NEVER judge a model by its brand!

I’m pretty sure I said that before once or twice. Or ten times. So let’s take into consideration Tecnomodel. I have three models from the brand, and very possibly I consider it the best brand I have, based on those three. Recently I reviewed the 1966 White Elephant from them, and I was all praise. Heck, their Breadvan is one of the best five models that I own! And as I also said many times, I’m NOT a Maranello fan. Well, what I’m trying to imply is that I really like Tecnomodel as a 1:43 model maker. However, they also offer the 1967 version of the White Elephant, and that one comes with the elefantino rampante on the rear winglets.

Technomodel – €100.

Anther brand that also offers the 1967 car is Altaya, a budget brand through and through.

Altaya – less than €20.

Now look at the color of the wheels and winglets on the real car, in 1967:

The real deal on race day. And snubbing Ferrari? Priceless 😁!

Wheels and winglets were dark blue, not black. So yes, Tecnomodel botched the color of the wheels and winglets 😲. Not that the Altaya version looks great, with that humongous windshield wiper. And with the solid rear air intake. However, they at least got the color right. For just 1/5th of the price 🤔.

Before somebody asks, yes, this is why I got the 1966 car instead of the 1967 one. For €20 I may close an eye (or two) to some shortcomings. But for €100? It better be REALLY good. In other words, do some research BEFORE buying a model, even if its from a high-end brand.

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 🙄. Well, good or bad, here it is! And I think it worked out okay. Pretty soon I’ll use it in my review photos 😎.

Volkswagen T2b “Martini Transporter” – Update!

Ixo’s “Martini Transporter” is one of those models with a HUGE bang-for-the-buck. For relatively cheap, you get a great model. However, though I really loved it, it had one big issue for me – the huge and skewed antenna on the roof 😣. The real deal had an antenna, though not as big and pointing up, not at an angle. The Kombi looked like an unicorn with that antenna! Fortunately it was something very easy to fix. On the model’s review I already posted how I did it. Check it out for yourself to see if you agree with me that it now looks better.

Books – Racing In The Dark

“RACING IN THE DARK: When The Bentley Boys Conquered Le Mans” – Peter Grimsdale

I have a confession to make. Until very recently, in my eyes Bentley was just a “cheaper Rolls Royce”. Yeah, they had a lot of victories at Le Mans and won again in 2003, nonetheless for the last 50 or 60 years it was just a luxury brand. Very good cars, no doubt, yet only a luxury brand. However, that view changed a lot after I read Peter Grimsdale’s book. With a fluid and enticing writing, Grimsdale showed me the story of W. O. Bentley, and his saga to make a great car. And he did – with blood, sweat and tears he made what was at the time, probably THE best sports car in the market.

Unfortunately though, financial strife ended his dream, to the point where the once great Bentley Motors became a cheaper Rolls Royce 😣. I truly loved the book – honestly, without a doubt the best car book I read in the last couple of years. A hardback with not too many photos (unfortunately), it is easily available at Amazon. Despite the title, I would say this book would be for all motorsports enthusiasts.