Shite in Miniature II

[Split_Pin]

10 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

Penny has dropped now

Bought this one about a year ago off a market stall at an airshow.  Really just because NIB and the realisation I didn't have a representation of a Mercedes C126 on any shelf.  This 500 SEC looked smart enough to tick the box without doing a spend

Seen worse efforts and the colour really makes it.  Not only that, measured it to be accurate at 1:43 both in length and width (unusual)

Has opening doors.  Not sure how the boot lid got a chip though

S-EC 1228 was an genuine registration on the main brochure car

For a budget toy, the dashboard is fair enough effort too.  Probably deserves some detailing

I forget the brand who made it.  Probably passed around multiple Hong Kong factories I think

I was going to move this one on...

Can't do that now!

Crikey another forgotten range! I had the 944 and my brother had the BMW. 

[Tenmil Socket]

17 hours ago, andrew e said:

So having just had a clandestine Tat handover - well more accurately @bunglebus drove past my house on his way home 😂

Anyway in the ensuing sophisticated* tat chat, I cracked open some storage boxes and thought I’d post up some matchbox packing oddities incase they were news to anyone else!

I bought all these new as a kid, played with them (!) then replaced them 10 years later in the 90’s at toyfairs, the Granda I bought new in Zodiac toys Basildon though because it matched my dads!

All three are fantastic boxes - did Ford design them? Oh and an interloper too!

Then these fantastic boxes featuring Sir Rog 😎

Then a quick fact - my old shift partner was apprenticed at Wood & Picket Park Royal where he went to early Duran Duran gigs - Simon Le Bons brother was also an employee…

https://youtu.be/Fp4CR2HcHLQ?feature=shared

 

The Courier van is great! If only they made the hatchback too.

 

 

[danthecapriman]

I’m sure I had a purple Milka chocolate Courier van. Can’t remember if it was a giveaway promotional edition or something?

 

Got this in the post yesterday. 

[flat4alfa]

1 hour ago, danthecapriman said:

I’m sure I had a purple Milka chocolate Courier van. Can’t remember if it was a giveaway promotional edition or something?

It was Milka livery that was the sole mainline Ford Courier.  1992-93.

Found in two different shades of Milka

All the rest were code-2 blanks in three colours (white/blue/red), having their own trade catalogue code, specifically for promotionals.  The very first issue was in fact the Ford dealership packaged one above

[danthecapriman]

1 minute ago, flat4alfa said:

It was Milka livery that was the sole mainline Ford Courier.  1992-93.

Found in two different shades of Milka

All the rest were code-2 blanks in three colours (white/blue/red), having their own trade catalogue code, specifically for promotionals.  The very first issue was in fact the Ford dealership packaged one above

I think mine was the lighter purple looking at them. 
Odd livery to release as the sole mainline example. Plain white ones would probably have been the obvious choice for that!

[flat4alfa]

1 hour ago, Tenmil Socket said:

The Courier van is great! If only they made the hatchback too.

Next best thing was the side window casting, creating a Courier Combi

Never seen one though, it was limited release, for some reason

[Datsuncog]

1 hour ago, danthecapriman said:

Got this in the post yesterday. 

Damn, that's great.

I've been trying to find a model R18 estate for years, as we had a silver GTL when I was a kid - the only ones I could ever see were Norev ones which seemed to attract three-figure sums on eBay even in the mid-2000s, or pretty rubbishy Solido police/fire ones from their mid-80s low point.

[ETCHY]

12 hours ago, bunglebus said:

The POLICE ACCIDENT signs look similar to what I remember as being inside my Dinky Transit

I've just won one of those on ebay.

Quite looking forward to it.

[Datsuncog]

Also, I do love that Ford Courier - mine was plain white, and apparently in French 'Édition Limitée' dealer packaging.

The model shop I worked in had obtained a large box of them super-cheap from a wholesaler.

I'm not sure what became of this one; presumably it went to whoever on here bought all my Matchbox stuff six years ago...

[Tenmil Socket]

59 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

Next best thing was the side window casting, creating a Courier Combi

Never seen one though, it was limited release, for some reason

Want one ☹️

[flat4alfa]

28 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

I do love that Ford Courier - mine was plain white, and apparently in French 'Édition Limitée' dealer packaging.

It was primarily for Belgium distribution, apparently

Notice the box packaging spelling change - French word for mail is Courrier with three letter Rs.    Both spellings are on same base casting .

Some bases state 1:54 scale

[sierraman]

1 hour ago, Datsuncog said:

Also, I do love that Ford Courier - mine was plain white, and apparently in French 'Édition Limitée' dealer packaging.

The model shop I worked in had obtained a large box of them super-cheap from a wholesaler.

I'm not sure what became of this one; presumably it went to whoever on here bought all my Matchbox stuff six years ago...

That would be me... 

[danthecapriman]

1 hour ago, Datsuncog said:

Damn, that's great.

I've been trying to find a model R18 estate for years, as we had a silver GTL when I was a kid - the only ones I could ever see were Norev ones which seemed to attract three-figure sums on eBay even in the mid-2000s, or pretty rubbishy Solido police/fire ones from their mid-80s low point.

You can pick those Argentina ones up for significantly less than those you mentioned. They’re much more modern models too so the detail etc is great on them too.
There’s a few versions of the saloon from the same source as well.

They look great but aren’t so expensive you’d dare not start pulling them apart to repaint them etc.

[danthecapriman]

Minimal extra work done on the FG today. Cold wet weather means the glue & filler takes ages to dry properly.

Here’s the frame extensions to the underside of the bed. Just a couple of 40 thou plastic card strips. I might add some extra strips behind each one to beef it up and get a wider surface to glue to the metal chassis.

Chassis has had some little fillets of brass added into the chassis, inside the C channel extensions. Followed by a skim over with filler to smooth it off. That just needs a rub down after it dries, then the air tank section replacing. 
I’ll find some small tube or rod to extend the prop shaft too.

[Datsuncog]

1 hour ago, sierraman said:

That would be me... 

Ah good; now I know who to pester...

😉

[MiniMinorMk3]

I've been making slow progress with the Record R5 Turbo. With the decal problems it has been slow going, but I did make a great discovery. Here's what's happened in the last three mini sessions of decal work.

Three on the front. That's what the rear plate should look like.

Bonnet and sun strip

The the two door decals

The little fiddly ones of teh left front wing, not helped by two decals deciding to become more.

The right side ones were fine.

I've also painted the spot lamp backs before I stick them on. When doing the fronts I discovered that there were some Cibie decals for the spots, so they will look a lot better than with just silver for lenses.

[RoadworkUK]

A visit to a Colchester charity shop (after all my whinging the other day) finally yielded Stuff I Couldn't Not Buy, so I came to own two items.

First up:

Dinky Hillman Imp. Plenty has been said on here about this delightful little casting in the past, so I'll just say that I really like it. This one has survived for nigh on sixty years relatively intact. Some of the decals are peeling at the edges and it's lost an offside headlight jewel, but the glazing has survived and the paintwork has just the degree of patina it deserves.

I spent five quid. Absolutely no idea if They Saw Me Coming, but it's for charidee like.

Back in the olden days, when I was forced off to Sunday School at the weekend (presumably so my parents could do stuff that I didn't want to know about), I used to get a lift with Brenda. That meant my ride alternated between a Hillman Imp and an Austin FX4 black cab. This was circa 1985/6.

Second of my wise investments is this:

I've really liked this since @junkyarddog picked one up aaaages ago, so this one was a must buy. It's just adorable. It's a shame the glazing has a crack in it, but that and a slightly askew lower 'hydraulic' spar are pretty much all that's wrong with it. I'm sure that can be bent straight and the plastic cherry picker platform can be persuaded into shape with a bit of gentle heat application.

I absolutely love how that parallogram mechanism works. In fact I've just sat here doing lots of up and down movements while I frankly should be getting some work done.

Actually, I've just decided that I like every single thing about this Corgi and it makes me very happy indeed. £2.50 that I couldn't have spent more wisely if I tried.

[Split_Pin]

Those Couriers are ace especially the plain ones. For some unfathomable reason I sold mine in a purge about 11 years ago.

[sierraman]

I’ve had this mad idea for a while now about converting an MF1 Matchbox Fire Station to a rural garage type thing, checking prices out found that even a dilapidated one is £60, I think not then. So I’ve been building one out of some MDF, I’ve every expectation it will look like something a child has cobbled together but I’m giving it a go. 

[danthecapriman]

31 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

Those Couriers are ace especially the plain ones. For some unfathomable reason I sold mine in a purge about 11 years ago.

I’m pretty certain my old Milka one was given to my cousin for her kids. If so, it’s probably in landfill by now😭

[Datsuncog]

Thought my luck was in last night while at Sainsbury's, as a FRESH BOX of Hot Wheels had appeared.

But it's still not the 2024 case.

That coppery-coloured '37 Ford Gasser is the one that always catches my eye, and lets me know there's unlikely to be a Proton within.

Same story at Tesco...

And no new Matchbox here, either.

The push-me-pull-you car remains the 'tell' here.

It's fine, I know this is merely a distribution misalignment and no doubt come April I'll be sick of endless cases of Protons...

A quick putter round Belfast stores over lunchtime were similarly unsatisfying... the new Poundland store in Castle Court had plenty of stock, but all of it older 2023 releases.

The Ann Street branch is bigger in terms of size, but had a smaller and sparser diecast range:

More bloody Matchbox push-me-pull-yous. Yet the Abbeycentre store yielded me up a Volvo 240 the other week, so clearly some branches are getting new stocks of Matchbox.

Poundstretcher still had no sign of their Hot Wheels or Matchbox descending below the £2.50 price point, so that was no good.

I swung past Cash Converters, and to my shock the £99 National Lampoon station wagon was gone.

Did it sell at that price? Was it redeemed? 

Who knows?

Still plenty of overpriced stuff though, like a 1/43 Auto Art Lotus Esprit at £79.

This caught my eye, though...

In a frankly enormous box, for some reason.

Still, kinda pricey for £25... but nice.

More appealing than the Days Gone KLM set, anyway.

[sierraman]

This is where we are at so far...

[flat4alfa]

16 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

to my shock the £99 National Lampoon station wagon was gone.

[flat4alfa]

22 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

This caught my eye, though...

In a frankly enormous box, for some reason.

Still, kinda pricey for £25... but nice

Seems pricey...

Saying that, those Main Stealer Laguna Breaks were by Norev and quite detailed.   Were just branded Renault underneath when in that presentation box

Had one.  Check out on those seats and the matching door cards next time you are passing

 

[flat4alfa]

"Farmer Tom's Zil"

"Oh is that right?  Oh dear, please could I wish him my best wishes for his recovery"

"No no, Farmer Tom's Zil"

"Eh?  Ok... well I hope he gets well soon"

"No no, Farmer Tom's Zil"

"Stop messing me about you daft ha'porth"

"Farmer Tom's Zil"

"FFS"

[andrew e]

5 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

It was Milka livery that was the sole mainline Ford Courier.  1992-93.

 

MB38 is quite a significant model code, @ the Model A van - never noticed that!

[MiniMinorMk3]

43 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

This caught my eye, though...

In a frankly enormous box, for some reason.

Still, kinda pricey for £25... but nice.

More appealing than the Days Gone KLM set, anyway.

 

12 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

Seems pricey...

Saying that, those Main Stealer Laguna Breaks were by Norev and quite detailed.   Were just branded Renault underneath when in that presentation box

Had one.  Check out on those seats and the matching door cards next time you are passing

 

Those were first done by Vitesse.

Here's a saloon in Vitesse box...

And a Renault boxed version

Vitesse did almost the full Renault range at the time

 

[sierraman]

4 minutes ago, andrew e said:

MB38 is quite a significant model code, @ the Model A van - never noticed that!

I’m assuming they were in production in tandem? 

[sierraman]

This is where we are at, half the walls are up...

[junkyarddog]

3 hours ago, RoadworkUK said:

I've really liked this since @junkyarddog picked one up aaaages ago

Cripes!That must have been a long time ago!!😮

Glad you found one.