFH, to ask for spares to purchase and drown my bad mood with some Manhattan´s Anyhow, that´s how the Crocker looks now. Cheers Rob

Some of the works are a bit delicate, but besides the chain, everything is flowing and pure joy. It´s somehow like a TamiWingnut kit in metal . Cheers Rob

It comes close Carl, these MFH bike kits are a pleasure to work with. Still the best alternative, than buying an original one, which is the most expansive bike in the world. Cheers Rob

Thank you Peter, I may be on track, to add the Crocker to the Twin GB , just joking. I like the headlight too, but it seems, it was mostly painted and not polished on the real bike, but as it only has to please me, I took the freedom. The wiring was a bit delicate. It called for un isolating 0,3 mm wire and then wiggle the bare part, a hair thin around the tiny connection pegs, which have a diameter of 0,5 mm or 0,6 mm and finally glued into place. Not with my clumsy hands . Drilling through the connector pegs was enough of delicacy for me. Cheers Rob

Looks like a flying cross for the moment Peter, a rare sight. Some modeling companies out there seem to completely rely onto cad systems, for designing the kit, as well, as for producing the manual. Generally these kits look great on the sprues, like your A-10, but I guess, they were never build by a real person with the manual at hand. Knowledge about how to put something into CAD doesn´t lead to a good result, without the knowledge what is necessary for a thorough kit design. I hope you fight your way through this one and not without fun, doing so. Cheers Rob

Some major steps got done, as I married the ready assembled fork with the rest of the bike. Alignment of the various parts connecting the fork struts was a bit fiddly, as you had to join a dozen tiny pegs into their holes, while adding CA glue all at the same time. The electric wires for the horn and headlight should be wrapped around tiny bolts, which I couldn´t do. I drilled three millimeter holes into said bolts and glued the wires in, after threading them through. The headlight got polished, as is the reflector for a nice and bright appearance. Cheers Rob

I think, there may be different types of print material which are more or less brittle. I found the Eduard Brassin prints to be slightly flexible. Cheers Rob

The tiny engine looks good, FA, albeit, I never paint parts on a sprue, but that´s just how different tastes are. Cheers Rob

Their main business are cars and bikes with only a bit of ships and armor. New releases are sold very fast often and then gone forever or until a re-release, so it´s better to be fast if you like a subject. I guess, the type of kits and the prices call for relatively small production batches. Not all the kits are full detailed, some are called proportional kits are a bit simpler made for a faster build. I have four more MFH kits in my stash, beside the Crocker and they all look gorgeous. The Crocker is my first venture in this direction, but I found the build so far relatively straight forward, with no real problem areas, besides the fragile chain. The quality of the parts and engineering are in a league of their own. Cheers Rob