Shite in Miniature II

[flat4alfa]

3 hours ago, danthecapriman said:

I’ve never seen one with the tool chest before. 
I’ve only got a couple of these, my favourite one is the weird (early release??) Tarmac one with the roll bar and bigger wheels.

The Mazda was first released 1976

The Tarmac version was new for 1984

[FakeConcern]

4 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

@FakeConcern

I measured up the cab width to determine approx scale

Matchbox King Size Scammell Routeman is 1:68 scale

Corgi Major Scammell Handyman is 1:50 scale

As mentioned some pages back, the King Size range was to provide commercials to accompany the 1-75 range scale, not to be a separate and larger scale.  That is, until the cars turned up in the King Size range, namely the Mercury Cougar and Dodge Charger. 

A real thing: a Michellotti-designed cab Scammell on the Trunker chassis

 

4 hours ago, 155V6 said:

Size comparison with a Corgi Scammell

Thank you both for those pics, that's just what I wanted to see a pic with the Corgi and it's enough that I know not to get one now.

@flat4alfaI think yours is a ringer as I've seen that number plate on a Dinky haha!

[Spottedlaurel]

7 hours ago, Jon said:

Britains toy catalogue 1980..............

Early '80s was my peak interest in Britains, I would have pored endlessly over those catalogues (and their separate price lists, working out what I could afford).

Still have the Fiat tractor and a few of the implements that were the result of my studies.

[morrisoxide]

Opened the Morris.

Oh what a lurvlie ole Moggy...

 

Then this happened. 

Don't hate me.

[bunglebus]

I love it! Chop chop

[morrisoxide]

Thanks.

I roof chopped a Maisto one with my Dads wire cutters when I was a kid. Then painted it with one of those nasty plastic brushes. You can imagine how that worked out.

Maybe I was the Phantom Glue-bomber back in the day or maybe I still am? Dun dun dunnn...

[danthecapriman]

31 minutes ago, morrisoxide said:

Opened the Morris.

Oh what a lurvlie ole Moggy...

 

Then this happened. 

Don't hate me.

You made a nice job of that! Looks great.👍

[danthecapriman]

The stripping (the cars not me!) has gone well, most are now in primer but I’m still waiting for paints. I did get some green for the SEB vans, but it’s far too green a shade so I won’t be using that. Another one that should be closer is still in post.

In the meantime I’ve got a Dinky Transit that was already missing a few bits and used it as a donor for the one I’m repainting, so I’ve salvaged good cab glazing, rear tailgate and it’s window. So that van is now ready for paint. 
Also used the donor to supply a pair of straight axles to another Transit I already have, which was reasonably good bar the wonky wheels!

Ive also made a start on another repaint project, 

Dinky Pontiac. This one was a bit of a mess before but it’s cleaned back very nicely. Plan here is simply a recolour. I’m leaning towards metallic green with a vinyl roof. I think.   
The chassis is ok but the suspension has gone very loose on those tiny axles so I need to do something about that too. I might polish up the grille f bumper casting bits with a tiny wire brush in the dremel.

 

Also got this. 
Dinky Midland mobile bank. Can’t find much info about them anywhere though (real ones!). Strange prototype for Dinky to make.     
Glazing has cracked on the roof but good everywhere else, and the door is missing but is available as a spare.

[bunglebus]

7 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

Dinky Pontiac. This one was a bit of a mess before but it’s cleaned back very nicely. Plan here is simply a recolour. I’m leaning towards metallic green with a vinyl roof. I think.   
The chassis is ok but the suspension has gone very loose on those tiny axles so I need to do something about that too. I might polish up the grille f bumper casting bits with a tiny wire brush in the dremel.

That's going to be really nice. I use the wire wheels too, plus you can get little polishing wheels and paste, I use T-cut on those for the final polish but be warned, it goes everywhere!

Only tried one roof chop, on a model A as it has straight pillars

 

[Datsuncog]

35 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

Dinky Midland mobile bank. Can’t find much info about them anywhere though (real ones!). Strange prototype for Dinky to make.     
Glazing has cracked on the roof but good everywhere else, and the door is missing but is available as a spare.

Wow, never seen one of those before! Look forward to seeing what you do with that...

[AndyW201]

On 27/10/2023 at 19:06, FakeConcern said:

@AndyW201If you want a Mini Marcos I have one (nearest in pic) you can have for however much today's tat Friday one was

I'll have to careful what I say, just said I quite like the Cortina and next thing...

Haha it looks great and do I get the junk in the back too?

The Dinky Aston will be a good match for the DB6 i got last weekend and looks better in your pics than I expected.

The Ulster edition Zagato is wanted as my Whizzwheels Tri Deck one here

Has this hiding underneath

That base will make it much more authentic!

@Noel TidybeardI have some repro Steve Flowers Mini Marcos headlight covers/glass I bought for my childhood one, but decided not to use them. If you'd like them PM me your address and I'll put them in the post.

@DatsuncogOnce again thanks for all the excitement and getting those quality die cast classics for me! Let me know how much and I'll send it over, I think I still owe you 20p for something I can't remember so I'll add that in

Thanks for the offer of the Marcos, much appreciated. Despite wanting one since I was a kid, I'll mull it over as I already have far too many boxes of tat awaiting despatch that I don't know what I'm going to do with!

[danthecapriman]

11 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

Wow, never seen one of those before! Look forward to seeing what you do with that...

I don’t really know what to do with it! 
I know the glazing and door are available new, but I know nothing about the vehicle itself. Was a truck chassis or converted bus/coach? I can’t even tell the manufacturer of the real ones. It’s got a Commer sort of vibe going on but?? 
I don’t know if they survived beyond their mobile bank use for anything?? It’d make a very cool race car transporter though! 
Dunno really. It’s a nice little model like!

[FakeConcern]

1 minute ago, AndyW201 said:

Thanks for the offer of the Marcos, much appreciated. Despite wanting one since I was a kid, I'll mull it over as I already have far too many boxes of tat awaiting despatch that I don't know what I'm going to do with!

OK just PM me if you do want it.

[quicksilver]

1 hour ago, danthecapriman said:

I don’t really know what to do with it! 
I know the glazing and door are available new, but I know nothing about the vehicle itself. Was a truck chassis or converted bus/coach? I can’t even tell the manufacturer of the real ones. It’s got a Commer sort of vibe going on but?? 
I don’t know if they survived beyond their mobile bank use for anything?? It’d make a very cool race car transporter though! 
Dunno really. It’s a nice little model like!

No idea what that one is based on as I can't find any photos of anything like it, but a bit after the Dinky went out of production Midland Bank had at least two mobile branches based on Ford R192 coach chassis (photos from HSBC's website). They remind me of TV outside broadcast vehicles so probably the same coachbuilder. BML435H is SORN so seemingly still alive somewhere.

Later still, they had a pair of mobile branches based on Leyland National buses, one of which actually got converted into a normal bus in the 1990s.

[flat4alfa]

2 hours ago, danthecapriman said:

Also got this. 

Dinky Midland mobile bank. Can’t find much info about them anywhere though (real ones!). Strange prototype for Dinky to make.     
Glazing has cracked on the roof but good everywhere else, and the door is missing but is available as a spare.

Got one of those with same pretty much roof crack, TADS

Do have door though, just about 

Also drew up a blank when searching for details on the real thing

Wanted one for a while and when it turned up I was disappointed as assumed it was larger, like Ecosse Transporter! 

[danthecapriman]

7 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

Got one of those with same pretty much roof crack, TADS

Do have door though, just about 

Also drew up a blank when searching for details on the real thing

Wanted one for a while and when it turned up I was disappointed as assumed it was larger, like Ecosse Transporter! 

I always thought the same! I was expecting them to be the 1/43ish size, but it’s a good bit smaller. It scales well next to Dinky Bedford CF’s, whatever scale they are.

Im wondering now if it’s not a real vehicle, just something they made up to look more of an interesting shape than the real ones above?

[flat4alfa]

13 hours ago, quicksilver said:

No idea what that one is based on as I can't find any photos of anything like it, but a bit after the Dinky went out of production Midland Bank had at least two mobile branches based on Ford R192 coach chassis (photos from HSBC's website). They remind me of TV outside broadcast vehicles so probably the same coachbuilder. BML435H is SORN so seemingly still alive somewhere.

Later still, they had a pair of mobile branches based on Leyland National buses, one of which actually got converted into a normal bus in the 1990s.

Also noticed those Fords are not identical livery, whereas the Leylands matched

The two Leyland National mobile banks were JHV 611N based at Whitby and JYO 751N at Grantham

The Dinky had blue stripe over silver, not a yellow stripe accent

I assumed Midland was just chosen as a release, if it was a generic design and other liveries were intended (perhaps Girobank, TSB, Woolwich etc).  But no, once an example was in my hands I was surprised to see Midland is cast in as the model name.

I wonder what the deal and background was

It has got curtains though, so maybe a repaint into a seedy mobile bus?  John Raymond Revuebus, anyone?

[sierraman]

Midland Bank, that’s a blast from the past, my mum banked there. Think it’s HSBC now? 

[flat4alfa]

Yes, HongKong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) acquired it in 1992

But back in 1965…

and 1968..

 

[andrew e]

Probably as simple as someone at Midland went to school with/played Golf/in the lodge with someone at Dinky. Its a new one on me though, like Tim it’s totally escaped my radar.

I do like Dinky but I’m a Corgi guy at heart - is it me or is it tribal @ Ford ‘v’ Vauxhall type thing where you favour one or the other?

[flat4alfa]

31 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

It has got curtains though, so maybe a repaint into a seedy mobile bus?  John Raymond Revuebus, anyone?

Talking of which

was done by Spark in 1:43

which I thought was unobtainium until spotted this in a cabinet at the big underground Antique Market in Brackley on Friday

 

[FakeConcern]

10 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

Talking of which

was done by Spark in 1:43

which I thought was unobtainium until spotted this in a cabinet at the big underground Antique Market in Brackley on Friday

 

So did you buy it?

[MiniMinorMk3]

41 minutes ago, sierraman said:

Midland Bank, that’s a blast from the past, my mum banked there. Think it’s HSBC now? 

My late father left school and joined Midland at 16. He took early retirement at 52. My mother still gets a portion of the pension over 30 years later. 

[bunglebus]

Grabbed a couple of bits at the boot sale before the heavens opened

Not too bad Martini K-7

One of the Brisca roundy racers

And a pig wagon for the mrs

[155V6]

There's a home here for the Brisca F1 if it ever needs one

We have the pig truck too 🙂

[bunglebus]

I've got two more somewhere 

[danthecapriman]

Did some more bits to the pile of projects today. Had to do it between the torrential downpours though, just going from the house to shed I’d have got soaked.

Did a quick colour test on some cardboard for the SEB vans. Ford Diamond White, Ford (US) light green (same colour as my Mercury - how convenient!). Looks pretty good I think. Close enough?

 

Filled the holes in the Transit roof & coin slot on the Commer, there was a tiny crack on the corner of the Commer too so did that while the filler was out.

 

Put a couple of coats of colour onto the Volvo. Authentic Volvo Green-Blue metallic! 
Lights a bit crap in the shed but outside it looks lovely.

Here’s the Corgi A60. Stripped completely and I’ve drilled & threaded the old rivet stubs to take some little screws for the base plate. In the week I’ll find my dremmel and start grinding off the stupid cast L plates from the front & back, and the bit on the roof.

Here’s the pile of bits and crap all over the bench! The Transits replacement tailgate is also now stripped and clean ready for primer.

[bunglebus]

4 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

I’ll find my dremmel and start grinding off the stupid cast L plates from the front & back, and the bit on the roof.

I've wondered about that before but it's the plate over the front grille that will prove the challenge I reckon

[danthecapriman]

4 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

I've wondered about that before but it's the plate over the front grille that will prove the challenge I reckon

Annoyingly it basically ruins half the grill. I’m going to try to grind off as much as possible, then files for the last bits. If I can get it flat with the grill I might be able to make up the strip in the centre from a bit of plastic micro-strip or something.

It’s one of those models that really pisses me off! Why do it as a L car!? Why do it with the L plates cast!? It pretty much meant that casting could only ever be a L car, yet the A60 was probably one of the most common cars of that time so a standard car in any number of colour combinations could have sold well imho. Surely some little plastic clip on L plates would have been better?

[Split_Pin]

Corgis first issue of a civilian Morris Minor saloon was a black L car for some strange  reason. The second civilian issue was a regular car in Trafalgar blue.

Thankfully the plates were just clipped on.