matt79

WARNING - HERMES RELATED GRUMP AHEAD! Ordered something off the internet earlier this week, yesterday I get a notification saying 'Your parcel is now with your local Hermes courier for delivery' Well, despite my initial concerns, Hermes did indeed deliver my parcel today, as they promised........ .....guess where they left it........ No? Well here is where they left it - Brilliant! I mean abso-fucking-lutely brilliant! Who the fuck is that? Now I have to use my intimate* knowledge of the legs of all the residents of all the households in my street to identlfy what house has my fucking parcel! (and no, there wasnt even a card left giving any clues as to who has / where my parcel is!)

Its not too difficult to do - I used to convert these exact same models (when they were quite readily available for not much money) to 'code 3' british police car models using the following technique - A cotton bud dipped in non acetone nail varnish remover gently rubbed over the tampo printed POLIZEI livery will remove it (be carefull not to rub to much as it can also take the paint layer off any raised areas on the model). Be aware that the front grille is tampo printed, so try not to remove that by mistake! The plastic lightbar on the roof can be removed easily enough (you can unscrew the base & take the interior moulding out & scrape the glue away from inside the roof, then push the lightbar out from the inside, or gently leavering it off might work) - there will be 2 holes left in the roof after the lightbar is removed - these can be filled & painted easily enough.

Cararama / Hongwell made an E39 saloon in various guises (foreign Police cars mainly) but also in civilian form as well (this ones on Ebay at the moment for £14 inc. postage)..... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/193991263007?hash=item2d2ac7c31f:g:rg8AAOSwl3VgWynu Schuco & Schabak also made the E39 in saloon & estate variants but these are rarer (i.e more expensive)

Like this ? build thread - http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/108150-1984-ford-transit-esci-124/

Your 300 ZX is from an early 1990's Matchbox series called 'Lightning Wheels' & each model came with a plastic cylinder to store the model in, which had a spec sheet detailing the spec of the real vehicle the mdoel was based on. I think there was an F40, & a Porsche of some kind in the same series, plus a few more models no doubt!

Havent a clue on the engine origin, possibly a Matchbox Kingsize dragster model (like K38 Gus Gulper Mustang model) That model looks sweet, looks so 'right' although maybe a subtle roof chop would improve the aesthetics? What colour scheme are you planning for it?

The body is a Corgi 'Wild Honey' dragster, dont know the origin of the chassis / wheels though ?

@sierraman there will be some matchbox models at some point (might be a little while as I have hundreds of models to sort out, all whilst trying not to think of excuses to keep them).

Begining a massive sort out & slimming down of my diecast collection (more to be added for sale when I get time to sort them out)

Bad shit happens in threes, right? 1. Saturday 9th May (mid PM) I notice there is some water seeping from under the floor joint cover strip between the hallway & downstairs loo. Thats odd thinks I, although the floor had been mopped recently (we have vinyl flooring downstairs). Curiosity gets the better of me & I prise up the joint cover & find that the concrete sub floor in the loo & the felt backing of the vinyl is piss wet! I trace the leak to a 'slightly more than weeping' connection on the pipework for the cistern inlet (the inlet is on the left hand side of the cistern, & the mains water feed pipe is on the opposite (right hand) side, naturally!) the water was dribbling down the flexi pipe and dripping directly onto the floor where the vinyl had been cut to fit around the toilet pan. At this point I find the nut connecting the copper pipe to the plastic pipe of the flush is loose & wont tighten as it appears to be cross threaded. At this point I start raging at the bodging cowboy bastard who fitted the loo some 5 years ago, just after we moved in (the bodging cowboy bastard fitter in question was myself but shhhh! dont tell anyone!) Cant for the life of me figure out what I was thinking of at the time I installed the loo (I had used various bits of recycled copper pipe, plastic & metal nuts & connectors & a bodged flexi tap connector with too many joints, my grandad always said with plumbing use a few connections as possible to reduce the chance of leaks) Too late to get anything sorted on Saturday, so on Sunday morning I go to Screwfix & collect a flexi pipe connector and after a bit (lot) of swearing, (& because its a downstairs loo I cant get my fat fucking body between the loo & the wall, without getting stuck or breaking something else) so working blind with both my massive mole hands behind the toilet pan I manage to connect the pipe, turn the isolator valve back on I hear the sound of water rushing through the pipework & all appears OK with no leaks! Result! now I get to relax & enjoy the rest of my Sunday........ 2. Sunday 10th May Around 1430 we decide to head out for our daily state mandated hour's exercise & whilst turning the key to lock the back door the lock resists the key turning, then suddenly there is a slight 'tink' sound from the lock & the resistance is gone, now the key just spins in the lock, resulting in not being able to lock the door! Fan-Fucking-Tastic!! I immediately assume its the lock barrel thats broken so quickly look on the internet and lo! Screwfix have a replacement lock cylinder in stock! So I rush off to Screwfix for the 2nd time in one day, arriving minutes before they close (due to living in the Cambrigdeshire fens the nearest Screwfix is a 20 mile round trip). Get the old lock out & install the new lock.......turn the key.......key just spins! (at this point instead of going full on bat shit crazy, a strange, un-naturally serene calmness decends on me, maybe I'm too angry to be angry?!) Turns out its the lockset / gearbox for the multi locking system thats broken. I manage release the busted lock from the door & look online for a replacement. There are many locksets to choose from all priced around £20 - £30, but of course none match the exact dimensions of mine. After some searching, it turns out that the company that made the original lockset are no longer in business, but the ever enterprising Chinese have made an exact* copy which can be mine for £45 delivered! New lockset arrived Tuesday 12th May & is fitted without drama & we now have a working, lockable back door which is due to be replaced anyway, once life returns to somewhat normal......whenever that will be....... 3. Tuesday 12th May Decide to swap the back wheels for the fronts on the modern daily (Ford Focus) Start on the passenger side, get the wheels swapped & whilst doing up the locking wheel nut on the front wheel, the side of the locking nut key shears off (because of course it fucking does), snapping the top off of the locking nut itself! So now have to wait for the new locking nuts & key to arrive.......also noticed that one of the nuts on the drivers side rear wheel has been rounded off, enough to necessitate the deployment of the Irwin bolt / nut extractors, once I find where I put them after I last used them! TL;DR - FMFL! I feel like a modern day Frank fucking Spencer

Dont know if the info here is any good - https://www.fordwiki.co.uk/index.php/Front_bumper_removal or - https://talkford.com/community/topic/115402-front-bumper-removal-procedure/ Good to see one of these being saved, cant remember the last time I saw one on the road

Fuck-Arse with an apPEELING paint job https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202004309121234

If you were going smaller scale for an Escort Estate model, maybe use a Matchbox Escort cabriolet as a basis for the model, as the rear panel & lights are already the right type for an estate version (pic from Google)

Gently rub a cotton bud dipped in non-acetone nail varnish remover over the decals & they should disappear!

I remember having a matchbox Saab 9000 in racing livery (white body with red, yellow & orange stripes & number 22 on the bonnet & doors) - tho I dont think it was based on a genuine BTCC car.