Shite in Miniature II

[andy18s]

So this arrived this morning 

Quality is superb, and the paint looks great

Think it'll be staying in it's box for a while though

 

[Split_Pin]

Those are lovely. Paint job is great and the lights are spot on.

It's just a shame that for the money the cost they don't put any chassis detail on and have no opening features. The interior details in them are amazing but it's hard to see through the glass. I had a BMW M3 by GT Spirit but I sold it a few years ago for that reason.

[eddyramrod]

Agreed!  Some years ago I won an Otto Peugeot 306 rally car in a magazine and found exactly the same issues.  I gave it to my friend Costas who is something of a rally nut.  He was, of course, delighted.

[bunglebus]

I don't mind the Nascar theme on the Hot Wheels Hudson Hornet, but I felt it would also work as a mild custom. Not much done here other than the usual removal of casting marks, Matchbox wheels and silver paint with some rose gold faded up the sides.

Hadn't realised how similar the shape is to the 49-51 Mercury if you ignore the heavy grille

[antony denman]

been in the loft the mrs is playing holy hell about the state off it,anyway as am cleaning i found this van i havent got a scooby what it is looks russian to me just dont know,no makers name been in there for over 20 years its a friction and faded to hell must been in a window faded the plastic,lol,must off been a boot find cant rember,does anyone know what it is,its friction motor in it still works perfect probaly just bit off worthless tat lol it quite large looks 1.24 scale mybe,and spot on mga should i restore or just do a symathtic restore just put a windscreen in and steering wheel got them,cant make my mind up,have restored red one,in two minds ?just rememered goes topless turns in to a pick up lol 

[bunglebus]

I like the van, looks "period" rather than a later creation. 

If the MGA is original paint I'd replace the missing bits and leave it be

[flat4alfa]

1970-ish Škoda 1203  [Typ 704] 

I would like it, if you don't ?

[NorfolkNWeigh]

2 hours ago, antony denman said:

been in the loft the mrs is playing holy hell about the state off it,anyway as am cleaning i found this van i havent got a scooby what it is looks russian to me just dont know,no makers name been in there for over 20 years its a friction and faded to hell must been in a window faded the plastic,lol,must off been a boot find cant rember,does anyone know what it is,its friction motor in it still works perfect probaly just bit off worthless tat lol it quite large looks 1.24 scale mybe,and spot on mga should i restore or just do a symathtic restore just put a windscreen in and steering wheel got them,cant make my mind up,have restored red one,in two minds ?just rememered goes topless turns in to a pick up lol 

 

5 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

1970ish Škoda 1203 (Octavia Van) [Typ 704] 

I would like it, if you don't ?

Quite, here’s my mate Ben’s camper which he drove back from the Czech Republic a couple of years ago. He describes it as properly slow and he mainly drives really ancient Split screen VWs!

[flat4alfa]

'Kateřina' loves hers!

[antony denman]

i never seen one  knew it was easteren block,no frills motoring 

[bunglebus]

VWAction20122159 by RS, on Flickr

VWAction20122160 by RS, on Flickr

[antony denman]

its restored lol

[flat4alfa]

On 9/11/2020 at 7:44 PM, Amishtat said:

This needs to be the last purchase for a while, I'll have to implement flat4alfa's wallet lock down regime.

I still get the shivers and sweats but things are getting bareable now

Then I go and spoil the karma by checking through my photo library and finding things like this from last month. How much was spent getting this needless (but lovely) 1/43 Silver Shadow / Bentley T fleet together...?!

[flat4alfa]

Ten virtual points awarded for identifying  the brands

 

Apologies if you shake uncontrollably

[bunglebus]

Well there's a Corgi Corniche...

 

20191110_174456 by RS, on Flickr

 

And a Dinky Silver Shadow (not my pic)

 

[Noel Tidybeard]

well, well, well, it looks like Maurice has a new friend- Tina Corner

[sierraman]

Had another diecast dream last night, Matchbox had reissued the 70’s models again in the original colours and they’d got them in B&M for £1. I’m hoping all this is some sort of fucking premonition...

[eddyramrod]

Me too!  I've got a neighbour who works there, I  could be in on the ground floor with those!

[bunglebus]

Proof, if any were needed, that cheats never prosper. I thought I'd be clever and paint a spare Matchbox trailer yellow so I could complete this set

What I didn't realise is the plastic top is actually different for the Drag Pack, so the Cougar doesn't fit it

 

[flat4alfa]

Looks alright from here 

[flat4alfa]

16 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Well there's a Corgi Corniche...

20191110_174456 by RS, on Flickr

And a Dinky Silver Shadow (not my pic)

Sorry to announce that there is no Corgi Corniche in that lineup.  Not if being pedantic ?

But you do win 2 vPoints for the Dinky!

[bunglebus]

Yeah alright it's a Silver Shadow coop, same thing!

"H.J. Mulliner Park Ward Silver Shadow" if we're being pedantic

[bunglebus]

36 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

Looks alright from here 

It's all in the angle of the shot - front wheels don't fit into the locating bits on the trailer properly.

I do have the black trailer, just awaiting the white "Lightning" to go on it. I'll have to find the proper yellow trailer somewhere but I suspect they're not common

[flat4alfa]

3 hours ago, bunglebus said:

What I didn't realise is the plastic top is actually different for the Drag Pack, so the Cougar doesn't fit it

[bunglebus]

2 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

To be honest, it's also the wrong colour Mercury Commuter - it should be this one

 

20191026_134348 by RS, on Flickr

[AndyW201]

Trying to cut down on the diecast buying at the mo. It looks like we're going to need a second car again from next year so I'm saving for bits to get the long dead Octavia back to life.

But, now and again something catches my fancy!

Old-ish (80s-90s) Mercs have been a thing of mine for a while now, having owned a fair few 190Es and early C Classes over the last 15 years or so. After digging out my Mercs in miniature lately, I realised that I had more 190s than I first thought, but I've got no model W202 C Classes up to now. Model W202s are quite hard to find at decent money. There are loads of DTM and race versions, but they're not what I'm after. UT 1/18 scale C36s also crop up, and for the size and detail, aren't a bad price. But for a normal road going saloon in 1/43 scale, apart from an IXO partwork job that doesn't come up often, you have to go the Minichamps route. These date from the '90s-early '00s (apart from the recent Maxichamps re-issues) and, pretty much, people want comedy prices for them, around the £50 mark. I found this one on eBay unboxed but in decent nick for a fair bit less. A bit more than I'd normally want to pay for an unboxed model, but as I said, I wasn't exactly spoiled for choice!

As well as not costing a fortune, this is the version I've been chasing for a while. A- because it's about as base as these models come, being a C180 in pogweasel red with manual 'box. And B- because it's in Esprit spec, which is my fave 202-spec, being the spec my first one was.

(Excuse the shit photography),

This was the first C Class I bought back in 2006, those halcyon days when I could actually afford an 8 year old Merc... This was in the Esprit spec I had been looking for. Esprit was the 'cheap' sports option, being based on the povo spec Classic, with factory lowered suspension (springs only though, and with steelies & trims, as opposed to the Sport spec with its AMG spec suspension and alloys), smoked rear lenses and carbon fibre 'effect' replacing the wood trim inside.

S422 DVA did gain a set of 15" CLK-style alloys and had the decadent '99 MY equipment upgrade which saw air con, leccy rear windows and ESP standard across the range. I liked it, it was a nice car, but didn't really gel with it like I did with the 190s. And even at only 8 years old, a few of the edges were starting to go crispy...

So, I'm classing this as a 'nostalgic' purchase...

Being Minichamps, detailing is lovely, despite being 20 odd years old, the wing badges are spot on, even though they're almost impossible to see with the naked eye, even has the jacking point bungs in the sills.

Wheel trims are great, despite being Classic trims rather than Esprit (*pedant), and the bonnet star is a lovely photo etched metal job.

This, for me, is the money shot with this model. Early Sport models featured Recaro type sports seats with a wacky Burberry check style pattern. But with the Esprit spec, you could specify the centre panels on the seats and the door cards in either bright red or bright blue, which makes for a bit of an eyeful on a red or blue car.

Dash detail is good for the time. The stereo looks a lot like the Blaupunkt that was fitted to mine, the console has all the right switches present for the windows, mirrors and boot release.

Rear shelf has the rear speakers and first aid kit compartment modelled, and the (red) headrests in the (electric) drop down position.

I might have had a couple of beers tonight, but I'm starting to fancy a ropey Merc again...

[Split_Pin]

That's a lovely model. I completely agree, 90s Minichamps are fantastic. The interior detail they put in them in particular is astonishingly accurate. 

I love 90s Minichamps in particular as I got my first paypacket in 1994 from a week's work experience and most of it was spent on model cars that I could previously only have dreamt of affording. One in particular was a blue Mondeo Ghia saloon. I still have it now and enjoy admiring it from time to time.

In terms of the real car, I recall my friends father owned a haulage company and always bought a new Mercedes for himself and his wife every 6 months. My friends mum had a lovely mid-blue metallic c180 automatic and I think it was Avantgarde spec. His dad normally opted for an E class but he tried the C250 5 cylinder diesel one time. Nice cars these, very neat styling and I agree, the baser the better.

[bunglebus]

On closer inspection the Red Rider has had an engine swap. So it can donate its motor into my Big Banger instead

 

[Datsuncog]

Mystery Tat Parcel showed up unexpectedly at Casa Datsuncog this afternoon... But what was within?

Crikey!

A neatly detached Matchbox Superkings DAF tractor unit from the transporter set, and a Corgi Juniors Mack R type...

...that just happens to go perfectly with the scruffy Gloster Saro tanker that showed up in Friday's tat haul.

 

Well blow me down. All thanks to @andrew e
 for this surprise!

[bunglebus]

I had a few interesting bits and bobs arrive to take my mind off the lurgy that seems to have infected my household (appears to be just a cold, not expiring this week hopefully)

Just another ex-Corgi Postage Carrera, but exceptionally heavy and made in China - actually quite unusual for Hot Wheels other than McDonald's giveaway stuff.

This one is one of the less common Lone Star Flyers, Maserati Mistrale. The windscreen was either fitted incorrectly new or someone had it apart, I refitted it over the dash rather than behind it but it was already cracked

Next up, a trio of Matchbox 57 Chevies. I used to have a mint pink one but the ex wife kept it

Talking of Matchbox Chevies, until now I didn't know they did a '55. Not a very good '55 mind you

56 Buick doesn't seem to have been widely available as a single, I suspect this was out of a multi pack

I remember being obsessed with the MB Peugeot Quasar when I was at junior school. Bearing in mind mum had a Dolomite and dad a Cortina, this looked pretty futuristic 

Moving to Ertl for a moment, scored a very tidy KITT. They really made this on a budget with stickers rather than decals, even the scanner at the front is reflective tape

Back to MB, Turbo II flatnose Porsche

Another Laser Wheels 

Too lazy to dig my catalogues out - what was this series called? First one I've seen in the flesh anyway

Lastly, one of the excellent Cadillac ambulances. Blister is damaged so might get released out of captivity