Shite in Miniature II

[sierraman]

Some period mods to my Rancho...

[Tenmil Socket]

Cheers @bunglebus it looks great in my office!

[sierraman]

How difficult would it be to make a sheet of 1/43 scale number plates on water slide? 

[MiniMinorMk3]

19 hours ago, danthecapriman said:

Did they have a number that the model was actually meant to be? Or did they just slap whatever number sticker they had to hand at the time on? So far I’ve seen the primrose and blue Mini with numbers 1, 3 and 7 on them. I think my blue one has number 1 stickers on.

That green Mini Magnifique in my pic is, eventually, going to be repainted a different colour (inspired by @eddyramrod purple velvet one!) once I’m in a position to strip it down and paint it of course. Needs a few repairs to the bumpers and the doors and boot lid are very loose so I’ll have a look at tightening them up a bit if I can too.

1, 3 and 7 were the only numbers on both the yellow and blue versions.

I have another yellow on the unboxed shelf which has lost it's numbers, and a blue No.7 that has been sticker bombed.

They are all Morris badged cars

Also marked as Morris on the base.

Which is different to the later rally cars where the naming was moved to the floor and off the sills.

 

19 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

 

Or you could go with the box colour that was never released

Which would be a better match for the sunroof cover stripes?  Maybe.

The colour of the car on the box looks like an interpretation of the latter metallic red used on the Mini Minor model.

18 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

This is the 1:43 Solido ALFA Carabo Bertone

This is boxed and like new

 

I did put it on 'bay to raise some funds but it sat for months at £14 or so

 

So I kept it

 

I guess it did not sell as it was a later plastic box version with clear windows. The Carabo was made by Solido for years and years. The earlier ones issued in card boxes had an orange tint to the windows.

16 hours ago, FakeConcern said:

The thing is you’re a long time dead so just do what you want and fuck anyone who doesn’t get it.

 

I've thought this from a very early age. I've not known anyone else in my life who has the passion for toy and model cars that I have and I rarely shared my latest acquisitions with anyone. I have always had shelves with stuff on every since the age of 11 when I started building Monogram and Revell kits. My diecast collecting started when I was in my early 20s. I have completely changed my collection and what I collect around 4 times since.

I have recently decided that loads of little cars in dark boxes would be put to better use so at the moment I am slowly selling off what is left of my ebay dealings, and then I will be slowly selling off my personal collection. So far it has taken two years and I am still not halfway through it. No one in my family would know what to do with them all, and I'd hate for them to go in the skip or donated to a charity shop. If I was nearing the end I would be placing what is left with Vectis Auctions, so that the models could live on in someone else's collection and her in doors would have some money to stick me in the oven.

 

It has been interesting reading every ones back stories and thoughts on the collecting thing. It has never been a thing of embarrassment to me, as I find what other people do to be just as baffling. Why do blokes sit by rivers hooking fish, only to throw them back? Why do blokes walk round a bit of parkland batting a stupid white ball into a hole. Why does anyone get excited about athletics? What is the point of Sudoku? Never think what you do in your spare time is embarrassing as it is nothing compared to being caught sort whilst out in public!

[MiniMinorMk3]

17 minutes ago, sierraman said:

How difficult would it be to make a sheet of 1/43 scale number plates on water slide? 

When I've wanted to make plates I just print them on to paper then put sellotape over the top of them.

The only new car I have ever owned.

My dusty Vitesse model that sit on one of my book shelves.

[Split_Pin]

If you want to make realistic plates just take a front and rear pic of your car, use a proprietary snipping tool to extract the plate and then paste it to word.

Or go on to a show plates site and select pre 2001 font, type in your plate, snip it and paste to word. 

You can resize the image until it prints out at just the right size.

[Split_Pin]

1 hour ago, sierraman said:

Some period mods to my Rancho...

Someone's still got some mid 1980s Scalextric decals!

[sierraman]

This is my first effort 

[flat4alfa]

Ringer!

[Datsuncog]

Deboxed some of the Saturday finds - starting with the DY-24 Ferrari Dino 246 GTS.

For a mass-market collectable from the early 1990s, it's not too badly done. The stubby shape's good, the tiny 'Dino' and 'Pininfarina' tampos are finely rendered, and the plastic glazing unit with the windshield surround matched to the body colour is quite neatly handled.

Some reasonable effort's been made at the Cromodora rims - which could possibly be detailed up a little more, to pleasing effect.

I thought for a brief moment that the rear bootlid opened, due to clear shutlines - but seemingly not.

But there is a party trick I didn't know it had:

Yup, the targa roof pops off for wind-in-the-wig motoring.

Nice touch.

Which also gives better visual access to the interior, which is... eh, of its time.

It's not Minichamps grade, put it that way. But then, it wasn't Minichamps prices when new...

Base detail is perfunctory, but fine.

Despite not generally finding that Ferraris do it for me, I do really like these models - and first learned of this one's existence from an edition of Classic & Sportscar I bought on a school trip in 1991.

It had a set of postcards inside, detailing the new Matchbox Dinky releases - including the Dino along with the Mini Cooper, and the MGB V8.

Coincidentally the same issue also had a profile of the cars from the TV show The Persuaders! - the Aston DBS driven by Roger Moore as Lord Brett Sinclair, and the Dino driven by Tony Curtis as Danny Wilde.

So I've waited a while for this one (I have the other two) - but don't know where the tear-out postcards are these days. They lived on a pinboard in my bedroom for about fifteen years, but now... who knows.

Kind of annoyed now that I disposed of so many of my Matchbox Dinky last year...

Mostly these were variations - I still have these castings in my collection, just in different colours.

But my completionist tendencies still twitch...

[flat4alfa]

1 hour ago, Split_Pin said:

Someone's still got some mid 1980s Scalextric decals!

Ah!  Yes first issued with the 1980 re-release of the Ford Escort (new chassis / motor and set up for lights) as C118 Westwood Racing

I'm intrigued to know how you fitted the matching square front plate on a Rancho!

I presume some scissors were involved

[sierraman]

The front square plate is on something else. 

[Split_Pin]

I've got that Escort but it was given to me by a colleague in the HGV workshop I worked at. It was just a shell so I fitted a plastic and base and Superkings wheels. It looks great and the interior is still intact.

[flat4alfa]

14 minutes ago, sierraman said:

The front square plate is on something else. 

Ringer!

[155V6]

5 hours ago, sierraman said:

Ex @danthecapriman Landrover. Paint not perfect but better than it was and a new set of tyres. 

I picked up this battered old thing a couple of weeks ago

It had road tyres which were too small,so I took it to the toyfair & got it the set that are on it now.Not sure what they're from,the seller has a load of different types for  £1.00 a set

[AndyW201]

Really enjoyed reading over the last few pages, it seems theres a lot linking us guys on this here thread, makes me think that I'm not such a sad case after all! 

It all goes back to the Jack & Jill toy shop (later Romer-Parrish, finally swallowed up by Toymaster), in Middlesbrough for me. 

Three glorious floors of heaven for any kid. My childhood Corgi, Matchbox and Burago mainly came from here. Quite a rarity at the time, they were also a big Siku dealer throughout the 1980s. Bigger stuff like the Corgi 1/36 stuff and 1/24  Buragos were for birthdays and Christmas, but after being dragged around the town centre all day every Saturday, a Matchbox Superfast/1-75 or Corgi Junior would be my reward for being a good lad on most weeks...  The big Corgis were my favourites, the subjects were realistic and relatable. Even then I loved the details like realistic seats, head rest shapes and steering wheels on the likes of the Merc 240D and Jaguar XJ12, along with realistically proportioned wheels, compared to the slightly oversized wheels and arches of the Matchbox Superkings. I think, even back then, that was probably steering me towards collecting the more realistic, detailed collector's models that I go for now! I remember the delight of going in there and discovering newly released Corgis like the 1/36 MK3 Escort,  Metro, Sierra, Renault 11 and MG Maestro, all normal, everyday type cars.

The top mezzanine level of the shop was for plastic model kits, they always had a massive selection,  and stuff like table tennis tables and snooker/pool tables. When I got to about 15-16, there was an absolutely stunning teen girl working Saturdays in that department. Hence a sudden rise in built plastic kits in my room around about that time...

As late teens kicked in, like quite a few of us, real 1:1 scale cars and pursuing more 'adult' activities took over. But I never lost the love of small stuff. In many ways, small cars were more rewarding to own than the money-gulping ungrateful bastards that the real things were!

Fortunately, personally I've never really found collecting toys/models to be a cause of embarrassment. Although I am often that guy referred to previously on here who can be seen dressed  in work clothes in  Morrisons or Asda rifling enthusiastically through Hot Wheels bins, which does get me some strange looks from people but I've stopped giving a shit. It's the hobby I've chosen, these people probably piss away hundreds at the weekend at the matches, or at the shithole which is our town centre of a Saturday night and have sod all to show for it on Sunday morning. I'm well out of that sort of thing now.

Mrs 201 has always been 100% sound about my diecast obsession. She always knew I was a car enthusiast from the start, even when we knew each other before we got together, so I don't think the fact I was into toy and model cars was that much of a shock. I had them on display in my old room at Mum & Dad's, but it was always 'older' stuff like collector's 1/43 stuff and built plastic kits rather than 'toys'. She's even indulged me in the hobby a fair bit, I used to drop hints at what I'd like, she'd go online shopping and get me models for birthdays and Christmas. Now it's just "Get whatever you want and I'll wrap them up. You know which ones you're after".  I'm even allowed the display cabinet in the front room that I can  comfortably get 72 (currently) 1/43 models in. (I could probably cram more in but I do like to display them on an angle with a bit of space between the models to actually see them,

rather than just jammed in side by side like I've seen some displays). But then at the other end of the front room, she has an identical cabinet with her collection of Lenox lead crystal Winnie the Pooh figurines, so it's just give and take. I have my interests, she has hers. As long as the mortgage and bills get paid, the house gets titivated every now and then with new carpets, paint etc, us and the kids are fed and clothed, the cars are kept running, and we have a modicum of savings built up, we don't give each other grief really about spending on ourselves, we both work bloody hard for it. The mortgage is paid off next month too. Due to the current mortgage shitshow, our planned move to a better house has had to be put on ice, but right now, we're just counting our blessings that we're in a far better situation than a lot of people currently are.

As long as I don't have TOO many of those small boxes coming through the door in a month.

(You lot don't bloody help in that respect!!!)

Both the wife and kids know that there is probably a few quids worth up there in the loft and in the display cabinet. As much as I get pleasure out of the hobby, as I stare into the abyss of the big 5-0 approaching and my health not being as good as it was (my Dad died suddenly on holiday in Spain at the age of 64 and he was in pretty good shape for his age), I do sometimes worry about what is going to happen to it all when I'm not here. The wife knows all about the diecast thread on here, the diecast  sites I go on on Facebook and that there are people on there who buy joblots and collections, but that way you get a fraction of what they're worth. Or do I get to a certain age, pack them all up and lob them all on eBay, or just leave everything to them and have the kids keep them for longer?

But a look on my eBay watchlist suggests I'm not about to stop any time soon. There's always something on there winking at me...

[bunglebus]

Here are some glamour shots of the new Matchbox wot I did buy

This one reminds me of something 

Oh and this old thing

[bunglebus]

A few of the cars from the bag of charity shop goodies

Should the 924 have a spoiler or something? 

Both of those were made in France which is one of the uncommon countries of production 

That's another twin-pack Cattle Truck

[bunglebus]

Lastly these Superkings came from eBay, they all had quite expensive postage so I won 3 out of four auctions and got combined postage on them all

[AndyW201]

Yup, that Kadett is going to be the next "must find" on my list. Although with the hundreds  of previous case Matchbox clogging up all the local B&Ms, I'm not expecting to see that mix any time soon...

[155V6]

9 hours ago, sierraman said:

I can associate with that. Reading through the matchbox catalogue for things like the Swap Body Leyland Roadrunner that we’d never seen let alone had the spending money to buy. Fortunately we were avid car booters so we’d get lots of stuff used or from the jumble sale. I still have a Matchbox Rover Sterling, in laser wheels, I distinctly remember going with my grandad to the rent office as people did once a week in those days and us getting it from the now long since defunct paper shop that was on the shops. I don’t know why but I remember it like yesterday, it was in a case on the counter. 

I've got the Swap Body Road Runner,I picked it up last year in a lot from FB Marketplace.It was one of those things that I didn't know existed,like the Bedford CF Ambulance from a few years earlier

Flatbed without anything fitted

Open back fitted,this is metal

Side tipper fitted,this is metal too

Box body,this is plastic

[Split_Pin]

2 minutes ago, 155V6 said:

I've got the Swap Body Road Runner,I picked it up last year in a lot from FB Marketplace.It was one of those things that I didn't know existed,like the Bedford CF Ambulance from a few years earlier

Flatbed without anything fitted

Open back fitted,this is metal

Side tipper fitted,this is metal too

Box body,this is plastic

That's tremendous, exactly proportioned for the lightweight Leyland Roadrunner.

This was one of my favourite Superkings lorry castings second only to the DAF 3300 Space Cab but it came in frustrating versions. The cement mixer was too similar to the earlier Bedford TM version and the 6 wheel Rolonof and the 32 Ton articulated Tipper were implausible for what was a light truck cab. The above version is just right though!

[flat4alfa]

18 hours ago, AndyW201 said:

Yup, that Kadett is going to be the next "must find" on my list. Although with the hundreds  of previous case Matchbox clogging up all the local B&Ms, I'm not expecting to see that mix any time soon...

Yes I expected the same.  To prove the point, this evening I went out on mission*

Thought I'd do a circuit.  Drove all the way to the big retail park underneath the flight path of Luton Airport (Oooo-we ooooo, Luton Airport).  Went into big B&M.  What a mess and STILL no Matchbox at all, just all old case Hot Wheels.  Went next door into big Poundland.  Hopeless.  Got out of there, which took ages as it's a pit of feuding subcultures where no-one helps each other out on the roads.  Didn't get shot though.

Went to Smyths in another retail park, miles out.  Wanted that Hot Wheels Alfa GTV6, but nothing, just old cases.  Was a bit narked at this, so succummed to this deal to make the petrol effort seem worthwhile

 

Got out of there eventually, as traffic was insane, even at 8pm

Went big B&M more local to me, full expecting it to be a disappointment.  Saw Friendly Shelf-Stacking Lady™, who recognised my face as the wierdo into toy cars, smiled and pointed straight over to something hanging on the shelf up the long aisle.

I seem to have got myself over-excited shortly after

 

Got back and expecting a 'where have you been all this time?' confrontation, I instead found the wife crashed on the sofa.  So I was able to hide the evidence.

[flat4alfa]

1 hour ago, bunglebus said:

Should the 924 have a spoiler or something? 

[Datsuncog]

Daaaaaaamn.

I gotta get me to B&M stat.

[sierraman]

9 hours ago, 155V6 said:

I've got the Swap Body Road Runner,I picked it up last year in a lot from FB Marketplace.It was one of those things that I didn't know existed,like the Bedford CF Ambulance from a few years earlier

Flatbed without anything fitted

Open back fitted,this is metal

Side tipper fitted,this is metal too

Box body,this is plastic

It’s fabulous isn’t it. I don’t think they made them all that long tbh. Superkings of that era seem a bit hit and miss. Anyone remember the Mercedes hiab truck. 

[Split_Pin]

38 minutes ago, sierraman said:

It’s fabulous isn’t it. I don’t think they made them all that long tbh. Superkings of that era seem a bit hit and miss. Anyone remember the Mercedes hiab truck. 

Yes wasn't it a logging truck with a drawbar?

I had both early and late versions of the Mercedes. The early ones had 5 spoke wheels, an interior, tipping cab with engine details and a wind deflector on the roof. Post 1986 examples had a fixed cab, no deflector and the 2 steering beacons on the roof. I can't remember if it had an interior. 

My early Mercedes was an 'Anitran' livestock transporter which came with some doomed cows. I still have it although the strainer has somewhat fallen to bits. The later one was a boat transporter, I sold that on about ten years ago now as part of a large diecast purge.

[sierraman]

2 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

Yes wasn't it a logging truck with a drawbar?

I had both early and late versions of the Mercedes. The early ones had 5 spoke wheels, an interior, tipping cab with engine details and a wind deflector on the roof. Post 1986 examples had a fixed cab, no deflector and the 2 steering beacons on the roof. I can't remember if it had an interior. 

My early Mercedes was an 'Anitran' livestock transporter which came with some doomed cows. I still have it although the strainer has somewhat fallen to bits. The later one was a boat transporter, I sold that on about ten years ago now as part of a large diecast purge.

I have those but the one I’m on about has Apex on the side and had the chassis of the logger but a hi-ab fitted. From circa 1987-88ish? 

[MiniMinorMk3]

17 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

Deboxed some of the Saturday finds - starting with the DY-24 Ferrari Dino 246 GTS.

For a mass-market collectable from the early 1990s, it's not too badly done. The stubby shape's good, the tiny 'Dino' and 'Pininfarina' tampos are finely rendered, and the plastic glazing unit with the windshield surround matched to the body colour is quite neatly handled.

I always thought the Matchbox Dinky was a bit crude, but then as you say, it was only about £5 when issued. The biggest error on it is the Pinninfarina badge, it should be on the other side.

For about twice the price you could of had the Vitesse version, which is far better detailed, and came in a range of colours and versions. Vitesse made Dinos for quite a while, so they are easy to find.

First box. Italian car with clear indicator lenses.

Second box

Square box with better detailing of side windows.

Limited Edition silver car with black wipers and orange indicators. Also has later wheel style.

Some colour variations

But better than the Vitesse is the later issued Bang model. This was around £25 when new, but had photoetch detail. I can only find this 10 Years of Bang version at the momment.

Best of all though was the very expensive (£35-£40) Kyosho version. These Kyosho Ferrari models were absolutely stunning. The had the look and feel of a BBR hand built that cost double what the Kyosho cost. They also had open panels and fully detailed engines.

Here's an Enzo showing off its engine.

 

17 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

 

Kind of annoyed now that I disposed of so many of my Matchbox Dinky last year...

Mostly these were variations - I still have these castings in my collection, just in different colours.

But my completionist tendencies still twitch...

I started buying the Matchbox Dinkys when they first came out, and I kept buying them as new ones were issued. I kind of stopped soon after my son was born and couldn't justify spending on little models cars so much. I liked the Beetle as it was the version with the crotch cooler flaps on the front quarter panels. The Bentley Continental was also a favourite along with the MGB.

When I got into Ebay, the Matchbox Dinkys I had were the first to go, as by that time I was collection F1 Ferraris and Italian road cars.

[MiniMinorMk3]

Give them another year or two and they'll be going home dreaming of something else.