Shite in Miniature II

[quicksilver]

11 hours ago, Spottedlaurel said:

I wondered what happened to the old, specific paint range they did before they went over to the new stuff. I was surprised not to see it available in the shops on clearance, but the must have thought there was too much to get rid of that way and just flogged it off to this lot.

I liked how there'd be some old colours that must have sold very slowly, I picked up a few 1970s-90s shades. Got to think of something that needs Ford Daytona Yellow! Tempted by the idea of a random 12.....

If you're looking for specific colours from the old Halfords range, lisnaskeaauctions2011 aka LABARGAINSONLINE on ebay seem to have picked up a lot of the stock and have many different colours available. Nowhere near as cheap as the randoms but £17.99 with free postage for two cans seems reasonable. I bought some Tara Green from them recently and you'll be seeing the results here at some point soon.

[bunglebus]

I ordered these two Matchbox Broncos ages ago, forgot where from now!

Quite why one has the bonnet decal and one doesn't remains a mystery 

Universal (I think) Polo came all the way from France in just a jiffy bag 

While this tidy Budgie bus was found in a charity shop by my boss, who was instructed to grab it forthwith, if not fifthwith

[Split_Pin]

Ive been getting spammed by Temu with adverts for 'Massdi Diecast' 1:64 Land Cruisers. They look pretty detailed and I think they've got suspension. I went to see if AliExpress had any as Im not ready for Temu uet 😂. They did. £12.25 posted seems steep for a 1:64 but I'm hoping its decent....

[Tenmil Socket]

I collected this Vinted buy earlier, a 1981 Superkings Golf. I think it was £1.50, I’m very happy with it. 
There’s a hole where the filler cap is. Are these early wheels as I normally see this model with a different style.

 

[bunglebus]

Yes the white one seems to only come with the 5 arch

Whereas the black one comes with either 5 arch or the more common Superkings wheels with the chrome caps

 

[Split_Pin]

Came with a petrol pump, you've reminded me I had one of these boxed but must have sold it years ago. Wish Id kept it!

[FakeConcern]

10 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Hopefully I won't get 12 cans of Russet Brown...

My first thought was that I'd get twelve cans of slightly different silver paint. I still might order some, we could perhaps swap the ones we don't want on here.

[Tenmil Socket]

I dug a couple of catalogues out.

I have found one with the later wheels and the pump as @Split_Pin rightly advised.

I also realised that in a job-lot from a few weeks ago, there was a pair that was the elf tanker. I attempted to recreate the catalogue shot.

I also spotted a Superkings Merc *Graffic Traffic*

Has anyone actually seen one of these before?

Finally, join the club…

 

[bunglebus]

3 hours ago, Tenmil Socket said:

I have found one with the later wheels and the pump as @Split_Pin rightly advised.

I've been looking for a white one with those wheels for years, without success

This one's rather nice...

https://ebay.us/m/Qae249

[eddyramrod]

5 hours ago, FakeConcern said:

My first thought was that I'd get twelve cans of slightly different silver paint. I still might order some, we could perhaps swap the ones we don't want on here.

Are you opening an Audi dealership?

[Bear]

On 06/09/2025 at 15:18, Lord Sterling said:

Today, I was bored so took a wander over to Carrefour to see what they had in stock. Again, nothing interesting. Seems like the Belgians have taken their eye off the ball.

Here what there was:

Not a great selection. A lot of Matchboxes there, more than Cora but again.

Here is my complete haul from Cora, Carrefour and Pêle-Mêle.

I've got a free day on Monday so will try the flea market in Porte de Halle and see if I can grab the other 1/43 Renaults I've seen and the small 2 € shite I posted above.

Oh, I need one of those G500 Cabrios... I wonder if anywhere here has them

[bunglebus]

5 hours ago, Tenmil Socket said:

Has anyone actually seen one of these before?

Think there was one at the toy fair years ago for £££ + some more £

https://ebay.us/m/G5haOa

[bunglebus]

Has anyone seen one of these in the UK?

[danthecapriman]

7 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Has anyone seen one of these in the UK?

I had the white pickup as a kid. Don’t ask me where it came from though!

Im fairly sure they had a basic spark mechanism inside a bit like a cigarette lighter mechanism with the little wheel that grinds on a flint type thing. Istr it being a bit noisy when you used it.

[Tenmil Socket]

8 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Has anyone seen one of these in the UK?

Never… I’m guessing it works like the mechanism you’d find in those plastic toy machine guns that make that awful sound and sparks can be seen through the red window. 

[Tenmil Socket]

15 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Yes the white one seems to only come with the 5 arch

Whereas the black one comes with either 5 arch or the more common Superkings wheels with the chrome caps

 

Orange glazing too!

[bunglebus]

This little beauty just arrived - in a jiffy bag once again

Look how shiny its bottom is!

I was going to take that sticker off but it's part of its history I suppose 

[junkyarddog]

Nice,seems quite difficult to find the big arch version of that VW in good condition. 

How many other models saw three different wheel style?

Regular,transitional,then Superfast?

The Lincoln Continetal springs to mind.

[Datsuncog]

1 hour ago, junkyarddog said:

How many other models saw three different wheel style?

The No.3 Mercedes Ambulance comes to mind.

Regular:

Early narrow Superfast (with the rear arches enlarged):

Later wide Superfast (with front arches enlarged and rear arches even more so):

Some very late ones even came with dot-dash Superfast wheels, though I don't think they were made for the UK market:

[MAF260]

Possibly something for you serious modellers, I don’t know if you’ve come across this product.

I learned about this on an unrelated matter, but wondered if it would work in this application - liquid chrome markers.

My prized XJ12C came to me in very good overall condition, but with the chrome on the bumpers a bit playworn. I’ve just had a very quick go on the underside of the bumpers to see if they’re any good:

A lot better to my eyes, certainly better than the worn plastic finish. I’ll take some time and use the different sizes with care to achieve the best result I can manage.

if you’re interested, here’s a link to where I got them:

https://amzn.eu/d/h9APCRD

[danthecapriman]

15 minutes ago, MAF260 said:

Possibly something for you serious modellers, I don’t know if you’ve come across this product.

I learned about this on an unrelated matter, but wondered if it would work in this application - liquid chrome markers.

My prized XJ12C came to me in very good overall condition, but with the chrome on the bumpers a bit playworn. I’ve just had a very quick go on the underside of the bumpers to see if they’re any good:

A lot better to my eyes, certainly better than the worn plastic finish. I’ll take some time and use the different sizes with care to achieve the best result I can manage.

if you’re interested, here’s a link to where I got them:

https://amzn.eu/d/h9APCRD

Nice! That’s certainly worked well on it.

Those pens are also known as Molotow liquid chrome pens. Same things really. I think it was @bunglebus that told me about them.

The Molotow ones need a bit of time to dry properly before touching, I don’t know if these are the same?

 

[Spottedlaurel]

I've been using a Gundam EX Chrome marker for some details on my 1/24  and 1/25 kits, also did a good job but after several years I wonder if it's starting to lose its chrome-ness.

For kits at 'my' scale I also use Bare Metal Foil, but for smaller scales it'd be pretty fiddly and the last time I did something at 1/43 I used the Gundam marker. 

[bunglebus]

56 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

The No.3 Mercedes Ambulance comes to mind.

Regular:

Early narrow Superfast (with the rear arches enlarged):

Later wide Superfast (with front arches enlarged and rear arches even more so):

Some very late ones even came with dot-dash Superfast wheels, though I don't think they were made for the UK market:

I was going through mine earlier, the last ones have the tailgate cast shut too. Mine is on dot-dash wheels 

 

[bunglebus]

3 hours ago, junkyarddog said:

How many other models saw three different wheel style?

Mercury Commuter 

 

[danthecapriman]

20 minutes ago, Spottedlaurel said:

I've been using a Gundam EX Chrome marker for some details on my 1/24  and 1/25 kits, also did a good job but after several years I wonder if it's starting to lose its chrome-ness.

For kits at 'my' scale I also use Bare Metal Foil, but for smaller scales it'd be pretty fiddly and the last time I did something at 1/43 I used the Gundam marker. 

How does that Bare Metal Foil work? I’ve seen it mentioned before somewhere but never actually seen it done.

 

Has anyone used the liquid chrome pens on real cars?  
I was thinking of using them to re-do the chromed plastic trims on my door cards. I don’t know how well it’d last though.

[Spottedlaurel]

2 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

How does that Bare Metal Foil work? I’ve seen it mentioned before somewhere but never actually seen it done.

It's thin, self-adhesive foil on a thick paper sheet. Cut an oversize piece, remove from the backing paper and stick onto the part in question, burnish it down (a combination of fingernail and thin cotton bud works best I find), then get brave and trim off the surplus with a really sharp blade. It will cope with some double curvature, but more complex shapes will need to be done in several goes. I try and put a join somewhere that would replicate it at 1:1, but it's thin enough not to be particularly noticeable.

Sometimes the adhesive needs a little clean-up, but usually it comes away pretty cleanly - I try and avoid sticking the surplus piece down too much.

This is a slightly extreme example but it shows the basic idea

I used foil here as the plated finish on the kit-supplied part was too shiny.

Occasionally I use it for masking as it gives a really clean edge.

[bunglebus]

7 hours ago, Tenmil Socket said:

Orange glazing too!

Funny enough, this arrived just now. "Bender" Dodge Charger but with green glazing. My others have clear. I didn't actually clock the difference until I went to put it away with the others 

It came along with the Mercury Cougar with annoying wheel arches 

And a Caper Cart in very nice condition 

[danthecapriman]

8 minutes ago, Spottedlaurel said:

It's thin, self-adhesive foil on a thick paper sheet. Cut an oversize piece, remove from the backing paper and stick onto the part in question, burnish it down (a combination of fingernail and thin cotton bud works best I find), then get brave and trim off the surplus with a really sharp blade. It will cope with some double curvature, but more complex shapes will need to be done in several goes. I try and put a join somewhere that would replicate it at 1:1, but it's thin enough not to be particularly noticeable.

Sometimes the adhesive needs a little clean-up, but usually it comes away pretty cleanly - I try and avoid sticking the surplus piece down too much.

This is a slightly extreme example but it shows the basic idea

I used foil here as the plated finish on the kit-supplied part was too shiny.

Occasionally I use it for masking as it gives a really clean edge.

That does look absolutely fantastic though. It looks much more like a plated trim than just paint. Your right though, I can’t imagine small scale stuff would be very easy to do that.

 

I had this arrive today.

Mercedes NG.

It’s an IXO base model but released like this as part of a partwork of commercial vehicles for Yugoslavian magazine series. Theres loads of east European and ex Soviet trucks in it and some more familiar to us too, like this Benz.

The model does have a few bits not quite up to the IXO versions standard but overall it’s still very nice. It’ll probably come apart eventually anyway to become a more British style truck.

These NG’s (New Generation) were one of the foreign built trucks that really began the big foreign takeover of the UK truck market. We’d had some stuff in the 60’s and a bit more in the 70’s like the Volvo F88 and Scania’s big V8’s but these Merc’s were really popular through the 80’s and 90’s and were probably Mercedes ‘foot firmly in the door’ of the UK truck market where they’ve been one of the big players ever since.

[sutty2006]

Not one, but two Opel kadetts in my lads collection. 
 

 

[warch]

On 11/09/2025 at 18:25, Split_Pin said:

Ive been getting spammed by Temu with adverts for 'Massdi Diecast' 1:64 Land Cruisers. They look pretty detailed and I think they've got suspension. I went to see if AliExpress had any as Im not ready for Temu uet 😂. They did. £12.25 posted seems steep for a 1:64 but I'm hoping its decent....

I've seen these (GCD), 1;64 Hilux with working steering. Cost HFM but neat models all the same.