Shite in Miniature II

[AndyW201]

A trip to Smyths brought a mixture of joy and disappointment. They had had a delivery of the Pop Culture stuff, but off course, not a sniff of the BMW or Skyline. The BMW is already on AliExpress for £35 and between £20-£30 on ebay. The Hot Wheels sites on Facebook are also awash with the usual jeb-ends trying to swap them for Super THs.... Ah well, hopefully it'll crop up again as an ordinary Premium without knobhead tax applied.

Wasn't all bad news though, I found a few that I've been after. At last, I've got the Japan Historics Celica,

I know it's been seen a lot on here already, but it is a great little casting. (albeit a pig to photograph...)

Shame about the snowplough on the front, but hey, I know I'm not the target audience here...

The new Boulevard collection had dropped as well, so I got the Laurel I've been after,

This has got some nice little drift-inspired touches at the back, like a heart-shaped exhaust tailpipe and a subway handle on the bumper,

Got the sweet little RS200 as well. Its already a good casting as a mainline, but it's bloody brilliant as a Premium.

[bunglebus]

6 hours ago, AndyW201 said:

For the first time in a long while, there was something new on the Majorette front at Asda.

They all look nice out of the pack, but somehow Majorette manage to make them all look very basic and unappealing in the box! Seems to always be the same with those 5 packs, I think Mattel know better how to give them visual appeal.

That Chevy truck is especially nice, I'll keep an eye out for that one. I have been checking TK Maxxxxx and Home Sense but no Majorette action in there at the moment, my local Asda is rubbish so it's only the Basildon store where I see anything good. I'll have to dig out my stab vest and pop in

[bunglebus]

Had another night time delivery yesterday, snagged this fairly late Chinese made 109E Superking in a very odd shade of metallic green

Decent build quality (unlike the white Jaguar of a similar vintage) and that nice springy suspension, even if it feels a little lighter than the older tank-like SuperKings

[bunglebus]

A few more bits came today, firstly this Tomica mini that was hiding among some more common ones in a job lot

As was this Britains sidecar outfit

Weirdest one was this Spacex (no Elon) creation

Lone Star Jag doesn't look bad

Unfortunately it's had a squish

From our Norfolk correspondent came this Dinky Corgi Aston

Possibly the most neatly decorated Graffic Traffic I've seen

And a modern Jetta, I quite like idea of these remix cars but a lot of the F+F stuff doesn't really appeal to me

Lastly - the final piece of the Rally set puzzle

[eddyramrod]

Some nice stuff there Rich!  Although.... Dinky Aston?  Are you sure?  [/Pedant]

[danthecapriman]

That Tomica Mini is a good find. Cant be a very common thing at all.

Im the same with the Fast & Furious stuff. They look nice enough and all but really not my thing. There’s 1:43 ones too, but on the other hand they do make great donors for customs!

[Spottedlaurel]

Tomica also do a Mini in their Premium range: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/227116288084

Don't know whether it's a different casting?

Alongside the rather tempting Japanese vehicles  in their Premium range they also do VW Beetle and Type 2, Fiat 500, the odd American and various bits of Italian exotica.

[AndyW201]

Something to look forward to next year from IXO with this little honey,

Its already been done as a partwork and Whitebox version, but the IXO branded version looks so nice in Sunburst red!

There are three new castings in the pipeline for the Vanguards range next year to celebrate the range's 30th birthday.  One is almost certainly the Series 1 Range Rover, but the polls are predicting an Orion in the range too. Hope it's a Mk2, a 1.6i Ghia would be amazing!

[Metal Guru]

3 minutes ago, AndyW201 said:

Something to look forward to next year from IXO with this little honey,

Its already been done as a partwork and Whitebox version, but the IXO branded version looks so nice in Sunburst red!

There are three new castings in the pipeline for the Vanguards range next year to celebrate the range's 30th birthday.  One is almost certainly the Series 1 Range Rover, but the polls are predicting an Orion in that range too. Hope it's a Mk2, a 1.6i Ghia would be amazing!

I owned that car for real, bought new in 1984. Same colour , GL, mine was a 1.6, looks like a grey interior. Those wheel trims were really hard to remove so they didn’t get nicked like most of that era.

[bunglebus]

1 hour ago, eddyramrod said:

Some nice stuff there Rich!  Although.... Corgi  Aston?  Are you sure?  [/Pedant]

Absolutely 

[danthecapriman]

1 hour ago, AndyW201 said:

Something to look forward to next year from IXO with this little honey,

Its already been done as a partwork and Whitebox version, but the IXO branded version looks so nice in Sunburst red!

There are three new castings in the pipeline for the Vanguards range next year to celebrate the range's 30th birthday.  One is almost certainly the Series 1 Range Rover, but the polls are predicting an Orion in that range too. Hope it's a Mk2, a 1.6i Ghia would be amazing!

One to look forward to!

The partwork and Whitebox ones are pretty scarce and command some serious coin if you find them.

[sheffcortinacentre]

5 hours ago, bunglebus said:

A few more bits came today, firstly this Tomica mini that was hiding among some more common ones in a job lot

As was this Britains sidecar outfit

Weirdest one was this Spacex (no Elon) creation

Lone Star Jag doesn't look bad

Unfortunately it's had a squish

From our Norfolk correspondent came this Dinky Corgi Aston

Possibly the most neatly decorated Graffic Traffic I've seen

And a modern Jetta, I quite like idea of these remix cars but a lot of the F+F stuff doesn't really appeal to me

Lastly - the final piece of the Rally set puzzle

Jag is typical post getaway chase.

[FakeConcern]

Now I need a Majorette Yaris GR for the wheels

Then I can turn one of these...

Into this

 

[Spottedlaurel]

7 minutes ago, FakeConcern said:

Now I need a Majorette Yaris GR for the wheels

That appears to be the only version with those particular wheels. There appears to be three other variations of Yaris GR, all with alternative wheels!

[danthecapriman]

Got my delivery today.

It’s a Vanguard’s Escrote mk2 peasant spec.

A lovely little model, and at the price, not a bad buy considering the scene tax stupidity attached to these (and the real ones!). 
But, having this now means I can extract a very useful part as a pattern to cast more from, which should prove very useful.

 
I’ve made the mould this afternoon and just letting it dry overnight. Then I’ll cast a few tomorrow hopefully.

While some other projects are being painted/drying/being reassembled etc I’m building another truck up. I’ve had the base model sat around for a while wondering what I could do with it after using it to cast the grill from for a few other models. It comes as a tractor unit but doesn’t look the best to me as it’s on a chassis that’s a bit big for it, so;

A chassis was taken from a cheap Altaya Pegaso model. Originally it’s a ‘Chinese six’ so has one rear drive axle but two front steer axles. This arrangement fell out of favour over here during the 70’s and the type of truck I’m making needs an extra drive axle to become an 8x4. 
Luckily the axle & suspension units on some of these donor models are removable which makes altering them reasonably easy. 
The new double drive rear axles came from another model and have been adapted to fit this chassis. Then I moved the second steer axle back slightly to space them more accurately for the type of truck it will become. 
Front wheel arches are specific to the new cab so I cut them off the donor chassis and refitted them to this one with a strengthening strip across them. Fuel tank was in my spares box, and battery box & air tanks were just refitted in more suitable places. 
The messy glue (JB Weld epoxy) won’t be seen after!

And mocked up with the new cab & body.

There’s lots to do still, but it’ll become an MAN F8 8x4 bulk tipper.  
I was going to make it as a standard low sided tipper but then found the spare bulker body which I think fits well with the rest. The front steer wheels will be replaced for standard steel wheels. 
 

[bunglebus]

6 hours ago, FakeConcern said:

Now I need a Majorette Yaris GR for the wheels

Shirley Creative 164 must have something suitable?

https://www.c1-models.com/c164wheelstore

 

[bunglebus]

I've had very little work to do lately, so far too much time has been sent browsing various internet sales sites!

Lots turned up today, starting with this Norev Volvo

Many of my purchases have been job lots as I've spotted things hiding within - such as another redline Rolls Royce

These Matchbox F100 vans are far newer

Looking closely, there's a casting change. Makes two tone paint easier and probably saves a few pennies on Zamac (not that I'm cynical)

Some older ones landed too, such as a Mini Ha-Ha

Jaffamobile 

Marzal

And 1100

I also scored one of these absolutely lovely Schuco buses

Some oddities were in the boxes, such as a Majorette Sonic Flashers Corvette

And...this

I wanted these two

New finds are this premium Porsche twin pack

And another Home Bargains Collectors find

It's only when you look closely you can see the camo type effect in the paint

Plus the GT40 from the Hot Ones 

[bunglebus]

Reduced price Zamac set in Entertainer, don't mind if I do

Porsche is possibly the best one

Love the red interior in the Civic

Merc is a bit modern for me

Another very vibrant interior in the Focus. Not entirely sure on the wheel choice

Sprinter is lovely

And a Z car

Is the Decidedly Go a tribute to the Original Sixteen Beatnik Bandit?

[danthecapriman]

Those resin cast Cortina grills worked ok!

Detail comes out better with primer on.

There’s some tiny air bubbles in them but once painted they shouldn’t be noticeable. The paint will probably fill them anyway. 
They do need a little bit of sanding to make them fit properly but nothing major.

Just have to see how the Escort one comes out later.

[junkyarddog]

Was lucky enough to find the complete Rally Racers set.

Nice set,the Audi and Lancia are the standout castings in this set.

For me the Escort is the disappointing casting,as the paint isn't as nice at the rest of the set,certainly not as glossy. 

What do you think Smoll Eddy?

"I think I'm sick of this damn dog humping me leg M8"

[junkyarddog]

Ford Team Transport set found and released. 

The Capri is fabulous. 

[bunglebus]

I bought a job lot. Just for a change.

Majorette Bernard, except it isn't 

I think this Mini is a keyring

Any ideas what this Bloody Hell Buddy L  is supposed to be?

Vette Van is one of the most unusual Hi-Rakers

But mainly I wanted this Siemens logo Majorette van

[RoadworkUK]

I'd love to get that Team Transport Capri separately; it's lovely.

Not keen on the generic lorry with daft wheels, though.

[bunglebus]

Also made a bit of progress on this, which has been a project for an embarrassingly long time, and I keep putting it off, I bought the decals for it in May...

[danthecapriman]

14 minutes ago, RoadworkUK said:

I'd love to get that Team Transport Capri separately; it's lovely.

Not keen on the generic lorry with daft wheels, though.

Same here. I quite like the Capri, but the truck kind of lets the set down. If it was a real truck it’d make it much more appealing.

[danthecapriman]

11 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

Also made a bit of progress on this, which has been a project for an embarrassingly long time, and I keep putting it off, I bought the decals for it in May...

What are you doing to it? Custom? Resto?

[bunglebus]

3 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

What are you doing to it? Custom? Resto?

Yes! A restoration but of an exceptionally unusual version, so a custom too in a way 

[Spottedlaurel]

Before looking at the latest diecasts to have found their way to me here's what has been happening with 1/24 plastic stuff:

I've been doing this as a quick rebuild of a kit I first built around 40 years ago. I think that's the original box top (on a more recent issue of the kit I bought a while back) and possibly even the tinlet of Humbrol #2 that I used to brush paint it with back then. It's an incredibly delicate kit and I managed to do a half-decent job back then, so I thought it was worthwhile getting it back into the cabinet.

Genuine barnfind dust and patina! Has since been given a careful wash in soapy water. I was contemplating wet sanding it, but I don't think it needs it.

What I needed from the second kit to replace what had gone astray over the last four decades. I limited it to only using parts that aren't 100% necessary to build the second kit with modifications (someday).

Where I am now, should be able to finish it off this weekend.

Also nearly there with this Skyline GT-R by Fujimi:

 

 

More has been done since the above photos, again I'm hoping I can get it done this weekend or at least over the Christmas holiday.

[Spottedlaurel]

Onto the 1/64-ish stuff These first two batches from local charity shops:

Can't resist clean Majorettes for £1 each, and the Prairie is new to me in the 2-tone colour scheme.

Had to buy a £2.50 bag of five things for these two. Happily two of the others were tidy HW supercars which Master SL has taken care of, leaving me just one unidentified and not too pleasant bit of Chinese dross.

 

Definitely going to look for more of these Tomica Premiums in 2026, and standard-ish 1/64 Japanese cars in general instead of too many mainline HWs. No opening parts on this particular one, but still a lovely thing and will be interesting to compare it to recent HW and Matchbox offerings plus the older Majorette version.

 

 

Finally got the Celeste. Wheels a bit chunky but otherwise nicely detailed (although the colour of the bonnet one mine is perhaps a shade lighter than the rest of the body). There also appears to be a blue one, but that was somewhere more expensive.

This set recently appeared in my local Morrisons. I may already have this?....

A pleasing package arrived with thanks to @bunglebus. Supra is a Christmas gift for someone, the remainder very welcome additions to the collection I'd like to focus on.

[eddyramrod]

That Celeste is lush, I need to find one.