Shite in Miniature II

[AndyW201]

Got my DanBox delivered this week with, erm, one or two cars in. Finally got around to sorting them out and photographing them. I have to admit to getting a bit Sharpie-happy on some of the cosmetically challenged ones, but at these prices, it doesn't matter risking ruining them! Cheers go to @danthecapriman for organising the sale and letting interesting stuff go so cheap. 

This haul is basically all about the nostalgia. Stuff I had as a kid and some I missed out on at the time. Some topping up on the Mercedes content too.

First up, the W116 S-Class by Majorette, a nice rendering. Really nice condition too, only needing a dab of silver Sharpie on the side mouldings and the tops of the door frames.

Quite cool how they used the tinted glazing to give the headlights a Euro-style yellow tint, and the orange interior moulding to form the rear lights,

Also in the sale was a cute little Majorette motorbike trailer, which I thought might pair up nicely with the SEL,

One bike has gone astray sadly, but hey, one still remaining after 40 or so years is still amazing.

I don't imagine that these were sold together as a set originally, but I think they go well together.

Somehow, I managed to get three different R129 Mercedes SLs, soooo...

Who did it better/worse?

Bizarre colour choice on the Corgi SL, a casting I've never come across although I assume this is one of the Corgis that ended up as a Hot Wheels. I thought it might have been a faded red, but nope, it is pink. Mind you, it is a period shade I suppose, reminds me a bit of Porsche Karmin Rot, and early W202 C Class Esprits  were available in a pinky red like this too.

Interior for the age and scale isn't bad at all. The steering wheel is correct, the shape of the seats and centre console are all like the real thing, even the suggestion of the seat belt butlers are there. It's a shame this one appears to have been dropped, breaking off the corner of the screen (it even had sunvisors modelled in) and chipping off some paint on the bumper, as it seems to have been pretty tidy otherwise.

Next, the Matchbox version. Another Mercedes I had no idea Matchbox did, (along with the W140 S-Class), and from that period I rate as Peak-Matchbox. Somewhat smaller than the Corgi, but better proportion wise I think.

Again, nicely done inside for a late-80s toy.

Bit of an oddball is the Maisto/MC Toys version, which seems to have been cast with a hardtop fitted (obviously there was no FHC version of the SL or folding metal roof on this generation).

Not a bad version though, the colour is similar to the period Almandine red and as the early R129s had 16" wheels with fairly baloony tyres, the big Superfast type wheels on this one look pretty good.

A mystery is this Chinesium no-name R107 SL

Mind you, they've captured the shape and detailing of it pretty well, the opening doors fit well too, so bonnet "graphics" aside, not as cheap and nasty as it could have been.

[flat4alfa]

Would you, at £30 ?

Ran out of money! Walked away

[Tenmil Socket]

22 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

Here ya go. I can't work out if it's been got at or original but it's up for grabs for what it cost me

Could you put it to one side for me please?

[danthecapriman]

10 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

Would you, at £30 ?

Rang out of money! Walked away

Hmm, yes probably! Not because it’s a good price but because it’s probably my favourite colour of that Carrimore version and I don’t have it yet! 
I sold a white one on my thread for a tenner recently which I think was in better condition. I thought £10 was about a fair price on it?

[danthecapriman]

23 minutes ago, AndyW201 said:

Got my Danbox delivered this week with, erm, one or two cars in. Finally got around to sorting them out and photographing them. I have to admit to getting a bit Sharpie-happy on some of the cosmetically challenged ones, but at these prices, it doesn't matter risking ruining them! Cheers go to @danthecapriman for organising the sale and letting interesting stuff go so cheap. 

This haul is basically all about the nostalgia. Stuff I had as a kid and some I missed out on at the time. Some topping up on the Mercedes content too.

First up, the W116 S-Class by Majorette, a nice rendering. Really nice condition too, only needing a dab of silver Sharpie on the side mouldings and the tops of the door frames.

Quite cool how they used the tinted glazing to give the headlights a Euro-style yellow tint, and the orange interior moulding to form the rear lights,

Also in the sale was a cute little Majorette motorbike trailer, which I thought might pair up nicely with the SEL,

One bike has gone astray sadly, but hey, one still remaining after 40 or so years is still amazing.

I don't imagine that these were sold together as a set originally, but I think they go well together.

Somehow, I managed to get three different W129 SLs, soooo...

Who did it better/worse?

Bizarre colour choice on the Corgi SL, a version I've never come across although I assume this is one of the Corgis that ended up as a Hot Wheels. I thought it might have been a faded red, but nope, it is pink. Mind you, it is a period shade I suppose, reminds me a bit of Porsche Karmin Rot, and early W202 C Class Esprits  were available in a pinky red like this too.

Interior for the age and scale isn't bad at all. The steering wheel is correct, the shape of the seats and centre console are all like the real thing, even the suggestion of the seat belt butlers are there. It's a shame this one appears to have been dropped, breaking off the corner of the screen (it even had sunvisors modelled in) and chipping off some paint on the bumper, as it seems to have been pretty tidy otherwise.

Next, the Matchbox version. Another Mercedes I had no idea Matchbox did, (along with the W140 S-Class), and from that period I rate as Peak-Matchbox. Somewhat smaller than the Corgi, but better proportion wise I think.

Again, nicely done inside for a late-80s toy.

Bit of an oddball is the Maisto/MC Toys version, which seems to have been cast with a hardtop fitted (obviously there was no FHC version o the SL or folding metal roof on this generation).

Not a bad version though, the colour is similar to the period Almandine red and as the early W129s had 16" wheels with fairly baloony tyres, the big Superfast type wheels on this one look pretty good.

A mystery is this Chinesium no-name W107 SL

Mind you, they've captured the shape and detailing of it pretty well, the opening doors fit well too, so bonnet "graphics" aside, not as cheap and nasty as it could have been.

 

I think my favourite out of them is the Matchbox one. I never knew they made one either until I turned that one up. Maisto/MC one is also nice though.

That Chinese yellow Merc is actually pretty good. Great condition too. It looks a touch under-wheeled to me though?

Glad you like them though👍

[andrew e]

32 minutes ago, Tenmil Socket said:

Could you put it to one side for me please?

I’m so glad you said that 😂

[AndyW201]

DanBox, part Deux.

Datsun 260Z was looking down at heel, with paint missing everywhere, so bodywork got a quick and dirty touch-in for the worst of the paint loss, with bumpers blacked, valances painted body colour, and wheels touched-in,

Porker Turbo was also pretty sad, with heavy paint loss. Now tidied up, keeping what was left of the original graphics, as I had this version as a kid, and wheels touched up again.

Tidy Renault 17 has had some previous attention from an enthusiastic previous owner, with some black detailing on the B post and grilles, though it doesn't look too bad really.

Shame, as otherwise it's survived pretty well, even the bonnet stripe is pretty minty.

The black front and rear bumpers were pretty well chipped so they've been tidied up, along with some silver on the headlights and wheels. The PO had also splodged some black on the boot badges, so I've gone over them in silver as good as my 49 year old eyes would allow!

Last of the smol Matchboxes was this Volvo 480.

A great casting, definitely another from that golden era of Matchbox. This one is in lovely condition. Great detailing at the rear,

Final Matchbox is a big one,

Never had a Speed King before. When I was a little 'un, our local big toy shop favoured Corgi for larger scale toys, though I went on to have plenty of later Super Kings when they got stocked.

Had to have this one, as it's a Merc obvs, and as it's an SLC. Largely seen as the ugly duckling of the SL family, but I like them. This one again has survived pretty well, the paintwork has thankfully few chips and is still nice and shiny. Bumpers, wheels and grille had faded so they got re silvered.

The nearside rear bumper side section had broken off, so I found a bit of plastic sprue that filled the gap. With a coat of silver, it's not exactly a 100% invisible repair but better than it was.

Under the bonnet is a decent early '70s rendition of the V8 engine.

Eep! Same age as me. (Somewhat better preserved though...)

 

 

[bunglebus]

1 hour ago, AndyW201 said:

Chinesium no-name W107 SL

Kinda looks like a Yatming but don't hold me to that 

[bunglebus]

This (well these as there are two) was just a bit of a curiosity - Matchbox branded pressed steel and plastic dumper trucks?

Guy had a table full of Tonkas for £20 but most I either had (buggy) or aren't worth much (cement mixer generic trucks). There was a bigger one with trailer but I didn't have £20 by that point anyway, so just bought this as it was the better of two

I've seen a Zee Toys chrome plastic F1 car identical to this every week at the boot sale as it's £7.

50p is more my style

Can't resist a Lucky Gruesome Twosome copy

This was already spoken for at £2. Shame one load cover is missing but it looks great from the other side...

Hopefully I'll find a donor to replace the missing bit of this

Corgi Rancho with lots of opening bits, and folding rear seat

Seller had two Polistil 911s, so I chose the one that hadn't been on fire (!)

Funny how it goes. I'd never seen the buggy slot car set until a few weeks ago, today I find a spare car

Donor to repair my Flying Beetle 

And to replace the roof on my minty one. Seems a shame but original parts fit better - happy to swap this for a worse one if the roof is intact and restorable 

[bunglebus]

Vita-Min is another one I find it hard to leave behind

Budgie Austin Westminster 

Don't know the name of this Hot Wheels but I just liked the 70s T-Bucket proportions 

Couple of earlier ones in the shape of Hot Bird and 55 Chevy

These next were also purchased in case one of you wanted them - squid each Tomicas

Fork truck doesn't do tip but does up/down and the forks adjust for width 

[MiniMinorMk3]

4 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Here ya go. I can't work out if it's been got at or original but it's up for grabs for what it cost me

 

That's had a make over. The came with grey bumpers, clear front indicators and all red rear lenses.

4 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

Would you, at £30 ?

Rang out of money! Walked away

In a word, no.

[MiniMinorMk3]

1 hour ago, bunglebus said:

Vita-Min is another one I find it hard to leave behind

 

[AndyW201]

So, DanBox, Part three.

Majorette Beetle was another one I had as a kid, in the exact same colour. Even back then I really liked the open sunroof detail and the cast in badges, which, unlike cars from some manufacturers of the period, don't seem too overly big for the model. Slightly obvious casting lines apart, it captures the Beetle pretty well I think.

Next, a Realtoy. I'm actually a big fan of Realtoys, they were some of the best pocket-money toy cars in this scale IMO. I've still got a few mint and carded ones in the loft that I got from Tesco a few years ago, like the W203 Merc C Class (which is cool as I now have the 1:1 scale version),  W211 E Class, Audi A4, Impreza, MK3 Focus ST and  Sprinter Minibus. For the price they are fantastically well made and detailed. But I never managed to get a Mk1 Focus.

This is a pretty nice model of the RS version. Tampo printing of the badges and lights are great, even the correct Focus font on the number plates.

This one had a slight issue in that the seperately moulded race style seats had become detached and were rattling around. Luckily the base is held in at the rear with a tab, so managed to push that in and pull the base down enough to slide the interior unit out and re glue the seats in. All without having to remove the rivet at the front. Again, great interior detail with a grey interior, separately moulded red rally-style seats and a realistic separately moulded black dashboard, 

The rest of the box is a bit of a Corgi-fest,

Tidy TR7 is in a colour scheme I've not seen before. Nicely patinated so I just silvered the wheels.

I had this Tranny wrecker in the Corgi livery but never had it with this great BP design. Again, in pretty good nick, apart from the paint loss on the bonnet. PO had done the inside of the rear bed and around the tail lights in what looked like blue permanent marker. I think it looks better re done in silver,

Crane is still present and still springs up and down though sadly the hook has gone AWOL. I'm sure 201_jnr has some cheapo wreckers in his toy car stash that I might be able to pinch one from.

I did have this smol scale version of the Metro as a kid, albeit in a brighter non-metallic blue with red interior. A few paint chips here and there with this one, but it's still pretty nice.

I find Corgi Metros look too deep at the sides, as the sills aren't concave like on the real ones, so I find they look a bit better with the sills done in black. These small ones also came with the middle of the bumpers in black, but with the end caps in body colour, so I did those black. I also blacked the grille, silvered the headlights and added some silver to the side mouldings, to try to replicated the brightwork on the HLE and HLS versions.

I loved the Corgi Nova/Corsa when it first came out. I still have the original release red &black SR which has survived very well. I've always fancied getting the BP liveried version too (along with the white German release with Opel racing graphics but that one continues to elude me.)

Another one in very nice condition, although the paint was chipped on the black lower sections, so these have been touched in. Which puzzles me as this version of the Nova has a metal lower section, bumpers and base moulding, whereas the black section on the earlier red & black SR version is plastic.

And some bigger-scale Corgi action,

I had quite a few 1/36 Corgis back in the day, but never had the big Metro. When I saw the red one, I had to grab it. I'd always wanted a slightly playworn example so I could recreate this,

(Excuse the rubbish pic of a rubbish photo from 1991). My first car, a 1982 1.0 base which had been upgraded with MG interior, back to front MG stripes, usual 1980s-issue pop up sunroof and TD wheels & tyres.

But I can't really cock around with this one, it really is mint, barely a chip or mark, no paint loss on the wheels and the interior is as clean as a whistle.

However, I had nabbed another big Metro, in blue, and that one was a bit more playworn,

So I had a bit of fun with this one!

The bigger scale Metro is a bit more successful with its shape and proportions, compared with the Junior-size one. Blacking the sills really seems to work on this scale. Bumpers and grille were also blacked. Again, some silver Sharpie brought out the bright side moulding and touched the wheels up.

A lot of the paint had been lost around the rear screen, so I did a quick & dirty recreation of the horseshoe rear spoiler, which I'm 99% sure the later TD wheeled HLEs got, as well as the MGs

Thanks once again to Dan for the sales, which were fun to take part in, and for topping up my "older" toy collection.

(See, I'm not all about the highly detailed 1/43rds...)

[bunglebus]

Last lot from today, Matchbox with oldest first

Grabbed two of these Major Pack cabs for 50p each

Another one I bought two of - and saw a third which I resisted. They do at least have a silver/body colour grille variation 

Some commercial stuff

There were also three Greyhound coaches up for grabs - I did get told I was a bit sad for buying this just because it has a pink base...

Gold colour Mercedes Truck isn't one I've come across before

Impala taxi has the usual fantastic Lesney detail 

Jeep Gladiator is going in the resto pile

I found four pink Jeep Hot Rods minus windscreens and sometimes engines in my spares box yesterday so I decided a complete one deserved saving

Later military issue is often missing the gun, not today though

Another I really want to paint and detail, along with the saloon version

Can't resist a clean Minnehaha

Bora is also very tidy

Vantastic is fantastic 

This one's the star of the show for me, beautiful AMX Javelin 

Wish I could get my hands on the little tinker who attacked this with a permanent marker

[FakeConcern]

Worth trying a cloth dipped in cellulose thinners?

[flat4alfa]

7 hours ago, 155V6 said:

A few car boot finds today

The yello trailer is the one I’m trying to find!

To paint gold for the JPS set

[FakeConcern]

We were intending to go to a boot fair this morning and then on to a toy and model fair. The boot fair is the first (proper) one this year due to wet ground conditions so should be good. However once we got onto the Polegate bypass (dual carriageway so no turning around) we met the standing traffic queuing for the boot fair just past the roundabout. An hour later (!) we get to the roundabout and miss out the boot fair and head for the toy fair. The first thing we are told is five of the usual stall holders are not here due to illness!

However a good time was had and we got a good haul.

Mrs Concern again beat me with the amount of tatt...

A few Corgi Commer back sections if anyone would like for 50p each...

More stuff for the summer house

Some for me as well here, a few wheels and such and a Corgi E Type, never wanted one before, but I like it now I have it

Wicker Mini Cooper (for me) and a Toyota for Mrs Concern as she wants the people in it, £4 for both was ok

This bundle was a mix for both of us £20 not bad...

A bit of a wash made a big difference

These came up well, just need to put up more shelves in the summer house

My stuff, haven't looked at it all properly as I washed it while cooking dinner and only just sat down...

I was trying to get what I thought was rust off the Polistil 1/25 Mini, turns out it's actually mud from the rally it's competing in (but of course you all knew that haha).

Yellow Whizzwheels Mini came clean and transporter trailer is more or less perfect, Bedford cab not so good,, but does have mirrors still. The Rover 2000TC I had intended to discard the spare wheel box, fill the boot lid and paint the whole thing, but it's much too good for that so hello Mr Flowers again! Silver Jag is nice, but wondered if the paint can be touched in with the Molotow pen, anyone tried this?

Lastly I got this Whizzwheels 2000GT in a junk shop in Worthing for £1, not sure what to do with it. Needs a screen and obv paint is poor, but it all cleaned up well so I may put old wire wheels on it and re paint probably in white.

 

Let me know if you'd like any of the commer back bits.

[flat4alfa]

Yes Commer back bits please 

All but two of my Commers are naked!

[flat4alfa]

Quote

Silver Jag is nice, but wondered if the paint can be touched in with the Molotow pen, anyone tried this?

I wouldn’t waste the paint, the pens aren’t exactly cheap (or full)

Have one like that but not with surviving stickers so I would leave it.  Or repaint it fully in a more becoming for E-Type colour?  I’ve always felt the ‘chrome’ paint there was ‘Bank Manager desk ashtray ornament’.

To get it like near-new, that the only way I think would be (on a budget) to paint in chrome-effect rattle can paint and then lacquer it plenty

 

[flat4alfa]

Quote

I can see perfect* opportunity to have some custom fun with that.  Cut away the rest of the hood, adapt and fit a pair of Matchbox Mini-HaHa RADIALS one behind the other 

Squint a bit and picture it

(I think the sun got to me today…)

[FakeConcern]

20 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

Yes Commer back bits please 

All but two of my Commers are naked

OK I'll PM you regarding Commer backs & hope postage isn't too dear.

6 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

I wouldn’t waste the paint, the pens aren’t exactly cheap (or full)

Have one like that but not with surviving stickers so I would leave it.  Or repaint it fully in a more becoming for E-Type colour?  I’ve always felt the ‘chrome’ paint there was ‘Bank Manager desk ashtray ornament’.

To get it like near-new, that the only way I think would be (on a budget) to paint in chrome-effect rattle can paint and then lacquer it plenty

 

You're probably right about touching it in and I agree about the ashtray ornament haha! As a kid I hated them, but now  I kind of quite like it  even with patina and it's survived all this time so I'll keep as is. It is strange though as the underside is almost perfect silver.

[flat4alfa]

Quote

It is strange though as the underside is almost perfect silver.

Put on shelf upside down and tell visitors it was the Australian Export version

[bunglebus]

A few of you have asked me about making videos of my little custom creations - I still can't see an easy way for me to do it, so I thought I'd try and at least photograph the process as much as possible

Here's what I started with, a tired but complete Matchbox #22 Pontiac G.P. Sports Coupe

Posts are drilled out, I like to use a 1.5mm first then around a 4mm to just remove the mushroom head on the post. Doors are retained by the interior on this one, no spring etc to deal with

I check how deep I can drill the post with my 1.5mm, it's possible to drill right through the casting on short posts, especially on pickups under the bed and into the boot on that Lincoln Continental I did recently!

Once the posts are drilled to a suitable depth, a 2mm tap is used to thread them for screws, a bit of 2-in-1 for lubricant

I've got a variety of screws with different heads but mostly use these flat ones

Into the stripper!

Interior and glass get a going over with the mrs' toothbrush. Glazing is given a polish with a brass polish I've found to work well. It wasn't especially scratched or it'd have to be wet sanded first

Towbar and suspension parts of the interior were bent so needed attention

A bit of heat from a hairdryer and these were put back into shape - hard to see here but I bent the front suspension tab up so the car should have a nose down attitude - it's not going to be a restoration!

Then comes the tedious but ultimately rewarding task of sanding the body to remove casting lines, scratches and general doo-dahs. I love the Dremel sanding disc attachment, but you have to be very careful as it removes material in an instant

All openings such as windows and around doors, wheelarches and all around the bottom of the casting gets filed as there are often bits of flash and rough edges

It doesn't actually need to be this shiny - in fact it's not good for paint adhesion, but I was running a Dremel wire wheel in the grille openings etc to get any last bits of paint, corrosion etc off and couldn't resist doing all of it

I went over it with a plastic scourer before painting to dull the shine. I wash and then dry everything with the faithful hairdryer prior to painting, rather than using a degreaser, so this helps make sure any moisture is gone, and the paint goes on better too

Primer! I love the painting stage. Once it had dried for 24 hours I gave it a very light wet sand with 800 grit to remove any spatter etc

Base went in the stripper then had a going over with a brass brush, so it was a bit scratched

Once again the wire wheel on the Dremel comes into play, I went over it a few times, then a few more passes with T-Cut (well Halfords equivalent) added. I wasn't going for mirror finish, just shiny. I don't take the wheels off as I haven't had much success peening the axles over when refitting - axle ends and the very centre of the wheels got Molotow Chrome and the tyres were painted with black acrylic

Sometimes I have an idea on what colour I'm going to use before I start, but I didn't with this one. I found a can I bought in The Range recently and thought it might suit it - it was only afterwards when Googling images to see where Matchbox added silver paint originally, I found a picture;

Which goes rather well with my colour choice!

Then it's onto detailing, this bit is very rewarding but also quite nerve wracking in case I cock it up. Looking at the real 1964 Grand Prix, grille and under bumper are black, This was done with acrylic and a small brush

4mm and 1mm Molotow chrome pen used to add the shiny bits

Similar story at the back although I'll add a dark wash to the strip between the fins

California spec blue plate, white lights in the grille painted in - I used a toothpick for the lights. Did the headlights in normal silver rather than chrome

Again looking at the real thing, the tail lights are hidden in that centre strip which is black with chrome strips - went slightly heavy with the dark wash here. What look like tail lights seem to be white on the real car

Door  handles Molotowed

The whole thing was then given  a nice coat of lacquer (these are all rattle cans), another rewarding but scary stage as I've had things react here and ruin all my work.

BOOM

Shame it was too late to get some pictures in the sunshine. I elected to not detail the interior as if anyone so desired, they could restore this back to its original spec very easily

[barrett]

9 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Here ya go. I can't work out if it's been got at or original but it's up for grabs for what it cost me

It's definitely been got at, and as such I would very much like to commission a @bunglebus restoration on this car in the colour scheme of my BX, please and thank you. Will pay moderately handsomely.

 

 

[flat4alfa]

I have been very impressed by the expertise of BungleInfluencer (TM)

Apart from that the WORKBENCH RADIO is something else

[sierraman]

8 hours ago, bunglebus said:

A few of you have asked me about making videos of my little custom creations - I still can't see an easy way for me to do it, so I thought I'd try and at least photograph the process as much as possible

Here's what I started with, a tired but complete Matchbox #22 Pontiac G.P. Sports Coupe

Posts are drilled out, I like to use a 1.5mm first then around a 4mm to just remove the mushroom head on the post. Doors are retained by the interior on this one, no spring etc to deal with

I check how deep I can drill the post with my 1.5mm, it's possible to drill right through the casting on short posts, especially on pickups under the bed and into the boot on that Lincoln Continental I did recently!

Once the posts are drilled to a suitable depth, a 2mm tap is used to thread them for screws, a bit of 2-in-1 for lubricant

I've got a variety of screws with different heads but mostly use these flat ones

Into the stripper!

Interior and glass get a going over with the mrs' toothbrush. Glazing is given a polish with a brass polish I've found to work well. It wasn't especially scratched or it'd have to be wet sanded first

Towbar and suspension parts of the interior were bent so needed attention

A bit of heat from a hairdryer and these were put back into shape - hard to see here but I bent the front suspension tab up so the car should have a nose down attitude - it's not going to be a restoration!

Then comes the tedious but ultimately rewarding task of sanding the body to remove casting lines, scratches and general doo-dahs. I love the Dremel sanding disc attachment, but you have to be very careful as it removes material in an instant

All openings such as windows and around doors, wheelarches and all around the bottom of the casting gets filed as there are often bits of flash and rough edges

It doesn't actually need to be this shiny - in fact it's not good for paint adhesion, but I was running a Dremel wire wheel in the grille openings etc to get any last bits of paint, corrosion etc off and couldn't resist doing all of it

I went over it with a plastic scourer before painting to dull the shine. I wash and then dry everything with the faithful hairdryer prior to painting, rather than using a degreaser, so this helps make sure any moisture is gone, and the paint goes on better too

Primer! I love the painting stage. Once it had dried for 24 hours I gave it a very light wet sand with 800 grit to remove any spatter etc

Base went in the stripper then had a going over with a brass brush, so it was a bit scratched

Once again the wire wheel on the Dremel comes into play, I went over it a few times, then a few more passes with T-Cut (well Halfords equivalent) added. I wasn't going for mirror finish, just shiny. I don't take the wheels off as I haven't had much success peening the axles over when refitting - axle ends and the very centre of the wheels got Molotow Chrome and the tyres were painted with black acrylic

Sometimes I have an idea on what colour I'm going to use before I start, but I didn't with this one. I found a can I bought in The Range recently and thought it might suit it - it was only afterwards when Googling images to see where Matchbox added silver paint originally, I found a picture;

Which goes rather well with my colour choice!

Then it's onto detailing, this bit is very rewarding but also quite nerve wracking in case I cock it up. Looking at the real 1964 Grand Prix, grille and under bumper are black, This was done with acrylic and a small brush

4mm and 1mm Molotow chrome pen used to add the shiny bits

Similar story at the back although I'll add a dark wash to the strip between the fins

California spec blue plate, white lights in the grille painted in - I used a toothpick for the lights. Did the headlights in normal silver rather than chrome

Again looking at the real thing, the tail lights are hidden in that centre strip which is black with chrome strips - went slightly heavy with the dark wash here. What look like tail lights seem to be white on the real car

Door  handles Molotowed

The whole thing was then given  a nice coat of lacquer (these are all rattle cans), another rewarding but scary stage as I've had things react here and ruin all my work.

BOOM

Shame it was too late to get some pictures in the sunshine. I elected to not detail the interior as if anyone so desired, they could restore this back to its original spec very easily

I have real trouble with scuffed wheels, getting them to come up like new. Any tips? 

[bunglebus]

7 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

Apart from that the WORKBENCH RADIO is something else

Great isn't it? I've spent many happy moments tuning it in 

18 minutes ago, sierraman said:

I have real trouble with scuffed wheels, getting them to come up like new. Any tips? 

Wet sanding and a coat of black acrylic works a treat

[bunglebus]

9 hours ago, barrett said:

It's definitely been got at, and as such I would very much like to commission a @bunglebus restoration on this car in the colour scheme of my BX, please and thank you. Will pay moderately handsomely.

Thankfully tenmilsocket put his hand up for the BX as I don't fancy the job!

[MiniMinorMk3]

12 hours ago, bunglebus said:

 

There were also three Greyhound coaches up for grabs - I did get told I was a bit sad for buying this just because it has a pink base...

 

The pink base is quite rare. Mint and boxed they get estimated at £50-70. Also look out for a pale yellow base and sometimes the front axel holder is red.

10 hours ago, bunglebus said:

 

BOOM

Shame it was too late to get some pictures in the sunshine. I elected to not detail the interior as if anyone so desired, they could restore this back to its original spec very easily

Nice work, and a good guide for helping people to get motivated. Evertime I see one of your restos it makes me want to dig out my tools and paints and get on with some of the "projects" I have collected over the last 20 years.

By the way, the rear pieces are not white, there are silver with a black edge

And here's a nice dark blue on I found on the web

1964 Pontiac Grand Prix for Sale | ClassicCars.com | CC-998241

[sierraman]

I have a couple with the red axle clips, they do seem rarer but I don’t think they realise much more because the axle clip is so straightforward to swap.