Shite in Miniature II

[danthecapriman]

14 minutes ago, morrisoxide said:

I thought it was a magazine reissue job not long after I bought it that dulled the excitement. That's why I thought I'd spent too much on it.

I don’t think you did. £3 seems pretty reasonable to me. Mine came to me in a job lot of other things I think so I couldn’t tell you what mine cost, but on eBay you won’t get one that cheaply.

[bunglebus]

I kept eyeing up that green Prairie and brown 928 at the toy fair. They look good to me

[bunglebus]

1 hour ago, FakeConcern said:

Made by Summer

Here's my somewhat battered example with pull-back motor 

Summer are mostly known for 1:64ish castings with a crude sort of charm

 

[bunglebus]

2 hours ago, danthecapriman said:

Volvo 440.

The forgotten Volvo! Available in turbo form, and fairly rapid, as I found out during my work experience at Lancaster . I remember saying to the technician it was a good job he'd checked the tread depths before the test drive...

[danthecapriman]

Just now, bunglebus said:

The forgotten Volvo! Available in turbo form, and fairly rapid, as I found out during my work experience at Lancaster . I remember saying to the technician it was a good job he'd checked the tread depths before the test drive...

Most Volvo people don’t tend to recognise the 400’s as proper Volvo’s but I disagree. 
I remember working on them fairly regularly and they were good cars. Not as solid or long lasting as the bigger models like the 200, 700 and 900 but you’d expect that I think given the price difference and fact the 400 wasn’t a big flagship style model. 
They did like to rust in old age though, which is probably what killed most of them off. Someone local where I used to live had a red J reg one. He had it years and that got extremely rusty around the rear sill ends and wheel arches.

I know you can get the 480 in 1:43 and Matchbox’s 1:64 but did anyone do the 460 saloon??

[FakeConcern]

13 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

Most Volvo people don’t tend to recognise the 400’s as proper Volvo’s but I disagree. 
I remember working on them fairly regularly and they were good cars. Not as solid or long lasting as the bigger models like the 200, 700 and 900 but you’d expect that I think given the price difference and fact the 400 wasn’t a big flagship style model. 
They did like to rust in old age though, which is probably what killed most of them off. Someone local where I used to live had a red J reg one. He had it years and that got extremely rusty around the rear sill ends and wheel arches.

I know you can get the 480 in 1:43 and Matchbox’s 1:64 but did anyone do the 460 saloon??

Lots of Volvo people don't know what they're talking about, but the 440s are very rare now. I've been to a lot of Volvo shows and meetings and not seen even one for ages. I see many more 480s. I have a few Pilen and Matchbox 480s, but no 440s.

The only 440 I've seen for years was at the recent SE Shite meeting, can't remember who owned it, but they were friendly and the car was great!

[Spottedlaurel]

Just a couple from today's Japanese car meet:

An older series, previously I only had the Fairlady Roadster.

[flat4alfa]

One of the Summer Abarths is here. I measured it to 1:50

There is a wind-up motor/mechanism in there, but it's daft - you wind it back, let it go and it rolls along...

...until its last few inches, when it raises up its front and performs a wheelie.  Wow! A wheelie at the END of its run.

[AndyW201]

1 hour ago, danthecapriman said:

 

I know you can get the 480 in 1:43 and Matchbox’s 1:64 but did anyone do the 460 saloon??

AHC Pilen in 1/43.

I've fancied one for a while, but they're relatively hard to find and as usual, sellers over here on ebay want strong money for them.

[Datsuncog]

Some great car boot action there!

[flat4alfa]

3 hours ago, FakeConcern said:

 I do like a Mirafiori

My first real car was 131 Mirafiori

2-door one too. That bodyshell would be worth a fair bit more than the £200 (with fresh MoT) I gave for it in 1988

[sierraman]

The problem with the 440/460 was that it was just wasn’t what people in that sector wanted. Volvo did that rare thing and managed with the 850 to completely change their audience yet not alienate the ones they had. Almost unheard of. The 440 though just didn’t fit in the plan at all. Staid even amongst even the most humdrum of cars. 

[flat4alfa]

The real problem for Volvo people was it wasn’t Swedish.
It’s Dutch, built at the former DAF car plant 

[danthecapriman]

20 minutes ago, sierraman said:

The problem with the 440/460 was that it was just wasn’t what people in that sector wanted. Volvo did that rare thing and managed with the 850 to completely change their audience yet not alienate the ones they had. Almost unheard of. The 440 though just didn’t fit in the plan at all. Staid even amongst even the most humdrum of cars. 

12 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

The real problem for Volvo people was it wasn’t Swedish.
It’s Dutch, built at the former DAF car plant 

Probably both true. 
Dutch car, French engine. Not what your typical Volvo owner would be going for. The 300 series was similar too.

[flat4alfa]

The 300 series actually was a DAF

[eddyramrod]

DIY is a bugger.  It interferes with model-finishing time and leaves me with no stamina for going upstairs to finish models.  BUT: over the last week or so I have managed to get some done, many of which have been lurking on my bench for ages.

So, let's begin with Thunderbirds.  Regular readers will know I've been addicted to Gerry Anderson's Supermarionation shows since I first saw them, first time around.  One thing that's often struck me is the lack of traffic on the streets!  So, using carefully-chosen scrap diecasts, I'm building up a fleet of what might be considered background vehicles.  Now most of us will know the great FAB 1, Lady Penelope's Rolls Royce.  Obviously she is rather wealthy, but I don't care how wealthy she is, I don't see RR making her a one-off car from scratch.  The big pink thing, therefore, must be customised using a standard Rolls Royce Silver Soul, but what does one look like?  

Well now we know, don't we?  I had a beaten-up Dinky missing the bubble canopy, so I thought, the standard Soul would have a steel roof.  What it's got, after a heck of a lot of work, is the roof and bootlid from a very broken Corgi Kojak Buick Regal.  Ford Roman Bronze completes it; suitably restrained and elegant enough to sit in the background of any scene featuring the pink one.  Although it's supposed to be "the standard car" it is, in practice, going to be the only one.  I don't see myself making another.  Two Rolls Royces are enough for any plotline.

Regulars will also be familiar with my miniature fleet of cars I've owned, or that have been part of the family, or at least that I've had some sort of contact with.  In 1979 I did a good few miles in a cheap old grey Mini, and around the same time, repainted one of my elderly Corgi Minis to match.  Well now I've replaced the Corgi with a Chinese no-name that's more 1/36; there's a reason for that!

As I said: no name.  Oh well.

THREE 1/36 Minis!  Because I've had my hands on three Mini saloons, you see.  So the grey one is the mk1 from 1979; the white one is a Corgi mk3 replacing a Corgi mk1 as the Mini my dad and I bought for my mum in 1991; and the red one is another Corgi mk3, for "The Amazing Spider-Min" that I owned in 2002 and hadn't modelled until I did this one.  I decorated it on a Spider-Man theme, that being the year Tobey Maguire's first Spidey film came out, and the car being Targa Red, which I thought a good match for his suit.

Hello, what's this?

In 1998, needing an emergency replacement car, I bought a one-litre Metro.  Some time later I painted up a Corgi Junior in its honour.  As you can see: now I've done the 1/36 Corgi to replace that.  I'm slowly trying to eliminate the smaller-scale models from that cabinet, but there isn't a 1/43-ish replacement for everything yet.

[ambassador84]

A few cheeky diecast purchases whilst out here in Spain.

I had to collect some new Guisvals from a Norauto store and whilst waiting in the queue I noticed the rather elusive Treasure Hunt Honda Turbo II staring at me in a small dump bin. It's one of those releases I just couldn't find anywhere in the UK!

[ambassador84]

Of extreme minority interest and tastes, I'm looking at you Bunglebus 😉😉, but when in Spain I do love visiting as many Chinese bazaars as I can.

Constantly on the hunt for the dirtiest and filthiest of cheapo Chinese diecast knock offs and oddities.

[eddyramrod]

I've had my dinner now so I went up and checked the dryness of paint on some other models...

The Saab was a quick and easy job, commemorating my friend's car in Cyprus.  The other two are just me being indulgent.

Plain Plymouth being chased down by the Law!

Oh-oh, looks like he got his man.

Back in 1959 at the Chevrolet dealership...

You will notice the green one doesn't have the B pillar that Corgi gave it.  I'm not going to dismantle the three I've already done, but from now on this is how they're going to be - as GM intended, pillarless!

But oh, what lovely backsides!

[sierraman]

49 minutes ago, ambassador84 said:

A few cheeky diecast purchases whilst out here in Spain.

I had to collect some new Guisvals from a Norauto store and whilst waiting in the queue I noticed the rather elusive Treasure Hunt Honda Turbo II staring at me in a small dump bin. It's one of those releases I just couldn't find anywhere in the UK!

Having failed miserably to obtain Guisval in Tenerife, is there somewhere in Benidorm that might turn up trumps? 

[eddyramrod]

Just now, sierraman said:

Having failed miserably to obtain Guisval in Tenerife, is there somewhere in Benidorm that might turn up trumps? 

Or, since I'll be there at Christmas: Benalmadena?

[ambassador84]

1 minute ago, sierraman said:

Having failed miserably to obtain Guisval in Tenerife, is there somewhere in Benidorm that might turn up trumps? 

Unlikely unless that really good model shop towards the bottom end of Benidorm has got some in. They hadn't when I was there last in October 2023.

Will you be hiring a car whilst there?

[ambassador84]

1 minute ago, eddyramrod said:

Or, since I'll be there at Christmas: Benalmadena?

If you will have access to a car then in theory Repsol petrol stations might yield some Guisval goodies as well as small independent Tabacconists and stationary stores.

[sierraman]

3 minutes ago, eddyramrod said:

Or, since I'll be there at Christmas: Benalmadena?

Went there in March as well. 😂

[Split_Pin]

[flat4alfa]

1 hour ago, ambassador84 said:

Tabacconists

[MiniMinorMk3]

20 hours ago, morrisoxide said:

Got this Solido Prairie from a car show in Tadcaster for £3, quite spendy for me but where do you see them?

 

 

20 hours ago, sierraman said:

Wouldn’t say £3 was spendy for such a brilliant item as that! 

 

20 hours ago, danthecapriman said:

Pretty sure that Nissan Prairie is from the Century of car collection. It’s a Solido 1:43 I think. I have one here somewhere and like it too. It’s a bit dated in appearance now, mainly the bumper & grill but not bad at all really. And for £3 who can complain!

£3 is nothing compared to what RM Toys are asking

Solido A Century Of Cars 1/43 Scale AFK8205 - Nissan Prairie - Met Green — R.M.Toys Ltd

[MiniMinorMk3]

21 hours ago, danthecapriman said:

This arrived yesterday.

Atlas Volvo collection 440.

 

 

Not one you see very often, and the 440 doesn’t seem very common in model form at all so a nice one for the collection. It’ll likely be a strip & repaint-er though. I need to open it up regardless as the front seat has come adrift.

That remind me of teh AHC Pilen version. Also available in road versions.

 

[bunglebus]

4 hours ago, eddyramrod said:

Chinese no-name 

I do believe that's a Welly. I feel your pain on the DIY, today was supposed to be all mine photographing the weekend's boot sale finds, which I've done - but also had to move loads of crap in the loft to allow the electrician to run new wiring and ducting for an extractor fan, which has caused utter carnage as there's so little space - can't even put the loft ladder up at the moment as there's sh!t everywhere.  Then had to cut a hole in the loft boards to run the ducting through, so now I'm hot sweaty and dusty - and my bathroom has just the toilet pan remaining with a bucket to flush it, no shower or bath! Might be getting the hosepipe out later. 

Oh and top job on that Roller, very clever incorporating the Buick bits

3 hours ago, ambassador84 said:

I'm looking at you Bunglebus 😉😉

 

That Baja is godawful. How much do you want for it?

[bunglebus]

Strap in boys and girls, I've got a lot of diecast junk to discuss.

Boxed stuffs first, just three quid changed hands for this Matchbox Dinky Mustang with *free* giffer grime 

I had @flat4alfa in mind when I picked up this set of Matchbox Powertrack...track

I've been ripped off though as there are only 5 bits

However this was bought with it, again probably going to end up with our resident slot car pervert

Staying with Matchbox but moving forward in time, this Motor City 2 fuel pump set is rather charming, turning the handle rotates the sign and produces a pleasing DING

Anyone fancy it?

A bit of a left field choice now, Edocar version of the Maisto Beetle still plays happy birthday on demand