Why am I starstruck by rally lately?

Courtesy of https://www.instagram.com/dirtfishrally/

As I’m sure you noticed, there’s been a lot of rally cars around here. The fact is I just can not be totally flabbergasted by the kind of racing you can see above. It takes some very special skills (and a certain type of crazy) to drive like that ๐Ÿ’€. Out of this world! If you want to see more, head to Dirtfish that they have a ton of content like this short video above.

New diorama – Rough Road

In early October, I showed a photo of a new project I was working on. It took a while, but I finally finished it. Nothing fancy, I only used simple stuff – I guess the most “pro technique” I used was static grass. Nonetheless, I had to test my ideas every single time, since I wasn’t sure things would work out as I expected. Also, lots of PVA glue and painting, that took sometimes more than a day to dry. With all that, it took me basically a month to get it done ๐Ÿ™„. Well, good or bad, here it is! And I think it worked out okay. Pretty soon I’ll use it in my review photos ๐Ÿ˜Ž.

DO NOT buy Forza Motorsport!!!

Though I was over the moon when the game launched, after a couple weeks of FRUSTRATING game play, I advise staying away from the game. The biggest issue is that it’s not stable on my XBox System S – I can’t go through one session of gaming without needing to reboot the game. And every time that happens, the race I just finished is not registered in my career. Therefore, to progress in career mode, you have to do the same race one, two, three, four times (or more) until you get lucky and the game doesn’t crash. This is also happening with the XBox X and the PC versions of the game.

The other problem is graphics. They look really bad. Some stuff look like they came directly from Forza 6. So all that hype that “Forza Motorsport was made from the ground up” is utterly baloney. Sound is just okay, yet many cars sound generically just the same. There’s no in-game damage or tire wear in single player, and the penalty system (for going off track or collisions) doesn’t apply to the AI.

In essence, it feels dated and is full of bugs – looks like it’s a beta version. Adding everything up, DO NOT BUY IT. Perhaps Studio10 will fix it in the future, however for now do not waste money. After this I’ll never again buy a game in pre-order or will buy anything from Studio10 ๐Ÿคฌ.

Lesson learned ๐Ÿ˜–.

Shop upgrade: the madness continues

Not huge upgrades, yet upgrades nonetheless. I got a better set of Allen wrenches, a new wire-stripper pliers, a set of insulated screw drivers and a small set of picks. I also managed to hang on the wall display two sets of drivers using new metal hooks and a small wood base that I drilled to fit them. Previously they were on the workbench, therefore I uncluttered my work space.

Most important of all, I got a new steel wall display for my cordless power tools. Previously I used a plastic display, that is great for lighter stuff, but power tools are too heavy. With that, in some spots the display was literally sagging, so I had to do something about it. With this metal display weight is not an issue anymore, and I even was able to hang more and heavier stuff, like my jigsaw and nail gun. By the way, I was a confessed Makita and Bosch fan boy, and now I can also say I’m an Einhell fan boy as well. Terrific tools!

The new steel display freed some plastic panels, so I used them on another section of the wall. With this new area, I was able to free up some space on the main wall. And best of all, I now have some free space on three wall displays for future stuff! Do you recognize a pattern here? Yep, think ahead, I always say.

What’s next? I still haven’t bought a Makita cordless router yet, and though a router is not exactly something that would see a ton of use, for some jobs it’s a godsend. And oh yes, I discovered I need a cordless circular saw. For sawing wood, I mostly use my Japanese saws (pull saws), which I love ’em. Really, I can make a cut at least 99,5% straight with them using a simple and cheap plastic jig. However, for longer cuts a power tool would come in handy. Right now I’m using an Einhell jigsaw, and it’s fantastic for none-linear cuts, yet tricky for straight cuts. Therefor, Bosche’s GKS 12V-26 is perfect for me.

And as you see, like collecting 1:43, the must-buy list NEVER ends ๐Ÿ™„.

We turned 5!

On June 14th, 2018, I wrote the first post here on W-143. And that was in the wee hours of a Thursday, yet I was REALLY anxious to get the show on the road. However, some pages here have a “publication date” prior to that, because those pages I initially published at Scale43, a defunct online forum that I was a member of back then. Independent of those pages, W-143 really began on that Thursday. And from that day forward, it has been 600 posts, over 540 pages and one global pandemic. And we’re getting close to 500 cars reviewed! Oh boy, that’s a lot…๐Ÿ˜ฒ So let’s hope that Mercury, the God of Speed, continues smiling towards W-143 and that one day I’m complaining that I’m close to 1000 cars ๐Ÿป!

See? As promised, this year I did NOT forget! ๐Ÿ˜Ž

Shop upgrade: will it ever end?

In August I finally got a proper shop. After nine years since we moved to our new house, I now have a decent workplace. And as expected, it wasn’t 100% done (will it ever be?). Courtesy of my dad, I now have a bench vise, something that I consider fundamental in any shop.

I also installed a curtain beneath the work bench. I would rather have the shelf below exposed, however I quickly realized that was not good. Every time I drilled, sanded or worked on wood, it was a pain to clean the wood chips and dust below the workbench. So I installed one of those plastic bathroom curtains on a rail below the bench. Not exactly handsome but saves me a lot of work during cleanups.

And as you can see, there are new tools ๐Ÿ˜Š. Oh come on, don’t give me the same look my wife gives me… Of course I had to get more tools. Of special note are two Japanese saws (a Ryoba and a Kataba), which made me think about why I ever used Occidental saws before. And a new (and better) jigsaw and a nail gun, both battery-powered. Unless it’s some sort of bench-top tool, I’m going cordless 100%. Next on the list is a random orbit sander and a (plunge?) router, cordless of course.

And this is the first diorama project I made in my new shop. A couple of years ago I bought a guardrail like this, though it was shorter and frankly poorly made. So using chopsticks, a strip of MDF as base, water-based paint, wood glue and LOTS of sanding and cutting, I made another one. I already made some photos using it, and it turned out pretty good. I think.

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 ๐Ÿ˜ฃ.

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 ๐Ÿ™„.

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 ๐Ÿ˜. 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 Nยบ 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.
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