Lada Vaz 2103 or 1500 "Special" (scale 1/43)

This was a very popular and luxury version of Lada. Nice addition to my "used to be popular in ex-YU" car model collection. Came straight from China like that Trabant 601.

As always, like to make a comparison to other 1/43 scale models.

The Ultimate Machine - Trabant 601 (scale 1/43)

This is one of the latest members of the ex-Yugo models collection. Came straight from China. Very high level of details, scale 1/43.

I like those shades. Hard to believe that the model is only around 2.5 inches long (6cm).

Try to ignore the plastic chairs in the back... the thing looks like a real one. Too bad the color is not light gray or beige (two most popular Trabant colors from the "good old days").

Wipping Willow (backyard)

This one is also 2-year old one. But this one survived shipping and planting and is doing really well this year.

NSU Prinz 1000 TT (update)

Here are some photos of Norev model of NSU Prinz 1000 TT. In the first pic I left other Renault 4TL model. It is cool to have models in the same scale (in this case 1/43) for the comparison. Both of these are fairly detailed examples.

The only problem with this NSU model is that the headlights are little bit bigger that they were supposed to be. This can be seen in this picture. Classis NSU Prinz 1000 had two eliptic head lights and the TT (or sporty) version had these "two in one", same like Fiat 1300 or Chevy Nova I believe. NSU Prinz was a big competitor to VW bug. Eventually, VW bought NSU and made exclusive sporty line, nowadays known under brand Audi. I guess you can recognize where Audi TT name came from.

Citroen 2CV - "Spachek" from Solido 1/43 Scale

Another very nice 1/43 scale model. I believe it is from Solido. Not as detailed as some other ones I got, but has a working suspension, which is really cool. One thing I remember about this extremely popular (and R&R) car from France was that it indeed had very soft suspension. This car was fun to drive and had roll-up roof.

Another cool thing about this model is that roof can be removed and it has some level of details inside as well. It is fun to compare models at the same scale. Always dreamed about having this car... never happened, though.

Wiping Willow (second year)

This one came as an order via Internet. Not a good idea. It pretty much died after a week or so after planting. I had to cut the whole tree and left only the roots. It started from zero two years ago. This Spring and Summer it really made a progress (some pictures can be seen in older blog).

Mexican Fan Palm (update)

Got some input from my neighbor expert. Bought the fertilizer designed for palm trees. The hardest part was to clean the circle around the tree.

That St. Augustin grass is really like a barb wire.

Now, psssssssssssst! The quality control is taking place.