2014 Happy New Year!

There is no better way to spend part of New Year's Day at the work bench. I managed to spend a couple of hours to get the front right brake and brake duct fitted.

Here I wish everyone good health and prosperous in 2014.

Since I only managed to build 2 kits in 2013, I am going to be conservative and set my goal to build at least 3 kits, including the CG901 that I am currently building. Then 881 and 891 to complete the "Before Famous" theme.

The rest of the grid

People admire winners, they love champions. So, winning teams, cars, and drivers are popular and they have a lot of fans. For obvious reasons, model companies make kits of those cars. For the rest of the grid, not so much.
The rest of the grid is what make races interesting. And sometimes, fight among back marker are much more interesting than the front (it's boring to watch Vettle's Red Bull on pole and run away).
And I found some of the mid field or back marker cars quite good looking too.
I just stumbled upon this site called F1 Rejects, a celebration of the rest of the grid. Enjoy!

Looking back 2013

Found this little guy when I was at home in California. This was my starting point. I believe this was the first 1/43 car that I built. A Nissan Skyline GTR Nismo, a plastic kit from Rosso. (The first white metal 1/43 kit would be the BBR Ferrari F399).

Time really flies. We're less than a week away from 2014. What happened to 2013?

Completed Projects

Although the amount of travel I did was a lot less than in 2012, model building productivity did not improve. This year, I managed to finish only 2 kits:

Ferrari F1-90 (641/2) French GP 1990

Audi Quattro Monte Carlo Rally 1981

The Racing43 Audi kit was the first of many things. It's the first non-F1 model, the first non-Tameo kit completed for a while. Most importantly, the first time I participated in Ws43-san's 皆で作ろう会. It was especially fun to read about other participants' build process and learn from it. 

Kits Purchased

Just like almost everyone's new year's resolution, my self imposed 5 kits purchasing quota failed. The kits I bought this year included the following:

Formula Models

1968 McLaren M7A Belgian GP

MFH

1978 Lotus 79

Racing43

1981 Audi Quattro Monte Carlo Rally

Renaissance

1997 Gulf Racing McLaren F1 GTR Le Mans 24H

SRC

1984 Toleman TG183B

Starter

1983 Rothmans Porsche 956 Le Mans 24H

Tameo

1988 March 881 San Marino GP

1989 March CG891 Monaco GP

2006 Renault R26 British GP

2013 Red Bull Racing RB9 German GP

Way more than 5. Sigh...

Planning ahead, I should finish the CG901 first and then figure out what to do next.

Wings

Just returned from a 2 weeks trip to London and Amsterdam, and this Friday I'll be heading back to California for Christmas. So, this week is the last week of 2013 that I'll be home in Chicago. I was going to do a bit more on the CG901, but yesterday I got sick and didn't do anything. Kind of recovered today, so after dinner, I soldered the rear wing together. This thing is taking shape!

In 2009, the F1 rules allow the front wings were changed to full car width, which I think makes the car look ugly. Now in 2014, with the lower nose height and narrower front wing, I hope the new cars will look a bit more "balanced".

This could be my last post for the year. I wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year.

2014 Let's Build 43

WS43 san just announced that the topic for 2014 is Mazda. I had fun building the Racing43 and read about other participants' build. (Really impressed by WS43 san's Porsche 911 build in just 1 week!)

As much as I want to participate again in 2014, I have a big problem. I do not have any 1/43 kit of Mazda. (I can count the non F1 kits that I have with just 1 hand). And there aren't a lot of options out there. Once in a while, there will be a 787B available. Other than that, pretty much nothing. And I would like something less common, such as the 1991 Mazda RX7 IMSA GTO. However, I have yet to come across such a kit. (3D printing and scratch build? Not sure I am ready to go down that road)

I'll keep looking and see what I can get in the next couple of months.

That means 1 of the 2014 quota will be a mazda kit (if I can find one).

If anyone knows of any 1/43 Mazda kit for sale, please let me know.

The Newey-March/Leyton House Trilogy is about to begin!

Both the 881 and 891 are here! After 901, it'll be the 891 and then 881. (As usual, plan subject to change). Sorry McLaren M7A, you will not get any work done in the foreseeable future.

It's complicated

Normal people will try to simplify things. Do shortcuts, make life easier. Modelers are not normal people. For some messed up reason, I decided to "correct" the exhaust pipe and outlet, which no one would pay attention to, and I doubt anyone can see the exhaust outlet in the bottom. Because of that decision, I added a couple more days to the build. I carved the 2 channels to fit the aluminum exhaust pipe.

The cast on "exhaust outlet" is actually too high. I have to grind that off and make a new outlet. One side is opened up, still need to make the flange part, and repeat on the other side.

Trim it down

Worked on the lower half of the car today. As usual, the floor and the diffuser are too thick. I shaved off material to make it slimmer (learning from masters like エヌエフさん). Also, I am going to replace the exhaust pipe with aluminum tubes. You can see the 2 sections in the picture. I have already grinded off the cast on pipe from the base. Still need to cut 2 channels to put the pipes in.

Enough for the evening. To be continued.

My shrink

Recently some stuff from work has been occupying my thoughts. Not really in the mood of doing anything. When I had my sports car, I usually would use washing, waxing and detailing the car as my therapy. I would be in the zone and not think about anything. Now that I only have a clunker, which I don't even bother to wash, I lost one outlet to keep my mind healthy.

So I spent some time today on the CG901 to get away mentally. I put together the 2 front wing end plates. Not much, but enough to relax a bit.

Just received the Tameo made March 881. These old Tameo kits do not include racing harness! That's not a problem, I am going to use the Z Model ones anyway.

Before Famous - Adrian Newey @ March/Leyton House

Since I started working on the Leyton House CG901, I found and bought the March CG881 and March CG891 from The Bay.

The CG881 was Newey's very first F1 design and the CG891 his second. These 3 cars were his starting point. Who would have thought (besides Patrick Head) that Newey would be one of the most influential figure in F1 design?

All 3 are Tameo normal kits. Pretty simple without a long of parts. Hopefully, they shouldn't take too long to build.

And BTW, with these 2 new purchases, I have exceeded my kit purchasing quota for the year.

Before Famous - Adrian Newey's last car at March/Leyton House CG901

Even though the McLaren is far from finished, I couldn't help but started working on another car.

This past Sunday in India, we saw the 10th Adrian Newey design that won the F1 Constructors' Championship, the Red Bull RB9. But once upon a time, before the Williams FW14B, there was a time when his cars were not that successful.

Before joining Williams, Newey was at March/Leyton House. This is his last car there, the CG901 at French Grand Prix, which is the better B spec version with updated aero.

I got all the holes opened up, removed flashings from casting, trimmed the air box inlet walls down and made it deeper.

This is a pretty simple kit with very few parts, will see how long will it take me to finish.

Inlet trumpets

I have not touched the McLaren for quite some time. It's almost November already, so it probably will not finish this year.

Did a little bit of work today, really just a little bit. Chopped off the cast inlet trumpet, replaced with turned pieces.

Original piece in the vise, getting ready to saw off the inlet funnels. 

Machine turned pieces installed.

Now I need to do the other side of the V8.

Flight

Work brought me to North Carolina. North Carolina has an important spot in human history. Kitty Hawk North Carolina is near where the Wright brother flew their first powered flight. So, when I came across this kit, I picked it up. And this Sunday afternoon with nothing going on, I put this thing together.

It's been a while since my last model build that is not a car. Kind of fun.

Porsche By Design

Need to be in Raleigh, NC for a meeting on Monday morning, so I flew in on Sunday. When I was checking out places to visit, I came across North Carolina Museum of Art and they have a special exhibit titled "Porsche By Design". What a perfect way to spend some time on a Sunday afternoon.

Type 64

356

356B

356 Speedster

550

904

804 F1

917 Spyder 16 cylinder prototype

917

908K

935 "Baby"

Art Sports 962C

Remember Roland Ratzenberger? The other F1 driver killed at Imola in 1994?

911 GT3 RSR Hybrid

959 and Carrera GT

Audi Quattro 1981 Monte Carlo Rally