Shite in Miniature II

[vulgalour]

Tissier news.  After some more mocking up I wasn't happy with how high the deck was sitting so I removed all of the bodywork and rejigged the deck so it sat lower and was narrower.  This was a faff.  I used half of the top deck of a DAF transporter, chopped the middle portion out, then opened up a wheel arch on each side before glueing the thing together to make one solid deck. I still need to fabricate a small amount of bodywork under the deck and I'll be doing a little bit of chopping about of one of the DS rear ends to give the thing some lights.  I also need to add a small piece behind the cab where there's a little gab between the new slightly lower deck and the rear window.

In addition to the Tissier, I was looking at the other two Ambulance variants of this casting.  Originally one was a civilian ambulance in white while the other was the military ambulance in drab green.  The military one will become a regular estate, splicing the broken estate glazing with the good ambulance glazing actually worked very well (even if it's not quite sitting right in this shot), and I'll be finishing it in blue and white as per Eddy's original repaint.

For the other car, with the parts I've got it makes more sense to create an ambulance and since I have next to no interest in military variants I opted for the civilian route.  Another issue is that the roof beacon is integral to the rear glazing on this casting and while I could have chopped the spare beacon off and glued it on top of the roof, I'd rather use the existing parts.  So I filed the whole roof rack off so the stub of the original beacon sits up high enough to be seen.  I'll then be likely using blue graphics on this one as per some of the real world examples.  This ambulance is painted in Citroen's Arctic White, since I have some in stock for doing the little bits on the BX, and it's a good period looking colour compared to just using the bright white primer.

Finally, since I'm sure you want to see it, here's the Tissier loaded up.

[Datsuncog]

Definitely a faff, but that Tissier looks absolutely great...

And it certainly hasn't been causing me to waste copious amounts of time on Google, no sirree…

 

(Here's quite a nice CX diorama I turned up during my searching)

 

[sierraman]

Been looking for an example of these for ages, then within 2 weeks I’ve managed to obtain both the rubber tyred one and the superfast. 

[egg]

Nice little box from wish.com, cost £1.50 and ideal for all my matchbox odds and ends. Better than all the small plastic bags I think.

[bunglebus]

Very crusty but cool Corgi Reliant Ant

 

20190918_114508 by RS, on Flickr

20190918_114525 by RS, on Flickr

 

Standard Merc to keep my custom company

 

20190918_114439 by RS, on Flickr

 

Corgi Porsche 901

 

20190918_114320 by RS, on Flickr

 

Overpainted Majorette Simca

 

20190918_114234 by RS, on Flickr

 

Capri is lovely

 

20190918_114157 by RS, on Flickr

 

Thought the Corgi might have an opening bonnet but no

 

20190918_114131 by RS, on Flickr

 

Too old to interest me so will be up for grabs

 

20190918_114106 by RS, on Flickr

 

So will the Corgi fire engine

 

20190918_114043 by RS, on Flickr

 

[bunglebus]

I also found another HW Super Treasure Hunt!

 

20190918_182807 by RS, on Flickr

20190918_182510 by RS, on Flickr

[Noel Tidybeard]

problem? me? nah, no, not at all!

 

[bramz7]

More incoming....

This lovely Gama 325i only cost £10. 

This Solido model of a MK2 R5 is hilariously crude. The bonnet is far too long. Still, that was basically it's main appeal. 

Polistil AMC Gremlin, which is a decent replica. Quite a wide range of models in their range back then. 

 

Apparently these Inter Cars models are notorious for metal fatigue. I believe that! It's remarkably heavy for its age, but there are some paint imperfections on the other side. Hopefully it doesn't crumble away. 

[Tenmil Socket]

That Saab is fantastic...

[Datsuncog]

16 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Very crusty but cool Corgi Reliant Ant

20190918_114508 by RS, on Flickr

20190918_114157 by RS, on Flickr

That's fantastic - never seen one of those up close before.

Maybe worth a shot with the brown sauce treatment on the base and bumpers, to see if that'll strip the crust off?

Quote

Love these Majorette Mk2 Capris, and haven't seen a white and red one before. I had a blue one with a white roof when I was about four or five - unusual construction method though, with the plastic 'vinyl roof' forming the top of the rear windows, but not the front windows.

I think that I thought it was meant to be a convertible with the roof up or something... but I still don't know what happened to mine! One for the list...

[eddyramrod]

I had that Reliant Ant from new.  Not sure if I still have it, but one thing I certainly don't still have is the little clip-on plastic bumper that it came with, to help guide it down the plastic track that was so popular by then, thanks to Hot Wheels.  It didn't work very well because mostly it fell off as soon as it touched the sides of the track, and the Ant then crashed anyway.

[bunglebus]

Well the Flight Hunter arrived...

 

 

20190919_123220 by RS, on Flickr

20190919_122907 by RS, on Flickr

20190919_122807 by RS, on Flickr

20190919_122757 by RS, on Flickr

 

Well worn wheels and no chrome on the guns at the front plus those rivets - verdict: Repaint. Ah well.

 

These were with it;

 

20190919_123844 by RS, on Flickr

 

Nice but only valuable with the plastic canopy and motorbike

 

20190919_123825 by RS, on Flickr

 

20190919_123727 by RS, on Flickr

 

Quite cool but there's a big crack on the other side of the trailer. There were some others but couldn't be arsed to photograph them. I R disappoint.

 

Still, this looks quite cool now;

 

20190919_113925 by RS, on Flickr

20190919_113722 by RS, on Flickr

 

And these are coming along;

 

20190919_121715 by RS, on Flickr

 

20190919_101056 by RS, on Flickr

 

(someone on FB said he used to have a pink Dragon Wheels, I decided to make one)

[bunglebus]

Still, these arrived too;

 

20190919_122329 by RS, on Flickr

20190919_122322 by RS, on Flickr

20190919_122336 by RS, on Flickr

20190919_122314 by RS, on Flickr

[Split_Pin]

Love the MB catalogues. They really reflected the year they were from, exemplified by the difference between the 83/84 issue and 1989. 

[bunglebus]

Going to try a different scanner with a wider bed.

Hopefully that will cure the problem of the pages not laying flat

[Split_Pin]

Appreciate you sharing them chap.

[sierraman]

I can remember the disappointment in 1993 upon finding Beatties no longer carried the Matchbox catalogue. I think they still did a catalogue from then on but it was a trade catalogue. 

[Datsuncog]

Out of interest, is the 1983/84 catalogue a UK catalogue, or one printed up for an overseas territory like Australia? And is it a Lesney-era publication?

Asking cos I have a 1982/83 UK catalogue which I thought was the last Lesney one produced, and then a 1983 one from the first year of Universal Toys' ownership,  followed by separate 'year' booklets from then on... if it turns out there's an interim 1983/84 catalogue in between those, I may need to get myself on eBay, pronto...

Also very much appreciative of the time and effort required to scan these in - it's a right old faff, true enough!

Sad news on the Flight Hunter, but worth a punt from the listings pics... odd that it was repainted but then quite heavily played with...

Heading (hopefully) for a tat rendezvous at the market... updates to follow!

[sierraman]

Hang on... it’s diecast tat Friday!

[Datsuncog]

It is! (And I have your list)

[sierraman]

What is a good (read cheap) source of paint for repaints?

[eddyramrod]

For rattle cans, try Wilkos....

[Datsuncog]

So, tat fans... another week dawns.

The stall was fairly quiet this morning, with not many new models from last week's frenzy - other than a load of boxed Corgi Classics commercials at the back (£10 each to you, squire, if you must).

All the loose stuff at the front was priced at £5, except for the (somewhat unexceptional) Superfast Refuse Truck, which was £3 for some reason.

The Corgi Chevrolet Impala Dog Grooming van wasn't in bad shape, although cracked glazing and a load of superglue in the interior (presumably in a futile attempt to keep the plastic canines in place) made me put it back. Dinky Mini police car was also quite decent, despite a missing headlamp. Drilled Dinky Princess also still in evidence. MB Superkings Bandolero (blue fantasy casting, on the far right of the pic)  was in reasonably good shape with minimal wear, but still maybe a smidge strong at a fiver.

Vanguards and Oxford were also a tenner each. I considered nabbing the two Sierras, but I already have the red Sapphire in my collection. With no outer boxes or limited-edition cards, I was unsure of taking a punt on these. If the white Triumph 2000 had been red, I deffo would have had it, mind.

[Datsuncog]

So, turning to the tat boxes...

Well, first off Market Blokey's upgraded his selection of rather battered tomato boxes to two fancy plastic lidded tubs. Ooooh.

This is good in one way, as it hopefully means less diecast falling out the holes at the sides, but is problematic in another as the boxes are quite full, and quite deep, increasing the amount of frantic hoking required. When I arrived, a few other chaps were going through the boxes with all the finesse of terriers hopped-up on double espressos, making me fear for the paintwork of those decent examples still remaining therein. It also makes it hard to be sure I've seen every model in the tub, and that gives me Teh Fearz.

Second off, there has been a lot of sales action since last week, seemingly by collectors with the same discerning eye as some upstanding citizens of this parish... regrettably, pretty much all the really good stuff I'd been asked to look out for had gone, such as the early 70s Superfasts.

I'm kinda kicking myself, as I knew there were a fair few which would draw interest - but I was in a bit of a rush last week (and also partly reeling from my plastic Fiat 127 find).

So, sadly, all the Matchbox in Adventure 2000 colours were gone; the Capris were gone; all the AMC Javelins were gone... I know. I'm sorry.

But here's what there was...

Lotsa 70s/80s Corgi, including inevitable BP promo models.

More 70s/80s Matchbox, including lots of Super GTs and some fairly hammered 90s/2000s Matchbox too.

The green Mercury Commuter in the bottom-right corner had been literally hammered, with the roof all caved in, which is why I left it.

And more of the same, though with added Majorette... the orange Fiat Ritmo had lost its boot, although had gained some jazzy racing numbers applied in felt-tip.

And a few more Corgi/Majorette. There were about four of those crew-cab Majorette Transits in a variety of colourways, though none in terribly good nick. Just sayin'.

Yank Ford cabover truck and trailer from Majorette weren't too bad, though obviously the loading ramp was gone from the trailer.

 

Delving a bit deeper, here's a Corgi Whizzwheels Hot Rodder, as seen upthread as a pirated casting.

Bit  of an odd Corgi...

A pull-back Porsche 935 with rubber rear tyres, juxtaposed with its unpowered brother.

Don't remember seeing one of those before.

A couple of Superfast Lasers remaining too, although their wheels seem to have lost their lustre a little.

 

And, as an aside, one of the charity shop stalls also had a small selection of diecast this week...

Mostly utter crap, but some were so bad they were almost good...

Like this piece of Far-Eastern tat, made using the absolute minimum of metal possible to obtain the vague shape of a Porsche 928.

The same stall also had this Matchbox Superkings Bedford TM in Kellogg's livery; it was in ok shape with a few scrapes and some UV fading to the plastic bits on the trailer. Asking price for this was £10 - with the stallholder defensively claiming, "it's from 1973, you know!" as I put it back amidst the bullet cases and books about paramilitaries. I refrained from saying that it was from 1981, at the earliest, because I'm trying to quit being a prick.

I could also, from this stall, have procured some Trolls - as well as a variety of Irish Proverbs, some leprechaun snowglobes, and yet more books on The Troubles...

Ah, St George's. You're too good to us.

[egg]

@Datsuncog - how much is the Atlas Kodak van please?

[155V6]

I've got a Corgi pullback Merc 190 similar to that Porsche,never seen another one

[sierraman]

You snooze you lose! ?

[Split_Pin]

Pullback Corgi is a new one on me. I had that Porsche in 'Polo' livery from BP.

[Datsuncog]

12 minutes ago, egg said:

@Datsuncog - how much is the Atlas Kodak van please?

He's wanting £10 for it!

[Datsuncog]

On ‎9‎/‎20‎/‎2019 at 12:42 PM, sierraman said:

You snooze you lose! ?

I know - I'm kicking myself!

There was an unusual Dodge Dakota pickup in sort of a weathered black/sand colour that I'd never seen before; possibly part of a playset. Was really hoping it'd still be there today, but no dice...

[EDIT: This one!]

On ‎9‎/‎20‎/‎2019 at 12:36 PM, 155V6 said:

I've got a Corgi pullback Merc 190 similar to that Porsche, never seen another one

Gonna have to do some digging on the Corgi pullbacks now... if you think you might fancy that red Canon example, happy to dander over!