Shite in Miniature II

27,091 · June 11

1 hour ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

The side profile of the van casting made me think

It is very mk2 van like from the side. The wing profile looks more mk2 but then you get to the front and it’s got the dog bone grill of a mk1.
Theres actually a dip in the centre of the wing where it’s been cast poorly. And an air bubble right in the middle of one side inside the casting! I only found it when I cut through it!

Heres another I have in nicer condition.

June 11

More guilty pleasures, my whole collection is one guilty pleasure, courtesy of B&M Bargains.

Small scale approximately 3 inches made by an unknown Chinese toy company and giving off major Choro Q and "tooned" vibes. All unlicensed of course but look to be based on a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, Toyota HiAce and Toyota Alphard.

5,510 · June 11

1 hour ago, danthecapriman said:

It is very mk2 van like from the side. The wing profile looks more mk2 but then you get to the front and it’s got the dog bone grill of a mk1.
Theres actually a dip in the centre of the wing where it’s been cast poorly. And an air bubble right in the middle of one side inside the casting! I only found it when I cut through it!

Heres another I have in nicer condition.

The real ones along withe the EST are just a front end reskin & new dash.

The vans even used MK1 rear bumpers. The front wings are different shape to saloon mk2's aswell.

The rear body dates back to the 105E van.

27,091 · June 11

59 minutes ago, sheffcortinacentre said:

The real ones along withe the EST are just a front end reskin & new dash.

The vans even used MK1 rear bumpers. The front wings are different shape to saloon mk2's aswell.

The rear body dates back to the 105E van.

I didn’t realise they used mk1 rear bumpers on them!

In theory, I could create a mk2 van by cutting the front grill & headlights off along with the bonnet, then slotting in the same section from a donor mk2 model. Of course the problem is there’s not really much available as far as cheap 1:43 Escort mk2’s go!

33,734 · June 11

2 hours ago, danthecapriman said:

It is very mk2 van like from the side. The wing profile looks more mk2 but then you get to the front and it’s got the dog bone grill of a mk1.
Theres actually a dip in the centre of the wing where it’s been cast poorly. And an air bubble right in the middle of one side inside the casting! I only found it when I cut through it!

Heres another I have in nicer condition.

What bothered me about the MM examples were that the number plate was hanging below the bumper. 99% of MK1s had the plate above the bumper. I sold mine many years ago now as, like others say, it was an unsatisfactory casting. So I'm really looking forward to seeing how the mashup turns out! It will be a lovely model with the extra detail of the Vanguards at the front.

27,091 · June 11

1 minute ago, Split_Pin said:

What bothered me about the MM examples were that the number plate was hanging below the bumper. 99% of MK1s had the plate above the bumper. I sold mine many years ago now as, like others say, it was an unsatisfactory casting. So I'm really looking forward to seeing how the mashup turns out! It will be a lovely model with the extra detail of the Vanguards at the front.

Must admit, I hadn’t even looked at the number plate, but your right!

It is a bit of a dog that MM’s casting. Very dated but the quality is not great at all either. There’s a low spot in the middle of one wing that makes it look like something has dropped on it, and there’s a weird shape to the screen pillars too. I can’t quite describe it, but something is off. The grill and headlights are awful too.
All that being said, the van section isn’t half bad. Depending how I can get the swage lines to marry up I might have to alter the lower edge a tad but otherwise it’s ok.
The Vanguard’s front (the whole car is actually!) is a lovely little model though. Really captures the shape well I think.

Some plain steel wheels would be nice for this one but I’m not sure I’ve got anything suitable.

5,510 · June 11

29 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

I didn’t realise they used mk1 rear bumpers on them!

In theory, I could create a mk2 van by cutting the front grill & headlights off along with the bonnet, then slotting in the same section from a donor mk2 model. Of course the problem is there’s not really much available as far as cheap 1:43 Escort mk2’s go!

Yep.

13,500 · June 11

@andy18s

I have these 2 left in the 1/17 scale

down to About 10 scammel scarabs, and about 70 tractors!

59,877 · June 11

Ford were masters of reusing older vehicles and decreeing them as new, such as the aforementioned MK2 estate and van, Cortina estate, MK2 Transit etc - but then did weird shit like changing the entire floorpan with little to show for it (MK1 Escort, MK1 Fiesta and probably many more).

I was always tempted to put a MK1 front on my MK2 estate, it needed wings and slam panel anyway so valance and altering the wing runners for the wider wing tops of a MK1 wouldn't have been much more effort.

59,877 · June 11

ANYWAY. tiny cars. I'm working at a shopping centre this week, so of course I spent more than I earned buying diecasts.

Smyths had a funky new rotating display of Hot Wheels, from where I plucked a few new Neon Speeders

I must have been tired as I didn't get front/rear shots of the Porsche

Plus a Treasure Hunt because shiny

Entertainer had stacks of mainlines, but it was a new BMW Silverline set that caught my eye. I did pick up a full set for my friend, but for me it was just these two

The set:

I also got this C10 which I think I somehow missed in my local branch

On the way home I called into BuM and thought I saw a couple of new castings - but strange things were afoot

Yep a 6 year old Hot Wheels on the pegs - and there were others from the same era

Very odd. Headed back tomorrow for one requested on the WhatsApp group

59,877 · June 11

While I was out, these arrived. Polistil MK3 Cortina, looking just as accurate as the MK1 in the same series

A Playart 911

Lastly another Matchbox Mega Blasters Atom, AKA IMSA Mustang. Thought it might be better than my existing one but I'm not convinced

33,734 · June 12

I had that Taunus. I know the real one is a bit different from the Cortina MK3 but it made my teeth itch anyway and I sold it on!

59,877 · June 12

They alledge it is actually a Cortina

27,091 · June 12

The front end is more Cortina than Taunus TC. The Taunus TC had a narrower centre section to the grill and different bonnet.
Not quite sure what’s going on with the rest though! It’s not quite ‘Coke bottle’ enough for a Cortina.

45,044 · June 12

18 hours ago, sheffcortinacentre said:

The real ones along withe the EST are just a front end reskin & new dash.

The vans even used MK1 rear bumpers. The front wings are different shape to saloon mk2's aswell.

The rear body dates back to the 105E van.

The only part of the rear that comes from the 307E are the rear doors. The roof is slightly taller on the Escort. Also the roof ribs on the Anglia go from side to side, were as the Escort has them going front to back.

45,044 · June 12

16 hours ago, bunglebus said:

While I was out, these arrived. Polistil MK3 Cortina, looking just as accurate as the MK1 in the same series

6 hours ago, danthecapriman said:

The front end is more Cortina than Taunus TC. The Taunus TC had a narrower centre section to the grill and different bonnet.
Not quite sure what’s going on with the rest though! It’s not quite ‘Coke bottle’ enough for a Cortina.

Polistil did the Cortina along with two versions of teh Taunus.

9,215 · June 12

On 10/06/2025 at 12:36, danthecapriman said:

I’ve had that from new. I think I got it for Xmas or something back in the 80’s! It’s been with me a long time.

Ditto, and it took several years before I realised that it had an opening boot aft of the opening engine compartment. Extra play value immediately unlocked.

33,734 · June 12

7 hours ago, bunglebus said:

They alledge it is actually a Cortina

Mine definitely said Taunus underneath 🧐 Either way, they obviously didn't have a picture of the back of the car, it looks like an FE Vauxhall Victor.

Strange as all the other wee Polistils I've had/have are great looking things!

5,510 · June 12

19 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Ford were masters of reusing older vehicles and decreeing them as new, such as the aforementioned MK2 estate and van, Cortina estate, MK2 Transit etc - but then did weird shit like changing the entire floorpan with little to show for it (MK1 Escort, MK1 Fiesta and probably many more).

I was always tempted to put a MK1 front on my MK2 estate, it needed wings and slam panel anyway so valance and altering the wing runners for the wider wing tops of a MK1 wouldn't have been much more effort.

Mk1-2 Granada ests use same shell.

42,535 · June 12

Nice little thing.

Good and chunky!

59,877 · June 12

Awesome. Not found that batch yet

59,877 · June 12

@Split_Pin sent me this far-out Beetle, never seen one like it

33,734 · June 12

Glad it made it.

I've just noticed it's got normal Beetle tailpipes and then those big ones as well! It's got a mechanism inside that makes sparks but it doesn't seem to work any more.

That's been played with by about 3 generations of my family - it deserves its retirement.

3,522 · June 13

17 hours ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

The only part of the rear that comes from the 307E are the rear doors. The roof is slightly taller on the Escort. Also the roof ribs on the Anglia go from side to side, were as the Escort has them going front to back.

It'll be wider too I imagine as a mk1 Escort is wider than the incredibly narrow 105e. I'll never understand why the 105e is so narrow it was a strange decision imo.

27,091 · June 13

Did some more fettling on the Escort van halves yesterday then glued them together with epoxy.
It took a fair bit of constant adjustment and trial fitting to get the two lined up properly in the end which shows just how different the two donor castings actually are, despite being made by the same company of the same basic vehicle.
Then van had to have the sides flexed inwards to fit against the Vanguard’s front and the Vanguard’s front needed its screen pillars and door tops flexed inwards to line up with the van body.
Still loads more work to do to it but the current state of play:

Ive tried to use the swage line down the middle of the bodysides as a constant reference. Keeping those aligned and altering everything else as needed. The van body is a bit deeper than the car body so needs trimming down along the bottom edge, which might also mean I’ve got to open out the rear wheel arches a bit too.

Had a play around with a now spare artic trailer too while that went off.
Trailer came from one of the Altaya/IXO Leyland Super Hippo sets. I’ve used the cab as a wrecker now on that set so the trailer was looking for a new buddy!
Its actually an old 40’s/50’s style US trailer design but it seems to work well behind a mid 70’s Freightliner tractor.
I’ll probably remove the Spanish branding and detail it a bit eventually but it looks alright I think.

Edit: the trailer actually appears to be an old Fruehauf trailer so I wasn’t far off!

9,749 · June 13

On 12/06/2025 at 00:24, bunglebus said:

Ford were masters of reusing older vehicles and decreeing them as new, such as the aforementioned MK2 estate and van, Cortina estate, MK2 Transit etc - but then did weird shit like changing the entire floorpan with little to show for it (MK1 Escort, MK1 Fiesta and probably many more).

I was always tempted to put a MK1 front on my MK2 estate, it needed wings and slam panel anyway so valance and altering the wing runners for the wider wing tops of a MK1 wouldn't have been much more effort.

Iirc Ford introduced the Mk2 Escort floorpan into the very last of the Mk1's production,then claimed the Mk2 was simply an evolution and not a new car at all...For motorsport regs mainly.

59,877 · June 13

New arrivals. Boxed pink Cadillac

Corgi SD1 in the nice Rover packaging

Got the rear window in place, don't know if they fall out, or if most didn't have one fitted

I've got a Dodge Rock N Roll van, but this one's in pretty decent shape bar one missing aerial

Matchbox could have made bolder colour choices inside, I reckon with a bit of detail work this would look 70's-tastic

Got outbid on a Cambuster, but won this Bazooka

@Tenmil Socket sent me some goodies, such as a big Tonka buggy

Tiny oddball van

And best of all, this plastic copy of the Corgi High Speed Ambulance, with a clockwork motor driving the front wheels

However, it gets weirder - something odd goes on when you wind it up:

It's awful. I love it!

5,948 · June 13

8 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

New arrivals. Boxed pink Cadillac

Corgi SD1 in the nice Rover packaging

Got the rear window in place, don't know if they fall out, if most didn't have one fitted

I've got a Dodge Rock N Roll van, but this one's in pretty decent shape bar one missing aerial

Matchbox could have made bolder colour choices inside, I reckon with a bit of detail work this would look 70's-tastic

Got outbid on a Cambuster, but won this Bazooka

@Tenmil Socket sent me some goodies, such as a big Tonka buggy

Tiny oddball van

And best of all, this plastic copy of the Corgi High Speed Ambulance, with a clockwork motor driving the front wheels

However, it gets weirder - something odd goes on when you wind it up:

It's awful. I love it!

Isn’t it tremendously terrible!

40,656 · June 13

Should have said ‘A car to hammer the nails in the coffin of British Motor Manufacturing’ 😂

43,459 · June 13

2 hours ago, bunglebus said:

And best of all, this plastic copy of the Corgi High Speed Ambulance, with a clockwork motor driving the front wheels

However, it gets weirder - something odd goes on when you wind it up:

It's awful. I love it!

That’s immense!

…I have the very same floor tiles in kitchen.

The way it messes about I reckon it would track differently on a grippier surface?

Comparison video? Aww go on

I never knew this thing existed and the @Datsuncog High Speed branch of the Corgi Cub Club will love it I’m sure

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