Ferruz

Started off on the crucial graphics phase. Feels good to see the shiny, streak-free surface in the peeled portion of the body 😊

The TO Eldorado build keeps going, slowly but surely. Chassis is now all done, including after market side bars and wheels/tires. I even had a livingroom test run, and everything was fine (still impressed with how responsive that vintage servo is). I moved on to work on the body shell. Once filed and washed, he only tricky part to mask was the rear grille: I wanted the spaces in between to be black, for the sake of detail and to enhance the depth of the area. Also, I found just enough room to add my "signature" rear window. While tempted to paint the grille gold, I eventually opted for silver as I think it will look better once the car is all done. Hopefully a good decision, but we'll see. Here is it, the dreaded painting phase finally done (not that easy to sort out when it's -20° C outside, took some thinking ahead). The rear grille had some bleed here and there, but all easily sorted out with the aid of some polycarbonate cleaner. While at it, I started on the driver's body too. Since I decided to ditch the kit's carbon-like decals in favour of some shiny black, it made sense to do it at the same time as the shell. I didn't peel the top film yet, but the end result on the grille is looking goood ✌ Can't wait to peel it and enjoy that new shell shine for a minute, before lint and fingerprints inevitably take over as a reminder that life always goes on 😅 At this pont, I picked up the helmet again. After sanding and priming, it was time to paint. I wanted it upside down during curing time, and my old almighty '80s Skeletor was happy to help achieving that. Next was some makeshift decoration, figured out pretty much in the moment. I made it gold and black as the overall theme, but with some red accents added here and there. That's as far as I've got. The plan for tomorrow is to peel the shell and get on with the decals, though work might take over as I have a deadline not too far away. The OCD part of me, albeit demanding, is still happy with the results so far

The Audi 90 really got my attention. I usually don't even consider buying new releases as, for some reason, all the hype and anticipation about them ends up triggering some sort of reverse FOMO in me (though there has been an exeption, the Optima Mid). But this one, it's just a big WOW. It's a TT02 I know, but this probably means it will be very affordable, and I only have one TT02 so far, so I could easily justify the purchase. Maybe maybe

Am I the only one loving that Audi 90 Quattro IMSA body? it comes with the correct wheels, too... that's a real nice one from Tamiya in my opinion, give me IMSA cars any day!

I had a couple outings with the Terra Scorcher, which I haven't driven in a while. One in the nightime and one in the daylight, both with massive gusts of wind blowing snow everywhere. I quickly carved a random track in the snow. The fun was limited at night because of the low visibility. It was better in the daylight, so good drifting around a track again, made me miss the Racing by Post very much. Not much free running at all, as the snow was too soft wherever I didn't remove or compacted it. I will run the TS again soon. I really like how this buggy drives, and how the mercilessly fluorescent orange pops in the snow 😆

I second that all the way

@toyolien congrats on the win mate, I am glad you won. I voted for you straight away, this was an easy choice since I love your scale garage and its details, and also the fact that you didn't use AI enhancement (correct me if I'm wrong). Enjoy 😀

On another note, we left the city this afternoon for the first time since early December. By the time we reached the destination it was pitch black, but I remember installing some decent outdoors lights last fall, and in fact I was still able to run a car for a little bit (too cold to stay outside for more than one battery pack). I chose the Manta Ray, as I wanted a test drive after carrying out some massive work on it, following the tumbling accident of last month. It drives and jumps very well, the handling feels good and I'm overall happy with it. Only thing, it sounds like there's a bunch of angry witches screeching inside the gearbox when hitting full throttle from a standstill. That 13.5 used-to-be-sensored bluebottle does take a toll on the DF-01 gearbox... and I guess those gears are quite worn out. I think I can live with that for the time being though, as it does run great nonetheless.

I got a head start -pun intended, again- on the helmet for the TO driver. I love driver figures, love working on them and seeing them come to life. Nothing compares to the ever-vintage feeling of the Tamiya ones IMHO, but I'll try to give this Kyosho guy some character and soften his aggressive looking face a little. I assembled, filed and primed the head. First coat and wet sanded it. Also, I thought I'd make a visor this time. Despite it being my first try, I found it easy enough. I used and old decal sheet as a stencil to draw the shape on a water bottle, then cut and filed it. Drilled some tiny holes on the side, just big enough for glasses screws and... voila! Pretty stoked with the result, I think I'm gonna have to do this on all of my drivers at some point. Bonus feature, the visor is not fixed, it can move up and down like the real thing! I took everything off for the painting, but I can't wait to see it done now that I got a glimpse of it. Still figuring out the colors for both suit/gloves and helmet. I'm probably going to stick to the black and gold scheme, but will likely add some odd colors accents, as I don't want it to look too cookie cutter once on the buggy.

The chassis of my Turbo Optima is done, including side bars and wheels. I don't have any photos yet, but will take some soon. For now I'm happy to say that the wheels, which I've obsessed about way too much for way too long, look SO good on it, way beyond my best expectations. Next thing, I started working on the body by cutting it out of the mold. I can't recall who started the trend a while ago (was that you, @BuggyDad? ), but fellas over here have been showing off their skills by cutting it off in one go. I was very impressed, as I usually just nibble at the mold until I get close enough to the body to feel comfortable cutting it out. This time, I thought I'd give it a try! While imperfect and still in need of filing, I seem to have managed... although I gotta admit, there is an ingress cut in the bottom right corner 😅 I think the real daredevils here don't even have that?? This was fun, the risk of ruining the whole thing by scoring it with the blade sure gave me a thrill!

Finished mounting and detailing the wheels for the Turbo Optima, tire lettering included. The proverbial labour of love, it took a while this time but turned out alright I think

+ 1 for pliers