Shite in Miniature II

[flat4alfa]

Those Majorette Thunderbirds ran 1986-95, so they got some mileage out of the casting despite it being a bit …crude

But they do have an opening thing!

Blue and yellow variation were 1989-only

I think there is a later yellow one back here somewhere, or was, a last of the line with tampos all over it

[flat4alfa]

On 9/3/2023 at 12:46 PM, MiniMinorMk3 said:

Random shot from the interwebs. Those look like Lone Star Impys to me

They must be Flyers as that is the double-loop Flyway set

That's pinnacle Lone Star era, but only produced 1970-72.  Unless of course Mattel pursued them in court as they did for Corgi Rockets

The wheels are the earlier style for Flyers, 1969-70, fitting with the bonnet/bootlid tampo stripes on the Alfa Spyder (that has only a few minutes left before the screen inevitably detaches and is lost forever!)

I wonder how the young lad in the publicity photo is getting on?  Did he ever find the screen and get around to gluing it back home?  Denise in the bikini just just wanted to know.

[flat4alfa]

Found the tampo'd Thunderbird.

I feel a song coming on, apologies to all in advance.

[MiniMinorMk3]

[bunglebus]

Back in Sutton Coldfield today. Smyths on the way looked promising 

But had nothing new to offer. Previously crap toy shop had a new box of Majorettes

But no Golfs - did have these though. Nabbed the Mog for my mate but the other two are still there for £4.50 each

[flat4alfa]

 

Majorette Ford Thunderbird  (gen-9, Fox body)

You've got to know when to hold 'em
Know when to fold 'em

Know when to walk away
And know when to run

You never count your money
When you're sittin' at the table

There'll be time enough for countin'
When the dealin's done

(Twang twang twang twang waaaooow)

 

Good old Kenny.  RIP.

120 million records
5 marriages
5 children
1 goat called Smitty
1 phone sex line.

[MiniMinorMk3]

Random Diecast (White Metal) of the Day.

 

Rob Eddie, part of the Brooklin brand, who made nice models of Volvos and Saabs. Production ended around 2010.

Everything from the earliest pre-war cars,

Through the PV series

Amazons

100 series

200 series

up to 700 series models were produced.

The Saabs were quite good to

 

 

Almost the full range can be found here

Rob Eddie | hobbyDB

[egg]

Very nice, maybe just missing the Volvo 780?

[Datsuncog]

That Corgi Classics Mack B semi truck has scrubbed up alright.

Bit annoying that Corgi's decision to model these larger commercials in 1/50 rather than 1/43 scale means they can look a bit smol beside their cars from the same era - but I think this earlier Corvair is a bit undersized anyway, so it doesn't look too far out of whack...

[RoadworkUK]

The cost of living crisis has hit home in a big way. Namely, it's virtually impossible to find new 1:18 scale models for less than £50 these days. What's a fella to do?

Well,  I could do the sensible thing and not buy them. But that does little to appease the FOMO pangs of a childhood that I ought really have moved away from by now, but which keeps bobbing to the surface like dead goldfish in a hot pond.

The other thing you can do is buy second-hand models that nobody is particularly interested in, that have somehow lasted for 25-odd years without having been unboxed. And that's exactly what I did, giddily intercepting an eBay listing while slightly inebriated at the Beautiful Days festival a few weeks ago. It arrived on Saturday, to no little rolled-eyes contempt from my other half.

When I was 17 or so, UT models always seemed a step above the Maisto / Bburago norm. That bit more exotic and special. They certainly weren't stocked in any of my go-to diecast purveyors; the three I bought at the time (McLaren F1, Ferrari F355 and Ford Escort Cosworth) came from motorshows at Earls Court and the NEC.  UT, along with Gate were, I believe, precursors to AUTOart, and some of UT's latter releases ran AA fairly close for detail.

This one somewhat predates that era, though. As you've possibly spotted, it's a BMW Z3. But not just any Z3 – the base model! For whatever reason, I really like it when model companies choose to depict models other than the flashiest range-toppers. UT actually modelled a whole host of Z3s; I have the Goldeneye-spec Z3 3.0i elsewhere, and they also did the 'Breadvan' Z3M and a number of other versions, and they also went as far as updating the model when the facelift front and rear lights arrived.

I like this version best of all, though – mainly for those wheels.

Full disclosure, then: I found rather more pleasure in being the first person to remove the door-retaining strips from this BNIB model for probably 25 years than I ought to have done. I was taken back to those times when you know there's something coming to you on the horizon; perhaps pre-christmas, when Mum and Dad hide your Christmas present in the top of their wardrobe,  and you know it's there, so you occasionally sneak in and take a look at it. Maybe hold it for a bit, but you can't open the box.

This box is mine now, though, and having removed the straps, it's now officially second hand. 

It is, I would say, 'quite nice'.

Most importantly, it captures the Z3's proportions very nicely indeed, and that's the most important thing. The paint is good, but it does seem to be quite thickly applied. either that or the metalwork is of a thickish gauge; certainly the edges of the panels seem to be radiused somewhat, like they might if the 1/1 original was made from armour-plated steel.

 

It's not forensically detailed in the way AUTOart models are, but there's been enough attention paid to the prototype for UT's portrayal to be convincing. The headlights and slightly naff orange painted indicators let it down somewhat, though; UT actually improved these (and added details such as brake calipers and seatbelts) on later Z3 releases.

 

Inside, everything is in its right place, but the details are reflected a little 2-dimensionally. AA releases have individually modelled and annotated switches and dials. The Z3's dashboard air vents look great, though, as do the steering wheel, gearstick and pedals.

There's 'enough' detail under the bonnet, too. The single-cam, 1.8-litre M43 engine looks about the right shape, and has a nice BMW badge stamped into the intake manifold. The mouldings have some unwelcome sharp edges, but it's still an adequate rendition of the 115bhp powerhouse of the prototype.

Sidenote – the 1.8 and 1.9-litre Z3s were commonly derided by the contemporary motoring press for being wet and hopeless, and not as speedy and athletic as a sports car should be. Now, though, I'd probably rather have one of those than any of the quicker versions. I really like the idea of having to wring every iota of power out of a sports car, rather than just sipping on massively overadequate reserves of grunt. Plus, country lanes are surely for ambling along in a carefree manner. Why rush things?

So, this isn't the best model in the world. But it's entirely adequate as a representation of a kind of car that we just don't see any more. 

Truth is, having now entirely sobered up from the festival, I feel a little bit of buyer's remorse on this one. But then again, you don't get a huge amount for £25 these days.

(EDIT: What the bloody hell has happened to the pics? The resolution appears to has gone all to buggery post-upload for some reason)

[eddyramrod]

I have a couple of boxed 1/18s in the boot of the Jag, as part of my event-shop stock; they are priced at £25 each.  I suspect that's about what I paid for them some time ago.  One is a pink 1959 Chevy Impala convertible; the other is a 1955 Ford Fairlane Crown Victoria, with alloys and a "hot-rod" paintjob of flames over black.  So it is possible to get something that isn't a European sports car for that kind of money!  

M'learned friend does make a valid point, however, in that prices, as I have been pointing out for a loooooooooooooong time, are running away.  Running away from my tiny budget, and indeed from reality.  1/18s are especially guilty here.  I do still search for them sometimes, but most of my Watch List is 1/43s these days, and even they are running away from me.

[bunglebus]

1 hour ago, RoadworkUK said:

Sidenote – the 1.8 and 1.9-litre Z3s were commonly derided by the contemporary motoring press for being wet and hopeless, and not as speedy and athletic as a sports car should be

My vast experience of them (I drove a 1.8 a couple of times) is that they are gutless, and not fun like revving the tits off a 1300 Escort around the country lanes - just slow

[FakeConcern]

On 9/4/2023 at 1:10 PM, Datsuncog said:

 

Details are still a little hazy, but the first picture of the factory sample dropped over the weekend there:

It's the #318 Elan S2, but sadly not the version with the removable chassis - that was #319.

I have to say, I'm disappointed too that it's not the take-apart version!

Though CMC did produce the De Tomaso Mangusta with removable chassis all the way back in November 2021...

 

If you re-join, then you'll likely have to go through the entire set of releases until you get to the Lotus - so it'd be some time in early 2026 before that arrives...

But luckily you can now buy individual models from the Corgi Model Club shop. They're a bit dearer than through the 'one price' monthly subscription service - going anything from £31.99 to £49.99 plus £3.99 p&p. depending on size and complexity. Still not cheap, but may be a more cost-effective way to nab an Elan?

Once they arrive, they'll be listed on here with the others:

Official Diecast Metal Re-issues Made By Corgi Toys – Corgi Model Club

I had thought of doing this post as a song "This Charming Elan" in homage to @flat4alfa, you know the sort of thing "I would go out tonight, but I haven't got a chassis to wear..." However I couldn't see how to change "when the leather runs smooth on the passenger seat" into something about the wrong coloured seat and and add @Datsuncog to the refrain "he knows so much about these things". So if anyone wants to have a go at this I'm leaving it open.

Now onto my Elans and the CMC re issue. Until I got the blue one from @155V6 the other day, I'd only ever had the removable chassis type, first with an orange and white hardtop pictured here as a stripped shell with the front of the body broken off and glued back on. The chassis for some reason I don't remember has the cast wheels replaced with wire wheels on the rear only. I'm intending to try and restore this one. The next were the green and yellow Lotus Gift set ones I have had from new. Fairly recently I got the other yellow and green and orange and white ones from an ebay seller who lives nearby making them affordable.

Onto the blue one from the 155v6box and it came with a Steve Flowers repro screen and a black seat. I fitted the screen to my original green Elan from GS37 as it had already been taken apart decades ago and used the screen from that which had broken off in a similar way on the blue one so I didn't have to break it open. They both look much better for that! I'm not sure what to do about the seat, either paint the white on black or try to carefully pry it out without breaking anything and squeeze the new one in. I also fitted the last of my Mini Sized Corgi tyres to it, which brings us to an interesting point. Why do the early fixed chassis Elans have spun Mini sized wheels as do the GS37 ones, while the sold separately orange or blue and white hardtops have the larger cast wheels? Unfortunately I don't have enough tyres left to fit to the  spare chassis for my GS that came in the recent CogBox. I've now noticed that the original green one has had Dinky Mini Moke style tyres fitted and they look good being much wider, presumably why the young me did that mod!

So now I know the CMC Elan will be the blue one I'm not so keen to have one as this one is really nice anyway and having a mint in box model is PIA in many ways since unless it's displayed with the box, that has to be stored somewhere and I'm always scared to play with handle them in case they get damaged.

In case anyone wondered, I do still have the drivers, but lately they've been asking about some other cars so I let them have a test drive...

Lastly as regards the Mangusta De Tomaso, I do have the original of this with detachable chassis, but was never so keen on it as it wasn't a car I saw around as I sometimes saw an Elan and obviously saw being driven by Emma Peel or even the more exotic Lamborghini Miura was familiar from The Italian Job so I always liked that as well. Maybe I'm in the minority as it's (the Mangusta) certainly a lovely model.

[sierraman]

I had a 1/18 BMW Z3 wide body by Burago, my uncle brought it back from the UAE, came in a special box you didn’t get in Europe. 

[RoadworkUK]

On 9/5/2023 at 7:09 PM, bunglebus said:

My vast experience of them (I drove a 1.8 a couple of times) is that they are gutless, and not fun like revving the tits off a 1300 Escort around the country lanes - just slow

Sounds like it recaptures that old MGB magic...

[155V6]

9 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

Those Majorette Thunderbirds ran 1986-95, so they got some mileage out of the casting despite it being a bit …crude

But they do have an opening thing!

Blue and yellow variation were 1989-only

I think there is a later yellow one back here somewhere, or was, a last of the line with tampos all over it

A quick look when I got in & I found these

[bunglebus]

19 minutes ago, FakeConcern said:

the Mangusta De Tomaso

Mine...

Is still sulking in the depths of the projects box after a paint removal disaster

I have got Flowers replacement glazing already - it's just gone into unfinished project Purgatory for now

[flat4alfa]

27 minutes ago, 155V6 said:

A quick look when I got in & I found these

Does the white one still smell of coconut?

It's one of the Smelly Speeders (Tutti Frutti in France) series of Majorettes that were fitted with scented wheels.

[155V6]

22 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

Does the white one still smell of coconut?

It's one of the Smelly Speeders (Tutti Frutti in France) series of Majorettes that were fitted with scented wheels.

Miss_155 says yes,very slightly 😂.I think I've got a Jeep Cherokee from the same series somewhere.

[bunglebus]

How strange. I do have a Beetle air freshener 

Not very good pics but it has bulbous windows and holes in the rear one

[FakeConcern]

1 minute ago, bunglebus said:

How strange. I do have a Beetle air freshener 

I’d have been disappointed if you didn’t...

[flat4alfa]

[155V6]

Looking at those,I think I may have the Toyota as well 🤔

[155V6]

Here we go,the Jeep has a daag in the back that smells of bananas 😂

[bunglebus]

1 hour ago, FakeConcern said:

I’d have been disappointed if you didn’t...

There's a Majorette wiki but there's no Volkswagen 1302 page yet. I'm useless at Wiki editing 

[155V6]

I found these as well with the coloured wheels,different series though

[bunglebus]

Don't know if this was one of the smelly versions

 

[Split_Pin]

@RoadworkUK many thanks for the review of a UT BMW, it looks fantastic.

I get quite excited by UT as Leisuretime in Falkirk always had a wide range of 1/18s in the 1990s and Bburago and UT were always the more plentiful.  The latter were well outside of my price range but when both they and I got older, they fell within my reach. 

I have a BMW E46 328i, an E36 Coupe Touring car, Escort Cosworth, McLaren F1 and Ferrari F355. I particularly like the E46 as its a cut above what I would have been able to afford in the 1990s (even although its a bit crude by todays standards). I recall they made a 318i 4 cylinder version too.

[flat4alfa]

11 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Don't know if this was one of the smelly versions

 

Not that one, apart from no tampo indicating what we are supposed to be trying to smell, the full set of nonsense was as over the page:

Toyota Hilux ‘Apple Jazz’

Ford Mustang Convertible ‘Dunkin Orange’

Ford Thunderbird ‘Cool Coconut’

Jeep Cherokee ‘Rockin Banana’

Mercedes 500SL ‘Strawberry Speedster’

Porsche 911 Turbo ‘Chocolate Wave’

But knowing Majorette it was likely part of a series.  I wonder which…

[eddyramrod]

Painting and stripping going on already today.  What can I say?  I was up early!

So... I have a couple of items going in for their third caustic bath, because there's still paint on them that I want to get rid of, but in a second tub I've got two shells I only painted yesterday.  I painted them both silver, which is unusual for me, I don't like silver on cars unless it's actual chrome/stainless, in which case bring it on like a 1958 Buick!  Well I looked at them first-thing and decided that not only do I not like them on principle, but also, the silver is too bloody bright.  So after a quick pass with the handheld wire brush, they are in a bath of their own.  What colour/s to use when I paint them again, is anybody's guess at this stage.

One of the shells going through its third bath is a Leyland Ergomatic chassis-cab by Matchbox King Size.  It carries a tipper body, which stripped remarkably easily and now wears a lovely fresh coat of beige, having previously been silver.  The chassis-cab was maroon.  Not sure what colour that's going to be, but blue or green both look possible.