Shite in Miniature II

[Christine]

My much older cousin bought me the MG and also white Porsche with a translucent blue engine cover ..one Christmas , which is also my birthday   . He used to be like a big brother to me,    27,  and i was 6 ... My mum was furious when i came home from school and saw what i'd done .. and quite rightly so .. the mgb was a fabulous model .

[junkyarddog]

  On 11/10/2024 at 18:48, Christine said:

I built up the new pillars with solder on the pins

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That's inspired!

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Interesting conversations about resin. I've just won a donor Matchbox Renault 5 which I'm planning on using for resurrecting my own ruined original childhood example with. I originally bought another donor but it's in mint condition and way too nice to cut up. 

This one was a bit pricey as a donor - I paid just under a fiver. However, I need the following and they're excellent on this example:

Blue tailgate 

Decent glazing with rear lip to attach tailgate 

Rear corner of the chassis (where the body locates into the chassis) 

Tow hitch section of the interior moulding

Here's the donor:

I want to keep as much of my original model as possible so I hope to use a slitting disc on my dremel to cut the rear corner from the donor chassis and then attach it to my own. 

What suggestions do folk on here have to attach it? It's quite a fragile little section and it's easy to see how it snapped off my original. 

[flat4alfa]

  On 11/10/2024 at 18:18, FakeConcern said:

That is fab!

Found one on ebay, well part of one anyway

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/115512178223

I won't be buying that one for £45...

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I am selling my life choices off at the moment so open to offers

[bunglebus]

  On 11/10/2024 at 19:47, Dick Longbridge said:

I want  to keep as much of my original model as possible so I hope to use a slitting disc on my dremel to cut the rear corner from the donor chassis and then attach it to my own. 

What suggestions do folk on here have to attach it? It's quite a fragile little section and it's easy to see how it snapped off my original. 

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I'd suggest trying to fix the original base using something like chemical metal, or use the donor base. Going to be very hard joining the two bits together successfully

[sierraman]

  On 11/10/2024 at 19:47, Dick Longbridge said:

Interesting conversations about resin. I've just won a donor Matchbox Renault 5 which I'm planning on using for resurrecting my own ruined original childhood example with. I originally bought another donor but it's in mint condition and way too nice to cut up. 

This one was a bit pricey as a donor - I paid just under a fiver. However, I need the following and they're excellent on this example:

Blue tailgate 

Decent glazing with rear lip to attach tailgate 

Rear corner of the chassis (where the body locates into the chassis) 

Tow hitch section of the interior moulding

Here's the donor:

I want to keep as much of my original model as possible so I hope to use a slitting disc on my dremel to cut the rear corner from the donor chassis and then attach it to my own. 

What suggestions do folk on here have to attach it? It's quite a fragile little section and it's easy to see how it snapped off my original. 

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Let me have a look in Sierramans Scrapyard! 

[danthecapriman]

  On 11/10/2024 at 19:47, Dick Longbridge said:

Interesting conversations about resin. I've just won a donor Matchbox Renault 5 which I'm planning on using for resurrecting my own ruined original childhood example with. I originally bought another donor but it's in mint condition and way too nice to cut up. 

This one was a bit pricey as a donor - I paid just under a fiver. However, I need the following and they're excellent on this example:

Blue tailgate 

Decent glazing with rear lip to attach tailgate 

Rear corner of the chassis (where the body locates into the chassis) 

Tow hitch section of the interior moulding

Here's the donor:

I want to keep as much of my original model as possible so I hope to use a slitting disc on my dremel to cut the rear corner from the donor chassis and then attach it to my own. 

What suggestions do folk on here have to attach it? It's quite a fragile little section and it's easy to see how it snapped off my original. 

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If it was me I’d use the whole donor base. 
I know you wanted to save as much of your original as possible but in this case the joint on the chassis will be weak and prone to snapping again. 
If you absolutely must, then as @bunglebus said, chemical metal epoxy or similar to both bond and reinforce the joint. Depending how much room there is on the inside (non visible side) you could even glue a thin strip of plastic or metal on to strengthen it a bit.

[bunglebus]

I know I've joked about it in the past, but I'm seriously convinced someone at Mattel follows my Instagram for ideas on recolours - 2025 B case:

 

[danthecapriman]

  On 11/10/2024 at 21:56, bunglebus said:

I know I've joked about it in the past, but I'm seriously convinced someone at Mattel follows my Instagram for ideas on recolours - 2025 B case:

 

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Those bastards did it to me too with my blue Morris Minor!😄

Come up with your own ideas guys FFS!

[bunglebus]

They did it with the Matchbox MR2...

The RS2000 Super Treasure Hunt...

Probably others too

[bunglebus]

Oh yeah, Super Cub

 

[andy18s]

If anyone happens to spot the new Forester Sti,can they please grab 1 or 2 for me please?

Cash waiting,no messing ect ect .....lol

[FakeConcern]

  On 11/10/2024 at 20:41, flat4alfa said:

I am selling my life choices off at the moment so open to offers

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PM coming up soon

[danthecapriman]

Handy hint here for anyone as stupid as I am…

The side trims on Vanguard’s Cavalier’s are in fact NOT cast into the body. They ARE separate plastic parts. And also, those plastic parts DO, in fact dissolve in paint stripper!🤬

What a twat! 
They looked so much like they were cast as part of the body. I’ve managed to make some new ones from plastic strip but I’d have preferred to save the original ones.

As well as new side trims, I’ve deleted the SRI spoiler and filled the sunroof to make a Cavalier L! 
Im not sure Vanguard’s have ever done a ‘normal’ Cav? 
I do have a colour in mind for this. In my mind it is the colour for the mk2…

[AndyW201]

  On 12/10/2024 at 10:21, danthecapriman said:

Handy hint here for anyone as stupid as I am…

The side trims on Vanguard’s Cavalier’s are in fact NOT cast into the body. They ARE separate plastic parts. And also, those plastic parts DO, in fact dissolve in paint stripper!🤬

What a twat! 
They looked so much like they were cast as part of the body. I’ve managed to make some new ones from plastic strip but I’d have preferred to save the original ones.

As well as new side trims, I’ve deleted the SRI spoiler and filled the sunroof to make a Cavalier L! 
Im not sure Vanguard’s have ever done a ‘normal’ Cav? 
I do have a colour in mind for this. In my mind it is the colour for the mk2…

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Vanguards did do two releases of a CD Cavalier,

so not base spec, but not 'sporty' either.

As for colour, for a Cavalier L, it has to be Reed Green surely?

[danthecapriman]

  On 12/10/2024 at 11:51, AndyW201 said:

Vanguards did do two releases of a CD Cavalier,

so not base spec, but not 'sporty' either.

As for colour, for a Cavalier L, it has to be Reed Green surely?

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Glad I’m not the only one who thinks of that colour for low spec Cavalier’s! What a guess!

I thought it was called leaf green though? Or was that the darker shade?

That CD model looks nice. Might have to look at finding one. 
When I was at school a friends dad had a CD in that lovely metallic copper/gold colour with a lovely brown velour interior. Absolutely stunning car and such a comfortable thing to be in. 
All this is making me want to go buy a real one!

[AndyW201]

Local Morrisons have had a restock. We have now hit the dizzy heights of L case! Which sums up how shite things are round here at the moment...

Some of it had already been rifled through, but I managed to find a few gems,

As mentioned on here before, this release of the Civic is a little belter,

Still love this Audi casting, especially in this colour, brilliant detailing, and its good that Hot Wheels havent seen fit to put massive wheels and race graphics on any of them,

The M3 was my favourite find, lovely thing,

Usual disappointing selection at Entertainer at Tesco. Late 2023 Matchbox and no Hot Wheels mainlines whatsoever! Most of the pegs were taken up with the HW Super Mario things, so they'll be there for a while. However they did have the Pop Culture premiums in at a reduced price, so I grabbed the Forza Audi,

[AndyW201]

  On 12/10/2024 at 12:02, danthecapriman said:

Glad I’m not the only one who thinks of that colour for low spec Cavalier’s! What a guess!

I thought it was called leaf green though? Or was that the darker shade?

That CD model looks nice. Might have to look at finding one. 
When I was at school a friends dad had a CD in that lovely metallic copper/gold colour with a lovely brown velour interior. Absolutely stunning car and such a comfortable thing to be in. 
All this is making me want to go buy a real one!

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I think reed green was the earlier, lighter shade, (I remember the V reg Chevette my mother learned to drive in being the same shade), and leaf green being the darker one, from about '84 onwards.

I look forward to seeing the finished article, it'll look caracking as a base spec in that colour.

[bunglebus]

  On 12/10/2024 at 12:27, AndyW201 said:

Still love this Audi casting, especially in this colour

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As Mattel often do, they're releasing another Audi in that shade in the coming months

[Noel Tidybeard]

i would have though pogweasel red/pink was THE colour for a mk2 chav

[danthecapriman]

  On 12/10/2024 at 12:30, AndyW201 said:

I think reed green was the earlier, lighter shade, (I remember the V reg Chevette my mother learned to drive in being the same shade), and leaf green being the darker one, from about '84 onwards.

I look forward to seeing the finished article, it'll look caracking as a base spec in that colour.

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Paints on!

Excuse the crap light in the shed! 
It’s actually a Humbrol colour but it’s probably pretty close. I sprayed it over a black base coat to darken it a bit. 
The real colour actually looks very similar to the green used on old SEB vans!

Not sure if I should do the interior brown, or maybe a different green? Or leave it grey?

  On 12/10/2024 at 13:11, Noel Tidybeard said:

i would have though pogweasel red/pink was THE colour for a mk2 chav

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I did consider red, as I’ve got some proper Vauxhall red paint but trying to fade it pink and worn might not be easy. Maybe repeated white washes might do it? 
The other common colour was that flat blue. Was it squadron blue or something?

[AndyW201]

  On 12/10/2024 at 12:59, bunglebus said:

As Mattel often do, they're releasing another Audi in that shade in the coming months

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Yay! I'll look forward to picking one up in 2026 then! 🤣

[AndyW201]

@danthecapriman Yeah, Squadron blue was the one. Every Mk2 base or L was either that colour, Reed green or Henna red back in the day.

The Vanguard Cav looks great. IIRC almost every Cav that colour had a matching green interior, including the dash!

[FakeConcern]

You may remember I asked @danthecapriman for some truck cabs, well they arrived yesterday (thanks Dan!)

today I had a bit of a play around to see what chassis I could use of those I already have. The first cab I was interested in was an Iveco to go with the Alitalia Team Transporter and it could be made to fit on a Corgi H cab chassis

or a Corgi Mack

Or possibly a Matchbox Bedford

The Renners fit more easily onto several Corgi chassis

Unimog with 4x4 and suspension I also have a later one without

Nice livery on this one

would also work witha Corgi Big Bedford or a TK

and the Citroen could work with a Corgi H Cab as well

Tomorrow I expect to be at a toy fair so I'll be on the lookout for any other truck chassis that may work.

 

[morrisoxide]

On the subject of replicating parts with resin. I experimented with scamasons cheapest resin with plasticine. But the plasticine was too sticky almost greasy and stuck to the resin, so I switched to Poundlands own Play doh that worked quite well.

One problem I found was getting the correct mix of resin and trying to reduce the bubbles. The second problem was getting the right angle to make the mold especially on wheels.

They don't look very good in the pictures, but cleaned up and painted are not too bad. I suppose even the crap ones can be used as scrap parts.

[eddyramrod]

My dad used to make moulds from dental plaster, which gave him a good consistency against the latex resin.  He made many items, from Nativity figure sets to garden gnomes, and I still have one of his Nativity sets, plus one or two "others."  If I'd realised while he was alive that these techniques could have made repro car parts I think I'd have paid more attention to what he was doing!

[Split_Pin]

B&M had some kind of World car range in stock, you guys will know better than me what it is. A haughty £9 each but they were castings which really appealed so I got these two:

My wife also picked up the VW Brasilia to put away for my Christmas.

There was also an Alfa GTV and Golf MK7 but I already have the former as a Mainline and the Golf didn't appeal. Had it been a MK3 or 4 I'd have been interested.

[Dick Cheeseburger]

  On 11/10/2024 at 19:47, Dick Longbridge said:

Interesting conversations about resin. I've just won a donor Matchbox Renault 5 which I'm planning on using for resurrecting my own ruined original childhood example with. I originally bought another donor but it's in mint condition and way too nice to cut up. 

This one was a bit pricey as a donor - I paid just under a fiver. However, I need the following and they're excellent on this example:

Blue tailgate 

Decent glazing with rear lip to attach tailgate 

Rear corner of the chassis (where the body locates into the chassis) 

Tow hitch section of the interior moulding

Here's the donor:

I want to keep as much of my original model as possible so I hope to use a slitting disc on my dremel to cut the rear corner from the donor chassis and then attach it to my own. 

What suggestions do folk on here have to attach it? It's quite a fragile little section and it's easy to see how it snapped off my original. 

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Follow up to this...

I've dug out my old R5 from storage. I always looked looked after 99% of my diecast as a kid. However, this R5 was different - it's the one I remember keeping in my desk at school, throwing around the playground and latterly using as a victim for emery paper, primer, marker pen and tippex. It was a custom test mule.

On closer inspection, it's absolutely wrecked. Both rear body mounts are snapped off, one corner of the rear chassis is missing (where the body mount should attach) my childhood efforts with emery paper have been brutal and left gouges everywhere and even the wheels are ruined, let alone the axles. Even the nearside a and c pillars are snapped. One positive though, the tow hitch is still intact - in my head, it snapped off 40 years ago. 

I've just shown it to my lad and he doesn't understand why I don't just throw it away. 

It's beyond saving really but I've made a plan.  Bodyshell - I'm going to strip it back bare, polish it (and lose the scratches hopefully) and lacquer it. It always was a custom diecast during my tenure so why stop now? 

The damage will be stabilised with chemical metal and pins to strengthen wherever they will squeeze in. Missing bits will be chopped from the tidy donor '5 and bonded into place. Wheels and axles from the donor will be fitted.  Glass and tailgate will come from the donor. Ultimately, this thing will remain fragile, but tidy overall, and will display a few deep scars of its past life. 

I'll update when I start - probably in a few weeks time when life has slowed down a bit. 

[eddyramrod]

Wow.

I'm a sentimental old buffer who has many of his childhood cars still, but... wow.  I don't think I'd even attempt that, so The Best Of British Luck there @Dick Longbridge

[Dick Cheeseburger]

  On 13/10/2024 at 08:58, eddyramrod said:

Wow.

I'm a sentimental old buffer who has many of his childhood cars still, but... wow.  I don't think I'd even attempt that, so The Best Of British Luck there @Dick Longbridge

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Thanks Eddy. Nothing ventured, nothing gained 😅