Shite in Miniature II

[bunglebus]

I'll have a Funny Foot please

[Tenmil Socket]

10 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

The Morrison-bodied Bedford CF ice cream van is mega.

It looks just like those ubiquitous vans that roamed the streets and church fêtes of my youth, though minus the Disney and Warner Bros IP-baiting cartoons crudely mimicked on the side.

The body shape and detailing are bang-on. The number plate font looks very accurate too.

Even the interior's been well detailed, with the Mr Whippy machine, lolly freezers and cone stackers all picked out.

The track looks maybe a little wide, is my only complaint. But, if it bothers me that much, it's not a difficult thing to remedy...

Overall - it's a model I've admired for a while, but couldn't really justify splashing £17.95 on.

Until now!

@eddyramrod

[MiniMinorMk3]

2 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

The Jensen was the most spendy, as you might imagine.

List price of £24.95, but it is lovely.

Modelling an early Vignale-bodied Interceptor, the striking features such as the glass hatch, alloy wheels and polished sill caps are very nicely rendered.

 

It's not a Vignale car. They built the early cars that had the indicators/side lights above the bumper.

When the MkII arrived in 1971 Jensen were building the bodies.

Mk1

MkII

Oxford have done the MkI

Lots of diecast Jensen action here

 

[AndyW201]

1 hour ago, bunglebus said:

It is. Just wish I wasn't so awful at learning other languages! Despite silly stereotypes, I've generally found most people friendly and helpful, and English is spoken by the majority of people much to my embarrassment.

Most definitely seconded by me. Mrs_201 is half-German and we've been over there a good few times to see family and friends. The most lovely and hospitable people I've ever met.

Great roads to drive on too...

[flat4alfa]

What struck me about driving in Germany is around small towns and villages they trundle about carefully, dawdling almost, polite to other drivers and pedestrians.  Nice.

But out on the Autobahnen they are selfish, bullish, arrogant and frankly dangerous!  There you are doing 120kph and yet another BMW/Audi/MB is as close as a metre behind you, permanently flashing indicator to overtake, bullying you out of their way.

* other sweeping generalisions are available on request

[Datsuncog]

Lastly, a 1/76 addition to the miniature fleet - a very familiar Invacar Model 70...

Which seemed worth picking up, both for the obvious AS connection and also because it was the answer to the anagram which netted me the voucher.

So it seemed rude not to.

Currently all my models are packed away in the attic while renovations are in full sway, but hopefully before long I'll be able to get a small display together, featuring these latest arrivals.

I'm not much of a one for competitions, and I think my last 'big win' was a bag of soaps at a scout jumble sale tombola (great fun for a twelve year old) - so believe me, I'm as astonished as you are.

Whew!

[danthecapriman]

And here I were, thinking I was idly browsing the one corner of this fair site that was free from the blue 3 wheeled menace’s!!😆😫

Well done on your win though @Datsuncog you picked some really nice prizes there!

[155V6]

6 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Mrs just sent me a link to a job lot on FB sales including one I didn't recognise - anyone got an Iron Fairy crane? Came in both regular wheels and Superfast but only 69-71

I've got this one

It came in a job lot that I bought mainly for the carry case.There were quite a few commercials in there,I'll probably add most of them to my next sale.

[FakeConcern]

So there I was one evening last week browsing ebay (I hadn’t had too much beer honestly!), when I saw this...

Hmm Superkings, they’s the big ones right? I have a few of them to go with it..

Bollox!

So what fucking scale is Superkings meant to be then?

Even the smallest Corgis and Dinkys only just fit on it, the Sprite being the only one to go on the lower deck. Neither the Elan or Lotus XI fit as they’re too wide.

[flat4alfa]

4 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

Germany sounds lovely TBH.

First time I ever saw someone inject drugs was in Germany

It was a group of punks, out in the open, as we walked by as tourists.  I was about 12.

[egg]

Some more pics of the 42 from Nick Jones, I'm beginning to want one  😅

[flat4alfa]

31 minutes ago, FakeConcern said:

So there I was one evening last week browsing ebay (I hadn’t had too much beer honestly!), when I saw this...

Hmm Superkings, they’s the big ones right? I have a few of them to go with it..

Bollox!

So what fucking scale is Superkings meant to be then?

Even the smallest Corgis and Dinkys only just fit on it, the Sprite being the only one to go on the lower deck. Neither the Elan or Lotus XI fit as they’re too wide.

Husky and Corgi did the same, with Majors and Super Juniors

The King Size range was introduced in 1960 (initially trucks and construction equipment) in a scale to accompany the mainline 1-75 vehicles.

Larger scale cars (approx 1:48 scale) appeared in 1967, starting with the Mercedes Binz Ambulance

For 1971 the King Size range was separated into two new series: Super Kings (trucks, tractors, kept at previous scale) and Speed Kings (cars, bikes, continuing at 1:48)

In 2023 a DAF Transporter was heard being thrown through a window with lots of swearing at Bexhill on Sea

[Remspoor]

1 hour ago, danthecapriman said:

And here I were, thinking I was idly browsing the one corner of this fair site that was free from the blue 3 wheeled menace’s!!😆😫

Well done on your win though @Datsuncog you picked some really nice prizes there!

Did you not know? Tim Berners-Lee said on creating the web: "I never expected all these cats  Invacars"

[flat4alfa]

[bunglebus]

29 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

First time I ever saw someone inject drugs was in Germany

It was a group of punks, out in the open, as we walked by as tourists.  I was about 12.

Berlin? Bits of that aren't so nice. Lots of old cars though!

[bunglebus]

23 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

For 1971 the King Size range was separated into two new series: Super Kings (trucks, tractors, kept at previous scale) and Speed Kings (cars, bikes, continuing at 1:48)

And then it gets confusing where previously Speed Kings vehicles become Super Kings

 

[flat4alfa]

15 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

Berlin? Bits of that aren't so nice. Lots of old cars though!

Not Berlin no.  Back then, Berlin was way off in DDR and split in two..  Would have had strong army presence because there was a wall up and Stasi cars coming to take you away

I was likely somewhere on the Rhine as it was a camping holiday. East coast France > into Switzerland > up through Germany > Belgium > home shattered after doing the lot in a knackered MK1 Astra 1300.

[flat4alfa]

On 9/17/2023 at 12:06 PM, bunglebus said:

I quite often find the other Matchbox Chopper but this is the first time I've found this one

Chop Suey was one year only, 1973, which might explain the scarcity

Stingeroo was produced 1972-75

I especially like the box artwork, ridden at terrifying speed by The Invisible Man.  I didn't know Mr Griffin was a biker, HG Wells never mentioned that in the book.  It seems he was also quite handy on his other bikes, including Jumbo Jet, 1973-76

There were other ideas for the Choppers range...

...but never made production

...which is a bit of a shame

Mr Griffin was so fast, one time he crashed through a paint factory and was no longer invisible!  He escaped on his Super Kings trike, Easy Rider, 1973-1980

Not sure if he is still around, but I doubt he still has that head of hair.

[bunglebus]

Think I sold mine. The Tango man was missing anyway

 

[quicksilver]

5 hours ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

It's not a Vignale car. They built the early cars that had the indicators/side lights above the bumper.

When the MkII arrived in 1971 Jensen were building the bodies.

Mk1

MkII

Oxford have done the MkI

Lots of diecast Jensen action here

 

Oh dear, I fear this is an Oxford cock-up The real BEA 693C was a Vignale MkI car, the very first one in fact and a rebodied CV8. Looks like Oxford have modelled it wrongly as a MkII for some reason.

Full story here: https://www.jensenmuseum.org/vignales-first-interceptor-bea-693c/ (note where the indicators are in all the photos).

[FakeConcern]

As we have a bit of off topic about being in Germany, I'll add my two penn'orth worth. In (I think) 1983, Mrs Concern won a bursury to look into furniture production in Germany and we visited several factories, Interlubke & Behr amoung them. These two places both made us swear to secrecy when they showed us that they were making wood effect dashboards and door cappings for Mercedes! Anyway we stayed in a campsite and had the smallest car and tent in the place. When we arrived we were the only visiters, then huge cars with huge trailers bigger than my Mini arrived that converted into tents bigger than our house! As others have said the natives were friendly and helpfull if a bit keen to show off their English (which suited us) Everywhere was clean, well signposted and basically easy to get around. The worst things were the sausages to eat everywhere and old blokes trying to talk to us about their experience in England as a Prisoner of War! The Autobahns were an experience in a Mini, even a 1275GT as flat out was about 100mph indicated and plenty of BMW/Merc saloons would come up at what seemed like twice that speed. I can't say they bullied though, just patiently sat with the indicator on.

Mini, me & tent

Mini, Mrs Concern & tent

 

Much later (2012?) we drove to Switzerland in my Volvo V70 T5 which was a quick as the Germans and it was fine.

[RayMK]

I lived in Germany from 1966-69 (RAF Bruggen, RAF Wegberg then a private rental nearby whilst I did my A levels - Dad had a few months extension of duty to enable this).

I did not buy any diecasts during that period but did buy modelling materials for self build slot cars in a superb toys and models shop in Mönchengladbach and a Wilesco 'Old Smokey' live steam road roller in a similarly excellent shop in Roermond.  

We returned to the UK three times for a few days during our German stay.  Each time, England looked like an absolute tip compared with Germany and the Netherlands. Obviously not much has changed over the years.

[Cookiesouwest]

6 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

The Morrison-bodied Bedford CF ice cream van is mega.

It looks just like those ubiquitous vans that roamed the streets and church fêtes of my youth, though minus the Disney and Warner Bros IP-baiting cartoons crudely mimicked on the side.

The body shape and detailing are bang-on. The number plate font looks very accurate too.

Even the interior's been well detailed, with the Mr Whippy machine, lolly freezers and cone stackers all picked out.

The track looks maybe a little wide, is my only complaint. But, if it bothers me that much, it's not a difficult thing to remedy...

Overall - it's a model I've admired for a while, but couldn't really justify splashing £17.95 on.

Until now!

That is beautiful

[Datsuncog]

[ETCHY]

9 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

Chop Suey was one year only, 1973, which might explain the scarcity

Stingeroo was produced 1972-75

I especially like the box artwork, ridden at terrifying speed by The Invisible Man.  I didn't know Mr Griffin was a biker, HG Wells never mentioned that in the book.  Mr Griffin was also quite handy on his other bikes, including Jumbo Jet, 1973-76

There were other ideas for the Choppers range...

...but never made production

...which is a bit of a shame

Mr Griffin was so fast, one time he flew through a paint factory and was no longer invisible!  He escaped on his Super Kings trike, Easy Rider, 1973-1980

Not sure if he is still around, but I doubt he still has that head of hair.

They're brill i remember those..

Oh fuck i can feel  a search on ebay coming on..

[flat4alfa]

[Datsuncog]

Well then... a rather dark, damp and dreich morning, it has to be said...

An earlier than usual start accounts for some of the crepuscular nature of the drive in, but it's not quite as nice as a few weeks ago.

My Nemesis was playing the stall helper role today, setting out the same Vanguards from last week.

All the Granadas had now left the building, but - any interest from @eddyramrod in this pair from GM's transatlantic exuberance phase?

Still priced at £7 each or three for £20, so I thought it prudent to consider the Mini Cooper that @flat4alfa was after last week. To keep things neat, like.

And it was just as well I thought it even more prudent to look inside, as...

Errrr...

Yeah, that's no Vanguards. 

I recognise this from previous discussions on here - it is a Zylmex?

Oh well. Glad I looked inside before committing, anyway!

And that looked to be about it, sadly - other than a big Marx tinplate train:

Until suddenly I became aware that Nemesis was hoking at another box...

Tat ahoy!

[Split_Pin]

1 hour ago, Datsuncog said:

Won't be long before it's just that sliver on the horizon again

[flat4alfa]

17 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

Still priced at £7 each or three for £20, so I thought it prudent to consider the Mini Cooper that @flat4alfa was after last week. To keep things neat, like.

And thought it even more prudent to look inside, as...

Errrr...

Yeah, that's no Vanguards. 

I recognise this from previous discussions on here - it is a Zylmex?

Oh well. Glad I looked before committing, anyway!!

Phew! That was close!  🫡

[AndyW201]

Would be interested in the Vanguards Morry Oxford if it'll make up a 3 for £20 combo, if Eddy's after the Crestas?