Lock-down Works | LowEast | episode 1

Pffff.... friends

Bad times we are living! The lock down is longer than I expected but it is the price we have to pay to the corona! I hope sooner or later we will be be like before, on a terrace drinking a beear with our friends and eating potatoes chips by hand from the bucket!

But for surviving to live this again we have to be optimistic and in good spirit shape. So, get the best from your lock down! I mainly use this period of time for modelling. My passion for doing things like this was slowed down a little bit because of the lack of time, before lock down. I was dedicated to my job and I sacrificed a lot of my personal time for the job. Now I realized how good is to share things and time with the beloved person near you, and use your free time feeding your soul!

That's the good part of pandemic for me.

So, I want to share with you what I done lately. It is about a series - you remember, may be, my LowEast 1/43 diecast modified LowEast series- of diecast eastern Europe cars, lowered and detailed. Some time, a chage a color if needed. The bases are 1@24 diecast scale models, sealed body produced y IXO I imagine for Hachette.

Look what I have done this days:

NIVA | lifted

On the 29th of January 2013 I have published an article about some Lada cars I have in my collection. The title was “ LADA | LowEAST". You can (still) read it here : LADA | LowEAST

The last photo of the article was a Lada Niva lifted in front of an ARO 10.

May be you wanted to see more about it… The truth is that I intended to make, just after the LADA article, another one to present the NIVA. I forgot!

But now, here you can see more photos with this little 4x4 still very popular in my country among the off roader lovers.

But before this, some words about the car.

The Lada Niva or VAZ-2121 (Лада Нива) is an off roader produced by the Russian manufacturer AvtoVAZ. It can be find since 2009 on most markets as the Lada 4x4.

It was the first mass production off-road vehicle to feature a unibody architecture and independent front suspension with coil springs.

Basically, the Niva has a 1.6-litre carburetted petrol engine producing 72 hp) and 126 Nm, and full-time 4x4.

The model gets a lifted suspension, Land Rover alloy rims and a two tone color. Some details were reproduced in interior as well as at the exterior.

LowEast | old and new

Looking through my photos, during a review for putting them in order, I found this two cars one along the other. It looks like <<before and after>> photos for a diet. They are some 1|43rd (DeAgostini Romania) Trabant 6o1.

I found them pretty. What about you?

© M . C . H and custom | scale | car
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author is strictly prohibited.

fiat 124 | low'n slow

I continue the LowEast Project, this time, with a 1|18th scale model.

It is an FIAT 124 Yellow mustard, color laid down on the model specially for the Model Car World (http://www.modelcarworld.de/de/) die-cast scale models seller (They say “The limited edition of 1,012 copies model is expressed in classic yellow”).

There are some “luxury features” reporting to the Russian sister car, Lada 12oo. The white tire ring and the interior slightly retouched make the difference between the two car models.

image from http://www.modelcarworld.de

So, inspired by the lowered Lada cars I found on the net, I did the same thing with this scale model. The modifications involved the reconstruction of the rear axle (cutting a piece of the axle upper side) and of the front suspension (reconstruction of the “upper suspension arm” on the molded body chassis). Doing these things I lowered the (die-cast) car about 10 mm, which is enormous when we’re seeing the “factory condition”.

The white ring becomes white wall and the rims they selves get a flat white finish to fit the look of a classy Euro low rider.

The sticker bomb decoration is made from the real tiny decals provided by different donors kits. The under doors trims are covered in some nail decals from a beauty shop.

 

© M . C . H and custom | scale | car

Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author is strictly prohibited.

LowEast | episode III

I'm in front of my PC and I'm getting a ride in my PhotoBucket account. And I'm very pleased to (re)discover some Dropped | Down 1@43rd model cars.

My favourite, a Dacia 13oo who gets a black vinyl covered roof and some double headlamps (131o model)

Next one, the Polski Fiat 126p, an FIAT 126 (the replacement of FIAT 5oo), produced in Poland in Bielsko-Biala until 2ooo.

Also another popular car (but not cheap at all) the Wartburg 311:

And a family photo : LowEast by custom | scale | car:

© M . C . H and custom | scale | car

Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author is strictly prohibited.

LADA | LowEast

1/43rd die-cast Lada cars

As I told you previously, when I presented the Trabi, I’m working at a project named “LowEast”. The project consists in a series of eastern European cars, modified at the level of the paint job and suspension/rims. The idea is to put’em down in order to get a close to low rider look. As standard modifications I can mention the lowered suspension, steel rims painted, some rust, some detailing of interior (which is very poor "out of box"), and so on...

This time I want to show the Lada cars I drooped down for this project. It's about several types of Lada cars some of them being very popular in Romania.

Lada 1500, was one of the most poular Lada cars in Romania. It is in fact a FIAT 124 based car produced in Russia at VAZ factory:

Her younger sister, Lada Samara :

A face-lift of 1500 (we have to mentioned that was a lot of face lifts having as start point the same body of FIAT 124) called 2107:

Lada also  made some kombi bodies:

 And all together:

and finaly, a Lada also, but this time lifted: Lada Niva