new hobby | new opportunities

 

New year, new beginning.

In fact just empty words because the new beginning were back in 2024 when I grabbed my first big scale RC.  It was a Traxxas Big Foot, an RC car that looks like the RC s from my childhood. It delivers fun continuously and more than this, it offers the opportunity to think. You see what it does, you think what its need to do or what you want to do. After this exercise you’ll modify and tune the thing. This is called “upgrading”. And this is the entrance in the rabbit hole of the RC’s. Because it means money expensed and somehow an addiction. Even I do not consider having a hobby meaning you are addicted.

    But honestly, the pleasure of playing RC’s was born back in 2023 when I had my very first RC car : Traxxas TRX4M Land Rover Defender. Now it is the most modified from my collection but not necessarily the best performer. What I am share of is that is the most realistic in the entire collection (in spite of the lack of the interior reproduction).

    So, already I can talk about the two fields of the hobby I am involved in : the micro crawlers and the bashing cars (off road or on roads, we’ll see this later on)

    After the Big Foot I wanted speed and durability and it was the Rustler which I modded for street bashing and speed runs. A lot of technical accessories and esteticaly ones. The Rusty, The Beast, as a friend call it, is now my RC car that I never sell. It will remain in collection no matter what.

    And for the and of the 2024, needing a fancy RC for car lots playing, I added a hot rod to the collection. This is for street playing. Destination : drift car - parts are already on my workbench waiting for mounting on the modest. An power upgrade is not excluded but first I have to find its limits as stock power package.

    Alongside of collecting diecast cars (not so many acquisitions in 2024) those are the milestones of my new hobby along the one already presented on this blog. The passion for scale models remains and I am proud of my scale model collection. I will always enrich with the greatest models I consider.

    About the differences between the RC cars and the scale models we will talk later. In my opinion it is an interesting subject and there are a way to mix them but, at least for instance, I do not agree this mix because of the…. (I’ll explain later because it’s interesting  and I plan to read an entire article on this subject).

    New year, new beginning, promises and so on, better me… bla bla bla. I am sure nothing will change, the same hobbys and the same hunger of satisfying the passion of the scale models no matter what kind of.

    Creating custom scale models allowed you to be creative to feed your abilities of manufacturing tiny things in you tiny world of yourself. Sometimes this helps me passing by difficult moments, but this is another story… and sad stories are not ment to be here.

    So, no promisses for the beginning of the year, let’s see what time brings to us and face no matter what it will be.

10th aniversary

Late this year (I mean in 2023) I realized that everything started back in 2013, ten years ago!

The blog I started then was a second stage in my digital modelling adventure. Later was completed with an Instagram account and in 2022 with the facebook bussines page. 

But … the second stage doesn’t exist without the first one : the AS3Models forum. The forum adventure started back in 2006 and it was a definitory stage of me as a modeller. Due to the fact that I have met interesting people, ready to help anytime and more than this, ready to share their expaerience, I learn a lot in this period.

In fact to be honest, I belive that the Forum helped me to be what I am today in terem of modelling skills.

Usually at the final of the year I publish some stat. This time I will show the post successfully models on Instagram

The Top Nine of the year. Among the most appreciated models we can find an RC car, an Traxxas TRX4M Defabder. Yes, a new side of customizing scale models appears in my personal collection

Top 9 on Instagram

The models are below. There are no posts on blogger yet but as usual you will re;ark the fact that they are uniaues pieces of custom diecast models

And a very personal realization, even it is made in November 2022, the glory measured on clicks came in 2023 is a Dacia 1310, burgundy with brown leather interior. The best you can buy back in 90’s in Romania

Ceci ce n’est pas | une voiture designee

Ceci ce n’nest pas une voiture dessinée !

 

C’est tout a fait vrai; ce n;est pas de tout une Voiture designee! Îl s;agit d’une voiture designee!

When I made this photos I get in mind this expression I started the article.

What I pictured through those photos is first try on this style of painting a scale model. To be honest this model was on the list of parts donor before the paint try. I was inspired by the real car paint style anime like we see more often lately. Having in mind the “Initial D” anime series, a cult anime for those petrolhead tuning passioned. I will put the Initial D along with The Fast and The Furious as cult films for every car tuning addicted. So, seeing the trend in painting real cars like anime ones I told myself “why not?” I grab my markers and a white paint larger and I started to draw a car on a model car. Literally I mean! All you see is hand painted having as base the original color given by Solido for its RWB Pandora one.

There are no more things to say, just enjoy the ride and keep on customizing !

 

Skoda 100/110R | the sedan and its fast back 2 doors sporty version

This is a post I discovered this days when I made a retrospective on my Blog.

Surfing through different posts I realysed that in 2023 this blog celebrates its 10th anniversary... time flies… some say!

 The good think is that I decided to restart this blog by posting as I done several years ago.

So, long story short, I invite you guys to surf on this blog. There are several interesting stories,and stay tuned for new stories about automobiles and collections displays

Here it is an unfinished article started a year ago about so;le Skoda models, article which will bring back to mife the Custopn Scale Car story teller.  

Skoda is not at all my cup of tea! I bought this tiny car in 24th scale because they are pretty cute. 

Unlike the others manufacturers from Eastern Europe in countries under the Russian comunits influence, Skoda chooses to be independent. When Russian industry and the Polish one chooses the western Europe support by collaborating with Fiat, Romania with Renault and so on, the Czech manufacturer maintain its independence and express himself. Skoda, renovating the 1000MB modell by introducing the all new 100/110 played “all on the rear” game. This architecture wasn’t unusual in the 70`s. Big manufacturers from Porsche to Fiat, passing by Renault are proposing this architecture. More than this the solution proved its efficiency through rally winning cars as Porsche and the tini Renault Alpine A110 - a Monte Carlo Rally winner.

Skoda launches two type of bodies on the same platform : the 100/110 sedan and one year later in 1970 the 110R Coupe. The coupe, in spite of normal performances (65 Hp and 19 seconds from 0 to 100 Km/h), has some features which are still loved today. The frameless doors, fast back profile,  supplementary dashboard indicators and sporty seats. I have to remark the Fuchs rims Czech interpretation. Anyway some called this car the Eastern Porsche but in fact there is nothing in common between this cars.

Even there are a certain sportivity in the design and in the conception of the 110R Coupe something is strange : the front hood a the front section is the same with the sedan one. This get the car out of the proportion of a classical Coupe making the side view a little strange but cute. I can tell that it brings in my mind the anime cars. 

Released by Hachette in their diecast 24th scale collection in my home country it has a pretty good interior details and a very well body shape. As you expect it will be modified, so I put it some Aoshima rims and as usual I lowered it as much as possible. Some modification was needed at the level of the chassis in order to maintain the functionality of the wheels. Some details were added in interior to replicate a two-tone upholstery and also the roof trim was added for the realism.

Enjoy the ride

take a look also on Custom Scale Car in instagram for more goo

Dacia Duster | Rally raid

 Good news from custom | scale | car : new project finished.

After a long wait in order to have all needed parts, the time to put all together has come. In te last week I finished a beloved concept car based on Dacia Duster diecast model made by Solido @1|18th scale.

Dakar rally inspired concept this Duster is my image about what it means a Duster as all purposes vehicle, no matter if we are talking about speed on off road, trial or crawling on the rocky roads of Carpathian Mountains.

Behind the scenes :

- Roll cage from Citroen C2 WRC

- Wheels from BMW X5 - Raid 

- Interior accessories as seats, extinguishers and so on from different damaged models.

Facts : all the parts used are from Solido Models (I didn't intend to... but finlly I have a fuul Solido custom model)

Please check also custom_scale_car IGTv channel for a short presentation video

.

ARO | M461 @ romanian industry flagships

 hello mod'ling fellow',

New post presenting a very nice car for me and a gooooood model. Yes, it is an 1/24th scale diecast model sold as a collectible by Hachette in Romania. Well... not really only in Romania, apparently in all the former East Block countries.

Good thing is that there are a lot of Romanian automotive industry automobiles reproduces in more that decent way, ready to be displayed on the shelf. I will present all of them in chronological order of date of manufacturing

It is true that some interior improvements are needed as well as an exterior detailing, but over all for a usual consumer the quality is pretty good.

One of my favorites models is tthe ARO M461. It is a non sense vehicle which brings with him the design of the '30 in the middle of hippy age , the '60.

An old platform, old technical solutions (front rigid axle & lamelar resorts) old finishes for the interior. Driving this car I imagine it was like travel back in the past even we ara talking about the '60's. But in spite of all this tings I love the look and I like to have this model on my shelf, proudly diaplayed alog with more modern cars of 60's.

We must not forget that till 1969 tis ARO was the only personal vehicle produces in Romania, and wasn't accessible for the civilian customers if I call like this ordinary people.

I'll let you discover (google it) the original variant proposed by Hachette. Below the improved version by custom | scale | car

at the beginning of a new year, with the hope in soul that will be a quiet year
custom | scale | car
wishes you a 
Happy new Year!

vette C8 | short review & mod description

There is long time since I modified a budget model car. 

After detailing a G-Class from Minichamps, a Vette C4 from AutoArt and several other premium models, I returned at the pleasure of turning a budget diecast modelcar into a collection custom model.

Long story short. I felled in love with a Corvette C8 by Maisto. It was love at first sight. After I unboxed it, I was not disappointed.

The paint is very glossy (nice surprise) but also very thick. That's bad surprise because every panel gap is almost invisible (bumper / fender, roof panel gaps and so on). A nice surprise also is the fact that the panel gaps are very small comparing with what we expect from a 35€ 36o° open diecast model car. Maisto made something on that and they did it well. Congrats for this!

The interior is somehow basic. There are no different textures on the elements apart of carbon fiber traditional relief shape. The gap lines in interior are also bad represented. You have to guess them more than see them. On the other hand, we have all we need at the interior for making a decent representation : buttons tampography, instrument panels decals and little other details.

But overall I find this model a very good base for making a custom model, so I did it.

For instance no new rims but it is forecasted in the near future.

The list of mods, not all of them below

- stance

-chromed lip for rims

-black tinted engine hood window

-lateral air intakes detailed

-tan leather interior

-dash board detailed

-textile seat belts & realistic boucle

-carpeted interior

-side windows semi raised (HW Elite style)

-number plate for rear