Almost done with 2020

 Today is the last day of 2020, it's been a strange year. Because of the pandemic, a lot of events got cancelled. In fact I was really looking forward to run the 2020 Tokyo Marathon, and the trip to Kagoshima afterward. Unfortunately, just like everything else, event was cancelled and my trip was cancelled.

I am thankful that the pandemic forced me to set up my workbench again and restarted building model cars. I am doing it at an extremely slow pace.

I have a collection of 1/43 models of the cars that I owned. The only missing one has been the model of the Ford Bronco II when I was in Boston back in around 1998. Finally found a decent model of it. In the 007 movie Quantum of Solace, there was a scene that James Bond drove a Ford Bronco II. And the model is the movie version of it, red in color and with dust painted on the body and the windows.

The Bronco II was very beat up, and has rust everywhere, but it was with me during a difficult time of my life. I cannot leave this model as is. I have 2 options. One, repaint it in white just like all the other car models. Or Two, modify it to look exactly like the one that I had. Either option, I had to disassemble the model and strip everything off. Last weekend, it took me a while to take the thing apart.

In the process, the windshield wipers and the rear wiper are damaged since they were glued in. I am going to replace them with photoetched ones from other kits. Also, the model does not have any side mirror, I will need to find a pair and add to it.

Next step will be stripping the paint off. It'll be in 2021.

In Limbo. But with a good reason

 We all do things for a reason. Or not do something for a reason. There is always a motive behind our action.

No new update on the MP4/23 front because I did not spend any time on the workbench. Not because I was traveling like in the old days. During COVID-19, can't go anywhere anyway. Not because I was busy training for any marathon - all road races were cancelled.

Then, why? It went back 2 weeks ago when I was working on the kit. Even though I am not planning to go nuts to chase after all the minute details (I don't have the skill nor the tools like some of the master builders), I still want to do a decent job. I did have some photographs that I took way back when at McLaren when I was in UK many years ago. Unfortunately, I don't have any picture of the exhaust area. Nor was I able to get any good picture from Google search. I am pretty sure F1 Modeling magazine published back then would have photographs from all angles. May not be from the same race, but would be good enough for reference. So I bought a copy that I think would have what I need from eBay. The cover is an MP4/23, I hope it's a good sign. I am just waiting for it to get delivered. As of today, it should be here tomorrow! Feeling excited.

Went to another Cars and Coffee yesterday. Here are some pictures of pretty cars.

Looking at (1/1) and working on (1/43)

It's third Sunday of the month, that's the Ferrari Club's cars and coffee. Turn out was great, I got to see 2 488 Pista's, and the craziest thing - 2 Enzo's!

And of course, other cars also showed up, like a Lamborghini Aventador SVJ and a Murcielago.

After lunch, back at the workbench and continue working on the MP4/23. Continue to clear the white metal parts. Also carved and hollowed out 1 brake duct (3 more to go and 1 more air box) to make it a little bit more realistic. The one on the left is done, the one on the right is not.

Step By Step (Not the New Kids Song)

Taking a different approach building this time. Growing up building plastic models, I used to just buried myself in doing that and focused on just building. This time, I am only spending may a hour or two each night after dinner working on it the past few nights. Slow and steady. No rush, eventually it’ll get done. This will be just a simple build. Not going to chase getting the details right or adding detailing parts.

Return of the penny

Once upon a time, I was quite crazy about building 1/43 miniature cars. I was spending all my free time building, thinking about different projects, buying reference books, looking at eBay listings and bidding on kits (and I wonder why I collected all these kits?)

This time, I think I am back. Only back to building, won't be buying any new kits for sure.

Spent the entire Saturday cleaning up the body of this guy. That means I picked 1 out of the 4 choices.

2008 McLaren MP4/23 Monaco Grand Prix!

Taking the First Step

Picking up the Lotus or the Williams work in progress would be a challenge. Even though I tried my best to pack up everything before I moved, I just lost track of where all the parts are.

Last night, as a first step, I took inventory of all the kits that I have collected through the years. I was shocked. I have now collected over 100 kits - Tameo, BBR, MFH, Studio27, Provence Moulage, Renaissance, Starter, FDS, Meri, you name it. There is just no possible way that I can finish building all of them in my lifetime. I probably will sell some of them on eBay.

Anyway, I have narrowed down to build one of these four:

• 2005 Renault R25 Chinese GP
• 2006 Renault R26 British GP
• 2007 Ferrari F2007 Chinese GP
• 2008 McLaren MP4/23 Monaco GP

What do you think?

Return to the Workbench

Can't believe my last post was 2 years ago! Too many things happened in the past couple of years. Left my old company, relocated to a different city, different state. When things seemed to be stabilized, the stupid virus turned the world upside down.

One main reason I put down building 43 was my addiction to training and running marathons. So far, I completed 5 marathons including 2 world majors (Chicago and New York). Was going to run Tokyo Marathon this year, but you all know what happened. Now that all marathons are cancelled, I do not have any goal race, and no point doing any serious training.

So, I just decided to come back to building 43. Got rid of a lot of things when I moved from Chicago to Dallas. The first order is to clear some space in my home, setup a workbench and replenish supplies. It probably will take some time before I can actually restart and pick up where I left off. So, stay tuned!