Shite in Miniature II

[Tenmil Socket]

3 hours ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

Next up for clean were the little Corgis.

From top to bottom and left to right we have

Citroen Safari in metallic lilac. Judging by the size this is probably an old Husky casting.

Ford Holmes Wrecker. A bit play worn with bent rear axle. Still has both hooks though.

Morgan Plus 8 missing screen and steering wheel. It does look a bit like a Morgan Plus 4x4 with those wheels.

Ford Capri Fire Cheif. Not bad apart from the roof light has been pushed down and cracked the window unit.

Studebaker Wagonaire Ambulance. Again not bad but the glass above the patient has been broken.

Good Batcopter.

Nice Porsche Carrera 6

Excellent Volvo 245 DL. Again those big wheels look a bit cartoonish.

This one's called Hot Rodder. No idea what it is meant to be.

Corgi Juniors is not written in the usual Corgi font on the base.

Very sorry looking Formula 1 Racer with lots of paint loss and grease stained stickers.

Very good looking Lotus Europa. This green looks better than the Matchbox pink.

Tidy ERF Simon Snorkel 

Tractor, well that's what it says on the bottom, but shovel says it's a Massey Ferguson

Daimler Fleetline with passengers and Coca-Cola ads.

A Huskey has sneaked in. An ERF 66GX Cement Mixer. Looks like this has made a few site visits.

Last is what looks like another Huskey.

but it's a Corgi Bedford TK Maxx with Huskey style base.

 

Is this for sale?
 

[stuboy]

5 hours ago, Remspoor said:

Have not got the British Gas liveried van?

umm.............  not sure

[danthecapriman]

Not sure if this one’s been posted before,

Found it earlier when looking for something else. 
Brilliant photo nonetheless the less.

[MiniMinorMk3]

3 hours ago, Tenmil Socket said:

Is this for sale?
 

Possibly in the future.

[bunglebus]

8 hours ago, danthecapriman said:

Not sure if this one’s been posted before,

Found it earlier when looking for something else. 
Brilliant photo nonetheless the less.

The plate on the Datsun(?) at the front would be appropriate on something like an Evoque, going by how must people seem to live now!

I drive past the factory site now and again, wish I'd visited while it was still standing

[sierraman]

Didn’t they have a fleet of those ex London buses right into the 80’s for the staff? Wonder what happened to them? 

[neil72]

1 hour ago, sierraman said:

Didn’t they have a fleet of those ex London buses right into the 80’s for the staff? Wonder what happened to them? 

Yes, my Mum worked at the Lesney factory for a few years in the mid to late 70s and one of these used to pick her up at the top of our road, there was an added bonus to her working their also, me and my brothers used to get free toys!

[danthecapriman]

2 hours ago, bunglebus said:

The plate on the Datsun(?) at the front would be appropriate on something like an Evoque, going by how must people seem to live now!

I drive past the factory site now and again, wish I'd visited while it was still standing

What’s on the site now? Presumably overpriced houses or flats!?

Itd be interesting to get some ‘then & now’ photos of it.

 

1 hour ago, sierraman said:

Didn’t they have a fleet of those ex London buses right into the 80’s for the staff? Wonder what happened to them? 

I think they did have a few of them, yes. All the same AEC Regents/RT’s. 
They’d have been old by the time of that photo so I would imagine after they were no longer required they probably just got cut up for scrap. 
Good idea though, putting on a dedicated bus service for the factory staff. Lots of big outfits did it at least for a while. London Transport, AEC, British Rail all laid on staff buses in the day. Even now it does still happen in a few places. 
SSE used to contract in a bus service for their big offices & call centre in Havant Penner Road. Pretty sure it was a small operator from Emsworth who did it, usually using some pretty elderly buses.

[flat4alfa]

Previous Lesney bus chat in this thread:

 

[Split_Pin]

Didn't someone make a model of one of those MB RTs once or am I imagining that?

[sierraman]

59 minutes ago, neil72 said:

Yes, my Mum worked at the Lesney factory for a few years in the mid to late 70s and one of these used to pick her up at the top of our road, there was an added bonus to her working their also, me and my brothers used to get free toys!

Wow. I bet that must have been brilliant as a kid! I’d have found it hard to resist the temptation not to run my own colour variations! 🤣

[sierraman]

5 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

Didn't someone make a model of one of those MB RTs once or am I imagining that?

Matchbox did one themselves. 

[sierraman]

40 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

What’s on the site now? Presumably overpriced houses or flats!?

Itd be interesting to get some ‘then & now’ photos of it.

 

I think they did have a few of them, yes. All the same AEC Regents/RT’s. 
They’d have been old by the time of that photo so I would imagine after they were no longer required they probably just got cut up for scrap. 
Good idea though, putting on a dedicated bus service for the factory staff. Lots of big outfits did it at least for a while. London Transport, AEC, British Rail all laid on staff buses in the day. Even now it does still happen in a few places. 
SSE used to contract in a bus service for their big offices & call centre in Havant Penner Road. Pretty sure it was a small operator from Emsworth who did it, usually using some pretty elderly buses.

From what I can deduce the Matchbox bit was at the back of the industrial estate that’s still there. The bit where the Matchbox factory stood is now some pretty unremarkable flats. Like I say that’s from what I can see from addresses/googlr earth etc, I don’t live out that way so can’t say for sure. 
 

I believe the Rochford factory lasted longer than 1982, maybe mid/late 80’s making Superkings and the Super GT initially. 

[bunglebus]

Flats, but there are workshops underneath used by artists and small companies. I collected some handmade wooden giant pinball machines from them that we installed in Nike stores across Europe.

At least there's still something being made there, and of course there's the sculpture of a track loop and two Matchbox Superfast cars outside

[danthecapriman]

19 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

Didn't someone make a model of one of those MB RTs once or am I imagining that?

No idea tbh, but…

I have a second one of those green IXO 1:43 Regent double decker’s which has now found it’s calling in life!  
Anyone know if you can get that ‘Matchbox’ logo as a decal/transfer?

[bunglebus]

Day 20 already 

[Split_Pin]

Reminds me of the MB Peugeot Quasar.

[sierraman]

When did production begin at Hackney? At the big plant by the river? I know it wound up there in ‘82 and the factory continued in part doing commercial due casting until it ended up empty from the 90’s onwards. 

[Tenmil Socket]

I like this:

And someone needs to replicate this!

[danthecapriman]

6 minutes ago, Tenmil Socket said:

I like this:

And someone needs to replicate this!

Love that Cargo! 
I do have a 3D printed Cargo cab I’ve not used yet in 1:43…

Making the rear box body or adapting an existing one to fit shouldn’t be too difficult either.

[sierraman]

Corgi did a 1/43ish Ford Cargo in their toy range iirc. 

[Tenmil Socket]

I’ve discovered one of the oddest things on this car today. There’s a switch on the base that moves the rear seat forwards and backwards 🤔

Hard to see in the pictures.

 

[MrBiscuits]

21 minutes ago, Tenmil Socket said:

I’ve discovered one of the oddest things on this car today. There’s a switch on the base that moves the rear seat forwards and backwards 🤔

Hard to see in the pictures.

 

The sliding back seat was an odd feature of the real ZX when it was first released if I remember correctly.

[danthecapriman]

43 minutes ago, sierraman said:

Corgi did a 1/43ish Ford Cargo in their toy range iirc. 

They did, I’m not sure what scale it was tbh. I’ve never had one. 
Didn’t one version of it come in a British Gas set with an Escort van and a trailer of some kind? I’m sure the Cargo did look quite small compared to the Escort van which probably would put it around 1:43ish?

[Tenmil Socket]

7 minutes ago, MrBiscuits said:

The sliding back seat was an odd feature of the real ZX when it was first released if I remember correctly.

That could answer that then.

[Volksy]

Picked up one of these today at Poundland. All their HW were £1.50

I kinda want to Withnail it......

 

[bunglebus]

I had the Royal Mail Cargo, passed on now

 

[sierraman]

I think they grafted the cargo cab on to the MB chassis. I have one that’s a Tarmac Tipper. 

[andrew e]

2 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

Reminds me of the MB Peugeot Quasar.

Thread drift: I was at the Peugeot museum in Sochaux a few weeks ago, the Quaser still looks fantastic in the flesh 😎

https://laventure-association.com

[danthecapriman]

Had a handful of acquisitions over the last few days.

Firstly a pair of cut price Vanguards models in the form of the Atlas Editions best of British collection. 
Cortina mk3.

 
Sierra Sapphire,

 
You can just about see where the Vanguard’s branding was removed from the base on the Sierra!

 
And a Corgi motoring memories Escort mk1 van. 
These are really looking their age now. The basic shape looks good, although I’m not entirely convinced about the front end. Maybe a Vanguard’s Escort front might graft on?? There’s no other alternatives for a mk1 van in 1:43 though I don’t think. The dividing bar in the door windows looks a bit on the chunky side too so maybe that might benefit from thinning down and then some details painting in. Just looks very plain as it is.