The Replacements – Episode I

Well of course I wasn’t done building cars! What fun would that be??? Though it is true that I’m focusing mostly on my diorama now, as well as tuning and maintaining my cars, I could never really stop completely, because that’s the most funnest part of this hobby! So, since there’s no sense in adding cars to a either of my fleets which are so complete at 64 cars each, what I’ve decided to do instead is weed out some of the more flawed cars; there are a few that have never really satisfied me, either because I don’t really like the way they look or their condition isn’t up to snuff, or in a few cases, they just seem like they are “cursed” and nothing I do can improve their performance to a level that meets my standards. So, I’m going to be looking for some finer copies of a few of the cars in my fleet, at which point the old ones will be retired, and either scrapped for parts or offered for sale.

Here is the first…

The #46 Ferrari Dino in Turquoise. And, if you think this looks like yet another Aurora Cigar Box conversion, you’d be absolutely correct! Just got this in tonight and after a good cleaning, did the usual work with the Dremel at the work bench to “slotify” it, and she’s crowned with the same number the car she’s replacing once bore.

She’s fitted with a set of Vincent “Alpina” wheels in a gray aluminum finish with black spokes-quite fetching on a turquoise car if I do say so myself-and rides on a brand spankin’ new Ultra-G chassis with a set of the finest axles and low-pro silicone tires; only the best, as you expect on a Ferrari.

So let’s call this a repaint, or perhaps more appropriately, a refresh. I never really liked this car in dark blue; although I had it looking pretty nice with a blue chassis and a set of Vincent “Cromadora” wheels, it has never performed to my liking, and a few weeks ago, after a breakdown in the middle of a race, I elected not to rebuild it but to replace it instead.

And this is just in time for the upcoming Full Fleet 64-entry sports car race I’m planning to run in the next week or so! Isn’t that perfect?