Shite in Miniature II

[flat4alfa]

6 hours ago, sierraman said:

The problem with the Mk10 is that there’s more of them than people want to restore, a rough one isn’t worth going near. The cost to respray one is prodigious as are engine rebuild costs. Hence a fairly straight one with a bollocksed engine wouldn’t be expensive. 

When I lived in Australia for a year, over 25 years ago, I remember seeing off-the-shelf XJ conversion kits for 350 Chev motors.

There was plenty of love for the imported Jaguars, but there was little love for the engine reliability.  It seemed there was no interest in bothering spending time and money on them while a crate 350 was sitting on a pallet next door

[flat4alfa]

7 hours ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

I hope the Dinky Cadillac Superior has its rear tailgate.  Are you to keep that one?

[andy18s]

15 hours ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

 

As a few have asked about the fate of some of the stuff I have gotten recently I should have a sort out and start a sales thread for the ones I do not want. And now there appears to more interest in the stuff I have just got I think that might happen sooner rather than later. 

How many tyres does that very cheap looking Stolly have?

[Tenmil Socket]

Received a massive box of Matchbox PowerTrack this morning courtesy of @Heidel_Kakao, thanks!

Can't take it home just yet in case I get bin bagged… still got a mountain bike here in the office that hasn’t moved in 2 years 😆

 

[danthecapriman]

7 minutes ago, Tenmil Socket said:

Received a massive box of Matchbox PowerTrack this morning courtesy of @Heidel_Kakao, thanks!

Can't take it home just yet in case I get bin bagged… still got a mountain bike here in the office that hasn’t moved in 2 years 😆

 

Ha! I remember that. I can remember the little controllers. And those plastic crash barriers were hanging around years after the rest of it disappeared too.

[loserone]

9 minutes ago, Tenmil Socket said:

Can't take it home just yet in case I get bin bagged

Is this cockney rhyming slang for shagged as a result of being so attractive from owning this power track?

[MiniMinorMk3]

16 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

I hope the Dinky Cadillac Superior has its rear tailgate.  Are you to keep that one?

Sadly no tail gate.

4 hours ago, andy18s said:

How many tyres does that very cheap looking Stolly have?

Stolly?

 

Here's a brief look at what I got. I purchased two lots yesterday, a small box for a hammer of £25, and a larger box for a hammer of £50. With commission and fees they cost £101.

The small box had a few non-diecast things...

This old Gillette looks a bit like the one my dad used to have. It might be silver or silver plate judging by the black tarnish it has. Also included are some unused blades.

More exciting than the razor is a Hohner Chrometta 1. I thought this was a glasses case until I turned it over to find the inscription.

It's a variable tone harmonica. After a quick check on the web it turns out that they are advertised for between £20 and £50 on Ebay and Etsy.

In the box Olive Oil looks happy with all the Metros, Minis and other assorted stuff. 

The big box has more of an assortment of diecast.

Four Matchbox racing Minis, with two in red.

A couple of Concordes

But my favourite piece is the cartoon Polistil Mini. I've always wanted one but I have never found one in a box of tat before.

I take a more detailed look when I have cleaned the stuff up.

[bunglebus]

4 minutes ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

But my favourite piece is the cartoon Polistil Mini

I was just about to say there was one hiding in there! Fun little things

 

[bunglebus]

I decided to go for plan Z with the Matchbox Fiesta, and ordered a set of RS 7 spokes from C1 models excellent range

[bunglebus]

Finished another Graffic Traffic resto, it is extremely nerve wracking pushing the clip in that holds the back together! I've never seen a Matchbox use a separate part like this, I would have expected the rear 'plate to be part of the base

 

[bunglebus]

Postage bits included this Polistil Capri

@danthecapriman kindly sent me a Husky Thames with the aerial still in place

Along with a Rockets Capri

Whizzwheels Escort 

And this unusual Bulgarian release of the Super Kings Capri

Lastly, @sierraman provided this Norev Beetle, absolutely charming little thing with the clever use of the base making a rear number plate

[Split_Pin]

Love the wheels on the Fiesta, it was the only way 👍

The Polistil Capri is filed under 'diecast you didn't know existed until very recently', great looking wee thing.

[Heidel_Kakao]

@MiniMinorMk3

The Stolly AKA Alvis Stalwart is the one circled. It should have six wheels, I have one somewhere as the remnant of my ill fated plan to purchase a real one.

[andy18s]

21 hours ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

 

As a few have asked about the fate of some of the stuff I have gotten recently I should have a sort out and start a sales thread for the ones I do not want. And now there appears to more interest in the stuff I have just got I think that might happen sooner rather than later. 

The Alvis Stalwart to usually without tyres as they degrade over time

[MiniMinorMk3]

Just now, andy18s said:

The Alvis Stalwart to usually without tyres as they degrade over time

It's a Speedwheels version

[Tenmil Socket]

1 hour ago, bunglebus said:

Finished another Graffic Traffic resto, it is extremely nerve wracking pushing the clip in that holds the back together! I've never seen a Matchbox use a separate part like this, I would have expected the rear 'plate to be part of the base

 

Fantastic!

Send it to me and I'll colour it in for you...

[sierraman]

32 minutes ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

It's a Speedwheels version

Those Speedwheels give me the ick. I don’t think they could have made them any cheaper and nastier if they tried! Does anyone remember those Convoy branded trucks? They were literally in the dying days of Dinky. 

[sierraman]

1 hour ago, bunglebus said:

I decided to go for plan Z with the Matchbox Fiesta, and ordered a set of RS 7 spokes from C1 models excellent range

The RS catalogue specified those wheels as an option along with the body kit etc so it’s factual! 

[Tenmil Socket]

41 minutes ago, sierraman said:

The RS catalogue specified those wheels as an option along with the body kit etc so it’s factual! 

Don't want to be a nerd here but those have a centre-cap although they're very similar...

[flat4alfa]

On 12/01/2025 at 12:00, FakeConcern said:

That looks great, how much will it be though?

I've never owned an original one and the two I've seen for sale were more than I wanted to pay.

No idea but had this through this morning :

Quote

January 2026 ~ Corgi 1126, Ecurie Ecosse

This is definitely going to be the star of the show as its our first Corgi Major ~ the legendary Ecurie Ecosse Racing Car Transporter. We’ve been working on the CAD files for this one for a while now. As soon as we receive a factory sample, and we’re happy with the results, we will confirm the release date and price.

If you can’t wait until then, look for the CMR production in 1:18

[danthecapriman]

At long last, and probably not ideal timing, but I’ve found my basic model tools! So, you know what that means!!

Stripping and repainting these diecast vehicles has become my happy place!😄     
Since moving in November and having to pack everything away the previous month, I’ve really missed doing it.

So, start with something easy then? Fuck no!

Everything except glazing and a few other riveted on bits are now off. Tomorrow I’ll get the drill out and take all the rivet heads off to free all the glazing sections. There’s a lot of it on this. 
Then the two metal body sections will be going in a bath of paint stripper. There’s actually a few plastic parts on this one that will need a rub down with the fibreglass pencil then primer and paint, like the bonnet and a little bulkhead behind the bonnet.

Ive got a few photos of the real Regents, and I’ll need to modify the front end on this bus to get rid of the destination blind as it was panelled over on the real ones this will be a model of. Livery choice should be a bit of a challenge too. 
The interior mouldings are a bit basic on these Hachette partwork versions of the IXO model, just being plain grey plastic so I need to find some photos of the interiors and seat colours.

[bunglebus]

1 hour ago, Tenmil Socket said:

Don't want to be a nerd here but those have a centre-cap although they're very similar...

I think the 14" Sierra, Fiesta etc type had a centre cap, the RS Turbo and RS 1600i had 15 with exposed nuts, as it were.

I think scale wise, they're more like the 17" Mondeo ones, but what can you do?!

[155V6]

A box arrived today containing a 99p Matchbox transformer.I connected it up to one of the motor housings from my Matchbox Motorway & after wiggling the cables a bit,it worked!

I'm not going to have the time(or space) to do anything else with it until the weekend,but I really want to get it working now.

Any tips how to make the motors run smoothly after sitting in the box for years, @flat4alfa is this your sort of thing?

 

 

 

[bunglebus]

1 hour ago, danthecapriman said:

the fibreglass pencil

The what now?

[danthecapriman]

39 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

The what now?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/310094191492?_skw=fibreglass+pencil&itmmeta=01JHNR4DAGHJS3BPVHF4XBKWWK&hash=item48330ddb84:g:VJ0AAOxyOBJRDlJH&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA8HoV3kP08IDx%2BKZ9MfhVJKmeSWDmpZdChetczhwFVMV1itcvZnyIyAvq8tEwOxPljmZUPUm%2FteRlZDiOfJx%2FfDcw%2FogjmSDWlx1cWDp0XmwZrwLrdClPyyhnl6WeWhepkzN2c8EVqhbf4r%2BSIT%2FCNFM4aYjc5vLAA0jE9wozyvsFpL59qz%2BmHESMBkQRlZi3UJXR9xi5v2X%2FgnL77lRY%2Btlw2BTeUavXKFUbFJdAHJPWxIO%2BJcgdOoG591HeEy0BgSK6ORx7eMUg4uYIYKWIwP5WZ5AXuU25%2FAppAMUVffs1kNVFQR0%2FBjQigl7zWwfltQ%3D%3D|tkp%3ABFBMuNWRuI1l
 

It’s literally a plastic pencil type thing that takes little fibreglass sticks, which you wind out. 
They’re good for cleaning up dirty electrical connections, scrubbing paint off things, keying surfaces for painting etc etc.

I use one for models and another in my tool box for working on cars.

[Tenmil Socket]

4 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/310094191492?_skw=fibreglass+pencil&itmmeta=01JHNR4DAGHJS3BPVHF4XBKWWK&hash=item48330ddb84:g:VJ0AAOxyOBJRDlJH&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA8HoV3kP08IDx%2BKZ9MfhVJKmeSWDmpZdChetczhwFVMV1itcvZnyIyAvq8tEwOxPljmZUPUm%2FteRlZDiOfJx%2FfDcw%2FogjmSDWlx1cWDp0XmwZrwLrdClPyyhnl6WeWhepkzN2c8EVqhbf4r%2BSIT%2FCNFM4aYjc5vLAA0jE9wozyvsFpL59qz%2BmHESMBkQRlZi3UJXR9xi5v2X%2FgnL77lRY%2Btlw2BTeUavXKFUbFJdAHJPWxIO%2BJcgdOoG591HeEy0BgSK6ORx7eMUg4uYIYKWIwP5WZ5AXuU25%2FAppAMUVffs1kNVFQR0%2FBjQigl7zWwfltQ%3D%3D|tkp%3ABFBMuNWRuI1l
 

It’s literally a plastic pencil type thing that takes little fibreglass sticks, which you wind out. 
They’re good for cleaning up dirty electrical connections, scrubbing paint off things, keying surfaces for painting etc etc.

I use one for models and another in my tool box for working on cars.

We use a lot of them where I work… we actually throw the fibreglass part in the bin and replace it with a brass bristle brush.

 

[Datsuncog]

I've just realised that I must have had mine for about 30 years now.

Well, that makes me feel ancient.

The model shop where I worked mainly sold them for cleaning up rusty bits on Hornby and Scalextric track, but it's been handy for lots of jobs over the years.

[danthecapriman]

2 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

I've just realised that I must have had mine for about 30 years now.

Well, that makes me feel ancient.

The model shop where I worked mainly sold them for cleaning up rusty bits on Hornby and Scalextric track, but it's been handy for lots of jobs over the years.

They are fantastic little tools. Especially if you need to clean something up that either sand paper shouldn’t be used on or won’t fit in to.

If anyone remembers the Astra van I converted from an estate a while back, I used a fibreglass pen to key the rear windows up ready to take paint. It’ll sand and rough stuff up but won’t actually sand away detail etc either like sand paper can do very easily!

[sierraman]

Hmm something else to buy on eBay… 🤣

[danthecapriman]

If you do buy one be careful where you use it though. The little bits of fibreglass that break off can be a real irritating bastard if they get stuck in your skin!