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The Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R has always been a dream car of mine. Now, if you are also a car enthusiast that love these cars, you would know that the R34 is a car that is much better modified than left stock and original, well, unless you are talking about a Z-Tune or Nismo Omori Factory's Clubman Race Spec cars. Mine's R34 is one of the most iconic modified R34s out there Top Secret's R34 in its iconic gold shade is yet another famous example of a tuned R34 Many tuning shops have built their own vision of what an R34 should be, a few famous examples include the ones built by Mine's, Signal Auto, Top Secret and others. But my favourite has got to be Matchless Crowd Racing (MCR)'s R34. The MCR R34 is famous for its appearance on Hot Version, and its record run on Japan's C1 Expressway, it is also one of my favourite R34s Those who are familiar with Hot Version and its Touge runs would be familiar with this iconic red R34, dubbed the Maou (Demon King) GTR, the MCR R34 was a formidable force on the winding Gunsai Touge with Keiichi Tsuchiya behind its wheel. Some might even know that the MCR R34 holds the record on Japan's C1 expressway; it was even featured in the Tokyo Xtreme Racer series of video games! A little known fact is that MCR actually built several of these GTRs - despite what it looks like, it wasn't just one car achieving all these ridiculous feats. But that isn't important, today's topic is about my own MCR R34! Well, a 1/64 scale version... The Super Taikyu R34s had the same bumpers as the MCR R34 in my favourite specification, you can imagine my excitement when I saw that Inno64 has decided to launch the Falken car! My favourite configuration of the MCR R34 comes with the front bumper that is almost identical to the one on the Super Taikyu race car, so when Inno64 released the model of the Falken Super Taikyu R34, I immediately recognised it and proceeded to get hold of the model car, with plans to customise it into the MCR R34 that I love. With the paint stripped off, I could cover up all the unwanted holes and indentations with putty The indentation left by the removal of the rear speed refueling drybreak connectors has been sealed off with putty as well After a coat of primer, the final look of the car's body is starting to take shape While the bumper made things much easier to work with (I don't have to fabricate one myself), there are little details that need to be sorted apart from respraying the car red. At the rear of the race car is a speed refueling drybreak connector, which the MCR R34 doesn't have, the roof of the race car also had an antenna (hence, a hole in the roof), and the bonnet on the race car has way too many vents as well. The solution is to use putty to cover up all these unwanted holes. With the body details sorted, the most important thing is to spray the car red to match the MCR R34. Here's how it looks like before I applied decals on it! We got lucky with the rims as the race car uses the same Enkei NT03+M rims as my favourite spec of the MCR R34, so all I needed to do was to spray the rims black. As I did not have a source for custom waterslide decals, I had to make do with other decals that aren't the same as what's on the real car. But apart from the sticker details, I think my custom MCR R34 is a rather faithful replica of the real thing! What do you think of it? Hmm, making this post is igniting something in me... maybe I should find the time to start another custom diecast project... - Zhi Xuan

On my last post, I've completed the build of my RC crawler, a miniature Land Rover Defender. What's left is of course to bring it out and test it out on some uneven surfaces! While I should probably try it out before adding more mods... I still ended up purchasing the entire catalogue of available upgrades to throw at my crawler But I ended up modding more stuff before I even took it outdoors. The upgraded suspension that I first used weren't smooth enough for my liking, hence I got another set that also made a taller ride height possible. Along with that, I also got a different set of rims and tyres that would likely result in more grip in the dirt (at this point it was all guesswork as I hadn't actually tried it outside of my home). I also swapped out for a bigger motor with a lower gear ratio that promises maximum torque to conquer whatever I throw at the crawler! Here's a photo of my highly-modified Defender crawler beside a completely original one Now that it's all modded, I'm ready to bring it out for a crawling session with friends! On the first outing, I am pretty impressed with the amount of articulation that the suspension allows. That said, the small scale of the crawler meant many obstacles are too huge for it to scale... Little crevices becomes massive cracks on the surface that could almost swallow the entire crawler, making it pretty challenging to navigate. A little over zealous attempt to scale an unsurmountable obstacle resulted in this... The best part about RC crawling though - there's no real risk of injuries. Flipped your car? just grab it and flip it back around! That said, the real fun happens when you are trying to navigate through precarious terrains as though you were driving an actual off-roader. If the slope is too steep or the surface is too broken to traverse, it is time to work your brains and skills to find an alternative route. Sometimes, a burst of throttle could free you from a sticky situation, and yet on other times, it will just cause the tyres to break traction and your crawler might end up in a worse position than before... While it seems like just driving around with a toy car, there's actually quite a fair bit to RC crawling than you would think! Hmm, who knows, maybe I'll end up modding the crawler more? Or maybe I should check out a different spot to crawl... Stay tuned for the next instalment of my RC crawling journey!

Have you ever found yourself mesmerised by overlanding and off-roading videos, just watching those lifted off-roaders conquering obstacle after obstacle, kicking up mud, driving through puddles, inching down steep slopes and climbing up steep gradients that seem impossible to scale? I sure did, but without the time, money and commitment to actually do it, I could only remain as a spectator behind my computer screen... This scale crawler had a ladder-frame chassis along with live-axles just like a true off-roader That was until I found something that's about as close as I can get to the action, but at a fraction of the cost - RC Crawlers! At 1/16th to 1/10th of the scale of an actual off-road vehicle, an RC Crawler still manages to offer plenty of fun! I'm someone that can never be content with something that's stock and unmodified - from cars to watches to toy cars to keyboards to computers... needless to say, the RC Crawler got plenty of upgrades before I've even ran it the first time I started my RC Crawler journey with the purchase of an affordable 1/12th scale (though strictly speaking, it's closer to typical 1/16th scale RC cars) Defender from Taobao - the MN D90. This Chinese-made radio-control crawler kit isn't an officially licensed product, but the details are pretty amazing. Especially when you consider the fact that it could be bought for less than $100. I've made sure to paint the body in stages of light coats to ensure durability, the painted body was then clear-coated for maximum protection, and a gloss finish While it is available as a ready-to-run kit, I opted for the unassembled one, as I love putting stuff together. In fact, I've also bought a variety of upgrades so I don't have to live with a fully-stock car. Modifications, customisations and upgrades are what keep me blood pumping - the same applies to my own car... but that's a story for another day. Having prior experience with building 1/10th scale RC drift cars, this build didn't take much effort to complete, I even painted the shell to a 'Battleship Grey' colour that I thought would be perfect for the rugged nature of an off-roader. Now, even though I've already had a bunch of upgrades, I am already eyeing more - I would love to increase the articulation of the suspension, maybe raise the height of the crawler for even more clearance, weighted wheels for more stability, a larger motor for more torque... You get the idea, this is just the start of a fun, and potentially expensive journey. But first, let's bring it out into the elements, and get it dirty! -Zhi Xuan

Putting the safety concerns aside, I find this pistol damn cool. 😅 Real pistol that looks like Lego toy sparks controvery in US https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/real-pistol-gun-lego-toy-sparks-controvery-us-glock-block19-15216284 The Block19 semi-automatic weapon has a strong resemblance to a Lego toy. WASHINGTON: A US gun maker has triggered controversy by selling a kit that makes a real Glock pistol look like a children's Lego toy gun, at a time when hundreds of kids are falling victim to shootings. The colourful brick design gives the semi-automatic weapon a strong resemblance to a Lego toy. The gun maker was marketing it as a Block19, which sold for between US$549 and US$765. The Danish manufacturer of the building blocks has sent the Utah-based company, Culper Precision, a demand to stop producing the red, blue and yellow covering for handguns. "Our organisation reached out to Lego, which then sent a cease and desist letter to the reckless gun maker," said Shannon Watts, founder of the group Moms Demand Action, which advocates for stricter gun controls. Watts, who stressed that "unintentional shootings have risen by 30 per cent in the past year", told the Washington Post her first reaction upon seeing the gun was that it was "sick and children would die". She said that in 2021 there had been more than 165 accidental shootings by children in the US, according to the organisation Everytown. Last year, 142 people died as a result of accidental discharges by children or minors, the same group said.

My Mac head of service sent this to me: "Hi mate we have Christmas Promotion. 720s Ride-On Its a good Christmas gift option for a child 3 to 6years old. Gives then a good start in their Super Car journey. Comes in McLaren Orange. Normal =$2473 Promo =$1897 Let me know if you like to take it up. Part due in 1st week December 2020 Thank you." I replied that the only 3 to 6 year old left in my family was me, and that was only emotionally speaking. 😂😂😂 Anyway, it's open to the public, so I promised him I'd spread the word. If you're interested, do reply here and I'll PM you with his contact. 😁 (My inbox is generally disabled otherwise, so please reply here and I'll msg u). Only out of my goodwill hor. I don't get nuthin'🤣

Pass time with this stop-motion, self-assembling engine video https://www.amazon.com/RuiyiF-Assembly-Hobbies-Operated-Ornaments/dp/B081ZTKD22/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=v2+engine+model&qid=1585730277&sr=8-2

I don't think I can afford a real Ferrari, so a toy one would have to suffice. The Lego car is rather cool though. Kid had great fun assembling it. Check out the video. Car Specs: YEAR OF PRODUCTION 2013 ENGINE TYPE V12 ENGINE CAPACITY (CC) 6262 POWER (BHP) 730 TOP SPEED (MPH)211 ACCELERATION (0-60MPH) 2.9s

Every person I knew or met who loves cars (or any other vehicle) usually start their passion at an early age and one of the first things that made them love cars are toys or basically, car models. It is the same for me too. I still have the Lamborghini Countach toy model that my parents got me many years ago and my passion for cars have grown stronger ever since. 84 year old Joe DiNovo is a retired mail carrier from Norridge, Illinois, USA who has a collection of 23,000 Matchbox cars and counting. Down in his basement, stacked from floor to ceiling are display cases and boxes of Matchbox cars (and other vehicles) that DiNovo has collected for over 50 years. Many of them are still in their original boxes and/or packaging. Initially, he was a train collector and sold his collection at toy shows. It was during that time that he was exposed to the world of four-wheeled miniature car models and soon began to collect and sell both of them at toy shows. Basically, his collection grew when he could not sell some of the miniature models. When that happens, he would keep them and buy new ones to sell at a later time. This practice continued until all the unsold cars began to stack up and became a collection. His basement is practically filled with all sorts of miniature vehicle models and only one small area is left for the family