Shite in Miniature II

[danthecapriman]

My model service station is coming on.

Took all of 5 minutes to assemble and glue together. I decided to do mine by painting the walls in off white then adding a strip of brick paper around the lower edges. 
Covered the roof in 240 grit sandpaper to resemble felt then painted it a suitable dark greyish colour.

[bunglebus]

You need a few old tyres thrown up on the roof for effect

[danthecapriman]

13 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

You need a few old tyres thrown up on the roof for effect

I’ll probably do stuff like that once it’s all mounted to its little baseboard.

There an absolute shit load of stuff like this available for 1:64 stuff now. Little buildings, car parks, garages, and all the little accessories and parts too. Much of it is 3D printed. Seems to be a growing little industry around it.

[ambassador84]

Just started "rejigging" some of my collection to maximise space in my attic and to reconnect with old stuff I've not seen for years! 

Anyone else remember this giant 50 car set once sold in Woolworths. Stuffed full of ex Zylmex castings which Motormax purchased after the death of the original manufacture Zyll.

[flat4alfa]

8 hours ago, Spottedlaurel said:

I remember Fibresports ad's for the GRP bodybit in Street Machine etc back in the '80s.

Fibresports do still list it on their website https://www.fibresports.co.uk/products/Jaguar/XJ6

AFAIK Fibresports supplied the original kit to Broadspeed and retain most of the moulds today.  I say 'most' as there was loss in a fire some years ago.  They have since been able to obtain an 7-piece original kit, with plans to reproduce the missing mould pieces.

What is clear is there were two types of front spoiler, from the 1976 launch to the 1977 season with addition of the rear 'rubber' spoiler 

Four cars were built and campaigned and they all survive.  You can tell them apart by the colours of the front spoiler.

BELJC-001 (white spoiler) was kept at Jaguar Museum Coventry until 1997.  Since obtained by Chris Scragg who owns and campaigns it in its 1976 race livery.

BELJC-002 (blue spoiler) was not returned to Jaguar and was found years later stripped in a scrapyard. It has been rebuilt although this is the 'contentious' car as the rebuild was with parts obtained here and there after broadspeed closed their doors.

BELJC-003 (black spoiler) is today the only one kept by the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust at Gaydon after the sale of #001 and #004 in 1997.  It is seen at events, but not raced.

BELJC-004 (red spoiler) was in a private collection in Australia since the 1997 sale, returned to the UK in 2010, still wearing its final race No.9

The Steed road car is chassis 2G1008BW.  It is stock apart from its body kit and wheel/hub/suspension changes, retaining its original automatic gearbox and not a manual gearbox that was sound dubbed in the series. It is the eighth XJ-C 12  built and originally a 1973 Jaguar experimental car (as confirmed by its Heritage Certificate). Registered 1976 as NWK60P and sold-off after the filming of series 2.  Unearthed 2015 in a state, yet reached £50k over its expected £12k estimate at auction. It was being restored by Iain Tyrrell's Cheshire Classic Cars which went into administration 2018. I expect he knows its whereabouts https://www.youtube.com/@iain_tyrrell/

The film crew had to put water down to spin the wheels. But still, it caught and overtook a Formula-2 March 752 !  😄

No, I don't know why I gathered all that a day too late and took too long to post it. I just got interested.

[danthecapriman]

20 minutes ago, ambassador84 said:

Just started "rejigging" some of my collection to maximise space in my attic and to reconnect with old stuff I've not seen for years! 

Anyone else remember this giant 50 car set once sold in Woolworths. Stuffed full of ex Zylmex castings which Motormax purchased after the death of the original manufacture Zyll.

I don’t remember specifically that one, but I definitely remember getting similar ones. Some were smaller but usually a random mix of different cheapies in boxes like that. Some came in big thin plastic trays too.

I think I’ve mentioned it before on here, but a pharmacy shop near where I used to live stocked them. I’d go in now and then with pocket money and buy them. Some were absolutely terrible castings but others were actually pretty good.

[ambassador84]

32 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

I don’t remember specifically that one, but I definitely remember getting similar ones. Some were smaller but usually a random mix of different cheapies in boxes like that. Some came in big thin plastic trays too.

I think I’ve mentioned it before on here, but a pharmacy shop near where I used to live stocked them. I’d go in now and then with pocket money and buy them. Some were absolutely terrible castings but others were actually pretty good.

An era when there seemed to be more choices of brands to collect in UK stores. Mattel and HTI have pretty much sewn up the market now.

[ambassador84]

From the good old days of AliExpress when you could find lots of interesting cheapo diecasts which were strangely realistic for their unlicensed status. This selection produced by a company called Da Zhong.

And yes that taxi really is based on an Hyundai Sonata!

[ambassador84]

More Da Zhong unlicensed cheapos. The packaging states "1:64" but these are more Siku sized.

[ambassador84]

Sainsbury's sourced set from around 2013. Licensed Motormax castings, all of which are still produced in 2025!

[ambassador84]

Blingtastic chrome plated 1:64 diecasts by a company called Miniauto. Like the Da Zhong stuff posted above they are all unlicensed but realistic.

[ambassador84]

Da Zhong branded "1:64" cars from around the World.

[bramz7]

Morrisons is the only good outlet for Hot Wheels locally at the moment.

Still no Ferraris., still. Or Cortinas for that matter. 

I've noticed a lot of my most recent purchases have both English and French language cards. Is this a legacy of the Trump tariffs?

[155V6]

3 hours ago, ambassador84 said:

More Da Zhong unlicensed cheapos. The packaging states "1:64" but these are more Siku sized.

I've got these unlicensed cars with an American football theme,like yours they're a bit bigger than 1/64

[bramz7]

I wonder if those are cast off Norev castings? Would explain the slightly bigger scale anyway. I think the A6 had very few, maybe even one(!) release.  

[ambassador84]

1 hour ago, 155V6 said:

I've got these unlicensed cars with an American football theme,like yours they're a bit bigger than 1/64

Yours are made by Y.T.G.F. Same formula as Miniauto and Da Zhong above in terms of scale and features 😀

[bunglebus]

A couple of arrivals, and a story. Solido MK2 Escort 

As you can see, no rear bumper which is rather annoying, especially as it holds the base on. If anyone has a spare or a tatty car with one on, let me know...

Norev Volvo 264

Very nice, cost me a bit more than the £1.99 price tag on the box of course.

Both these were from a local seller, so after a bit of to and fro I asked for his address - and it turned out he was my friend's next door neighbour before said friend moved a few months ago. We know the guy quite well but there's never been any die cast chat in the past, seems there's some strange tale about his mate getting given a load of old cars in exchange for some work. I've negotiated buying all the others that hadn't sold on eBay, should be picking them up this weekend...

Have a look at the sold listings here to see what I already missed!

https://ebay.us/m/TLAexD

[MAF260]

Pre-9am purchases. I need to stop leaving the house!

[danthecapriman]

24 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

A couple of arrivals, and a story. Solido MK2 Escort 

As you can see, no rear bumper which is rather annoying, especially as it holds the base on. If anyone has a spare or a tatty car with one on, let me know...

Norev Volvo 264

Very nice, cost me a bit more than the £1.99 price tag on the box of course.

Both these were from a local seller, so after a bit of to and fro I asked for his address - and it turned out he was my friend's next door neighbour before said friend moved a few months ago. We know the guy quite well but there's never been any die cast chat in the past, seems there's some strange tale about his mate getting given a load of old cars in exchange for some work. I've negotiated buying all the others that hadn't sold on eBay, should be picking them up this weekend...

Have a look at the sold listings here to see what I already missed!

https://ebay.us/m/TLAexD

Odd they branded the Volvo as a 264, as being the estate it’s actually a 265!

[Split_Pin]

Another Volvo model I didn't know about. The only other 1/43 example I have is a wee 343 by Mebetoys  HotWheels.

[MAF260]

It appears  that leaving the house is not my problem. These eBay purchases just arrived and I think more are coming next week.

Both of these are cars I had and played with as a kid.

[ambassador84]

More attic discoveries! A cheeky selection of licensed 1:64 diecasts by a company called Top Mark. I've no idea whether they still exist but at the time had a promising array of modern vehicles. Some of their own designs and some were from tooling acquired after the demise of High Speed.

[Tenmil Socket]

I’ve just bought a job lot online purely for the below… I’m guessing it’s Corgi?

 

[junkyarddog]

Yup,Ford Transit wrecker.

Nice casting,difficult to find in decent condition. 

[Tenmil Socket]

7 minutes ago, junkyarddog said:

Yup,Ford Transit wrecker.

Nice casting,difficult to find in decent condition. 

Let's hope it's packaged carefully!

[ambassador84]

Apologies for the photo dumping but sorting out my collection helps to reconnect with older stuff that have lain in the attic untouched for years. 

Motormax Fresh Cherries which I managed to find many years back at TK Maxx and really regret not buying more!

[danthecapriman]

8 minutes ago, ambassador84 said:

Apologies for the photo dumping but sorting out my collection helps to reconnect with older stuff that have lain in the attic untouched for years. 

Motormax Fresh Cherries which I managed to find many years back at TK Maxx and really regret not buying more!

I remember them being available in TK and like a twat I didn’t get any. Next time I checked - all gone! 
Some cracking miniature American shite in that little collection too.

[ambassador84]

Just now, danthecapriman said:

I remember them being available in TK and like a twat I didn’t get any. Next time I checked - all gone! 
Some cracking miniature American shite in that little collection too.

I believe they go for strong money on Fleabay now. Alas back then I baulked at paying much more than £1 for my diecasts so didn't buy everything! Brilliant premium castings for the era.

[ambassador84]

Early 1990s Zylmex set sold at TRU under their Fastlane brand. Includes the infamous Corgi Juniors Ford Transit copy.

[ambassador84]

Trafalgar Toys set from the early 1980s. Unicorn branded diecasts inside which was a name owned by Universal Toys at the time. Same castings as found under the Kidco and Dinky names.