Shop upgrade

All the dioramas I have so far I built there. Yes, it was really sad as far as a workshop goes.

When we built our new house almost 9 years ago, one thing that I wanted was a dedicated workspace for tools and crafts. A room to work on my hobbies, bikes and store my tools. And I got the space. However, as you can see in the shot above, it was kind of shabby in terms of a workspace. All right, let’s be honest: it was an utterly pathetic excuse for a tool shop 😣.

All manual tools are now at easy reach.

So in the last month, I started to work on it, transforming it into a proper workshop. And by “working on it” I mean buying what was needed. Of the highest priority was to have a work bench, and that was the first thing I bought. I also bought those wall panels to hang all my manual tools in the open, at easy reach.

Previously, I had to use the drill press over on my daughter’s drawer 🙄.

The yellow drawer was from my daughter’s old bedroom, which works perfectly as a space to store supplies and small stuff. The yellow chair (and yellow table under the workbench) were also from her bedroom. If you care to know, that small chair is perfect to wash my car’s wheels 😁. I also installed more power sockets, both in 110 and 220 v.

The small desk, in front of a window, is great for delicate jobs.

I had an old office desk that I didn’t use any more, and it fitted perfectly in that niche in the back wall. It’s a fantastic station for the delicate stuff, like working on models or making dioramas. The whole space came out as a true carnival of styles, furniture and parts. Yet, I for one dig the “repurposed look”. Can’t say why, though I think that mishmash style makes the tool shop look homely.

My battery drills and Dremel. I’m a confess Bosch and Makita fanboy.

Of course I’m not 100% done yet, with some things still missing. For instance, I desperately need a Nº 5 bench vise, as I need a bench grinder. And I would love to have a small belt sander… Nonetheless, I’ll eventually get there. Most important of all though, now I finally have a decent work space.
😊😊😊

Bloody hell, AGAIN!

Yep, I forgot about W-143’s anniversary. AGAIN 🤦‍♂️. W-143 started out on June 14th, 2018. That day, at 4:13am, I published the first pages of the site. So this Tuesday 14th, W-143 turned 4 years old! And just like last year, I forgot about it once again. Buggers! In my defense, this months things are abnormally hectic around here. Not only is my real life job driving me mad, there was a lot of stuff that I posted about, from Le Mans to the Beatlemania to quite a few new cool models. Yeah, yeah, that’s no excuse, I know, but the date completely slipped my mind. Still, these four years have been great! 🍻

I’ll try to do better next year… Promise!

W-143 Beetlemania

In seven days, the whole world celebrates the International VW Beetle Day. On June 22nd, 1934, Ferdinand Porsche signed the contract to start the development of the “people’s car”. In 1995, spearheaded by the Brazilian Beetle Owners Group, the date was suggested as the international date to commemorate the iconic car. With support from other Volkswagen clubs, the idea caught on. Consequently, everywhere in the world enthusiasts celebrate the date as a “drive your Beetle to work day”. 

Therefore, starting this Friday, we will have the W-143 Beetlemania. From June 17 to the 24th, W-143 will be all about VW’s iconic bug. So prepare your air-cooled engines because we will have a beetle infestation around here 😁😁😁.

New category in the Road Cars page

After my latest RWB Porsche, looking over the Road Cars page I thought things were a bit confusing. That being so, I decided to add a Customs/Modified section to the bottom of the page, where I’ll list my customized models from specialized shops around the world. Yes, I’m aware that I wrote MANY times that I’m not into modified cars and the “toonerz scene” 🙄. While that may still be true, I will have a select few modified car models in the W-143 Garage basically for aesthetical reasons. I’m definitively a function-over-form type of person; however, some silly stuff does float my boat 🙃.

Therefore, I moved all the RWB and TECHART stuff down there.

Top 5 – 2021

This year I decided to do something different to close the year. Well, I almost did this last year, but with the COVID pandemic raging the idea kind of floundered. Anyway, the intent is to show the Top 5 models I reviewed in the year. Not just the best models from a craftsmanship perspective but models that for some reason have special significance to me or the W-143 Garage. So without further ado, and in chronological order, here are the Top 5 models of 2021:

Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR #104 – Spark

Not only a FRIGGENTASTIC model from Spark, also the final “factory” Silver Arrow for the W-143 Garage.

BMW 3.5 CSL #43 – Ixo

Though a so-called “budget” model, probably the best bang-for-the-buck I found in 2021.

Porsche 934 “Jägermeister” #68 – Spark

Not a winner, however being a Jägermeister car (the only one at Le Mans), a very dear model to me.

Porsche 935 #40 – Spark

A class winner and a special one for the Garage – the second of the X-Ray cars. And, Spark-goregous.

Porsche 911 (964) Carrera 4 RAUH-Welt Begriff “Waikato” – Tarmac Works

The nice surprise of the year – I was genuinely impressed by Tarmac Works. A GREAT model on a budget price.

Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este

Last week (October 1st to 3rd), on the shores of Lake Como in northern Italy, happened the annual Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este. The event takes place annually on the grounds near the Villa d’Este hotel in Cernobbio. It usually happens in May, and is possibly the most famous of all the world-class Concours d’Elegance. Petrolicious, as always, wrote a great essay on the event, with some SPECTACULAR photos.

If you want to drool a little, it is worth checking out the link.

Buggers, I forgot!

This Monday was W-143’s third anniversary 🍻! I first uploaded a page (“About W-143”) here on June 14th 2018, at 4:13am to be more precise. I worked on the site throughout the previous night, and was eager to get things rolling. Despite the god-awful time, I was ecstatic to finally see W-143 online. On that same June 14th, later on in the afternoon, I also published my first post here. About six (!!) new models that my dear friend Gary Blythe had helped me get…😥 Back then, most of my reviews were published at Scale 143, and for the next couple of weeks I had a bear of a time “translating” that material to the format I use here. Boy, that was a lot of work (almost 200 reviews!), but good times.

It has been a long road this three years. Heck, we even went through a pandemic! Nonetheless, a very gratifying road for me. I can only hope to have many more June 14ths to celebrate. And I also hope to next time not forget the date 🙄.