Shite in Miniature II

[danthecapriman]

Nice bargains there @eddyramrod 

That snowmobile is pretty cool. Dont think I’ve ever seen one before.

[FakeConcern]

I've not seen a Corgi Minissima either

[eddyramrod]

Thanks chaps.  I actually thought I'd overspent!  Minissima: I've seen them before but never bought one.  I looked at this and thought it was just too good to leave.  Snowmobile: I didn't know there was such a model at all until I saw it on this thread very recently!  So when I saw it in the shop, I knew what it was and bit the bullet.  What I'll do with it I have no idea at all!

 

*Truth be told, I don't really know what I'm going to do with any of them, except the rozzer Mini.  The Metro, like the Minissima, is good enough to go straight out on display, so that's fine.  Landy?  Maybe a police livery, maybe Mountain Rescue... maybe none of those!  Batboat: probably just into the parts box with the trailer.  Princess: very nice, but I already have a better all-white one.

[danthecapriman]

3 minutes ago, eddyramrod said:

Thanks chaps.  I actually thought I'd overspent!  Minissima: I've seen them before but never bought one.  I looked at this and thought it was just too good to leave.  Snowmobile: I didn't know there was such a model at all until I saw it on this thread very recently!  So when I saw it in the shop, I knew what it was and bit the bullet.  What I'll do with it I have no idea at all!

 

*Truth be told, I don't really know what I'm going to do with any of them, except the rozzer Mini.  The Metro, like the Minissima, is good enough to go straight out on display, so that's fine.  Landy?  Maybe a police livery, maybe Mountain Rescue... maybe none of those!  Batboat: probably just into the parts box with the trailer.  Princess: very nice, but I already have a better all-white one.

That Land Rover would look good in the normal green or blue most of them seemed to come in. Maybe with the off white roof? I can’t remember Corgi doing them as boggo normal Land Rovers.

Minissima is another one of those weird ‘nobody will expect us to do this!’ Products. I bet even back then nobody had heard of them. Cool little thing though, very 70’s!

[FakeConcern]

or

or

 

[danthecapriman]

Jesus! Imagine the masking up and messing around trying to spray the Century one. And the body kit!

[bunglebus]

Custom Car magazine project in cahoots with BL at the time, they did an Allegro and a Sherpa too. All given away IIRC

[bunglebus]

[bunglebus]

Boot sale #1 done. Most of these were cheap but not all...

[Split_Pin]

Im gonna say the Lone Star Merc and the T2 with intact conveyor apparatus weren't cheap.

[eddyramrod]

Agreed; and likewise the mk5 Cortina.  But if it was cheap and you don't want to keep it....

[Spottedlaurel]

SC400 moving on:

And while I was in a Micromesh and polishing frame of mind I also did these two:

 

[Tenmil Socket]

15 hours ago, bunglebus said:

A few of the ex-Corgi Hot Wheels have surfaced recently, starting with this one

It's been fully Mattelified with the Hot Wheels logo on the Chinese made base

Not all we're altered at all other than paint, so sometimes telling which were made by who can be tricky if they're not in the packaging anymore.

Next up, a proper oddity. Finnish made plastic ovloV 244, supposedly a promotional piece

Detail is pretty good, correct wheels and centre caps

Mud flaps

The familiar headrests etc all correct in the interior 

Unusual Matchbox Pontiac 

Giodi Rover 3500

Finally, I think @FakeConcern teleported this Marlin Rambler here, it arrived so fast. Damaged grille aside, it's pretty good with all the door cards, windows, seat backs etc still present and correct 

Loving that Transit!

[bunglebus]

2 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

Im gonna say the Lone Star Merc and the T2 with intact conveyor apparatus weren't cheap.

They were a couple of quid each, not terrible 

2 hours ago, eddyramrod said:

Agreed; and likewise the mk5 Cortina.  But if it was cheap and you don't want to keep it....

A whole £1, missing a tyre if you'd like it

[eddyramrod]

1 minute ago, bunglebus said:

A whole £1, missing a tyre if you'd like it

I'm in!  Thanks Rich, it'll have a good home here.  New box begins...

[bunglebus]

Second boot sale was a bust, the usual seller that leaves me skint was absent, only bought a £2 NOS impact driver

Here's the MK5, presumably a partwork jobbie

Plus a MK1 in need of help

Don't mind a fiver for a red wheel Astro

Similarly a Transformers Porsche (these were the two less cheap ones)

Husky luggage elevator 

The Lone Star Merc, complete but needing resto. These are so nice even when battered

No plow on this as usual

Yatminger Jag

Lastly, someone's (actually pretty good) attempt at making a banger from a Matchbox Cortina. Looks like it had broken pillars so no great loss, it can go on the shelf of shame with other beyond help orphans 

[eddyramrod]

Cortina/Taunus looks lovely, I'm all over that, LHD notwithstanding.  If the mk1 estate is in the same bracket then I'm up for that too, I'm getting quite good at those!

[Datsuncog]

Been a bit of a busy week, but managed to squeak into the market on Friday morning for a quick nosey. 

It appears that the Nostalgic Collectables stall, helmed by Millar (aka Market Blokey) has indeed gone for good - after several months of bare tables, other tat-mongers have now moved in with their wares. 

Unfortunately, it's tat of the costume jewellery and heaps of old clothes variety, not the miniature diecast tat variety. 

The end of an era, kids. Although it's been a long time since he had much in the way of the 50p Tat Boxes and piles of £3 buses that we came to know and love. But! Let's remember the good times, hey? 

Still, that's not to say that there was a total lack of diecast... 

Larry's stall of assorted tat had some toys and models this week, of varying scales and eras. 

This Corgi Buick Riviera is possibly the first proper old toy I've seen offered out this year. 

Unfortunately it was priced at £20, so I didn't. 

He also had a tub of mostly McDonalds toys which smelled... interesting. Maybe there was a long-forgotten burger hiding in there somewhere? 

Pressed steel Buddy L trailer had one of its axle pegs broken, and no sign of a tractor unit. 

Down in the depths I did manage to find a Lesney Superfast Mercedes, missing its windscreen but still with its hood. 

I've more tatty and incomplete Matchbox than I know what to do with though, so I left it for another intrepid box-diver to find. 

Colin still had loads of recent-ish Matchbox that just don't seem to be shifting. 

Weird, as there are some good ones in there and they're not dear at £1.50. But he'll not be ordering any more until these sell through. 

Bobby's general collectable stall had a Corgi Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in fairly decent nick, priced at £25 - but since he's previously moaned at me for taking photos of his stuff, I didn't attempt it. 

Paddy's Antiques Shitshow continued with its massively overpriced boxed Corgis - I note that the Silver Jubilee buses seems to have sold; presumably the tourist cruise ships starting up again combined with a shaky grasp of exchange rates equals £££ profit. Someone in Guangzhou will probably love them, and why not? 

A few other stalls persisted with their Days Gone and Maisto Shell sports car collection tripe for £5, but you've seen them all before so I didn't waste my pixels on them. 

Lastly, Alan and his Emporium then... 

There's gold in that thar tray. 

Well, kind of. 

Majorette Matra Bagheera was in reasonable shape, with the fragile rear hatch still in situ:

And, well, that was kinda it. 

Unless you fancied a rather approximate stab at a Volvo 740 from parts unknown:

Completely smooth base with no maker, no number, no place of origin. 

Also quite a bit smaller than the Corgi equivalent. 

On the topic of Corgis, isn't this a rough copy of the Juniors Marcos XP? 

While this one has more than a whiff of Matchbox De Tomaso about it... 

Ah well. Not much to write home about, then - but there's still decent coffee to be had at St George's, so never a wasted journey. 

Til next time... 

[flat4alfa]

15 hours ago, danthecapriman said:

Jesus! Imagine the masking up and messing around trying to spray the Century one. And the body kit!

It was 1979 and for a British engine oil company’s promotion, during a recession, so the striping I reckon it would have been brush painted. In an afternoon, between smokes of baccy.

The body previously treated to sheets of ABS from Oadby and pop riveted to hell by the young lad who snuck boxes of them through Texas Homecare’s rear shutters.  Probably.

[flat4alfa]

1 hour ago, bunglebus said:

I think that one needs a reprieve. Pop the photo up on bangernet forum or FB?

They are local phone exchange numbers so likely it was put together in the 80s or 90s

[bunglebus]

1 hour ago, Datsuncog said:

On the topic of Corgis, isn't this a rough copy of the Juniors Marcos XP? 

While this one has more than a whiff of Matchbox De Tomaso about it... 

Indeed, both I believe Golden Wheel H.W. 305 Marcos XP borrowed from Corgi...

...and H.W. 301 DeTomaso Pantera cribbed from Matchbox 

From only discovering these a few years ago, I now see them all the time, I suspect they were the cheap 80s set your well meaning aunt got you at Christmas instead of the Matchbox you actually wanted

[flat4alfa]

I hadn't realised they were quite different castings, not a cast taken from another.  Check especially the air intake behind the side window, and the injection stacks - compare to the Corgi enclosed engine behind glazing

[photos from Bungle_bus off flickr]

Well done Honk Konk folks for modelling a one-off fibreglass-over-plywood design from 1968, engineered by Jem Marsh and Frank Costin 'MAR-COS' and built in Wiltshire.

Quote

The weather conditions at Spa were horrendous and the car only completed 17 of the 71 laps. The conditions were so bad that water was getting into the cockpit and flooding the car, it was brought into the pits and holes were drilled in the floor to allow the water out, it then succumbed to water in the alternator and retired a few laps later. Unfortunately this was the car's first and last outing. The car was entered for Le Mans that year but unfortunately the FIA decided to postpone the 24 hour race until late September due to student riots in Paris. [viaretro.com]

I can see that damn alternator from here

When it returned to the UK the Repco engine was removed and replaced with a Buick V8, so Jem Marsh could drive to and from his office in Luton.

Later that year the tax man was chasing and Marcos was going bust, so the car was exported and it has lived within the same family in California ever since.

 

Always intrigued little old me, this model by Corgi, and now I know.  Trouble is, I only have the one, a Corgi Rocket.  And now, I find I need the others and am going to lose sleep over that, you bast*rds.

[FakeConcern]

@Datsuncog if you see the broken parts missing rally Citroen C4 VTS again and it's a couple of quid or so then please could you pick it up for me?

However if it's £20 like the Corgi Buick...

[Lord Sterling]

Yesterday morning when I finished work, I popped over to the local supermarket for food replenishment and to see what they had. I ended coming away with a HotWheels XL Mercedes W124:

Mondeo is to show that its about a 1/43.

Not overly keen on it and I bought it for the novelty more than anything else.

Today, I popped to the local charity shops:

Came away with this lot:

Digger is a missing a tyre. Most cars have now had lights painted on them. I hate it when they're blank and try to be discreet when adding them.

Also, sorting out what I have. I have rather too many model cars...

[flat4alfa]

2 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Golden Wheel H.W. 305 Marcos XP borrowed from Corgi

Found something out.  Damn internets.

Tintoys. Set #336 from the 1980s

That's got to be the starting point for the Golden Wheels casting, especially the chunky and extended arse.

[AndyW201]

Traipsed over to Smyths at the weekend. The Facebook Hot Wheels groups were alive with people who were coming out of Smyths stores with armfuls of the new Modern Classics releases, and Testarossas and 190E chase cars being dished out like Smarties.

Stockton? NFC mate!

Pulling a small of victory from the jaws of defeat, they did at least have a couple of fresh boxes of the Vintage Club stuff. The Honda and 356 are the stand-out ones for me so to make the journey worthwhile, I got those.

Then I spotted this little beauty that I've being hunting for, for weeks,

What a little cracker!

Lidl seemed to have had a bit of a recent Mattel promotion on, including F&F Total Grift cars. Slim pickings by the time I got to them, but I did find the yellow Silvia. I had been tempted by the 5-pack with it in, but as mentioned on here, this single release does look nicer with the extra front end detailing. A whole quid cheaper than Smyths and Tescotainer have been knocking them out for too.

[AndyW201]

This was a recent arrival,

Been after one of these for ages. I was really after one of the cheaper ones from the Century of Cars partwork series, as a slight modification job is on the cards, but even they're quite expensive. The Detail Cars Fiestas these are based on are even more so. Luckily this one came up on ebay at a very reasonable price, so even though I'm loath to spoil a mint boxed example, it'll do.

For a casting from the early'90s-ish, it stands up well against the likes of the Minichamps and Vanguards Mk1s. An oddity with this Solido version is that they went for a copy of the Detail Cars Ghia-spec release, down to the same colour scheme and Ghia/S type wheels, but used the Detail Cars rally spec body, with the slightly flared arches. To confuse things further, they also used the sporty black S spec bumpers. They are the reason I've been after this particular version, as those black bumpers fit in very well with what I've got planned for it...

As mentioned, its in lovely condition for the age, bar this weird casting flaw on the tailgate,

But I think I have a plan for that too.

[danthecapriman]

3 minutes ago, AndyW201 said:

This was a recent arrival,

Been after one of these for ages. I was really after one of the cheaper ones from the Century of Cars partwork series, as a slight modification job is on the cards, but even they're quite expensive. The Detail Cars Fiestas these are based on are even more so. Luckily this one came up on ebay at a very reasonable price, so even though I'm loath to spoil a mint boxed example, it'll do.

For a casting from the early'90s-ish, it stands up well against the likes of the Minichamps and Vanguards Mk1s. An oddity with this Solido version is that they went for a copy of the Detail Cars Ghia-spec release, down to the same colour scheme and Ghia/S type wheels, but used the Detail Cars rally spec body, with the slightly flared arches. To confuse things further, they also used the sporty black S spec bumpers. They are the reason I've been after this particular version, as those black bumpers fit in very well with what I've got planned for it...

As mentioned, its in lovely condition for the age, bar this weird casting flaw on the tailgate,

But I think I have a plan for that too.

Hmm, what are you up to??😄 I’ll be interested to see what you do with this.

I use the IXO mk1 Fester for my conversions & resprays. The black version could be had very heavily discounted not long back so I picked up a few. One is a van now!

[FakeConcern]

In Brighton Marina market this morning and decided to buy this for some reason I can't remember

I had one as a kid, but it was the red one based on a Corvette show car and I always wanted the white Ford GT40 one instead

It has loads of the cards with it

I quickly tried some batteries, but not got it going yet. If anyone wants it for £8 plus postage let me know

I also bought a tidy green Corgi Mini Magnifique and a Corgi Hunter at the market, then a Solido Pug 406 Coupe in Snoopers of Brighton

Amazingly the Hunter has the lid on the tool box, the roo bar and both spotlights still fitted

Also in Snoopers although I didn't buy was this very large DOH Charger

Not sure what the hatch in the roof is for

You get more idea of scale despite upside down

Funny a 1/43 Cortina Mk5 should have been found this morning, I've not seen one before, but saw this today (also Snoopers)

A bit more pricey than the one Bunglebus picked up!

I had a bit of time this afternoon and did a bit more fabrication

1/24 Martoys Fiat 127 bonnet, from aluminium sheet

The orange is paint and it's because the aluminium is just a bit of scrap I'd used for something else before

Starting to take shape and wanting some filler

Politoys Innocenti 1100 boot lid

from the same piece of aluminium

and a Schuco BMW 320 bonnet

Obviously they all need a lot more work, but as I didn't take any in progress pics of the Montreal bonnet, I thought I would this time.

I don't think I've done an update on the plastic 1/43 AMT kits I picked up a few weeks ago. They both were missing the front grill/bumpers so I made resin ones from a Corgi Firebird and an Inter-Cars Nacoral T-Bird

The T-Bird fell to bits while I was working on it. The grills are just pushed in place to test fit for now

I believe I should be able to strip these with Cosmic Soda, but not sure I'm brave enough to try!

[sheffcortinacentre]

That Mk5 is a carousel only about a year old.