Shite in Miniature II

[Mash]

Trax in Australia make Holdens, Fords and Chryslers. Nice models and I have a few that I'm probably going to sell as they don't apeal so much now. I'm hanging on to these Leyland P76s though!

 

[Split_Pin]

Thats a good representation of just how well executed Dinky cars were. That's one.handsome model and no doubt worth a fortune - more please.

 

But....does anyone have any Spanish Dinkys?

[Mash]

More Talbots:

 

[Split_Pin]

Nice! Who makes the Dodge van? I've always wanted a model of that.

 

I have the Tagora and Blue Solara. Who makes the burgundy one? Looks a better model than the blue one.

[Mash]

Nice! Who makes the Dodge van? I've always wanted a model of that.

 

I have the Tagora and Blue Solara. Who makes the burgundy one? Looks a better model than the blue one.

 

They're both unmarked but I suspect Ixo, Mr. Lobster will have a better idea. I think they're both from the Simca/Talbot partwork series. The blue Solara is the updated Norev one as you know.

[Mash]

Here's one of the stars of my collection - the Vauxhall Firenza by Lone Star. I had been looking for one for years and they've become something of a mythical beast among diecast collectors, now commanding high prices. Every fair I went to I would try to find one and eventually chanced upon this example about 10 years ago. I think it was a fiver.

 

[eddyramrod]

Wow, that's actually really well-proportioned! It looks like a pretty small scale too. Can you confirm what size it is please? I've never seen that model.

[garethj]

[Please don't judge me] I've got a commission with someone to make a 1/32 Marina bodyshell master being made which will let me produce a number of grill versions and an ital. We'll see how it goes, I'll bung a load of resin shells on ebay for some other absolute nutjobs to buy once I've finally agreed a price with the guy who's going to cast 'em!

Nice idea! I say nice, obviously it's completely crackers, like

 

Out of interest who was it on here who made the old american slot cars with the 3d printed chassis...? looked TEH BIZ. I'm going to try and make my Ital so you could chop up an Airfix Ford Escrot to get a static model. It'll probably bomb but hey ho.

As Barrett said, it was me. Want to see one of the cars in action?

 

To do the next car in my extensive* range, I bought some 3D data because it was the only way I could find an early '70s limo

 

Then I got the CAD file cleaned up so a master bodyshell could be printed

 

 

Then a silicon mould was taken from it, and the resin shells arrived with me this morning

 

[eddyramrod]

1971 Cadillac Sedan de Ville, gorgeous! What sort of chassis would that need?

[garethj]

Close, it's a '72

 

It uses my chassis with the steering and leaning suspension, but it'll take any scratchbuilt chassis like a PCS one for slot car tracks

[Mash]

Wow, that's actually really well-proportioned! It looks like a pretty small scale too. Can you confirm what size it is please? I've never seen that model.

 

Little bit bigger than Matcbox Superfast. They're pretty rare for some reason - too expensive when new, short lifespan maybe. They were produced in conjunction with Vauxhall I believe hence the accuracy.

 

That resin Caddy is ace. I've started using Autodesk Inventor 3D at work and it's awesome. It wouldn't be too hard to produce a car on it once I become a bit more proficient.....

[Mr Lobster]

Nice! Who makes the Dodge van? I've always wanted a model of that.

 

I have the Tagora and Blue Solara. Who makes the burgundy one? Looks a better model than the blue one.

 

They're both unmarked but I suspect Ixo, Mr. Lobster will have a better idea. I think they're both from the Simca/Talbot partwork series. The blue Solara is the updated Norev one as you know.

 

Correct! They are IXO castings and are produced by Altaya which is a the brand IXO use on all the partwork stuff. They were originally issued as part of 'Les Belles Annees Simca' which was as you might have guessed a partwork series covering Simca although went as far as the Talbot Arizona which became the Pug 309.

 

If you subscribed to the series (which you couldn't do here sadly) then you got a couple of free gifts - one was a nice Simca garage frontage which you occasionally see on ebay.fr. I'll see if I can photograph mine in the next day or two.

[Split_Pin]

I've seen this quite a few times but what does 'partwork' mean?

[Mr Lobster]

Basically, its a part of a series which if you get them all builds up to a full collection.

 

So in this instance in France you got a copy of the magazine and a model every two weeks over the space of a year or two (though some have been running longer than that now). They are REALLY popular in France / Spain / Italy and fortunately we get a lot of them sold on over here. We've just bought loads of Fiats which were part of The Fiat Story series - the stuff of shiters interest (Regatta, Argenta, Tipo etc) sold out really quickly.

[eddyramrod]

We've just bought loads of Fiats which were part of The Fiat Story series - the stuff of shiters interest (Regatta, Argenta, Tipo etc) sold out really quickly.

 

Was there a Mk1 127 with boot? Was there a 4-door facelift Supermirafiori?

[Mash]

I haven't seen the Regata yet but it's definitely on my list! Can't find a Tipo either.

 

We all like Lancias too don't we?!

 

[Split_Pin]

Basically, its a part of a series which if you get them all builds up to a full collection.

 

So in this instance in France you got a copy of the magazine and a model every two weeks over the space of a year or two (though some have been running longer than that now). They are REALLY popular in France / Spain / Italy and fortunately we get a lot of them sold on over here. We've just bought loads of Fiats which were part of The Fiat Story series - the stuff of shiters interest (Regatta, Argenta, Tipo etc) sold out really quickly.

 

Ah nice one, ta.

 

I'm pleasantly surprised that the shiteist's -type cars sold well.

 

Getting paid this week, a purchase of some proper chod miniature is long overdue. I fancy a Renault 7 or something!

[Split_Pin]

 

Want! Is this the one with the bizarre 'swiss cheese dash'?

[Guest]

That's right, the Trevi was thusly equipped \ afflicted.

 

I've got a few more old models since I last posted on a mini-shite thread.

 

 

Some IXO \ Norev Group B \ Rally Raid action. I paid top dollar for my BX 4TC - the price has since dropped to the floor.

 

 

Small pile of 1\40 Diapets. Top one's a Celeste, the other two are Piazzas. Well, technically the red one's an Impulse on waffles. These pop up now and again on eBay and are slowly going up in value. The red Impulse came cheaply from eBay US, the bottom silver model came off top Piazza mentalist yumcustardtarts. I've has some amazing JDM Piazza brochures off him as well.

 

 

Most Piazza models are ferociously dear - whether they're Lumnyo-Norev or Diapet. The top one's a limited edition turquoise Diapet that celebrates 25 years of the company, the middle one is a Lumnyo - Norev Asso Di Fiori (the 1979 Italdesign concept the Piazza was derived from) and the red car a Japanese market Piazza Irmscher Nero. I'm still short of quite a few Piazza models, but I can't justify £35-40 for a 1\43 model, especially at the moment.

 

 

 

Couple of Spot-On Amazon models. They both have sliding metal sunroofs, which were a rare and expensive option on the real thing. My car has one.

 

 

Quite a few FINGS WAT LIKEZ in this shot. Action footage of the Amazon from RRG '09 at Prescott, a Philco One-O-Two valve radio, a Tamiya MO2 Alpine A110, and a SA plate from when Grizz on RR was giving a big pile away.

[RoadworkUK]

I've had some amazing JDM Piazza brochures off him as well.

 

I compel you to the decent thing and get scanning!

 

I only have a mid-80s UK edition and have mad cravings for a JDM issue, to the point of regularly looking on eBay Aus for them (having been inspired by The Search For The Holden Piazza). I assume the JDM machine was 160% more mental than the uk one? Lunatic digital dash etc etc?

[Guest]

I've had some amazing JDM Piazza brochures off him as well.

 

I compel you to the decent thing and get scanning!

 

I only have a mid-80s UK edition and have mad cravings for a JDM issue, to the point of regularly looking on eBay Aus for them (having been inspired by The Search For The Holden Piazza). I assume the JDM machine was 160% more mental than the uk one? Lunatic digital dash etc etc?

 

Yes, it was. There was a whole range of Piazzas in the domestic market that we were denied. We only got the Turbo, which was about mid spec by Japanese standards. The Piazza was also available from 1981 over there, whereas we had to wait until 1986. When Lotus fettled the car after poor sales, we got revised rear suspension, better seats and a slightly different rear end. The Japanese market had what we would refer to as the Lotus rear end earlier than we did. My 1981 launch brochure lists eight different Piazza models.

 

I'm not sure when the Turbo (with the blown Isuzu Largo [Vauxhall Midi] engine - 4CZ1T) turned up in Japan - I'd have to ask the IPTOC. In 1981 the Piazza came with the G200 engine only which was a carry over from the 117 Coupe. One of these models ended up getting imported and turned into the Ripspeed showcar - the mental pearlescent blue bodykitted machine with a full leather retrim and deep dish BBS wheels. It popped up on eBay a little while ago in an absolute state. It may well have been an XE-S model - in '81 that was the top Piazza, with a factory leather interior and the troublesome LCD dashboard (there were three instrument pack designs). The US and Australian cars got these, we didn't. At the other end of the scale, you could have a poverty row Bella, XG or XN with 13" steel wheels, vinyl seats and a detuned G200 with a SOHC head. A Bella turned up in a scrapyard down South in around 2002, rumoured to have been imported by GM in the mid eighties before Alan Day took on the UK concession. I'll get Clive from the IPTOC to scan the pictures he has if you're interested.

 

The Piazza was more or less dead in the UK by mid 1990. In Japan it had one last spruce up after the HBL model (which went to the home market after Lotus did the work for the UK cars). Irmscher worked on the car, giving it some very strange full cover alloys and a new interior, which amounted to a new four spoke Momo and some Recaro seats. There were some suspension changes as well but I don't know what they entailed over the Lotus models. There are a few Irmscher and Irmscher Nero (BBS wheeled) Piazzas left in Japan and Australasia, but to the knowledge of the IPTOC there aren't any of that variation in the UK.

 

 

In total I've got eight Piazza brochures (5 of which are home market, but there's several more), and a J's 'Isuzu Sport' special magazine devoted to their sportier cars. I'm still after a few of the other releases, including the UK HBL four sheet. They never seem to come up for a good price. Several of the Japanese brochures are 30 pages plus, which would take me a while to scan. I'll see what I can do.

The Piazza was but the tip of a varied iceberg in Japan. The GM connection meant there were many hot variations of the T - Car (Gemini) and J - Car (Aska) that never made it over the pond. I'm still after a few of the other releases, including the UK HBL four sheet. They never seem to come up for a good price.

 

 

When I sold off D888 XJM, (my 1987 Turbo) I kept the three spoke Japanese HBL Momo that I bought off Rinkya in Japan, along with its wheel chocks and unused diamond cut spare with a period Dunlop D7 still attached. I later added a four spoke Irmscher Momo to my collection of spares when I discovered a Bighorn Irmscher being broken on Retro Rides. The column splines of the Bighorn and Piazza are the same, and a few of the former were parallel imported.

 

 

Norm also has a set of the gorgeous waffle wheels in his care over in Ohio. We only got two alloy designs in the UK - pre Lotus and HBL. Neither were particularly elegant. When I have enough money, I'll be having them over to be restored. I know of two more in the USA that I could use as spares. I had a complete blue HBL interior for a while - that came from a banger racer (yes, one went round the oval at Hednesford). Most of that ended up going to the IPTOC, but I saved a seat and had V8Chevette make it into an office chair for me:

 

 

I interviewed the technical contact of the IPTOC for my web magazine if you're interested, the link's here:

 

http://blacktopmagazine.wordpress.com/2011/08/26/clive-burrough-interview/

 

Sorry for the thread drift, but Piazzas happen to be something I'm rather passionate about. I got into them completely by accident. If you could also bear in mind that my site is still being worked on, and may not stay like that.

[RoadworkUK]

A Bella turned up in a scrapyard down South in around 2002, rumoured to have been imported by GM in the mid eighties before Alan Day took on the UK concession. I'll get Clive from the IPTOC to scan the pictures he has if you're interested

 

Yes. Please do this. I think I remember that machine from the eBay Tat thread.

 

There's a Piazza mouldering in a driveway not too far from where I work, but I can't totally remember where. I think I'd rather like one, but feel I ouht to leave them as an Experts Only kind of machine. I guess I need a best mate with one.

 

My brochure is the one top right in your photo. Thread drift off.

[Justin Case]

I think that Tekno made the best 1/43 scale die-casts; just compare the general proprtions and detail on their Saab 96s compared to the Dinky Toys version, which isn't too bad a model itself:

 

Saab 96 Models, Tekno and Dinky, 1/43 Scale by geoffp6, on Flickr

 

Polistil also did some nice Saabs (I actually had a 96L in this colour ):

 

Saab 99 Model, Polistil,1/43 Scale by geoffp6, on Flickr

 

Have a bonus BX :

 

Citroen BX Model, Norev, 1/43 Scale by geoffp6, on Flickr

[Mash]

MOAR ITALIAN CHOD

 

[fiatdaft]

I do approve ^

[Split_Pin]

The X1/9 is tip-top. I think excellent wheel detail really makes a model!

[155V6]

[Mash]

Good link here to the 2012 Neo releases:

 

http://www.auto-und-modell.de/pages/akt ... le-Models/

[fiatdaft]

Those fiat coupe models look unusual, totally different to mine !

[eddyramrod]

Mash, didn't Bburago do a 1/43 Tipo? Or were you after something a bit upscale from that?