Shite in Miniature II

[hennabm]

The laser launcher in the 88 catalogue shows some resemblance to the old CR super booster.

[flat4alfa]

[AndyW201]

More GM rammel through the post!

(Note the incorrect box! At least it was mentioned in the listing)

I was idly browsing 1/43 Calibras as I had seen a Schuco one in yellow, which I liked the look of and was on ebay, looking to see if they come up cheap. They don't! However a Gama one in red was on at a fairly cheap price, and looking through the pics, I noticed the listing also had a MK3 Astra thrown in. I've been after a Gama MK3 for a while now, as apart from a few IXO GSi rally jobs, the MK3 Astra isn't seen in model form much, apart from the period Gama version. A bid was stuck in, and I won. Prices seem to be crazy at the moment for period '90s Gama/Schuco GM dealer stuff, so I was glad to get these two for a decent price.

This GSi like other Gama models of this period is a nice weighty model, helped by the metal base. Detail might be lacking by modern standards but I just love these early '90s models.

The shape is caught really well. I've always been a big fan of the MK3 3 door styling. It's a dead ringer for J175 FHY, which was owned by a workmate of mine, back in the late 90s. The early red-top engined GSis were quite the car to have back then. Nice rendering of the turbine alloy wheels too.

Interior features 'sporty' Recaro type seats and a recognisable MK3 dash. Let down by a boggo Merit-style non airbag wheel though...

 

So I was glad to get the Astra on its own without paying a fortune. I already have this Calibra casting, albeit the updated facelift version by Schuco, so thought it'd make for an interesting comparison.

 

Another nice casting. The wheels appear to be the early 16V  'slab' alloys.

So, compared to the Schuco, obvious difference is the facelift V-grille front of the Schuco.

Main difference inside is inside, the Gama having the usual blocky front seats moulded as part of the floor, the Schuco having more realistic seats, with see through headrests. As can probably be seen, the Schuco boasts a better paint finish. Some would say the Schuco wheels look better too.

Nice early/late duo, but if anyone fancies the pre facelift Gama version for £7.50 posted, give me a shout.

[Amishtat]

1 hour ago, flat4alfa said:

Lamentably not.. Blown head gasket on the 740 has placed a brake of sorts on any diecast purchasing. Which means it was probably packed with choice morsels this morning.. 

[DoctorRetro]

Bit of a back burner 'project' was the Buick Grand National that had no front end. Littlun wanted to graft something on, so I've been hard at work making this Mercedes front end 'fit'. Nearly there.. 

[Dick Longbridge]

On 8/21/2020 at 8:16 PM, Datsuncog said:

Sure thing, I'll set that one aside!

What have you got left out of all your tattage over the last few weeks/months? 

[bunglebus]

36 minutes ago, TheDoctor said:

Bit of a back burner 'project' was the Buick Grand National that had no front end. Littlun wanted to graft something on, so I've been hard at work making this Mercedes front end 'fit'. Nearly there.. 

What a bitsa!

I gained a few interesting ones today, first up yet another version of the MB Sand Digger copy, and again it's the fixed wheel version that crawls down smooth surfaces.

Along with it was this - copy of the MB Mini Pickup

Along with this Tootsietoy.

There were loads of other MC/Corgi/Matchbox in the lot too

Next up, a trio of ambulances. I have the MB Superkings Merc with the stretcher etc so maybe this will become the hearse I've been itching to make

Main interest for me were this Speed Kings K-49, one of the better generic castings...

...and this tatty but unusual Norev Merc . Has almost no interior to speak of and a plastic tailgate

 

Last but not least, K-46 trailer would have been in a 3-pack behind the yellow Mercury Commuter, so now I need a K-34 Thunderclap to sit on it

[andy18s]

This has popped up for sale in BG if anyone has any interest,1959 allegedly

Around a tenner plus postage

[Datsuncog]

44 minutes ago, Dick Longbridge said:

What have you got left out of all your tattage over the last few weeks/months? 

Well, this is what's left from the generalised tat box - anything taken has been crossed out in the text, so if it's not marked as sold, it's still available...

There's also the stuff left over from last week's market haul, on the same basis:

There's some more stuff under the bed too, now I come to think of it, that was last offered out in May... newer stuff, all different prices but not looking all that much for any of them.

Ok, so this one's not that cheap - £10 on this one, which is a fair whack less than paid! Nacoral, 1/24-ish I think.

Sure let me know if anything takes your fancy!

[Datsuncog]

22 minutes ago, andy18s said:

This has popped up for sale in BG if anyone has any interest,1959 allegedly

Around a tenner plus postage

Looks like a late 1980s Polistil to me, minus headlights...

[bunglebus]

Done - shame the paint chipped as I shut the door the 1st time but I'll touch that in. Loads of mods in this one, smoothed out all the trim, handles, badges etc, removed the headlights, indicators and fog lamps from the base and filled the slots where they locate in the body. 3mm jewels for headlights, grey interior with colour coded dash and Hot Wheels wheels with lowered front suspension.  Doesn't look much until you put it next to a stock one. Even thinned out the area under the front 'plate to make it look nicer

 

Edit: forgot the before pic

[Six-cylinder]

In spite of all the temptation placed in front of me by this thread and others I have managed to stick to my own rule, to only buy 1:43 models of the cars I own and have owned.

In April I bought a Rover R8 from HMC, but had to sell it back to him because of the Covid-19 travelling problems. Sadly no model available to buy because while I never touched it, money had changed hands, my name was in the log book and I taxed/insured it.

Come July I bought the green Renault 11 and was pleased there were Corgi models available at low cost. What an awful model it is, the Taxi from James Bond.

A week ago I bought silver Peugeot 406 coupe and have bought the Solido model. The model is not bad but the paint quality is dreadful.

 

 

[DoctorRetro]

@Six-cylinder, I have an almost correctly coloured 1:64 R11 you are welcome to. I'll try to find a picture... 

[DoctorRetro]

This one 

@Six-cylinder

[Six-cylinder]

1 minute ago, TheDoctor said:

This one 

@Six-cylinder

That's great.

Thanks for the offer to take it. I will stick with the one one I have as I don't want to have to buy all my cars in 1:64 as well!

[Remspoor]

22 hours ago, bunglebus said:

I actually have that green one you pictured, this one doesn't seem to have anything on the load bed to attach to

It's the K-34 Pallet truck

Never seen that one.  Edumecation time?

https://matchbox.fandom.com/wiki/Pallet_Truck_(K-34)

[Datsuncog]

Those DAFs are lovely things... the flatbed and the transporter look just right. Still looking for a regular wheels version of the transporter; hopefully I'll get lucky someday at the market.

And, off on a tangent, I hadn't twigged that the Superfast No.13 Lansing Bagnall forklift consisted of two quite different versions:

Earlier version comes with a separate plastic steering wheel; the later version has it cast in (doubtless to stop kiddies choking on it)

Also, the stickers are similar but different -

The winged horse is facing towards the lettering on the earlier version, and away from it on the later one - plus the type is much less bold on the later one. And different wheels, too.

Earlier versions also have the patent number stamped over the rear axle; deleted on the later version, for some reason. Base is the same otherwise. There's also multiple different colour combinations for the forks and the guide rail available, apparently.

As well as being available as a mainline item, the link with the above is that the little Lansing Bagnall also came bundled with the lime green DAF, as part of the Superkings K-20 Cargo Hauler and Pallet Loader set.

I don't have the plastic loading ramp, but you get the idea...

Hours of fun. Still.

[Bren]

Whenever I see a boxed pallet loader I am back to the 70's. There is something about super kings packaging.

[Spottedlaurel]

Cedric is now very Gold, Gold!

1:24 Aoshima Nissan Cedric 330 kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Since had a wet sand and the first of a 2-3 further coats before it gets some clearcoat.

[bunglebus]

7 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

Those DAFs are lovely things... the flatbed and the transporter look just right.

You've got the pallets, that's quite impressive. 

The white pallet truck has quite obvious marks on the load bed where the holes from the green casting have been filled in.

I remember having the forklift as a kid, don't remember which version but I was always quite impressed that it lifted and tilted forward, clever stuff in a small toy

[bunglebus]

Another one finished, and my first redline restoration. Paint is meant for stained windows over a polished body, found a UK supplier for the glass, wheels and surfboards. It's come a long way from the  tatty trodden on bus I started with

[bunglebus]

Matchbox K-60 Ford Mustang arrived in nice condition but missing glass, possibly a factory error as it's pretty undamaged other than that

But I had a plan...

Presto, fixo!

[junkyarddog]

5 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Another one finished, and my first redline restoration. Paint is meant for stained windows over a polished body, found a UK supplier for the glass, wheels and surfboards. It's come a long way from the  tatty trodden on bus I started with

 

Where did you get the glazing from,I've one that needs it.

Nice paint finish too.

 

[bunglebus]

56 minutes ago, junkyarddog said:

Where did you get the glazing from,I've one that needs it.

Nice paint finish too.

 

Here - they do the Brightvision range. but I can't see the glass listed now https://www.marshall-motors-hot-wheels.co.uk/store/brightvision

I'd message them, they guy seems really good and was interested in seeing my finished car when I ordered the bits for it

[Datsuncog]

Another candidate for the original vs. new arrival challenge... the yellow Superfast Jeep I picked up last week, against my childhood original.

Now, there's a fair bit of difference there... not least the almost total lack of paint.

I'm not sure whether 'my' Jeep had belonged to my older cousin, or whether it had arrived in a box of assorted soldiers and military guff from a colleague of Cog Sr... but it was always in that state during the thirty-odd years it's been in my care.

You can see that there are still some vestiges of yellow paint clinging to it, as well as evidence of a military repaint at some point. I coloured in the jerry can at the back with a green Matchbox Graffic Traffic pen, for reasons that are now unclear.

Why and how the paint was stripped off it is also uncertain, as it's been pretty thoroughly done. But I actually really liked the bare metal appearance - it looked like a vehicle that had been sandblasted after decades of hard use in desert conditions. Its battered appearance, including dings to the body and a bent bumper, meant that it often got brought into various play scenarios, especially when playing outside in the dirt.

There's still quite a lot of dirt clinging to it, as it happens. But it's not for cleaning.

The fragile windscreen surround has gone the way of many, and it's also lost its plastic steering wheel.

I wrote at length before about the history of this casting, starting out with the pink Hot Rod Jeep, then as the military Jeep, then in the US-only Roman Numerals range as the Sleet 'n' Snow, then as the Mainline US Mail Jeep, before bowing out in the form of this Gliding Club towcar in the Two Pack range (although the shell was resurrected on a taller chassis as the 4x4 Jeep).

But there was still a minor surprise waiting for me:

I hadn't clocked that my once-yellow Jeep had been incorrectly fitted with the base off a Roman Numerals Sleet 'n' Snow. Well well well.

This seems to have been a not uncommon error at the Matchbox factory, and my mainline US Mail version also has the same base, only in white. The big Charlie Mack book lists both versions as known variants of the Sleet 'n' Snow, and they're not especially valuable, even when mint.

But I've a real soft spot for this casting, and I'll be holding on to these for a while...

So... some tat then, since it's Friday?

[bunglebus]

4 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

Another candidate for the original vs. new arrival challenge... the yellow Superfast Jeep I picked up last week, against my childhood original.

 

I should have one of those arriving shortly, I'll let you know what the base says. 

Chodspeed at the market, somehow I can't see the tat box beating last week's but if these's a Hot Wheels Evil Weevil in there I'm calling dibs now!

[Datsuncog]

Another dark morning of blattering rain, and another quiet market in fair Belfast - though that didn't stop the tat stall already having three bedraggled old giffers already hovering at 8.05am, with me making the numbers up to four. Initial indications were that there wasn't much change from last week.

One lad was digging through the tat box with all the grace and finesse of a caffeinated beagle on a bowling green, making me wince everytime he raked through the diecast therein.

I must have scowled and grimaced sufficiently beneath my mask to make him move along, though I was momentarily stunned to see that he had not one, but two Corgi Juniors Aerocars clutched in his paws. Bugger.

BUT at least that indicated that there was some new stuff in there since last time.

And indeed there was: in fact, I didn't recognise anything in this tub that was also there last week. Plenty of modernish Hot Wheels, however - loads and loads of those 60s/70s muscle cars from the mid-2000s, in so-so condition.

Fantasy racer stuff aplenty too...

...and a smattering of older Matchbox Superfast, most of which I already have.

Some Majorette too, and plenty of no-name rubbish as well.

Overall, it looked slightly more exciting than it turned out to be. No Weevils sadly, Evil or otherwise, though I did make a few quite nice discoveries, which duly went into the Hat of Tat...

And up top, minimal change from last week also:

Boxed Corgi remain £20, MoYs £5.

£5 on the nice Bburago Range Rover too.

Other bits and pieces giving me déjà vu also...

Buses don't seem to be shifting at £3, and I'm not surprised - these are resto only.

Bond, Stobart, police, touring car shiz - no real change. Still a fiver on these.

So I squared up with Blokey for my purchases, and toddled round to the Charity Stall, which had nothing new or noteworthy. So now I'm off to get a few groceries, and then will probably scoot off home... so if there's anything in the above (shaky, dreadful) pics that you simply can't live without, let me know ASAP, kids!

Til later!

[bunglebus]

That grey Hot Wheels that looks like a B-52 please

[NorthernMonkey]

I wouldn’t say no to that black Volvo estate behind the Stobart truck if you’re heading back ?

[Datsuncog]

Well, passing back round on my final loop caused me to pause with a sudden flutter of shock:

It was the Bburago Mk2 Escort that grabbed my eye, funnily enough.

It's very nice - though also £30.

And in the little box...

HNNNNNNGGH

CORGI ROCKETS!

Unfortunately, they're not 50p. Nope, selling as one lot, also for £30.

Eight cars (ranging from very good to fair, none mint but all complete) and three boats with trailers.

£3 each? What think you?