Shite in Miniature II

[flat4alfa]

20 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Not seen this before. Technicolour Avants?

I made one of those, as a boy. 

Black is body colour

Red for the wheels and stop lights

White mixed with hint of Black makes the grey alternative body colour idea as shown on rear

Green is the photo on side of a real one

Blue and Yellow are there just to spill on the carpet and make your Mum yell at you

[flat4alfa]

Had these.  Blue and Police were made by Binns Lane scousers.  Orange one was made at Chiari (Italy) Polistil factory

There should be a vent at the end of the trim line, only the Matchbox 245 got.  The Dinky 265 didn't get the vent

On the left flank (when in driver's seat) the only casting difference is the removal of the wing/fender badge

While as seen in previous posts, there are clear and identical differences on all the Polistil castings, implying the fault was with the die

How would a die get damaged in use?  Did Dinky let an apprentice loose with a power tool to remove the wing badge?

The swage line on the same side also finishes earlier at the rear

[flat4alfa]

1 hour ago, danthecapriman said:

I also picked up this bastardised Dinky Volvo since nobody else bid on it. 

Which colour?

1976 colours

1980 colours

[bunglebus]

14 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

You can see the other casting defect in your pic - rear pillar and "hips" are messed up, some are worse than others. Wish I'd started with a blue one when I did my custom!

 

[danthecapriman]

Here’s a recent arrival that’s become an accidental custom courtesy of Yodel.

1960 Ford Ranch wagon with a very 70’s jacked up rear end look! 
Luckily it’s not actually broken, just come un-clipped at the back. Probably from being drop kicked from one end of the country to the other!

[flat4alfa]

34 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

1960 Ford Ranch wagon 

Ah yes the magical Ranch Wagon in From Russia With Love!

Bond steps into a 2-door 

And when he arrives he steps out a 4-door

Magical.

[sierraman]

2 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

Went around the houses to find out if there was any knowledge, but no.  Probably not, as there are just 19 ROVER 3500 V/PLAS EFI AUTO on the road, 89 on SORN.

The plate 437 BMR itself went onto a pre-production/Evaluation UK Nissan R33 Skyline during 1997-2002 (which wears N4 SMO today)

Then went onto be worn by 2006 Mercedes Atego 815 box van, then onto a BMW 2-series and was on that BMW last year

So, I went to the trouble of consulting the Rover SD1 owners club, the consensus was that it’s unlikely it survived as there’s nothing suggesting it’s real plates, the only hope of that would be if it was in the production notes or a still from production. In all probability it will have been sourced from a local garage then sold on to the owner unawares and like most SD1, probably ended up in the scrap heap by the mid 90’s. 

[flat4alfa]

I think the plates could have been registered, as actor George Costin (Bob) didn't have a full licence at the time and had to be accompanied by a passenger hiding out of sight for the driving shots.  If they were worried about that, perhaps they did go to the bother of registering to be legal?

[bunglebus]

Who wants to see some of the 2024 Hot Wheels releases?

Vespa - obviously miles out scale wise but looks great for customising

Civic custom in new colours - still think the green and orange ones look great

I'm a bit torn on this one - a Hot Wheelsed Pontiac Aztec is pretty funny, especially with Walter White's hat and glasses on the parcel shelf - but I'd rather have seen this done by Matchbox as a realistic road car

This is going to be great though - Hirohata Mercury is an infamous custom, as has been made so the two tone paint can be recreated properly. This is in prototype form here

Another prototype, MK1 Jag. This one will also lend itself well to a bit of customising I reckon

Audi Quattro but the LWB road car

BMW M3 Touring but a two door. Excellent.

The coupe clip now has a Porsche 911 version joining the fold. Will Porsche owners be scouring eBay wanting them? Maybe. I like it

[flat4alfa]

Oh that Mercury!

That they already have done 25 years ago

 So a recast, using the lower half in plastic?  I suppose that means easy quick McDonalds toy colour schemes!

[NorfolkNWeigh]

Now for something completely different

Diecst spotted on telly!

A box of diecast emptied out during a search in Episode 2 Series 1 of The Sweeney. A bit random as it was in the bedsit of  a  villain not a family home. Maybe a proto toy car collector.

[Spottedlaurel]

Roving correspondent @bunglebus kindly procured these for me:

Still haven't managed to get myself a red Alfa yet, and white ones were missing from the Aldis I recently visited (ditto the Datsun estate).

[barrett]

40 minutes ago, NorfolkNWeigh said:

Now for something completely different

Diecst spotted on telly!

A box of diecast emptied out during a search in Episode 2 Series 1 of The Sweeney. A bit random as it was in the bedsit of  a  villain not a family home. Maybe a proto toy car collector.

I'll give him a fiver for the Spot On DB3

[Datsuncog]

Called into Tesco today, and was shocked to see the Mattel diecast bins had been restocked to overflowing...

Unfortunately there wasn't much of interest in the Hot Wheels box - heavy on the fantasy stuff, and largely all just the stuff available anywhere.

Matchbox seemed more promising, as I could see some of the new-case stuff in there (alongside other, older dregs) - but it had been well picked-over, and any Golfs or Volvo 240s were all long gone.

Plenty of Autozams though, and a couple of Bedford ice cream vans too. 

Sainsbury's had also restocked with Hot Wheels, but again nothing really that grabbed me.

Still - encouraging to know there are new cases getting through, even if only slowly!

[bunglebus]

1 hour ago, Spottedlaurel said:

 Still haven't managed to get myself a red Alfa yet

Should have said, I still turn up the odd one here and there

[sheffcortinacentre]

2 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Who wants to see some of the 2024 Hot Wheels releases?

Vespa - obviously miles out scale wise but looks great for customising

Civic custom in new colours - still think the green and orange ones look great

I'm a bit torn on this one - a Hot Wheelsed Pontiac Aztec is pretty funny, especially with Walter White's hat and glasses on the parcel shelf - but I'd rather have seen this done by Matchbox as a realistic road car

This is going to be great though - Hirohata Mercury is an infamous custom, as has been made so the two tone paint can be recreated properly. This is in prototype form here

Another prototype, MK1 Jag. This one will also lend itself well to a bit of customising I reckon

Audi Quattro but the LWB road car

BMW M3 Touring but a two door. Excellent.

The coupe clip now has a Porsche 911 version joining the fold. Will Porsche owners be scouring eBay wanting them? Maybe. I like it

I wouldn't mind getting some of this year's releases nevermind next year's!

[Split_Pin]

Chaps, were there ever any orange Dinky 265s made at Binns Road? Because my orange example says 'Made in England' and it doesn't have any of the above mentioned casting defects.

It could be a repaint, as the baseplate has been crudely glued on, but even under the arches and hidden bits is orange.

What does everyone think:

 

[bunglebus]

Well it's the earlier body with the badges in place, later wheels (a few blue ones have them though). Paint does look factory. A mystery! 

[sierraman]

6 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

Chaps, were there ever any orange Dinky 265s made at Binns Road? Because my orange example says 'Made in England' and it doesn't have any of the above mentioned casting defects.

It could be a repaint, as the baseplate has been crudely glued on, but even under the arches and hidden bits is orange.

What does everyone think:

 

Could be preproduction or a colour trial? 

[danthecapriman]

Strange one. Maybe it’s had a good repaint? But the orange colour does look pretty much spot on for the Dinky shade.

Even if it was a mis match of body, wheels, chassis it still doesn’t explain why the casting defects aren’t present.

Could it be that the casting/die/mould damage occurred during the lifespan of the orange models? Some came out ok before the damage but most came out with the flaw? 
I don’t know what order the colours were released in. I’m sure the blue car was the first type…

[flat4alfa]

Somewhere on here the Dinky catalogues are posted, including the trade catalogues...

I've never seen blue or orange civvies with cast wheels, just plastic Speedwheels

Which is why I assumed the Police one I had was the launch one.  But it's clear now due to A.S. SLEUTHING that it is not the case

[Split_Pin]

I agree the paint looks factory and in exactly the right shade. I bought this example in 2001 and even back then it looked played with. What are the chances of someone going to the trouble to carry out a factory standard restoration of an old toy and then let it be played with again?

The butchered baseplate fixing always led me to believe it was just a repaint, but when I saw that an orange version actually existed, but made in Italy, I became very confused. As said the paint looks factory and has been sprayed thinly underneath ad well, just as you would expect from the factory.

Anyway, love Volvo 240 models and did as a kid aswell!

[flat4alfa]

19 hours ago, bunglebus said:

I'm a bit torn on this one - a Hot Wheelsed Pontiac Aztec is pretty funny, especially with Walter White's hat and glasses on the parcel shelf - but I'd rather have seen this done by Matchbox as a realistic road car

Missed this last night - so it has the hat and sunglasses on parcel shelf.  Well I suppose they are the sunglasses as he couldn't drive without his main glasses?

Certainly an unusual choice.  Agreed on a standard one, but would anyone actually buy a Matchbox non-custom one?  Even in the launch colour at the hatstand launch event

Greenlight's effort from a few years ago covered Walter White very well in 1:43

[bunglebus]

45 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

Somewhere on here the Dinky catalogues are posted, including the trade catalogues...

I've never seen blue or orange civvies with cast wheels, just plastic Speedwheels

Which is why I assumed the Police one I had was the launch one.  But it's clear now due to A.S. SLEUTHING that it is not the case

It's weird as I only see the blue one with cast wheels - yours is the only one I'd seen with the later type until I went on eBay last night. Orange was definitely the last colour as I'm sure you know

[Datsuncog]

2 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

It's weird as I only see the blue one with cast wheels - yours is the only one I'd seen with the later type until I went on eBay last night. Orange was definitely the last colour as I'm sure you know

Seems to be a bit of overlap - my fucked-with childhood blue version had the nylon speedwheels...

Yes, I know I shouldn't have been let near the paint pens...

But I hadn't realised this was an unusual version - most of the blue examples that have passed through my hands since have had the (nicer) cast wheels.

Wish I'd paid closer attention to the NOS orange ones in the model shop where I worked - there were dozens of the last-of-the-line Italian made ones abandoned on the far corner of a shelf, in plain brown cardboard boxes with no window or branding or anything.

[danthecapriman]

12 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

It's weird as I only see the blue one with cast wheels - yours is the only one I'd seen with the later type until I went on eBay last night. Orange was definitely the last colour as I'm sure you know

Just had a look, I’ve got two blue ones. 
One of them has plastic wheels, no casting defects, does have wing badges.

The other (the one I’ve stripped) no idea about original wheels as they’d gone but I’d assume they were the shitty plastic ones as someone had good sense to replace them! But, it does have a very very faint hint of the casting damage to the front wing. It’s straight but there’s a tiny mark/void into the waist height trim line. Nothing else though. And, it doesn’t have wing badges. 
 

Here’s a pic to prove it’s blue-ness! 
It’d been Humbrol’d red straight over the factory blue.

No wing badges, you can see the slight damage to the trim line.

 

Maybe there were multiple moulds/dies?? One got damaged and palmed off to Italy? Or could Dinky have tried to alter the tooling to remove the wing badges and accidentally damaged the wing part in the process?

[flat4alfa]

5 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

Or could Dinky have tried to alter the tooling to remove the wing badges and accidentally damaged the wing part in the process?

Yes that's was what I was trying to say over the page

That void into the waist height trim line would be proud on the die.  So I assume the removal of the wing badge was by using some filling material.  The die would be steel, couldn't use many typical fill materials due to the temperatures involved at casting, so the adjustment was I assume welded in and a mess was made tidying it all up?

[danthecapriman]

6 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

Yes that's was what I was trying to say over the page

That void into the waist height trim line would be proud on the die.  So I assume the removal of the wing badge was by using some filling material.  The die would be steel, couldn't use many typical fill materials due to the temperatures involved at casting, so the adjustment was I assume welded in and a mess was made tidying it all up?

So, in theory the tooling was damaged partway through the blue model’s production period. 
The police version doesn’t seem to have the issue on any of them? So that must have been first produced, then blue with cast wheels & wing badges, then blue plastic wheels & wing badges, then blue plastic wheels & no wing badges with casting flaw, then beige??, finally orange from Italy?

But, it’s still weird how @Split_Pin orange car doesn’t have the casting flaw!

[danthecapriman]

3 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

So, in theory the tooling was damaged partway through the blue model’s production period. 
The police version doesn’t seem to have the issue on any of them? So that must have been first produced, then blue with cast wheels & wing badges, then blue plastic wheels & wing badges, then blue plastic wheels & no wing badges with casting flaw, then beige??, finally orange from Italy?

But, it’s still weird how @Split_Pin orange car doesn’t have the casting flaw!

Actually, the beige car couldn’t be that late, as some do have cast wheels, without wing badges. Maybe the colours overlapped with each other for a while?

Im still thinking there was more than one set of tooling tbh, one slightly different to the other. 
Could they have made one tooling for the first police version, and another for the civvy version. Then altered the police tooling to make civvy versions which then got damaged and punted off to Italy?

[bunglebus]

The police one does have the fault, but it's hidden by the stripe. You can see the front wing is proud of the trim line still.