Shite in Miniature II

[flat4alfa]

[flat4alfa]

This just arrived in my mailbox:

BATMOBILE PRE-ORDER 267 - Batmobile with Batman and Robin - Gloss Black Edition £39.99 (Shipping October 2024)

Which means ~3 months earlier than the subscriber (matt black) edition in January, which is stated as £30.

I expected it to be more than 40 quid?  What with the licencing etc

According to ToyMart, the originals box mint values are

Oh dear.  What to do?  I know! Ignore it.

[Datsuncog]

1 hour ago, flat4alfa said:

Uncanny likeness, that...

[AndyW201]

At long flipping last, an outlet near me has finally got some desirable and recent Hot Wheels in. More reasons to shop at Morrisons indeed...

This Audi was weirdly the only long card in a sea of short cards. I quite like the baby-poo  colour, reminds me very much of my Allegro's Antique gold hue.

I keep on saying that I'm going to cut down on Hot Wheels buying, especially on castings that I've already got quite a few of. I'm not doing very well on that score, especially with beauties like this Carrera casting. Gorgeous in red!

The stars of this haul for me though are the Jag and the Beemer,

Need a lie down now...

[Datsuncog]

Fear not, I didn't come away totally bereft of diecast this morning...

I cracked upon seeing that Eligor Peugeot 404 Break taxicab back on the stall.

I used to have a black police version but sold it on, to my current annoyance.

I'm a bit of a sucker for the opening tailgate, even if it is a little on le shonk.

Paintwork is a smidge, erm, approximate - but hey, it's of its time.

It did come with a double-sided fold-out catalogue/ poster inside the box, which to be fair is nearly worth the asking price in its own right.

Also, Market Blokey kinda looked like he could use a sale - the market was pretty dead today, no doubt spurred on by a mix of peak holiday times and the apparent threat of imminent ultraviolence.

I'd been talking to Colin on the Irish Tat stall a few weeks back, and he'd asked me whether it was worth him getting any of the Matchbox Moving Parts range in, since he'd been offered some by his distributor. I answered enthusiastically in the affirmative, and he said it'd probably be a couple of weeks before they arrived. But - surprise - they showed up early, and he sold nearly all of them last week, including several of the lovely dark green VW Type 3 Fastbacks.

Meh.

He says he'll try to get another lot in, as they've sold surprisingly fast.

As it was, he still had a couple of Broncos left from the 2024 release box, plus some other older releases - so I took a Bronco, and a Ford Crown Victoria taxicab.

Conveniently, I'd been half-thinking of buying both of these from the Smithfield model shop, but Colin had them out for slightly less - and better yet, no monies changed hands as I'd brought with me a couple of surplus Matchbox and Hot Wheels - more of those green RS2000s that he says sell well for him, plus a couple of Golf GTis, Volvo 240s and Morris Minors that may have come from the reduced £1.49 stock in Poundstretcher.

Hey, everyone's a winner here.

I'm not mad into US pickups, but this '78 Bronco is pretty nice, and looks very sharp.

The body is metal but the rear canopy is plastic - and y'know, it actually looks all the better for it.

Some speckling through the printed white decal, though - but overall, not bad.

Engine looks good, and the bonnet swings open very nicely. As with the AMC Javelin, a bit of extra detail to the front end would have been even better.

Underneath is basic enough, but it's a lovely little model with a nice weighty feel to the hand. A good choice.

The Crown Vic is a slightly older release, with some detailed side printing.

It captures the real car's lines not too badly, given the parameters involved...

...of trying to pull off the rather complex move of providing opening rear doors. The B-post is kinda clunky, but marks for trying, nonetheless.

Yup, they open. Hop on in.

The doors are made of oversprayed plastic and aren't too difficult to open and close with a fingernail - but some compromises have had to occur with the interior to obtain this level of functionality.

Mounting posts are visible on the base, but overall this is quite a well rendered little toy.

However it's not the first Crown Vic cab in the Matchbox lineup...

There's actually a surprising amount of commonality with the earlier mainline - I think the Moving Parts version may well have drawn on the same initial tooling designs before being modified.

Nice. Close to getting my own little fleet going now.

Happy Friday, kids.

[flat4alfa]

[Datsuncog]

Y'know, after ten years I didn't think I was in the market for a new avatar - but that's awesome!

[FakeConcern]

9 hours ago, bunglebus said:

CMC delivery!

Back of the box somewhat ruined with modern info and barcode

Skippy doesn't seem to mind though

Golden Jacks present and correct 

Plus destructions and stickers which will never be applied

Luckily, I have a very nice original thanks to the bargain job lot from a few months ago

Different font on the base for some reason 

That is lovely and now I want one of them even though I still have my owned from new boxed one with instructions and spare transfers

8 hours ago, Urko said:

I remember getting one of those Corgi Hunters for birthday/Christmas as a kid - I spent ages religiously applying the transfers to the exact right places in accordance with the diagram.  IIRC the wheels could be interchanged with the similarly equipped Rover P6.

Me too!

However I also remember looking at a "Good Motoring" magazine my dad had and being a bit confused when I saw what it should look like

It was still one of my fave toys though

I repainted my Spot on Austin 1800 to like another competitor from the same magazine as well and I still have most of it!

[flat4alfa]

31 minutes ago, FakeConcern said:

I repainted my Spot on Austin 1800 to like another competitor from the same magazine as well and I still have most of it!

Oh wow you've just got to resurrect that into the same theme

[FakeConcern]

7 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

Oh wow you've just got to resurrect that into the same theme

I'm kind of torn between keeping it as it is and restoring it to how I intended it to look!

It won't happen just yet as I'm currently obsessed with Dinkys and I've been repainting some cheap/scrap Cortinas in Lotus livery

The Mk2 is missing one axle set of wheels so if anyone has a set they can let me have I'd be very pleased otherwise I'll put something completely different on it. The Mk1 just needs some seat backs and I can get them from Mr Flowers.

I ground out the bumper (Mk1) to replicate the Lotus look and filled the roof spotlight hole.

It was only after I'd painted it I remembered I could fit a Corgi Lotus twin cam engine as i have one laying around so I'll be grinding it down and hoping not to ruin it!

[bunglebus]

Pickings are definitely getting slimmer at the boot sales now

[danthecapriman]

26 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

Pickings are definitely getting slimmer at the boot sales now

That’s the colour Granada I had as a kid. Horrible snot green! Never seen one since, all the ones I’ve found have been the blue ones.

[bunglebus]

1 hour ago, danthecapriman said:

That’s the colour Granada I had as a kid. Horrible snot green! Never seen one since, all the ones I’ve found have been the blue ones.

It's a colour changer, I've got others

Think the second one is just a solid green but might be the same. This one's quite chipped so might go in the custom box.

This is the common blue

There are emergency service versions as well

Anyway - not much else of interest found today, one of the weird Hot Wheels MX-5s with the screaming wheels

Glow windows SL from the same brand

Test

Matchbox accessory car transporter 

And trailer

Sold all my Matchbox Ferraris then found this one in a 50p tub

Lastly a very tasteless Corvette

[sierraman]

That 308 GTB is nice, i remember having the Pioneer branded one as a kid. Forgot completely around the sale, is there any more to come or do you want me to settle up? 

[bunglebus]

44 minutes ago, sierraman said:

That 308 GTB is nice, i remember having the Pioneer branded one as a kid. Forgot completely around the sale, is there any more to come or do you want me to settle up? 

I was just pondering the same - there's always more but the loft's like a sauna. 

Funny enough the Pioneer Ferrari was the only one I kept

[bunglebus]

Called into Poundland today, spotted a couple of boxes up top

Matchbox 

And Hot Wheels 

Tescotainer still have endless Volvos

[Bren]

Got this today. I like 70's majorette.

[danthecapriman]

More truck projects on my workbench at the moment.

First one’s a rarer truck in this country. A Dodge 300/C38. 
These were originally built by Spanish company Barrieros who were later taken over by Chrysler Europe who continued making them and updating them through the 70’s. Small numbers of them found buyers in the UK from the mid 70’s onwards. Eventually when Chrysler pulled the plug on its European business Renault took over the commercial vehicle side and updated them again and sold them with Renault branding.

Something like this is what I fancy!

I fancied having an early style tractor unit version which isn’t available off the shelf so I got a pair of partwork donors.

  
They look very similar but the bulk tipper cab is the early style, whereas the artic is a late version. 
Stripped down and with a heap of parts needed.

 
Mock-up with a spare trailer.

   
It wasn’t anywhere near as simple a conversion as I’d expected! All the mounts for the cab were different and it took quite a bit of cutting about to get everything fitted right for the early tractor unit. 
I decided I liked the original colour scheme of the cab so tried to save it. T-Cut was used on a cotton bud to gently buff off the old Spanish logos but unfortunately the blue stripe came away with them so I had to repaint that. I didn’t have the same shade blue either so it’s just how it is!

  
Still a few bits to finish like removing the SP logo from the bumper, paint out number plates and touch up the white above the screen where a sun visor was fitted. There’s a hole in the roof too from a little sign lots of Spanish trucks seem to have, but I’ll cover that with some air horns I’ve got laying around from another project.

This ones on the go too.

Started out as a Saviem/Renault box truck. Cab is now a salvaged Dinky Bedford TK on the Saviem chassis & wheels with a custom made box body.

Which will become a BT cable jointers utility truck like this one.

Must have been one of the lightest chassis variants for the TK cab. Weirdly they left a big gap between cab and box body for engine access. Nobody else seemed to bother with that!

[bunglebus]

Those Buttons ones are usually in nice condition as they were kept in the packaging, all the others suffer from chips really badly

Opening bonnet ones are scarce

 

[bunglebus]

On 04/08/2024 at 21:03, morrisoxide said:

Got this plastic wonder from Wetherby Antiques fair for a whopping £1.

 

On 07/08/2024 at 10:22, flat4alfa said:

Oooh that approximates to the one they did at 1:30 scale and I would like to buy it if possible, to build into slot car alongside the Airfix 1:32 420

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/285999804218?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=WN0VTjfXRXO&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=X5RtjeAxSP-&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

[bunglebus]

Mahoosive haul from boot sale #1

[danthecapriman]

15 hours ago, danthecapriman said:

More truck projects on my workbench at the moment.

First one’s a rarer truck in this country. A Dodge 300/C38. 
These were originally built by Spanish company Barrieros who were later taken over by Chrysler Europe who continued making them and updating them through the 70’s. Small numbers of them found buyers in the UK from the mid 70’s onwards. Eventually when Chrysler pulled the plug on its European business Renault took over the commercial vehicle side and updated them again and sold them with Renault branding.

Something like this is what I fancy!

I fancied having an early style tractor unit version which isn’t available off the shelf so I got a pair of partwork donors.

  
They look very similar but the bulk tipper cab is the early style, whereas the artic is a late version. 
Stripped down and with a heap of parts needed.

 
Mock-up with a spare trailer.

   
It wasn’t anywhere near as simple a conversion as I’d expected! All the mounts for the cab were different and it took quite a bit of cutting about to get everything fitted right for the early tractor unit. 
I decided I liked the original colour scheme of the cab so tried to save it. T-Cut was used on a cotton bud to gently buff off the old Spanish logos but unfortunately the blue stripe came away with them so I had to repaint that. I didn’t have the same shade blue either so it’s just how it is!

  
Still a few bits to finish like removing the SP logo from the bumper, paint out number plates and touch up the white above the screen where a sun visor was fitted. There’s a hole in the roof too from a little sign lots of Spanish trucks seem to have, but I’ll cover that with some air horns I’ve got laying around from another project.

This ones on the go too.

Started out as a Saviem/Renault box truck. Cab is now a salvaged Dinky Bedford TK on the Saviem chassis & wheels with a custom made box body.

Which will become a BT cable jointers utility truck like this one.

Must have been one of the lightest chassis variants for the TK cab. Weirdly they left a big gap between cab and box body for engine access. Nobody else seemed to bother with that!

Honest opinions chaps…

Are people that interested in me posting these sorts of models on here?

Only reason I ask, I just feel sometimes I’m treading on toes a bit putting them up in this thread and they’re not really what the threads about??? 
Or would it be better to just do my own models thread?

[Split_Pin]

31 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

Honest opinions chaps…

Are people that interested in me posting these sorts of models on here?

Only reason I ask, I just feel sometimes I’m treading on toes a bit putting them up in this thread and they’re not really what the threads about??? 
Or would it be better to just do my own models thread?

100% keep them here, they're prime Truck Shite in Miniature!!

[Datsuncog]

53 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

Are people that interested in me posting these sorts of models on here?

I love them - I'm blown away by your ability to take toys and models and reshape them into something new and original.

Very much appreciate the photos of each build, and the finished result!

It's a diverse crowd on here in terms of our individual passions, but I'd see your work as very much Shite in Miniature, so deffo keep it here.

[bunglebus]

I always enjoy seeing people's restos and customs. I've not done any for ages because I have a huge list of outside jobs to work through, so I've tried not to get sidetracked doing diecasts. Still buying them though

[Dick Cheeseburger]

1 hour ago, danthecapriman said:

Honest opinions chaps…

Are people that interested in me posting these sorts of models on here?

Only reason I ask, I just feel sometimes I’m treading on toes a bit putting them up in this thread and they’re not really what the threads about??? 
Or would it be better to just do my own models thread?

Love your work and enjoy all your custom stuff in particular. Keep sharing!

[bunglebus]

Things are definitely quietening down in terms of boot sale tat at the moment. Still found a few bits to buy though

I remember having quite a few Convoy trucks as a kid, they don't especially interest me now but I do like the Tyrone Malone - finding one this good on its transporter doesn't happen often though

Same seller has this minty Escort cab

Yet another Baja

Scored two Graffic Traffics, Dakota isn't on the Wiki page but Christian Whatshisface shows it as a pukka release

My intention is to do a bulk strip and repaint of all these grafficked Traffics

Tatty but complete Tonka

Similar story with the Acadiane

This is something new, a range of cars intended for model railways at a guess - lovely detail though

And an all black Sierra

[danthecapriman]

35 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

Things are definitely quietening down in terms of boot sale tat at the moment. Still found a few bits to buy though

I remember having quite a few Convoy trucks as a kid, they don't especially interest me now but I do like the Tyrone Malone - finding one this good on its transporter doesn't happen often though

Same seller has this minty Escort cab

Yet another Baja

Scored two Graffic Traffics, Dakota isn't on the Wiki page but Christian Whatshisface shows it as a pukka release

My intention is to do a bulk strip and repaint of all these grafficked Traffics

Tatty but complete Tonka

Similar story with the Acadiane

This is something new, a range of cars intended for model railways at a guess - lovely detail though

And an all black Sierra

I went to a boot sale the other week and it was pretty quiet. Maybe it’s summer holidays?

Didnt realise they made the Prairie as a graffic traffic. 
That little Minor is indeed intended for model railways, there’s a few colour variations and some other models too, Austin Devon, Ford Consul etc.

[Remspoor]

18 hours ago, danthecapriman said:

There’s a hole in the roof too from a little sign lots of Spanish trucks seem to have,

In reality they were as shown on this image. Blue/Yellow. That was an obligatory sign for Spanish vehicles towing a trailer. This included cars too.

[Split_Pin]

I've got a few of those Classix Minors, a 4 door and a van. I've also got a MK1 Consul and caravan, they're great little diecasts.