Shite in Miniature II

[bramz7]

Popped to the local (to work) Smyth's and thought I'd try and find one I was after. 

That wasn't difficult! 

[MAF260]

A local detailer I use in Buckingham is also a Hot Wheels stockist and is said to hold some interesting stock. I have kept myself away from the shop as I fear I will spend a fortune:

 

https://themotorspa.co.uk/collections/hot-wheels?sort_by=title-ascending

[bunglebus]

20 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

My wife isn't well this evening so I didn't buy coffees while we wait for my son at his basketball training. So I got this instead. It's almost identical to one that's languishing in a driveway across from my house.

HW have built up a really good range of 90s Japanese cars over the years and this type is a new one on me.

Do you live two roads from me? 

Looks considerably worse now, 5 years later

[Christine]

2 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Much excite. Sputafuoco Hot Wheels Heisse Rader Mebetoys Twinmill!

I've been itching for this one to arrive. Funny enough on one of my Facebook groups someone asked for Twinmill pics today, so I'm going to drop one image with no explanation whatsoever, and see what happens 

I had that as a child..my auntie had a toyshop and spoilt me rotten with thing like that.. big hotwheels! 

[bunglebus]

1 minute ago, Christine said:

I had that as a child..my auntie had a toyshop and spoilt me rotten with thing like that.. big hotwheels! 

There are others, but there're mega expensive when they do pop up for sale

[Split_Pin]

44 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

Do you live two roads from me? 

Looks considerably worse now, 5 years later

Ah the one across the road looks like a lower range model on 4 odd wheels. He used to start it up until a couple of years ago but the brakes were seized on. It's very dead now.

[bunglebus]

Siku T5 casting looks really good naked

[richardmorris]

14 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

Siku T5 casting looks really good naked

What does it look like when you’re wearing clothes?

[bunglebus]

13 minutes ago, richardmorris said:

What does it look like when you’re wearing clothes?

Not quite as good. Didn't hang around to find out, bit nippy in the outhouse 

[eddyramrod]

4 hours ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

Dinky 258 was a Desoto, maybe the picture in the catalogue is a bit iffy.

Oh I have no problem with 258 being the DeSoto; I happen to think it's a lovely model, in any livery.  But someone at Dinky needed a kick up the arse, because the picture in the scan of the catalogue is definitely NOT a DeSoto.  Look at the lines of the tailfins.  It's absolutely the Dodge.

[flat4alfa]

On 05/12/2024 at 12:51, eddyramrod said:

That "De Soto" American police car... isn't.  It's a Dodge.  Easy mistake to make though, as Dinky offered, DeSoto, Dodge and Plymouth, which in real life were all the same car with detail differences.

Ok, taking a look...

Dinky 258 was originally a Police livery variation of 192 De Soto Fireflite Sedan (written as DESOTO on base), a model of a 1957 De Soto first seen in Dinky Catalogues for 1959, alongside 191 Dodge Royal Sedan modelling a 1958 Dodge.

1960 Catalogue had the addition of no.258 as U.S.A. Police Car, clearly also a 1957 De Soto and produced to 1961

What happened was Dinky reused the 258 number (and packaging for a period) for the 1958 Dodge Royal Police car variation for 1961-62

The catalogue was changed to be the Dodge drawing, however the French catalogue mistakenly kept the description 'De Soto' which was corrected for subsequent catalogues

Which is probably why for catalogues UK & France after 1963 there is the Dodge drawing but no mention of brand

Dinky France had it as number 258L

Dinky increased the confusion again by pulling the Dodge and De Soto castings and reusing no.258 once again for the US Police car replacement based around their 147 Cadillac  Series 62 casting, modelled on the 1961 Cadillac

Stockists and collectors must have been having enough kittens by now, then Dinky only went and released 264 R.C.M.P. Police Car using either the Cadillac or 148 Ford Fairlane 1961 castings...

...in packaging depicting just the Ford

Silly sods.

[eddyramrod]

I've been doing some more work upstairs...

First up is an Atlas police collection Minor van, or at least it was!  This is entirely from memory, evoking a van I knew 47 years ago in Southport.  The paint is deliberately rough, that's how it was.

Second up, and also from last week's DanBox (TM), is an IXO Montego in Racing Green, which just needed J433 SOP on the number plates to represent the Montego I had 22 years ago.  I still have the back number plate!

Going back only to 2005 is this Ford Crown Vic.  We did a big US roadtrip in September that year, during which we met up with Jerry Van Dove, Chief of Police in Southport North Carolina (hence my occasional fictional Southport copcar models).  This was his K9 unit until it was retired, and he still had it in his back yard.  Naturally I took a photo and that's what I've worked from to produce this model.

You might remember I posted a pic of a somewhat mutilated Corgi Cadillac ambulance (in fact two of them); well here is the first to be finished.  I couldn't resist making a hearse...

Now let's look at screen cars...

Triumph 2000 (in this case the 60s Dinky) was used by DS Carter in one episode of The Sweeney, being sacrificed in a muddy chase.  It carried a blatantly fake number plate, N suffix which was a long way into the reign of the mk2!

Remember the job lot of playworn Hot Wheels and no-names I picked up some weeks ago?  This HW 57 Chevy was part of that lot, but needed paint.  I immediately thought of the black 57 that Patrick Swayze drives in Dirty Dancing.  So I did something about it.

Complete with California plates in their early 60s yellow.

[danthecapriman]

Brilliant job there @eddyramrod

That hearse looks so cool! Why didn’t Corgi or Dinky ever do them as hearses!? Too morbid maybe? 

[flat4alfa]

Quote

The film car survives and is (or was) with a collector in Australia 

Patrick Swayze signed it.  Oh, and the rear window he put his fist through has been replaced!

Quote

Baby: I told you I was telling the truth Daddy. I'm sorry I lied to you. But you lied too. You told me everyone was alike and deserved a fair break. But you meant everyone who was like you. I know you didn’t mean collecting Hot Wheels, Corgi, Dinky and those damn Spot-ons I have all over the place. I'm not proud of myself, but I'm in this family too and you can't keep giving me the silent treatment.

[flat4alfa]

Of course now educated, I had to take a look as didn’t have a clue 🙂

Quote

Oh, well assessing the film car…. Holts colour match on that wing, hmmm…. those were the days 🙂

 

Oh no - check out that tide mark!  Shocking Canley build effort!  It was only 8 years old the poor thing

Not seen the episode, but I bet they crashed it.  Bast*ds.

[bunglebus]

Day 6

[Split_Pin]

I've been following Ashens on You Tube and his 4 advent calendars. The Brio one is unexpectedly rubbish. 

I think he'd like this HW one though, looks decent!

[danthecapriman]

10 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

Of course now educated, I had to take a look as didn’t have a clue 🙂

Oh, well assessing the film car…. Holts colour match on that wing, hmmm…. those were the days 🙂

 

Oh no - check out that tide mark!  Shocking Canley build effort!  It was only 8 years old the poor thing

Not seen the episode, but I bet they crashed it.  Bast*ds.

It did get trashed, yes. Along with an equally nice Jag S type.

 

[sierraman]

17 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

It did get trashed, yes. Along with an equally nice Jag S type.

 

I mean they’d be ten a penny back then plus I’ve no doubt the bottoms of the doors and sill would be 75% chicken wire, The Mirror and filler. 

[stuboy]

Treated my self for xmas..

[Datsuncog]

12 hours ago, danthecapriman said:

That hearse looks so cool! Why didn’t Corgi or Dinky ever do them as hearses!? Too morbid maybe? 

Corgi did prototype a Citroen ID19 Safari as a hearse, complete with wooden coffin, in the 1960s - but apparently management weren't very impressed, and so it didn't go any further.

Matchbox copped a lot of flack for their 2006 mainline model of a 1963 Cadillac hearse - I thought it was excellent, and I loved the trademark Easter egg feature from designer Ryu Asada - a hand emerging from the coffin inside.

Not everyone agreed, sadly, to the point that Mattel reworked it into an ambulance for the 2009 range.

Quote

The model caused controversy due to its association with death and Matchbox received customer complaints relating to it being inappropriate for children.

1963 Cadillac Hearse | Matchbox Cars Wiki | Fandom

The hearse casting is still seen on rare occasions, either as a premium collector release like the 2011 'Lesney Edition', or snuck into 5-packs and 9-packs (2018 Coffee Cruisers set).

I've also seen some sort of cheapie (Motor Max?) model of a 1980s-looking Cadillac hearse in maybe 1/50 scale, with 'horror' graphics and some sort of light and sound function, but other than that toymakers seem a bit squeamish about referencing death in their products...

[bunglebus]

The irony being, no pain or suffering happened in a hearse, whereas ambulances see all the horrors than can happen to us

[Split_Pin]

Someone wrote into the Corgi Collector Magazine in the late 1980s and included a picture of the 1/36 Mercedes Bonna Ambulance reworked into a hearse, complete with wooden coffin and tiny dried flowers. It looked great and Corgi agreed.

[sierraman]

1 minute ago, bunglebus said:

The irony being, no pain or suffering happened in a hearse, whereas ambulances see all the horrors than can happen to us

I never got people’s fascination with buying vile old Sherpas to turn into campers where they’d probably attended numerous fatalities or had numerous deaths in them and blood and sick all over. 🤣

I think making a code 3 hearse might be in order…

[danthecapriman]

13 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

Corgi did prototype a Citroen ID19 Safari as a hearse, complete with wooden coffin, in the 1960s - but apparently management weren't very impressed, and so it didn't go any further.

Matchbox copped a lot of flack for their 2006 mainline model of a 1963 Cadillac hearse - I thought it was excellent, and I loved the trademark Easter egg feature from designer Ryu Asada - a hand emerging from the coffin inside.

Not everyone agreed, sadly, to the point that Mattel reworked it into an ambulance for the 2009 range.

1963 Cadillac Hearse | Matchbox Cars Wiki | Fandom

The hearse casting is still seen on rare occasions, either as a premium collector release like the 2011 'Lesney Edition', or snuck into 5-packs (2018 Coffee Cruisers set).

I've also seen some sort of cheapie (Motor Max?) model of a 1980s-looking Cadillac hearse in maybe 1/50 scale, with 'horror' graphics and some sort of light and sound function, but other than that toymakers seem a bit squeamish about referencing death in their products...

I’ve got that Matchbox hearse! Very cool and way better than the ambulances! 
It’s a bit sad and pathetic really that someone would complain about a toy hearse but that’s where we are I suppose.

Ive got a few in 1:43, a 60’s Cadillac Superior and an 80’s Oldsmobile and I think another too. Not seen them for years though. I’ve got the Oxford Diecast Daimler DS420 hearse in 1:76 too.

Theres something about the 50’s and 60’s US hearses though, absolutely beautiful looking cars imho!

[Datsuncog]

12 minutes ago, sierraman said:

I never got people’s fascination with buying vile old Sherpas to turn into campers where they’d probably attended numerous fatalities or had numerous deaths in them and blood and sick all over. 🤣

Veering slightly off-topic here, but I seem to recall that @FredTransit of this parish owned an ex-ambulance Mk2 Transit which was believed to be haunted...

Quote

FredTransit
Posted 03 November 2013 - 07:27 PM

Our dogs are happy in any of the vans. Except the Mk2 ambulance. Had to take 2 of ‘em with me north in it and one of ‘em stood all the way, repeatedly glancing at the passenger side stretcher. Another one would wedge herself into the passenger footwell and not come out. Spooky?

[danthecapriman]

3 minutes ago, sierraman said:

I never got people’s fascination with buying vile old Sherpas to turn into campers where they’d probably attended numerous fatalities or had numerous deaths in them and blood and sick all over. 🤣

I think making a code 3 hearse might be in order…

I’ve never seen the attraction to that either tbh! Any old ambulance converted to a camper just seems a bit grim really given the nature of what ambulances get used for. Why would you want to go camping and sleep in something that’s had all that going on in there!?   
Restoring one as a show vehicle or museum vehicle is fine, but anything else… naa!

Ive often thought about reworking one of the Matchbox Kingsize Binz ambulances into a hearse, but never actually done it…

[bunglebus]

I made a start on a Studebaker Wagonaire hearse, but ran into all sorts of problems with broken pillars etc, so gave up

 

[sierraman]

Now looking for a suitable candidate… 🤣

[bunglebus]

Going through a few cars finding the real versions of the eraser cars

Only now have I realised the F1 Racer is actually a Corgi Juniors - so are there more Corgis to find too?

Annoyingly I sold most of my single seaters last year, including the Corgi F1, and the Formula 5000 too. I now want both to line up with the Mira copies I found, typical!