When I first mentioned the fact that I build my race cars in 1/43rd, I found it refreshing that there wasn’t an automatic condemnation for the choice of scale, as sometimes is found in other aspects of the modeling world. In fact, I was encouraged to present my perspective on things. So I thought that a good way to do this would be to put into perspective the "hows and whys" I chose this scale.
To begin with, my passion for race cars started when I was
very young. I always enjoyed watching the car races when Wide
World of Sports presented it, and didn't mind (or realize at
the time) that the races were presented on a delayed basis. How
many of us would tolerate that nowadays? My leaning then was
toward the open wheel cars, whether or not they were Indy cars
or F1.
 Lots of great memories survive from the old circuit at Laguna |
My interest continued to grow during high school and I finally got to see my first race live - an F5000 race at Laguna Seca. But the highlight of the weekend was the match race between the Shadow F1 and Can Am cars. Then came the college lay-off and the days of "the starving student", and I wasn’t able to attend a race until the 1978 Long Beach Grand Prix. That started a trend of treks to Southern California as long as the F1 cars raced there. And when I got out of college and finally started making money, I started attending races at Laguna Seca and Sears Point raceways on a regular basis. |
Then for two years, I was able to occasionally help pit crew
my friend’s Formula Ford efforts. During this time, I developed
an appreciation for all types of racing cars from all eras. Simultaneously
through all this I pursued my modeling hobby, which I was introduced
to at the tender age of 5. As my skills became better and my
appreciation for all forms of race cars grew, I wanted to build
some of the cars that I liked and had photographed.
|
That led to a small problem. I could not find the models that I wanted. The mainline model companies would produce kits of that year’s Indy winner, but not much more. NASCAR didn’t interest me (I thought the paint schemes were boring), and the larger scale Tamiya kits were too big and costly. Then I picked up a 1/43rd scale kit from a vendor at one of the Laguna Seca races. That opened up a whole new world for me. Courtesy of catalogs from MCM, MiniGrid and Photorific, I suddenly discovered that there were countless modeling opportunities knocking at my door. I now had the ability to build cars from any era of motor racing and from almost every major series. I could also build the cars that I had pictures of. And most important of all, I could display them without dedicating an entire "wing" of my domicile to it. This was very important in my apartment-living days. Of course, the cost factor of the kits did put the fear of God into me, but between clearance sales and trade newsletters like Trader’s Horn, I was able to keep my collection growing. |
 Photorific Ad from 1996 showing full line of 1995 F1 cars available. |
Today with the various classified ads on the web, other bargains
can be found. So that’s how it all started. With the explosion
of modeling cottage industries, many of the racing cars that
have been overlooked by the mainline model companies are being
covered in larger scales, but I don’t think I'll abandon
my chosen scale. I still find the greater variety and color that
the 1/43rd scale manufacturers offer more to my liking.
This Tameo Piper-Attwood Ferrari 412P represents
a version of this car
not available in larger scales.
You can get a Rondeau Grp C car, a Shadow Can Am car or an early
Cooper/Lotus/BRM/Ferrari/etc. F1 car with little difficulty.
That is still not possible in the larger scales. And it probably
will never be. The mainline plastic model companies simply do
not have the resources or the return on their investments to
do what is seen in the 43rd scale world. So I will continue to
work in my little niche of the world, taking the smaller perspective.
Proving that you don't sacrifice detail in 1/43rd
scale, this Bosica
Ferrari 156/85 is a small-scale knockout.
Last modified: May 4, 1997
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