Shite in Miniature II

[quicksilver]

11 hours ago, danthecapriman said:

It wouldn’t be overly difficult to make the later rectangular headlight version from that partwork early type would it?

 

These are what I like! I’d love a model of one in 1:43.

They are THE coach to me! 
Lovely style to them and British. My old school backed onto a coach depot and I used to see these things coming and going constantly which is probably where my love of them came from, watching them all day! From some of the classrooms you could see them all parked up against the back fence. Pretty sure it was Castle Coaches.

You can't even get the Plaxton Supreme easily in 1:76 despite its popularity and being one of the most-requested models ever. There are a few obsolete kits that tend to attract bidding wars and sell for three-figure sums on the rare occasions they hit the second-hand market so it'd be a winner as a diecast. All kinds of obscure things including some one-offs have been modelled, yet not this ubiquitous coach for some reason I can't fathom.

[Datsuncog]

My Kirk/ Tekno Mercedes O Series coach claims to be 1/43 scale, but I really don't think it is.

It's big, and heavy, but it doesn't quite appear to be that big.

[danthecapriman]

2 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

I got a 1/43 Plastigam Norev Saviem bus from someone on here a few years ago and it's HUGE 😂 I thought it was 1/76 when I bought it.

It's been in my loft for years as I don't know what to do with it!

The 1:43 buses and coaches are massive aren’t they! 
The trucks are big, but the buses are really impressively big. I’ve got an American GM fishbowl bus from that partwork and that’s massive. 
I remember opening it when I got it and you expect it to be quite a lump, but when you actually get it out of the box it’s BIG!!

 

The fishbowl bus is mostly plastic, but the AEC is diecast… and it’s heavy!

[Split_Pin]

Speaking of heavy and out-of-the-norm scale buses, my wife bought me a couple of those SunStar 1/24 Route masters many years ago, what a model!

[danthecapriman]

13 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

Think my Kirk/ Tekno Mercedes O Series coach claims to be 1/43 scale, but I really don't think it is.

I think they’re 1:50??

15 minutes ago, quicksilver said:

You can't even get the Plaxton Supreme easily in 1:76 despite its popularity and being one of the most-requested models ever. There are a few obsolete kits that tend to attract bidding wars and sell for three-figure sums on the rare occasions they hit the second-hand market so it'd be a winner as a diecast. All kinds of obscure things including some one-offs have been modelled, yet not this ubiquitous coach for some reason I can't fathom.

It’s bizarre what manufacturers do sometimes. Weird and obscure one off’s or oddballs that were few in numbers - yep, fine, we’ll do that. 
Yet something that basically epitomises a coach over a 30 odd year period - nope!

In 1:43 you’re even more restricted! There seems to be only a tiny handful of British buses/coaches available. There’s maybe another tiny handful of foreigners available that are suitable for British roads (like that Bova) but otherwise there’s bugger all. 
It’s my biggest frustration really that British stuff and the British market gets largely ignored by these manufacturers. 
I have to laugh at that partwork ‘buses of the world’! It’s not buses of the world at all!! It’s about 90% buses of France! All stuff we didn’t get here and even the rest of the world didn’t get either other than France or its colonies. 
British stuff ended up all over the place and some of it (like the Routemaster) is instantly recognised the world over. But there’s no models! 
Im pinning my hopes on the 3D printing industry I think. Hopefully in time much more will become available.

[danthecapriman]

1 minute ago, Split_Pin said:

Speaking of heavy and out-of-the-norm scale buses, my wife bought me a couple of those SunStar 1/24 Route masters many years ago, what a model!

I’ve never seen one in the metal. I bet they look incredible at that scale though.  
Not cheap either!

[quicksilver]

5 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

I’ve never seen one in the metal. I bet they look incredible at that scale though.  
Not cheap either!

The Hachette 'build a Routemaster' part work makes even the Sunstar look small though. At 1:12 scale it's bloody HUGE - 70cm long and nearly 40cm high. A mightily impressive model but expensive and takes up an awful lot of room.

[RoadworkUK]

...I'd totally buckle the 1:12 Routemaster's axles by riding it along the hallway.

[flat4alfa]

Norev still do Irisbus Citelis in the range at 1:43 in plastic

https://www.norev.com/fr/3615-camion-et-bus-jouet

Not that it helps you apart from you could sit one alongside the Irisbus Agora previously mentioned

Perhaps both repainted into say Norfolk Green/Stagecoach colours.  Then pretend a bit that it really happened like that

Or call the whole thing off.

[sierraman]

1 hour ago, quicksilver said:

The Hachette 'build a Routemaster' part work makes even the Sunstar look small though. At 1:12 scale it's bloody HUGE - 70cm long and nearly 40cm high. A mightily impressive model but expensive and takes up an awful lot of room.

That sounds a quick way towards domestic harmony, a huge Routemaster that won’t fit anywhere and gathers dust. 🤣

[flat4alfa]

5 minutes ago, sierraman said:

That sounds a quick way towards domestic harmony, a huge range of adapted Routemasters built into furniture for the lounge

EFA 😃

[danthecapriman]

Clearing a few off the workbench lately. Mostly stuff that’s been sat around needing finishing or a bit of detail added etc. They’ll most probably get put into boxes and packed for moving in the next few days.

Mercedes 608D

Transit mk1 luton.

Dodge 50. (Glazing was a complete arse hole to do on this!)

Escorts mk1 and 4.

BMW 5 series.

The BT Bedford TK is in the background too, just having some door mirrors made and fitted, once the glue dries they’ll be painted black then that can be assembled for the final time too.

[sierraman]

Has the new house got plenty of space for the Diecast jobs? 

[flat4alfa]

10 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

My Kirk/ Tekno Mercedes O Series coach claims to be 1/43 scale, but I really don't think it is.

It's big, and heavy, but it doesn't quite appear to be that big.

Oh…. does it have a chassis that states 1:43?  None of the different packagings I've searched for states a scale

This Tekno Benz LP truck back here from a few years earlier has this full-diecast chassis but no scale mentioned on that or the plastic behind.  Not much mentioned at all really

All Tekno/Kirk buses and trucks were I thought at 1:50 whereas cars at 1:43

Tekno Tekno Tekno there's no limits

[flat4alfa]

While on the interwebs, this was found here https://www.timetableimages.com/btrl/diecast/catalog/t61.htm So posting on here, just in case that site goes offline

Tekno Catalogue (International edition), 1961

[bunglebus]

Popped into Basildump today, not an awful lot to report but TK Maxxx had this absolutely terrible "Beatles"

But I did find a Mexico taxi coloured Beetle monster truck in there too

Asda had some new Majorette stuff

And I found another from this series in Entertainer 

My local one gets a delivery tomorrow, fingers crossed it's a good 'un

 

[danthecapriman]

1 hour ago, sierraman said:

Has the new house got plenty of space for the Diecast jobs? 

God I do hope so!😂

There should be. I’m expecting most will have to live in big boxes in the loft for a while though until everything gets sorted out/decorated etc etc. 

Theres an old shed in the garden the current owner has set up as a little workshop with benches etc and power so that will probably do for a while for painting and building these. Longer term, maybe next spring Im going to get another big shed (or build one) similar to what’s here at this house specifically for models. Most of them can be displayed in there I expect .

At the moment I’ll just be glad to see the back of this whole experience and actually get moved. It’s been a total mess until now. I’ve had some things packed away for two and a bit years already!

[AndyW201]

This arrived today,

The Celeste was one of my favourite cars, as a kid. I just loved the mini-Muscle Car styling. There was quite a large Colt dealer in our town at the time, so there were surprisingly quite a few about in the late '70s - early '80s, even a few Sapporos!

So as soon as I saw the Moving Parts version, I wanted one. (See, I've even got it out of the packaging!), but there's always been zero chance of getting one in the shops, and ebay sellers want the earth for them. So it was AliExpress to the rescue again.

It's a lovely model (or is it toy at this scale?). Those Matchbox wheels look spot-on for this car, and the tampo printing is pretty good, especially on those tiny badges...

... and happily, unlike some of the Moving Parts range, both front and rear have tampo detail,

Looks great under the bonnet too.

A little gem!

[Datsuncog]

16 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

Oh…. does it have a chassis that states 1:43?  None of the different packagings I've searched for states a scale

This Tekno Benz LP truck back here from a few years earlier has this full-diecast chassis but no scale mentioned on that or the plastic behind.  Not much mentioned at all really

All Tekno/Kirk buses and trucks were I thought at 1:50 whereas cars at 1:43

Tekno Tekno Tekno there's no limits

No, having looked again it doesn't say anything about scale on the coach itself - I think during the process of trying to find out more about the relationship between Kirk and Tekno, I encountered a number of eBay listings and similar which asserted the Mercedes O was 1/43 scale. That seemed dubious to me, and still does. But maybe it was just sellers talking rubbish...

[flat4alfa]

Ah yes ok that would explain it

I bought there may be different chassis for Kirk and Tekno interim models perhaps.  In the same way the Pilen recasting of a Tekno I have here is different and not just logo.  Or I might be senile and confused.

[bunglebus]

Built myself a spray booth out of scrap ply

Extractor is the fan from an overhead door heater out of a shop, tumble dryer hose from that to a bit of plastic soil pipe I spotted in a skip (it was new...) and a bit of packing material as a filter

I made it so it folds flat, as space as at a premium

I used to just paint outside the back door but have spent £££ getting a new patio etc this summer, I'm not about to start spraying it funky colours.

Tried it out this morning and it works a treat, filtering the particles out of the air and I couldn't smell fumes at all. Lighting needs a bit of work but I've plenty of LED strips about

[Datsuncog]

12 hours ago, AndyW201 said:

This arrived today,

The Celeste was one of my favourite cars, as a kid. I just loved the mini-Muscle Car styling. There was quite a large Colt dealer in our town at the time, so there were surprisingly quite a few about in the late '70s - early '80s, even a few Sapporos!

So as soon as I saw the Moving Parts version, I wanted one. (See, I've even got it out of the packaging!), but there's always been zero chance of getting one in the shops, and ebay sellers want the earth for them. So it was AliExpress to the rescue again.

It's a lovely model (or is it toy at this scale?). Those Matchbox wheels look spot-on for this car, and the tampo printing is pretty good, especially on those tiny badges...

... and happily, unlike some of the Moving Parts range, both front and rear have tampo detail,

Looks great under the bonnet too.

A little gem!

That's absolutely gorgeous... I've been on the hunt for one of those Celestes ever since I saw a prototype on a Lamley Group video some years back, but still haven't got within sniffing distance of one in real life. Ditto the Subaru Brats.

I've a work thing over on the far side of Belfast this afternoon, taking me close to some of the Toymaster/ Toytown branches which have been surprisingly good for Matchbox premiums in the past... so the idea is to nip in and see what's what, if I get a chance.

I spent a pointless half hour waiting outside The Entertainer in Belfast yesterday morning (turns out they only open their doors at 9.30, half an hour after the rest of the shopping centre) only to find the same modern Jaguar iPace and Nissan Ariya releases as last time - no other Moving Parts items on the pegs. Nothing worthwhile anywhere, really.

I'm beginning to think AliExpress might be my best bet, too...

[wesacosa]

when did the world of Vanguards models go so crazy.  Something popped up on facebook saying that people are asking up to £200 for a Fiesta Supersport model. I had mine in box in the loft for years and its now sat on my spare room shelf getting dusty.  I knew the price of new ones had gone a bit silly but had no idea people were paying daft money for older ones

[flat4alfa]

That's not a Vanguards effect, that's a Sporty Ford Tax effect

Your BMC Vanguards are still worth a fiver

I would dust it off, find the box out, put it up for sale on a constant inflated listing

[MiniMinorMk3]

25 minutes ago, wesacosa said:

when did the world of Vanguards models go so crazy.  Something popped up on facebook saying that people are asking up to £200 for a Fiesta Supersport model. I had mine in box in the loft for years and its now sat on my spare room shelf getting dusty.  I knew the price of new ones had gone a bit silly but had no idea people were paying daft money for older ones

Some of the Ford models are going up and up, just like the real things. Great if you have a few you want to cash in, not so great if you want to complete a collection. I sold a Purple Velvet Escort 1300 E, which had a missing wiper and a paint chip, for £50 recently.

[sierraman]

Just looking at their 2024 range, basically Fords, very very expensive aeroplanes and naff tat like Beatles inspired buses. 

[MiniMinorMk3]

21 hours ago, danthecapriman said:

BMW 5 series.

 

 

 

Nice work as always, however that E28 should have a black rad grille with only a chrome kidney.

[wesacosa]

might have to check all my other ones.   Given I was a closet Essex boy wannabe in the day i'd say 90% of my Vanguards are 70s and 80s Fords

[Datsuncog]

2 minutes ago, wesacosa said:

i'd say 90% of my Vanguards are 70s and 80s Fords

Wesacosa, later this afternoon.

[flat4alfa]

8 minutes ago, wesacosa said:

Given I was a closet Essex boy wannabe in the day i'd say 90% of my Vanguards are 70s and 80s Fords

You're rich!

Can I be your Limo Driver?   I need a job and can wear a hat