Shite in Miniature II

[bunglebus]

1 hour ago, danthecapriman said:

I wonder what the thinking was behind changing from making replicas of real cars to those awful fantasy things!? 

 

1 hour ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

I think it was the Hot Wheels influence, but then the Lesney boys just went mad and make fictitious every thing including road rollers and cement mixers.

It was absolutely Mattel taking a big chunk of the toy car market, Lesney and Corgi had to compete or die. Hot Wheels had a lot of fantasy cars in their lineup in the 70's, including lorries, cement mixers etc too

[sierraman]

2 hours ago, danthecapriman said:

I wonder what the thinking was behind changing from making replicas of real cars to those awful fantasy things!? 
I really don’t know why they did it. For me the fantasy made up things like that are probably on par with (or maybe worse now I’m on one!😄) than all the Yesteryear and Days Gone stuff! 
Was it all TV inspired or what?? 
It must’ve sold well though as there’s so many of them around still.

I think it was competition from Hot Wheels. 

[Tenmil Socket]

2 hours ago, danthecapriman said:

I wonder what the thinking was behind changing from making replicas of real cars to those awful fantasy things!? 
I really don’t know why they did it. For me the fantasy made up things like that are probably on par with (or maybe worse now I’m on one!😄) than all the Yesteryear and Days Gone stuff! 
Was it all TV inspired or what?? 
It must’ve sold well though as there’s so many of them around still.

LSD?

[MiniMinorMk3]

1 hour ago, bunglebus said:

1963 you say? That can only mean one thing:

      

 

Top marks for the Politoys Herbie. I waited for one of those to turn up at auction, but every time one appeared they just went through the roof. They were boxed one though.

I've just looked on Ebay a people are asking £50+ for play worn examples. I guess I will just have to wait for one to turn up in an auction tat box if I am to get one for what I consider a realistic price.

Here's me contribution to the Herbie theme. I managed to buy of lot of 10 of these once, making quite a profit on Ebay when I sold them despite the edition being 10,000 pieces.

 

[danthecapriman]

5 minutes ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

Top marks for the Politoys Herbie. I waited for one of those to turn up at auction, but every time one appeared they just went through the roof. They were boxed one though.

I've just looked on Ebay a people are asking £50+ for play worn examples. I guess I will just have to wait for one to turn up in an auction tat box if I am to get one for what I consider a realistic price.

Here's me contribution to the Herbie theme. I managed to buy of lot of 10 of these once, making quite a profit on Ebay when I sold them despite the edition being 10,000 pieces.

 

Another load of films I was brought up on! I absolutely loved Herbie as a kid and had them on video. I can still watch them now too.

[bunglebus]

20 minutes ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

Top marks for the Politoys Herbie. I waited for one of those to turn up at auction, but every time one appeared they just went through the roof. They were boxed one though.

I've got a second one but it's a bit needy - bought off this very forum. It should have windscreen and possibly other windows too

13 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

Another load of films I was brought up on! I absolutely loved Herbie as a kid and had them on video. I can still watch them now too.

Absolutely, there's something about old Technicolour films and seeing America at its best I absolutely love, seeing everyday cars that are now prized possessions just lining the streets. Have to say "Bananas" is quite an irritating watch because of that kid though!

[danthecapriman]

13 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

I've got a second one but it's a bit needy - bought off this very forum. It should have windscreen and possibly other windows too

Absolutely, there's something about old Technicolour films and seeing America at its best I absolutely love, seeing everyday cars that are now prized possessions just lining the streets. Have to say "Bananas" is quite an irritating watch because of that kid though!

😄 yeah that kid was a little prick! Annoying as hell.

Thats one of the reasons I love watching things like Dirty Harry etc etc just because you can sit and watch all the cars and stuff and how things were back then. 
British stuff is similar, like The Sweeney and The Professionals etc. That sort of down at heel gritty London thing going on from before the place turned to shit.

 

[MiniMinorMk3]

I saw all the first four Herbies at the cinema. My mother took me and my brother to see The Love Bug. I was five at the time. Then I think I went to see Herbie Rides Again, Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo, and Herbie Goes Bananas with friends at the time. I agree the boy shouting Ocho all the time does grate in Bananas. I've not seen the recent Lindsey Lohan one.

I like Monte Carlo as it features some good Italian stuff. Here's the ultimate in Herbie diecast sets.

[FakeConcern]

This is the only Herbie I have

A bit battered..

[Split_Pin]

15 minutes ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

I saw all the first four Herbies at the cinema. My mother took me and my brother to see The Love Bug. I was five at the time. Then I think I went to see Herbie Rides Again, Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo, and Herbie Goes Bananas with friends at the time. I agree the boy shouting Ocho all the time does grate in Bananas. I've not seen the recent Lindsey Lohan one.

I like Monte Carlo as it features some good Italian stuff. Here's the ultimate in Herbie diecast sets.

Gosh, 1/25 scale !!

[Lord Sterling]

3 hours ago, bunglebus said:

1963 you say? That can only mean one thing:

I see your VW "Herbie" and raise you a 1/18 RC model Ma_Sterling bought for me many years ago:

I still have the box and a set of spare wheel trims to go on it.

[flat4alfa]

6 hours ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

I think it was the Hot Wheels influence, but then the Lesney boys just went mad and make fictitious every thing including road rollers and cement mixers.

It is surprising the amount of concept cars they did like the 

Dodge Charger Mk III

Vauxhall Guildsman

Datsun 126X

Mazda RX 500

And Caper Cart  😃

😝

[bunglebus]

The Sportwagon was a proper thing, I'll have you know

No-one cared about the custom wheels I made from the originals with K-50 centres 😭

[Bren]

6 hours ago, bunglebus said:

 

It was absolutely Mattel taking a big chunk of the toy car market, Lesney and Corgi had to compete or die. Hot Wheels had a lot of fantasy cars in their lineup in the 70's, including lorries, cement mixers etc too

It's why I like Majorette so much - their castings were mostly of real cars. And they captured the likeness very well - the only real lemon was the datsun 260z which is too square at the rear.

[FakeConcern]

Following all the Spot On interest here, I resolved to get all mine into the condition I want them to be, starting with my childhood toys.

The first two are the Thames Trader

and Rolls Silver Wraith

I need a couple of bits from Steve for the Trader and both need some details to be finished

I'm trying to make them as they are in my memory

The colours aren't quite right, but close enough

I'll make number plates and put the silver and red touches on next

I'm now trying to find a good colour match for the TR3

You can see the original colour inside the wheelarch

 

[danthecapriman]

Love the Spot-On’s @FakeConcern 

That Thames is absolutely lovely.

For the Triumph TR3 -

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/372546209980?_skw=tamiya+ts&itmmeta=01JV8B92Z11HK4WARCWKW5NADV&hash=item56bd7c08bc%3Ag%3Ay7UAAOSw33Ffup7s&itmprp=enc%3AAQAKAAAA4FkggFvd1GGDu0w3yXCmi1ftr5jPd7l1xSj7LqtKPsr4Fxl1olRHh6YpT6IY8EQVmfWEfjDu2g%2FCvntn9IHu9CXK1TldMaFmrC%2BvgyZ0JNCmn9kJD7QOx3%2F71F2VnVfhG1gh9zF0CdHcUWF6kudXCaxE4axp8anaIgfqbYL4Nk5ByPb7LPNTvO7vYO7n9cAoOd6ueX4RFeyvVWsFSMj6m3APJQn2Blnpn47WfZWUpUWgCqL3cZMhsVsElSgfge7h6kvIaC94yoYMl5L3aTxgxLBL2USjHRm56K3MB3kD68sv|tkp%3ABFBMnLCki9pl&var=641326629693

Tamiya Ts-41 Coral blue.

This is what it looks like, probably not 100% but not far off?

[flat4alfa]

3 hours ago, bunglebus said:

The Sportwagon was a proper thing, I'll have you know

No-one cared about the custom wheels I made from the originals with K-50 centres 😭

Oh I knew, there were plenty of ideas around the wagon

But not THAT particular white effort hence my tongue out emoji

humour attempt fail  😉

[flat4alfa]

On 26/03/2022 at 16:20, bunglebus said:

In the meantime, I've been messing about with this Matchbox Speed Kings Caper Cart for far too long. Finally got it good enough to lay on a few coats of metallic red and add a bit of detail.

50 shite points available to anyone who can work out where the wheels are from

I should really paint that front 'plate too...

Must admit I missed this one

K-50 ! 😎

[flat4alfa]

On 06/09/2020 at 09:29, bunglebus said:

Rolls done. Took my time with this one, agonised for days over the paint as I wanted gloss and satin black but knew I'd never hide a masked line. Think what I came up with worked. 

Engine and side pipes from the Matchbox K-50 model T hot rod, lizard from (I think) a 57 Chevy model kit I built as a teenager. Steering wheel out of the spares box, wheels off a pull-back Ferarri 

…and engine from same went into this?

This one I do remember, fantastic the way it came out

[bunglebus]

That engine just fell into place like it was meant to be there (other than chopping a hole in the bonnet obviously). I do like fitting bits from different cars and making it work, that Corgi four engine dragster is a great donor

 

[Split_Pin]

That's why I love European diecast so much. 1) Because when I was a kid I really only went to one place that sold the easiest to find, Majorette, once a year (on holiday) and 2) Because their subjects were of real cars.

Bburago 1/43 were hit and miss as they made a lot of sports cars but they also focused on cars you see every day such as a Fiat Uno or Alfa 33. Most had rally stickers to no doubt increase their appeal but these were easily removed.

The same goes for the larger scales.

I missed out on an engineless Mebetoys Alfetta for 99p last night. I had a Fiat Twin cam to drop straight in and there were also some spare parts listed on Ebay including a complete front grille for an Alfa Sprint which I could have modified to fit. In the end it went for £3.50, plus postage that would have been a tenner and then the spares. I can get a good police one for £30 so not worth it.

Speaking of value, there's a VGC 1/24 Renault 14 on ebay for £7.99 which has kind of sapped my mojo to continue any further with mine at the moment. It's just not worth spending anything on it. I may come back to it some time but for now I'm going to move onto the Visa which is very rare and a half decent restoration will therefore be worthwhile. 

[danthecapriman]

6 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

Speaking of value, there's a VGC 1/24 Renault 14 on ebay for £7.99 which has kind of sapped my mojo to continue any further with mine at the moment. It's just not worth spending anything on it. I may come back to it some time but for now I'm going to move onto the Visa which is very rare and a half decent restoration will therefore be worthwhile. 

I’d carry on with it tbh. 
Yeah, you could buy a nice one for £not much but if you carry on repairing yours it’s yours. You saved something that was almost rubbish to most people and you get the pleasure of making something unique out of it.

All the partwork models I like buying are worth sod all to most people, even fellow collectors/diecast lovers but I enjoy cutting them up and repainting them regardless.

[sierraman]

Sometimes it’s a labour of love, by time I’ve spent £16 on bits from Steve Flowers and his postage it won’t have been worth doing the Zodiac. On cost alone I’d be as well binning it and buying a half decent one but sometimes you have to write it off as spending £16 to pass the time. Of which £16 doesn’t go very far! What’s that about 3 pints in a reasonably useable pub. 🤣

[Split_Pin]

That's true.

Anyway, I went into Hobbycraft tonight and the store manager didn’t even known what Plasticard was 😂😂

So I'll maybe just carry in with the 14 meantime until it arrives from somewhere online.

[flat4alfa]

1 hour ago, Split_Pin said:

I went into Hobbycraft tonight and the store manager didn’t even known what Plasticard was 😂😂

I went into Hobbycraft tonight and the store has CLOSING DOWN 40% OFF signs inside and out

[bunglebus]

I've got a bit of a mad work schedule at the moment, so I've not been home to look through my newest goodies until tonight.

Starting with Hot Wheels, the Mrs was kind/silly enough to intercept Entertainer's latest delivery via video call while I was away, and came home with a large stack for me, although this Porsche was one I found in Home Bargains on Tuesday 

Taking of which, the new colour 911 keyring was located

As well as the Mustang Funny Car

Nice purple Dodge

And a bit of a bonkers Mazda

GR86 in a kind of orangy bronze

Stripey Viper

And Ford GT

I'm not a Ferrari kind of guy, I suppose this one's significant after Mattel's long break from having the licence for them - but I don't think I'll be keeping it

Most of the fantasy stuff doesn't excite me, but I quite like the styling of the Madfast, reminds me of both jet dragsters from the 70s and fantasy Matchbox of the same era 

Mattel Dream Mobile looks really good in red to celebrate 80 years of the company - not an easy one to photograph though

Gordon Murray in a new colour

As is the Mustang in a classic black

The paint on the Mercedes is nuts, absolutely love this

Miura also looking good in black and gold

But this looks even better. I've been itching to find this 635

Head and tail lights are part of the window unit, so customising it should give great results 

However this one's staying exactly as it is!

[bunglebus]

Next door to the Home Bargains where I bought the Porsche, is a Morrisons, and they had 8 packs of Matchbox for £4 each - I grabbed one of each set immediately!

GT40 and the red ovloV are the standouts here for me

Second set contains an exclusive colour E Type

The Cadillac looks good too but I didn't get a close-up

Staying with packaged stuff, @Spottedlaurel tracked down the regular Porsche from the recent National Icons set

As well as the Civic I could never find from the Speed Graphics releases 

Plus one of the new Fast Wagons premiums

I'll come back to that delivery shortly, but first a different one - Matchbox Dinky Porsche 356. I'm not tempted to try and find all of this series, but they are nicely made things, and I've never had my mits on this one before

Yet another box contained one of the surprisingly elusive Matchbox Retro 70s cars that came out in the 90s, this time it's the turn of the Pi-Eyed Piper to be recreated, with some extra detailing as usual. I'll find my original for comparison at some pount

Back to the Spotted  Laurel box for the last boxed buy, with this Corgi 2CV

[FakeConcern]

23 hours ago, danthecapriman said:

Love the Spot-On’s @FakeConcern 

That Thames is absolutely lovely.

For the Triumph TR3 -

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/372546209980?_skw=tamiya+ts&itmmeta=01JV8B92Z11HK4WARCWKW5NADV&hash=item56bd7c08bc%3Ag%3Ay7UAAOSw33Ffup7s&itmprp=enc%3AAQAKAAAA4FkggFvd1GGDu0w3yXCmi1ftr5jPd7l1xSj7LqtKPsr4Fxl1olRHh6YpT6IY8EQVmfWEfjDu2g%2FCvntn9IHu9CXK1TldMaFmrC%2BvgyZ0JNCmn9kJD7QOx3%2F71F2VnVfhG1gh9zF0CdHcUWF6kudXCaxE4axp8anaIgfqbYL4Nk5ByPb7LPNTvO7vYO7n9cAoOd6ueX4RFeyvVWsFSMj6m3APJQn2Blnpn47WfZWUpUWgCqL3cZMhsVsElSgfge7h6kvIaC94yoYMl5L3aTxgxLBL2USjHRm56K3MB3kD68sv|tkp%3ABFBMnLCki9pl&var=641326629693

Tamiya Ts-41 Coral blue.

This is what it looks like, probably not 100% but not far off?

Thanks Dan, I already have the Coral Blue and it's too bright and much too blue, but good news I got different Tamiya paint colour meant for flexible plastic in a proper model shop in Worthing which I think is a good match

I'm going to use it anyway.

 

5 hours ago, sierraman said:

Sometimes it’s a labour of love, by time I’ve spent £16 on bits from Steve Flowers and his postage it won’t have been worth doing the Zodiac. On cost alone I’d be as well binning it and buying a half decent one but sometimes you have to write it off as spending £16 to pass the time. Of which £16 doesn’t go very far! What’s that about 3 pints in a reasonably useable pub. 🤣

I agree financially it isn't worth it, but you end up with something unique that was created by you and in some way expresses your individuality, plus re using something that would otherwise be scrapped is a better use of resources!  

1 hour ago, Split_Pin said:

That's true.

Anyway, I went into Hobbycraft tonight and the store manager didn’t even known what Plasticard was 😂😂

So I'll maybe just carry in with the 14 meantime until it arrives from somewhere online.

I'm not at all surprised that The staff in Hobbycraft had no clue, they never know anything about that sort of thing, bring back Beatties! We went to Hobbycraft to look for paint and they no longer stock the Tamiya spray or Plasticote spray paints. Also the model section has shrunk to a tiny section on one side near the back of the store. Most of the stuff they sell now is a boring kit to enable someone with no skill or imagination to produce a useless artifact.

Anyway back to Miniature shite and we went to Ford Market where I picked up a few bits and bobs

Mrs Concern got the Dinky tyre rack and the tiny die cast sailing boat.

I picked this up for Eddy

This was £1.50 if someone would like it

I got these for £5 which was a good deal

The Gloworm Crapi even has the strut thing, but is missing the driver and funnily enough I bought a chassis for one at the toy fair for 50p and it has a driver.

All three versions of Corgi racing trailer, almost complete VW wrecker just no hook and a Dinky Spitfire with driver and seat belt. A50 still has what looks to be intact glazing pushed down inside the slightly squashed roof.

We went into Arundel for a coffee and looked in the junk shops, some nice stuff today, but didn't buy any...

I really had to restrain myself to not buy the Mebetoys Alfasud!

 

 

[bunglebus]

Along with the boxed Corgi, were two Carreras

I've forgotten who it was on here that had lots of different versions of the Majorette pickup, but having found out it was made as a camper, I needed to find one

Much to my amusement, the orange roof beacons are still fitted, and visible through the windows

Was the plastic part used in anything else?

It was joined by a clean ovloV estate

And an opening bonnet Beetle

The next package I opened confused me slightly, as it contained...a yellow, opening bonnet Beetle!

Oops, oh well that's one for the repaint pile then!

Lastly, an Alme Golf, looking for all the world like an overgrown mix of both Majorette and Matchbox 

[Split_Pin]

8 minutes ago, FakeConcern said:

they no longer stock the Tamiya spray or Plasticote spray paints

Ah I thought that was just me that couldn't find it any more! That is annoying as there is a nice Tamiya Suzuki superbike I've had my eye in for a while but I would need a specific Tamiya blue for it.