Shite in Miniature II

[sierraman]

http://www.mokolesneymatchbox.com/fakes-frauds/f-f-46b-beales-bealeson.html

[egg]

Yep, interesting info thanks - I think I read that as well at some point. I won't be passing mine off as the real thing ?

[quicksilver]

Excellent acquisitions everyone, I'm especially keen to see how the Tissier DS turns out as I'm overrun with Husky DSs and looking for things to do with them. I'm on the lookout for a Husky Zephyr estate for restoration if anyone can help.

[bunglebus]

8 hours ago, 155V6 said:

The mainline came in black,silver or white.There's a Scooby Doo version from a multi pack,& also a couple of more expensive versions with nicer details & wheels ?

DSC_0140_zpstbxtp40l by RS, on Flickr

 

Surprised hearses are in the lineup again - I read they stopped doing them as some cultures disapproved of children playing with them due to their association with death - so they were released as ambulances. Now to my mind, there's a lot more pain, suffering and death in ambulances than in hearses...

 

Wheels 004_zpsnnpivooa by RS, on Flickr

 

 

[155V6]

Some of mine,with a bonus Holden at the back

[vulgalour]

I got all the windows installed on the Pobeda.  The windscreen was quite easy, the side windows needed to be first trimmed in half and then the bit that goes on the inside of the B pillar filed down a little so that they could be slotted in.  The rear screen just needed careful filing of the surround so it clicked into place nicely.  The interior is now fully detailed and awaiting assembly.  Headlights have been glued in but I'm not entirely happy with how they sit so I'm going to pop them back out, drill the headlight sockets a little larger/deeper, and put the headlights back in so they hopefully sit more flush.

For the engine, I finally found a suitable donor since there's not really anything off the shelf at this scale.  The Bedford tanker isn't the same scale but the engine looks similar enough in general that it's a suitable donor for this particular project.  I took a plasticine mould of the engine and have cast some two-part epoxy into it like I did for the missing parts on the Mercury kit.  I've added hinges to the Pobeda bonnet so it can be opened just not fully, I'm finding the scale and my lack of experience at this sort of job to be limiting factors so I'm going with what works before it frustrates me on this one.  I made several attempts at a bulkhead and none worked but because the bonnet doesn't open very far, there's a good amount of shadow that obscures the lack of bulkhead so I'm fine with that.  The fact this has an opening bonnet and will have an engine visible at all is perhaps a little on the ambitious side anyway.  The axles were trimmed and the wheels glued on yesterday, then I dropped it putting it away and blasted three of the wheels off so had to reglue them again today which has meant I couldn't finish the painting and assembly I wanted to.

It's coming along, at any rate.  Tomorrow I should have nicely dried components, and some sort of engine blob to work with and hopefully, barring mishaps, have the whole thing fully painted and assembled.  It's been more difficult to build this than much more complex larger scale kits I've done, it's been a fun challenge but I'm not sure I'd put myself through it again.

In more basic news, the container truck that arrived in a recent assortment was married up with the randome Walls container I had from a previous eBay purchase.  They slot together perfectly but I feel like there's something missing because they don't lock together, one just sort of sits on top of the other.  If this is really how they are then that would explain why the containers are always missing.

[sierraman]

That’s how they sit, just resting on the chassis. I think when new they came with a rubber band round them. The walls container is from the scania T142 Convoy range from about 85/86. Interestingly the Lansing bagnall forklift works on the containers as well. 

[Split_Pin]

Indeed that's how they sit. I recall mine had a rubber band around it from new but I took it off when I got older and stopped playing with them. I still have it in the loft somewhere and I think the container says 'Matchbox' on the side.

[sierraman]

Moar useless phacts! It came as part of the First Issue Container Port along with a plastic version of the railway shunter.

[C1am]

Impressive work on the Pobeda. Have a Warszawa picture from my vintage magazine collection (1953 Autocar).

[Lord Sterling]

Interesting reading about the Beales Bealsons vans. Reading that link shows me that this is a fake:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Matchbox-RW-46B-Removal-Van-braun-rares-Beales-Bealsons-Werbemodell-in-D-Box/323475901383?hash=item4b50aa8bc7:g:xDsAAOSwhJFbsSRh

The decals are on incorrectly.

[sierraman]

The early 70’s ones were easy to create ‘rare’ versions of when you could pop the axle retainers off and swap axles etc. When Lesney folded a load of stickers fell into collectors hands so all sorts of ‘specials’ came to light. 

[Amishtat]

Is it Tatmarket Friday? 

[sierraman]

I think I need to get out more. Laid in bed last night thinking ‘It’s diecast Tat Friday tomorrow...’

[Amishtat]

You're not the only one.. 

[Amishtat]

This is in my local auctions tomorrow. 

[Split_Pin]

I remember the boy across the road from me had that Robot and I was fascinated by it.

That was in the early 1980s but judging by the packaging it looks a lot older than that so could have been his dad's.

[vulgalour]

Huh, every day's a school day!

[Amishtat]

I'd reckon early - mid Seventies but that's only a guess based on the box artwork, same with the Mercedes. Surely the bus is older though 

[eddyramrod]

23 hours ago, vulgalour said:

Huh, every day's a school day!

I bloody hope not!  School was consistently the worst time of my life, including the time MrsR spent in Intensive Care in Paphos!  Including getting arrested for a robbery I had nothing to do with.  Including... well you get the idea.

[egg]

I think I'll be on the lookout for a Budgie Removals van now to go with my Beales Bealesons...

They seem quite valuable though.

[Volksy]

On 9/3/2019 at 10:29 PM, vulgalour said:

 

And finally, this little slice of nostalgia. I used to have one exactly like this, even the playwear was pretty much the same, so I'll likely keep it as it is.  Never had a trailer for it, the trailers always seemed really hard to find.

I still have a dent in my left kneecap from kneeling on the upturned trailer that came with this wagon. 

[Spottedlaurel]

10 hours ago, sierraman said:

Moar useless phacts! It came as part of the First Issue Container Port along with a plastic version of the railway shunter.

Indeed, thus:

Matchbox Playset Container Port by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

They illustrated it with the blue container, but I always found that combination displeasing. I generally kept the Sealand container on mine, which was a bit fancier as it had opening doors.

[vulgalour]

No Pobeda update today, though I can tell you the engine I cast is suitable and does fit.  Instead, today I got the DS models out of the purple meths so I could see what I was dealing with.  I expected all of the Safaris to be ordinary estates, so I was a little surprised when the only estate is the one with the bust roof and glass, while the other three are ambulance variants.  That means the rear glazing is blue and is also the interior for the cabin, while the front glazing is a separate clear unit.  This isn't actually a problem, quite the opposite, it just meant I changed my original plan of building a four door Tissier and am now building a 2 door triple axle instead.  The two I'm not chopping up will become an estate and an ambulance using the bits I've got here, there's enough of the broken estate glazing to splice with one of the ambulance front glazing, hiding the seam with the B pillar.

I was going to go for a twin axle originally, the pieces I had to work with meant it was actually easier and would look more balanced as a triple axle, so that's what I've done.  The middle axle on the rear is fitted by filing a groove into the rear chassis portion and then glueing the axle down.  This actually allows all six rear wheels to roll and while the middle axle on the back doesn't have suspension, the other two do, so I'm pretty please with that.  For strength, I'll use some epoxy to blend the portions of the chassis together and for the very end extension I'll be using the bit that I didn't stick on that's still attached to the ambulance end unit I chopped off.

For the blending of the bodywork I've spread the ambulance front end a little and squished the rear estate section a little to get them to match closely.  Filler will take care of the rest.  I'll also be cutting out a wheel arch so all three wheels are visible on both sides and, of course, filling in the original wheel arch right at the back.  Blending the sides is probably the bulk of the work on this one.  After looking at several pictures and blogs and videos on Tissiers, it looks like the extension doesn't affect the original wheelbase of the car in most cases, instead having extra subframe/s and bodywork grafted on behind the rear axle, that's what I've done too and the proportions are looking about right.

#

One thing I hadn't been able to figure out was what I was doing with the back of the cab.  That is, until I discovered one of the donors for this has separate cab glazing.  Because of where I cut the roof it just so happens this forms an almost perfect cab back without any work and even the remains of the roof rack doesn't look out of place.  It's nice when you get a bit of good fortune like that.  For the flatbed I'm using the broken off end of a top deck from a DAF transporter which I'll section a little to make it the right width since it's ever so slightly too wide in standard format.  I also already know this will take one of the other standard DS Safari models, which is likely how I'll display this one.

Next up will be stripping the last of the paint off so I can get on with the next stage of assembly and then I'm going to have to figure out what colour I'm doing this one.

[bunglebus]

Used to have a model of one of those but can't find the pictures.

 

These arrived today;

 

Zylmex Ford GT40 and E-Type;

 

20190907_220524 by RS, on Flickr

 

20190907_220433 by RS, on Flickr

 

Kidco Corvette;

 

20190907_220342 by RS, on Flickr

 

 

[eddyramrod]

Diecast grump.

Among my restoration projects is a Corgi Citroen DS Safari, which I've done in a pale beige.  I refitted the upper tailgate a while ago, but that's about as far as I've got.  Now then... in a recent job lot I gained a second example, which is probably due a repaint but rather more urgently needs both parts of the tailgate.  So I bought some repro stock off the bay of E, which have now arrived.  I went to do a test-fit on the beige one and... broke the original tailgate getting it off.

BOLLOCKS!  FUCKITTY FUCK!  Now I need to buy another tailgate.

[egg]

While working on this, I had my own grump when I snapped off the 'quarterlight' pillar on one side. I've glued in a bit of paperclip at a slightly wonky angle, and that will have to do!

[Split_Pin]

My not-diecast grump is that because I have been so busy this weekend I have not yet had a chance to open the parcel that Egg. Esq. Motors (Plastic Division) has sent me. I like to take my time with parcels and admire and study what I have just received before deciding on a good shelf slot for it.

I'm always home first on a Monday so I'll enjoy doing that then

[vulgalour]

Pobeda is done.  For some reason, it attracts black dust like no other kit I have and I have no idea where the black dust is coming from so... that's a thing.  That's why you see black specks in the photos.

The engine I cast worked quite well, even if it's so small a part and the bonnet opens so little because of the hinges I did (not that I could figure out how to do them better at this scale) that the only way to show you on camera was to use the tiniest safety pin as a bonnet prop.  It's suitable for this particular kit at any rate.

So there we go, that's a 1:72 scale GAZ Pobeda.  It's moderately well scaled and while the wheels are a little oversized, it's otherwise pretty good.  The interior is totally pointless because you just can't see it in person or on camera.  As happy as I am with the end result, I wouldn't recommend this kit.  Completion came more with a sense of relief than satisfaction, and that for me is never a good sign.  Even without the additional work of making the bonnet open and casting an engine, it would have still been an awkward fiddly thing to build.  If I want to make stuff in this scale, I'll stick to generic diecast stuff, like this HotWheels hot rod which is useful to show you the scale of the Pobeda against something potentially familiar.

[Datsuncog]

Great work on the Pobeda, Vulg - looks like a right fiddly piece of work. Opening bonnet is a nice touch!

The Tissier DS looks like it's shaping up very well too - I'd wondered if the bashed-up DAF transporter might play a supporting role in this creation...

 

Apologies for the lack of Tat Friday last week, folks. Hopefully normal service will resume at the end of the week.