Shite in Miniature II

[sierraman]

IIRC Rough Riders were branded sometimes under Matchbox.

 

The Polo looks awesome. Good investment while this stuffs cheap, at some point someone will catch on to them. Super kings are the same.

[Felly Magic]

I remember having a couple of MBX branded Rough Riders, plus a smaller Toyota Tercel estate thing from I think either Tyco or Tomy, I think was branded as 'Stompers'. 

[junkyarddog]

More repaints,

Majorette Citroen CX and a Lonestar Caddy,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Very pleased with the outcome

[sierraman]

What method do you use to replace the original rivets on the base?

[junkyarddog]

Small drill to bore into the post,then a bigger one to take the head off of the rivet.

Then tap the hole and use a small screw cut to length.

 

Sometimes use a small self tapping screw,depends on what's available to me at the time.

[Burnside]

Nice work on the repaints! That Citroen CX looks fantastic must get one myself. Really need to get my backside into gear and do the 20+ majorette / matchbox cars I've been collecting up. 

 

What paint stripper do you use as the stuff I've used on the ones I've resprayed so far are rubbish. 

[sierraman]

Small drill to bore into the post,then a bigger one to take the head off of the rivet.

Then tap the hole and use a small screw cut to length.

 

Sometimes use a small self tapping screw,depends on what's available to me at the time.

Have you a picture of this so can see what I'd work to?

[Felly Magic]

Looking nice there JYD, I've seen a few people use that method, and they use small hex head screws to re assemble. Pouchefmarowbe does that when he does wheel swapd on HW & MBX 1/64 ish scale stuff on youtube. Warning he is severely unhinged, and is deffo a 'marmite' bloke. I also watch a Canadian bloke on the tube of yous who is also nuts, and has an absolutely mahoooooooooooooooosive collection of 1/64 scale I think is username is wtffor. His voice is a bit monotone, but oh boy.....

[mercrocker]

Sometimes I use the rivets you can buy from Steve Flowers Model Supplies and araldite them in.   It is not always possible (for me with wobbly hands anyway) to centre drill some thin-walled or shallow rivet tubes.   

 

Good work on the Eldorado, Mr Dog, by the way!

[Felly Magic]

I put more old Legoshite furzale in the open forums general blather bit. 

[junkyarddog]

Have you a picture of this so can see what I'd work to?

Tatty Majorette Renner 11

 

 

Tap and small screws.

 

Or,these small self tappers will do too.

These mainly came from old car radios ect.

 

Hold in vice under the pillar drill,bore into post using the small drill bit,go slowly to stop a build up of heat,as the metal can clog the drill bit.

Also keep and eye to how deep you are into the post.

 

When deep enough,drill off the head with the bigger bit,

 

Ready to come apart,

 

Apart,

 

Small self tapper screwed into the drilled out post,

 

That's pretty much how I do it.

[junkyarddog]

Renner 25

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can see the small screw in the base here.

[sierraman]

Right, food for thought, might have a crack at it this summer with some car boot finds. I've tried glueing before but find the joint itself is very brittle. Might try this on the Corgi Renault 16 i restored.

 

It's a really satisfying way to bring life back into a tatty model and to get a specific period colour.

 

Ironically I have the Majorette R25 in that colour, it's an original colour they did in the early 90s.

[junkyarddog]

 

 

What paint stripper do you use as the stuff I've used on the ones I've resprayed so far are rubbish. 

Just some crappy stuff from B&Q,

works well on some,not so well on others.

 

Tend to leave on overnight and wash it off the next day using an old toothbrush,

whatever paint is left usually comes off with the wire brush.

[Spottedlaurel]

Excellent work there! Rather better than the hand-painted Humbrol efforts I used to do back in the day......

 

When I stripped paint off plastic kits I used brake fluid.

[paulscavalier]

What paint do you use? I repainted a matchbox Porsche 944 in blue with some leftover car aerosol. I primed it first then topcoated and lacquered it. But is there a better way with more durable paint?

[junkyarddog]

What paint do you use? I repainted a matchbox Porsche 944 in blue with some leftover car aerosol. I primed it first then topcoated and lacquered it. But is there a better way with more durable paint?

That's just what I use,you can buy specific paints and airbrush them on but that's too much of a faff for me.

 

I do heat the paint and casting first though,just use a hot air gun on both.

[junkyarddog]

Looking nice there JYD, I've seen a few people use that method, and they use small hex head screws to re assemble. Pouchefmarowbe does that when he does wheel swapd on HW & MBX 1/64 ish scale stuff on youtube. Warning he is severely unhinged, and is deffo a 'marmite' bloke. I also watch a Canadian bloke on the tube of yous who is also nuts, and has an absolutely mahoooooooooooooooosive collection of 1/64 scale I think is username is wtffor. His voice is a bit monotone, but oh boy.....

Yeah,seen both of those,not mad on the Canadian chap but the other guy is quite funny.

 

I prefer this guy.

 

https://www.youtube.com/user/baremetalHW

[paulscavalier]

That's just what I use,you can buy specific paints and airbrush them on but that's too much of a faff for me.

 

I do heat the paint and casting first though,just use a hot air gun on both.

Ok thanks, i will try that when I do the next one

[Felly Magic]

I used to use rattle cans too when I did code 3 model buses years ago, sadly my eyesight and hands aren't up to doing that now. I must have done at least 100 over the years. I prefered doing EFE model buses as thay were easy to get to bits, just 3 small drill holes in the plastic grommets, which could be re used with a dab of glue, Corgi OOc on the other hand, I sometimes had to use the sodding black & decker & violence

[RayMK]

Toy (and model) cars and suspension.  When I was about 10 years old, Dinky, Corgi and Spot-on toys started to make cars with suspension and in some cases steering as well.  I can recall the pent up excitement as I saved to buy the two tone grey Dinky Rolls Royce Silver Wraith which was advertised in the Meccano Magazine. I was not disappointed. The suspension was quite soft and, with a bit of plasticine luggage on the roof (boot did not open), it could be made to behave in a quite realistic fashion.  This set the trend for Dinky cars so-equipped.  Corgi toy cars on the other hand had such hard suspension that a 2lbs bag of sugar was insufficient to make the suspension work.  Corgi's philosophy appeared to assume that kids would press hard enough on the car to make it lean or whatever during a car chase.  Then I bought a couple of much more expensive Spot-on toys - a long wheelbase Landrover and a Bristol 406.  These, although they had different suspension in each, were delightfully compliant (Landrover had plastic blades extended from the interior moulding whereas the Bristol had coil springs in turrets).  The Landrover's axles would articulate on uneven surfaces without needing extra weight on board.  A year or two later whilst on holiday in the South of France, I bought a Norev (plastic) Renault 4 van. This was brilliant because it had opening doors and suspension.  A few discarded magnets from old model electric motors made ideal cargo and brought the suspension to life.  Eventually, even Matchbox managed to engineer suspension into some of the models, the Rolls Royces (Phantom and Shadow) being particularly effective in achieving realistic compliance. 

 

Did any manufacturer of toys or models ever replicate the 'bandy legged' behaviour of swing axles e.g. on Mercedes Fin Tails, Triumph Heralds or rear engined Renaults? Some cars with this form of suspension look wrong in model form with or without working suspension because the wheels are perpendicular to the 'road' surface whereas the real vehicle had slight but noticeable positive or negative camber.

 

I must explore my loft.  They are all up there somewhere, although the Dinky Rolls suffered from a period of banger racing when I reached the sometimes destructive stage of my development in to an obnoxious teenager. 

[mercrocker]

I found Dinky steering quite odd, because the car leaned the wrong way when making a turn!    Corgi springs were indeed notably stiffer, but they managed to achieve a nice degree of squishy "ride" with the '59 Impalas although most of the examples I have had picked up a port-side list even those that never appeared to have been played with.   Matchbox, as you say, did a great job on their small scale stuff - I particularly liked the axle articulation on the 6 wheel Alvis Stalwart and Salamanders.

 

I must have been a peculiarly pedantic child as I never played with anything that I deemed to be "unrealistic" and even at a pre-school age apparently would not play with Matchbox and Dinky cars together due to the scale discrepancies.    I am glad that I reached sufficient maturity to stop playing with them just as all the low-friction axle stuff came out - they wouldn't have done at all!      

[quicksilver]

I've been having a go at some more plastic Fords. A second Hornby Sierra had some work, not quite as extreme as the holy grey grille and still not quite right but much better than before. This one is the antithesis of the bASe - look at its fancy metallic paint, colour-keyed trim, alloy wheels, sunroof and tinted windows.

 

And another of the good old Minix models, the Corsair this time with wheels and interior from an Oxford Mark 2 Cortina. It's supposed to be a 2000E but I didn't realise until after painting it that the 2000E didn't have the chrome side strip - odd that the posh one had less chrome than the lesser models.

 

Here's a crazy idea I had so I dived right in and gave it a go. A Minix Triumph 2000 being converted into a Dolomite. Doesn't look too bad so far but there's still a long way to go.

 

[eddyramrod]

I too was surprised by the lack of bling on the 2000E.  The one I owned in 1982 seemed awfully bare, but a neighbour had a much nicer example and his was equally devoid, so it must have been right.

[Bren]

My latest purchase -

Dinky joe 90 jet car. The flashing light still works - I now have all the Gerry Anderson Dinky toys.

[Junkman]

I found Dinky steering quite odd, because the car leaned the wrong way when making a turn!

That's why I learned how to drift at age 4.

Btw. the best steering of evah was provided by Tekno.

 

 

Corgi springs were indeed notably stiffer, but they managed to achieve a nice degree of squishy "ride" with the '59 Impalas although most of the examples I have had picked up a port-side list

So did the real ones.

 

 

I must have been a peculiarly pedantic child as I never played with anything that I deemed to be "unrealistic" and even at a pre-school age apparently would not play with Matchbox and Dinky cars together due to the scale discrepancies.

Mixing scales for playing was completely unacceptable even when I didn't play alone.

If anyone brought the wrong scale models to a session he was immediately excluded.

 

I am glad that I reached sufficient maturity to stop playing with them just as all the low-friction axle stuff came out - they wouldn't have done at all!

I'm young enough that that low friction stuff tried to invade my childhood.

I didn't let it. Throughout the remainder of my childhood there was the hunt for leftover models with proper wheels.

This continued seemlessly through adolescence and adulthood, when it became retermed 'collecting'.

Contrary to many other collectors I know, there never was a phase in my life when I didn't collect model cars.

[eddyramrod]

 there never was a phase in my life when I didn't collect model cars.

 

Aha, you must be my brother!

 

[Junkman]

Amen, brother!

[Split_Pin]

The best suspension is the Dinky Citroen Dyane which performs similar to the real car. Shame I didn't get one until I was well past playing with cars.

[mercrocker]

They fell apart like real ones too, my French edition lost its pale grey bonnet a long time ago and is still wearing the incorrect UK bronze metallic one that I found somewhere.  I haven't the heart to repaint it after all these years.   It lost its roof panel too but that turned up in a box of junk at my Mother's after she moved 3000 miles away..... 

 

Speaking of family and specifically brothers, I am glad I had no male sibling.   My sisters were a pain but never touched my die-casts......