Shite in Miniature II

[MorrisItalSLX]

What's the blue one with the yellow headlights?

Lancia Fulvia Zagato?

 

Edit: Beaten to it

[Datsuncog]

[pedant] Lancia Fulvia Sport Zagato, to give it the full title on the baseplate... [/pedant]

(I spent the astronomical amount of £10 for a VNM one of these at a model fair c.1991, selling it on for the same amount six or seven years later)

Novel sideways opening bonnet, as I recall?

Or am I dreaming that?

[junkyarddog]

Afaik the bonnet does open sideways.

Cracking little model.

[eddyramrod]

+1 on the sideways bonnet, that is correct.  I recently found mine, that I've had from new, so you can guess what sort of condition it's in.  It's gone in the resto pile.

[mercrocker]

Good haul indeed, JYD.....That Corgi Classics Ghost is fantastic, always wanted one as a kid which I would surely have broken in a week.   The Ferrari LM is another nice Corgi model - all that moulded chrome interior!    Must get another Le Dandy as well, this is very dangerous on my day off with the missus out.....

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

For Tenmil Socket, my MK3 Escort array:

 

[junkyarddog]

Picked up this Matchbox Lotus Europa a while ago,in poor but complete condition.

 

 

 

I have a few nice ones of these,but felt sorry for it,so a spruce up was in order.

 

 

 

I really like the skinny wheeled matchbox superfast era!

[mercrocker]

Yeah, those early transitionals are nice.  I think the Europa was one of the first I saw in the shops, along with the ISO Grifo.....

[vulgalour]

Torino update.  Got the yellow done on the body and the outside of the bonnet, just got to do the inside of the bonnet to finish that off.  I'm much happier with the yellow now it's had a few coats and the interior looks right.  Here it is just loosely plonked together.  The paint is still fairly soft so I'm not handling this too much or attempting detail work today.  It does look quite green in these shots, while in person it's much more red tinted.

 

 

 

 

[RayMK]

I was at a bit of a loose end this afternoon......

 

Going back to 1979 when my son was born, making me skint, he soon had eyes on Fisher Price toys which I could not afford.  The jet plane was my daughter's - she came along 5 years later.  Meanwhile, my parents bought my son a black 'Woodpecker Toys' car.  I think it cost £4-99, quite a lot in those days.  Dad (me) had to get inventive.  To the vague technical spec of 'had to be as robust as a Fisher Price toy and have good play value,' I set about knocking up some wooden toys, namely the cargo plane, articulated lorry, breakdown truck, Reliant Robin and a Mini.  The plane was the most ambitious (to a non-woodworker).  It featured an accessible cargo area, steering via the radome, articulating twin wheel rear undercarriage on both sides and all wheels front and rear were sprung.  They all had a good deal of playing with and have survived remarkably well for 38 year old toys.  The other motley collection of guest stars are from the top layer of my underbed storage box of diecasts. 

 

[vulgalour]

Those wooden toys are fantastic!

[junkyarddog]

That aeroplane is fantastic!!

 

Liking the Reliant 3 wheeler too

[RayMK]

Thanks.  I was not sure whether wooden toys would have any appeal to the skilled model makers and restorists on here.  

[eddyramrod]

You made those from scratch, Ray?  Out of your own head?  You can and should be very proud!

[RayMK]

You made those from scratch, Ray?  Out of your own head?  You can and should be very proud!

 

Yes, despite being an aerospace engineer, no drawings , only back of envelope sketches to design the plane's cargo door and the suspension.  The wood was from the scraps box, usually used as a backstop when drilling or jacking up the car.

 

I photographed them on the landing.  Seemed appropriate for aircraft  .

[DoctorRetro]

Holy shit, love the wooden models. My lad would love it if I was that skilled!

[DoctorRetro]

Just some evening messing about

[vulgalour]

The Merc turned out really well.  Is the Transit another custom?

[vulgalour]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I never ever want to build another one of these ever again.

[RayMK]

That looks really nice and I love the colour.  Will you be giving it a foreign registration or is it a showroom model?

[vulgalour]

Let's just say it's a showroom model.  Number plates of any variety can sod off.  The headlights are about the size of a pin head, and had to be glued in individually, so you can imagine how impossible numberplates would be even as decals.

[DoctorRetro]

The Merc turned out really well.  Is the Transit another custom?

 

No, just painted.

Was this. 

[Spottedlaurel]

You've turned that Princess around really nicely!

[vulgalour]

Cheers   Purple meths worked wonders to shift the old paint.  I think I would have preferred it in the blue I'd used before.  I did try sanding back the affected area and repainting it in some similarly bright green I had that then both reacted (though less badly) and was a horrible colour for the Princess, so I shan't be painting mine Signal Green any time soon.  Roman Bronze was the next best option I had in stock since I couldn't paint it red and yeah, it's okay.

 

I did learn a couple of things on construction that might help you out with yours.  For the rear lights, I used transparent paints - Citadel Spiritstone for the red, Tamiya Clear Orange for the.. orange - and then a chrome paint on the back of the lenses.  This helps them look a bit more realistic.  Up front I painted the headlight holes chrome after doing the trims black, then glued the headlights in with liquid poly.  I'd recommend instead using PVA to glue the headlights in as the liquid poly did a great job of removing the silver paint on the headlights in a way it didn't with the rear lights.  Installing the side glass is a pain in the bum, one problem I had was one side didn't sit properly so when I installed the base and glued it in, on applying a bit of pressure to hold it all together the side pane popped out and I had to dismantle and rebuild.  This meant glue got on the glass, which I didn't want to have happen at all. I'd recommend gluing the glass in and the fitting the base without glue to keep it in position, use a weak rubber band or masking tape to keep the body together while the glass sets, then glue the base on afterwards.  If you want the wheels to remain free rolling, when you put the axle holding blocks on the base just use a small dab of superglue on the edges furthest away from the axle, to the front and rear of the car, rather than using liquid poly.  This will prevent the glue creeping in and glueing the axles in place.  I also applied a black wash to the chrome wheel trims so they look more correct, they should be painted silver really to be accurate, not chromed.

[vulgalour]

The other kit in my drawer that I'll be starting on is this 1:24 Heller kit of a 4CV.  I think I bought this one from Alcyone Watanabe Dugongs Corporation a couple of years ago.  Bizarrely, the frunk and engine lid are both removable but not hinged in any way, so I might have to see if I can sort that out.  None of the doors open either, even though it has a fully detailed interior, which is a problem I don't yet have the skills to remedy.

 

 

Don't really know what colour I want to do it yet beyond it being something muted, so suggestions are welcome.

[Jon]

This is a quite nice example - I love the 'in it's own juices' paint (or whatever that French phrase is) and also the contrasting colour of the pale yellow wheels and off white tiller.

 

 

Can't really get much more subdued than 'standard issue small post war french car' grey, can you? But with a nice bit of Vulgalour wheel palette.

[mercrocker]

I have a plastic Hong Kong Bentley where the boot hinges have snapped off long ago.  A surprisingly durable and almost invisible* repair has been made with a strip of duct tape - suitably hued.

[Amishtat]

Love the Princess in that colour and it's a +1 from me for a nondescript grey on that Renault. You're making me want to build a kit for the first time in years..

I probably should, because it would stop me from trawling junk shops. Found these yesterday.

Rear screen is a bit cracked but the light tube thing to the headlights works fine. And I've just realised I didn't get a picture of that.

Because I'm a saddo and had an hour to kill before work this was an excuse to get the other Corgis out in the daylight.

[Tenmil Socket]

For Tenmil Socket, my MK3 Escort array:

 

escorts.jpg

 

Fantastic. Thanks Conrad. I dread to think how many MK3 Escorts I have squirreled away!

 

Interesting how on the Corgi van and hatchback the headlights and grille look so different. I think they look more to scale on the hatchbacks.

[sierraman]

On the hatchback it always looked like they got the angle of the windscreen completely wrong.