Mugen FK8 – Completed

June 17, 2020June 17, 2020 / jasonhoang / Leave a comment

An unofficial and quick shoot of the rest of the car with the Mugen tail lights. I didn’t venture too far for these – I just wanted to get some full car shots of it all together and I must say that I’m pretty damn satisfied right now and that doesn’t happen often. It’s nice when things come together like you envisioned/hoped for… All this started because Diana and the guys got me a Mugen button…

I will say though that although Mugen FK8’s exist all over the place, it’s nice to be able to say that I have one of them. It’s a little different seeing one that you’ve put together yourself versus all the ones on social media. There aren’t many options for exterior cosmetics for this platform and there are a few big ones that have been released recently such as Spoon and Varis, but they just weren’t up my alley as much as I had hoped Varis would’ve been. Ever since my 8th gen days, I’ve always dreamed about putting together a Honda x Mugen build and I’ve finally done it. There’s just something about Mugen that invokes this really good feeling that you’re putting literally the best on the car because it’s literally the child of Honda. From the fitment to the quality – there’s just nothing that comes close to that compared to all the other brands I’ve used.

Anyway – I hope to do a proper photoshoot when the weather gets a little better and I have a little more time in the evenings. Until then, enjoy!

Finally the side profile looks complete. No more empty rear end!

Probably my favourite angle on the FK8 right now…

The Thanos rear chin. Like I mentioned in my last post – I love how the vertical lines in the Mugen lip pair up with the horizontal lines in the tail lights and how those lines match up with the trunk lines. It’s pretty hard these days to find cosmetic mods that fill and continue the stock body lines. It’s also a rear that I love without a GT wing and prefer the stock wing instead. I know, I thought I’d never say that but the stock wing is bulky enough to match the whole car whereas I find the GT wings just feel too small and out of place.

More shots of the rear… The addition of the red pin stripe on the lip is a nice accent to tie it all together.

Last shot back at home. I am in love with how this turned out because I didn’t think I’d get to this point this soon (or at all) but man… There’s only a little more this needs before I call it complete to me.

NSX x FK8 Social Distancing Photoshoot

June 11, 2020June 12, 2020 / jasonhoang / Leave a comment

Last night was a pretty random night for me – Jotham was taking his NSX out for the first time this year and wanted to cruise so of course I accepted! It was supposed to just be a pretty chill cruise around town, stop for photos here and there and then call it a night. As we were heading downtown, we passed by the most random car meet that we ended up joining for a little bit to chat it up with some friends.

I didn’t get many shots of the meet as it was kind of random and crowded… For the most part, just shots of our cruise and quick photoshoot.

Jotham up front

I really wanted to shoot with some greenery and play around with some edits and Jotham ended up finding a pretty decent spot in Eau Claire…

It’s been a while since I shot an NSX… I think the last time and only time was Jackie’s red NSX years ago…

Stunning in white.

I’m sure you’ve all seen enough of the front end of my Type R by now haha

The trees were too good though. Peep that line up back there for ice cream though haha… It was beautiful out last night though so I don’t blame them.

Not enough of the Mugen rear though! Ah I can’t get enough.

I really love the way it looks now. I am sorry I doubted Mugen, but at the same time, their promotional pictures of the rear didn’t really do it justice either lol.

Two different types of cars and generations…

Captured a couple taking a look at the cars and doing a walkaround lol. They were super nice though.

Funny thing is where we are is a no parking zone, obviously by the signs… But there were some cops walking around either patrolling or looking for food – not sure. But we were a little apprehensive that we might get in trouble or they might tell us to leave but they just smiled and walked on by. I joked with Jotham that right now is a sensitive time for racial profiling so maybe they just decided not to say anything LOL!

The more I photograph the CTR, the more I start to really enjoy the sharp lines of it. It was a little odd at first, but all angles are starting to grow on me.

My perfect pairing… Fujitsubo x Mugen

I have to say, I’m happy with how it sits now. There are still a few bits missing but nothing I can’t live without for a while.

Jotham’s NSX sits so low compared to my car LOL… Obviously because of the super low profile of the NSX but even if mine was aired down to the ground, it would still look high as hell.

At the random meet, Giuseppe was there and this was my first time seeing his S15 in person. Looks great on the new SSR’s.

Giuseppe never fails to build an impressive looking car.

Endless BBK peaking behind.

Alex Yoon and his IS-F on ZE40’s also there. Hadn’t seen this since the show and shine last year and he’s got some headers/exhaust awaiting install too… A pretty rare thing on IS-F’s but I’m excited to see/hear it!

Just some rollers on my own with my 35mm – turned out pretty well LOL

Adios!

Isolation Photoshoot – Part 2

April 30, 2020 / jasonhoang / Leave a comment

I’m basically going to be going on photoshoots for the next little while as I try to experiment more on style and composition. I know, I’ve talked about it lots in my last few posts but each time I go out, I’m finding something new and I’m loving it. I don’t know what it is – perhaps it’s because I haven’t actually had anything interesting to shoot in the last little while, or maybe the small little mods make me excited to shoot again…

I think it comes down to being able to go where I haven’t been able to go before. I’m trying to think of all the places that were usually considered “forbidden” or difficult to get into and I’m giving it a shot. So far, it’s been amazing because I’m shooting with no distraction or worry.

In this set, I went out after installing the OEM grill garnish and I’m seriously loving how it looks. It looks great on champ white and adds a little more aggressiveness to the front. Also adds some nice extra colour to the photos. This time I went downtown to see if I could get onto Stephen Ave…

It was still fairly bright when I got there so the lights that usually light up Stephen Ave were not on but that evening sun lately is providing some nice, soft light.

I parked off to the side of the road just in case… But didn’t really need to. Not a soul around except for some walkers but that’s about it.

A close up of the grill garnish. Some might think it’s a ricer mod and under certain circumstances, if I were to have seen this anywhere else, I would think so too but man, I just love the look of it.

The beauty of downtown is all the glass you can get…

The other beauty of downtown is that the lighting can change in an instant. As soon as the sun sets a little more, you start to get a little more gloomy with a cooler light.

I circled around to get onto another part of Stephen Ave… Which was also dead. You can see at the top of the pic, there’s hanging lights that hang from one side of the street to the other. Those are usually on as the sun sets, but I was too early… Next time.

All by my lonesome.

I’m not joking when I say there’s literally no one around… Take a look down the street. Not a single soul to be seen. Again, it’s a little eerie but peaceful at the same time.

So, I decided to move to the center of the road. I was there for probably 15 minutes and no cars came to drive through either.

I think a little later in the evening once those lights are on, it would give a nice feel.

I decided to roll by the Hotel across from the Calgary Tower to see if I could get in to shoot. The last time we were here, I was in my STI and we were able to get in. The reception at the time said we weren’t allowed but we convinced them that we were just going to take some quick pics and we would be on our way.

Typically, this alleyway is full of cars and valet, but as expected – it was dead.

As I rolled up and looked into the window of the hotel, no one as at the reception desk. Initially I thought that it was closed so I was home free. After about 10 minutes, a lady showed up at the desk – she was probably doing some rounds. I made eye contact with her and signaled my camera and just mouthed “I’m just taking some pics” and she waved and mouthed back “whatever!” Score. I mean, if you got nothing going on here, and harmless little old me is just taking pics, what does it matter?

I think if I rolled through here a little later at night, it would provide some cooler pics as well.

That’s it for this chapter in “Isolation Photoshoots”. More to come soon, I hope!

Fujitsubo Details…

March 24, 2020 / jasonhoang / Leave a comment

Just another small update cause we obviously have nothing else to do at home…

When I got the exhaust, there were two small metallic “Fujitsubo” decals included (as always when you buy parts) and the ricer in me immediately thought “where can I put these?” It wasn’t long before I realized that no matter where I put it, it would be too much so I just left them aside as a keepsake.

Yesterday as I was browsing the Fujitsubo website, I saw that the proper placement for the decals was on the outer parts of the carbon fiber exhaust tips! Needless to say, after I found that out – I ran out and put them on pretty damn quick. Now I can say that it is the perfect spot for them. I kind of thought the exhaust was a little plain but now it’s finished!