Shite in Miniature II

[bunglebus]

On 11/05/2023 at 13:52, Datsuncog said:

Far Eastern cheapo 'Nitro Legends' range

Woohoo, found them at last!

Most if not all are clearly cribbed from Hot Wheels castings

TK Maxxxxx next door had these in 1:24 for a not unreasonable £12.99

[bunglebus]

Coming soon

[FakeConcern]

Help needed please;

I am going to swap the wheels on a Corgi Firebird from Red Spots to Teledials (yes I know most people do the reverse and put Red Spots on), I had fully intended to open the car to do it and obviously still could. However while browsing I came across this statement...

Quote

Some guy there had previously shown how to remove red spots and re-attach to a Whizzwheels model without taking off the baseplate. Other mint Whizzwheel Corgis with the red spots have shown up on ebay lately as well. Please Beware!

http://corgitoys.free.fr/English/CORGI_Red_Spot_Whizzwheels.htm

Now I have searched through the site where the quote comes from and also seached with Google and drawn a blank. I can't find any explanation of how to swap Whizzwheels without removing the base plate.

Has anyone done this or know how to? Are your internet research skills better than mine (almost certainly) if so please let me know how to do it!

[danthecapriman]

Post lady dropped this off today. 
A model I’ve been after for ages but they can be pricey, and not that common over here. 
 

French Dinky Chrysler Saratoga. I absolutely love this! It looks fantastic imho, really captures the look of the car. Beautifully soft springy suspension on the back too, might need new shocks!

Definitely a @eddyramrod mobile!😆

[Split_Pin]

I received the new tyres for the Tat Friday Dinky Vanguard and they're a great fit. 

But I can't get the back ones on as there's no room:

Any ideas?

 

[junkyarddog]

Hot soapy water and a blunt blade.

Failing that, you could always cut the tyre then superglue the ends back together. 

[Mine's a Leganza!]

On 5/26/2023 at 5:10 PM, bunglebus said:

We'll be back in Yarmouth at some point over the weekend. Anything in particular? 

How about a tin sign with really odd perspective? 

Is the VW sign very large or is the photo deceptive and the electric socket appears tiny in comparison? How much is it?

[sierraman]

1 hour ago, Split_Pin said:

I received the new tyres for the Tat Friday Dinky Vanguard and they're a great fit. 

But I can't get the back ones on as there's no room:

Any ideas?

 

Fit it at the bottom and work it round? 

[Split_Pin]

1 minute ago, sierraman said:

Fit it at the bottom and work it round? 

Nae space at all. I got 12 tyres so I'm going to try and cut one first and then glue it back together.

[sierraman]

1 minute ago, Split_Pin said:

Nae space at all. I got 12 tyres so I'm going to try and cut one first and then glue it back together.

Have you tried heating the tyre up in some hot water? 

[Split_Pin]

There is no way it would get past this, the hub is touching the body with no play (it's all in remarkably straight condition under there!)

 

[danthecapriman]

Not sure exactly how tight this model is, but I’ve done a few others by the hot water method, and using a Biro pen lid (the thing that hooks the pen over a pocket!) or carefully the blade on a pair of scissors to gently push the rubber under the body. Working it around as you go. Some of them are a twat though!

Could you gently bend the base plate out to make a bit more room then push it back into place after? I know some of those Dinky style bases do bend fairly easily?

[MiniMinorMk3]

Something random from me today. A Bulgarian made Gama Opel GT in Opel Dealer box.

It looks a bit crude.

No idea why the rear is completely chromed.

It does have rotating head lamp housings and opening doors for a bit of playability.

[Split_Pin]

Just now, danthecapriman said:

Not sure exactly how tight this model is, but I’ve done a few others by the hot water method, and using a Biro pen lid (the thing that hooks the pen over a pocket!) or carefully the blade on a pair of scissors to gently push the rubber under the body. Working it around as you go. Some of them are a twat though!

Could you gently bend the base plate out to make a bit more room then push it back into place after? I know some of those Dinky style bases do bend fairly easily?

I thought about bending it but its so straight that I'd be worried about cocking it up. If it was a shonky example I wouldn't mind so much.

[danthecapriman]

Just now, Split_Pin said:

I thought about bending it but its so straight that I'd be worried about cocking it up. If it was a shonky example I wouldn't mind so much.

I did one (can’t remember what car) but if you use a small screwdriver or similar to prise up sometimes the base will just gently curve upwards. Obviously if it folds or creases the metal then it’ll never go back as it was but a gentle curve will push back flat.

That model looks a right pain in the arse though! Never seen any yet where it’s that bad!

[Datsuncog]

I think I'd try for the cut 'n' glue method there too - I'd been looking at it and wondering if there was a sneaky way of getting a new tyre on without either drilling the base off or snipping the tyre, but there really is less than a millimetre of clearance between wheel and body on that Standard... and the hub's mounted fully up inside the body casting too.

Because of where the rivets are mounted on this one, I doubt the base on has enough slack to bend out of the way  to clear a the depth of tyre. On a big US car with a deep trunk, and the rivets at the bumper, quite possibly - but the beetley little shape of the Vanguard with the wheels right at the back probably doesn't lend itself to such machinations.

Deeply annoying - but hopefully if the tyre's glued and then rotated so the split area's up out of sight, it should still display nicely enough!

 

[MiniMinorMk3]

My method to fit a tyre to that Standard Vanguard would be:

1. Cut new tyre with scalpel.

2. Glue one end of tyre to rim of wheel with Super Glue and allow to dry.

3. Roll wheel so tyre goes into rim.

4. Put Super glue on loose end of tyre and use long nose pliers to stretch tyre so that there is no gap when you join the original cut together.

[Split_Pin]

I tried cutting the tyre but because they're a very tight fit, the open ends would never have met without some serious clamping, not possible with the wheel partially tucked under.

Now then, I started to gently bend the base up just ahead of the axle and discovered that the body is what holds each end of the axle in and it just slid out! Dinky had obviously foreseen this and designed the toy so you only needed to bend the base up just enough to clear the axle, before the whole lot slides out. 

The base therefore easily pushed back and now it looks great.

 

[danthecapriman]

2 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

I tried cutting the tyre but because they're a right fit, the open ends would never have met without some serious clamping.

Now then, I started to gently bend the base up just ahead of the axle and discovered that the body is what holds each end of the axle in and it just slid out! Dinky had obviously foreseen this and designed the toy so you only needed to bend the base up just enough to clear the axle, before the whole lot slides out. 

The base therefore easily pushed back and now it looks great.

 

That does look good on new rubber👍

Never knew about that little bit of design either! Good to know.

[Datsuncog]

Wow, that's good to know - I'd assumed that the back axle would be peened over just like the front, and the tyres added before the base and body were riveted together, so that's quite a handy bit of knowledge.

I'll check out if the same arrangements apply to some of my own older Dinkys with similar rear tyre problems whenever I get a chance...

[sierraman]

Excellent work. They really did build things to last in the fifties. 

[danthecapriman]

19 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

Wow, that's good to know - I'd assumed that the back axle would be peened over just like the front, and the tyres added before the base and body were riveted together, so that's quite a handy bit of knowledge.

I'll check out if the same arrangements apply to some of my own older Dinkys with similar rear tyre problems whenever I get a chance...

I like little bits of design like that. Really looks like they thought about it before hand, and designed it to be serviceable and long lasting. 
I wonder how many toy manufacturers would do that now?! Few I’d imagine!

[bunglebus]

2 hours ago, Mine's a Leganza! said:

Is the VW sign very large or is the photo deceptive and the electric socket appears tiny in comparison? How much is it?

It was quite large - I didn't look at the price but it wasn't exactly a bargain basement shop, they wanted £15 for moderately crap pull back cars!

[Mine's a Leganza!]

4 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

It was quite large - I didn't look at the price but it wasn't exactly a bargain basement shop, they wanted £15 for moderately crap pull back cars!

Ok thanks, I thought it might look good in my pool bar in Philippines.

[danthecapriman]

This just arrived too.

Never opened! And came from the US. It’s absolutely mint, even the card isn’t damaged. 
I’m pretty sure this version was US release only, but what makes it rarer still is the wheel error! 
I spotted it on the Bay one day ages ago while looking for something else, it wasn’t listed as an error car or anything so I’m not 100% sure, but it does look weird like that. Anyway, it started its journey here but got lost in Illinois somehow so I expected to never get it. 
Great that it’s turned up though! It’d be a real shame for it to have disappeared.

This leaves only the blue Sierra for me to get now.

[MiniMinorMk3]

12 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

This just arrived too.

 

 

Well spotted. Just had a quick look on the interwebs and that version should have the cross spokes at both ends.

[danthecapriman]

18 minutes ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

Well spotted. Just had a quick look on the interwebs and that version should have the cross spokes at both ends.

Yep, I’ve just been looking at other ones on eBay and they all have cross spokes both ends, so it’s definitely an error car.

Begs the question, how does/did that happen!? It’s glaringly obvious it’s wrong, but worse still, it made it through quality control like that too!

Its good now of course as it means I can probably* retire off that model due to its incredible rarity!

 

 

*not a chance in hell!😅

[bunglebus]

https://www.heart.co.uk/lifestyle/shopping/toys-r-us-returns-to-uk-high-street-list-of-locations-revealed/

Nice...

[eddyramrod]

1 hour ago, danthecapriman said:

an error car.

means I can probably* retire off that model due to its incredible rarity!

 

 

*not a chance in hell!😅

Yeah, I've got a couple of those too.  Not the Sierra, but in fact both are Mercury (sedan) police cars that were supposed to be Plymouths.

[Jon]

Here's a variation that news to me - were you aware of this one @bunglebus?

Released in 1996, according to the seller. I know other older castings were re-released by Corgi in the 1990's but this one passed me by.

Photos lifted from the auction, for posterity.

https://www.trademe.co.nz/4157521088

 

Is there a definitive list of re-releases, anywhere? Off the top of my head was the Land Rover 109, Mercedes truck, Transit tipper, Mercedes Bonna ambulance and US fire engine, in the commercial line.

Incidentally, it seems the crane bucket saw 35 years of service, debuting initially with the Jeep FC 150, in February 1961.

 

Here's mine (would love the lamp post and man it came with!)