Shite in Miniature II

[Split_Pin]

Indeed that's how they sit. I recall mine had a rubber band around it from new but I took it off when I got older and stopped playing with them. I still have it in the loft somewhere and I think the container says 'Matchbox' on the side.

[sierraman]

Moar useless phacts! It came as part of the First Issue Container Port along with a plastic version of the railway shunter.

[C1am]

Impressive work on the Pobeda. Have a Warszawa picture from my vintage magazine collection (1953 Autocar).

[Lord Sterling]

Interesting reading about the Beales Bealsons vans. Reading that link shows me that this is a fake:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Matchbox-RW-46B-Removal-Van-braun-rares-Beales-Bealsons-Werbemodell-in-D-Box/323475901383?hash=item4b50aa8bc7:g:xDsAAOSwhJFbsSRh

The decals are on incorrectly.

[sierraman]

The early 70’s ones were easy to create ‘rare’ versions of when you could pop the axle retainers off and swap axles etc. When Lesney folded a load of stickers fell into collectors hands so all sorts of ‘specials’ came to light. 

[Amishtat]

Is it Tatmarket Friday? 

[sierraman]

I think I need to get out more. Laid in bed last night thinking ‘It’s diecast Tat Friday tomorrow...’

[Amishtat]

You're not the only one.. 

[Amishtat]

This is in my local auctions tomorrow. 

[Split_Pin]

I remember the boy across the road from me had that Robot and I was fascinated by it.

That was in the early 1980s but judging by the packaging it looks a lot older than that so could have been his dad's.

[vulgalour]

Huh, every day's a school day!

[Amishtat]

I'd reckon early - mid Seventies but that's only a guess based on the box artwork, same with the Mercedes. Surely the bus is older though 

[eddyramrod]

23 hours ago, vulgalour said:

Huh, every day's a school day!

I bloody hope not!  School was consistently the worst time of my life, including the time MrsR spent in Intensive Care in Paphos!  Including getting arrested for a robbery I had nothing to do with.  Including... well you get the idea.

[egg]

I think I'll be on the lookout for a Budgie Removals van now to go with my Beales Bealesons...

They seem quite valuable though.

[Volksy]

On 9/3/2019 at 10:29 PM, vulgalour said:

 

And finally, this little slice of nostalgia. I used to have one exactly like this, even the playwear was pretty much the same, so I'll likely keep it as it is.  Never had a trailer for it, the trailers always seemed really hard to find.

I still have a dent in my left kneecap from kneeling on the upturned trailer that came with this wagon. 

[Spottedlaurel]

10 hours ago, sierraman said:

Moar useless phacts! It came as part of the First Issue Container Port along with a plastic version of the railway shunter.

Indeed, thus:

Matchbox Playset Container Port by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

They illustrated it with the blue container, but I always found that combination displeasing. I generally kept the Sealand container on mine, which was a bit fancier as it had opening doors.

[vulgalour]

No Pobeda update today, though I can tell you the engine I cast is suitable and does fit.  Instead, today I got the DS models out of the purple meths so I could see what I was dealing with.  I expected all of the Safaris to be ordinary estates, so I was a little surprised when the only estate is the one with the bust roof and glass, while the other three are ambulance variants.  That means the rear glazing is blue and is also the interior for the cabin, while the front glazing is a separate clear unit.  This isn't actually a problem, quite the opposite, it just meant I changed my original plan of building a four door Tissier and am now building a 2 door triple axle instead.  The two I'm not chopping up will become an estate and an ambulance using the bits I've got here, there's enough of the broken estate glazing to splice with one of the ambulance front glazing, hiding the seam with the B pillar.

I was going to go for a twin axle originally, the pieces I had to work with meant it was actually easier and would look more balanced as a triple axle, so that's what I've done.  The middle axle on the rear is fitted by filing a groove into the rear chassis portion and then glueing the axle down.  This actually allows all six rear wheels to roll and while the middle axle on the back doesn't have suspension, the other two do, so I'm pretty please with that.  For strength, I'll use some epoxy to blend the portions of the chassis together and for the very end extension I'll be using the bit that I didn't stick on that's still attached to the ambulance end unit I chopped off.

For the blending of the bodywork I've spread the ambulance front end a little and squished the rear estate section a little to get them to match closely.  Filler will take care of the rest.  I'll also be cutting out a wheel arch so all three wheels are visible on both sides and, of course, filling in the original wheel arch right at the back.  Blending the sides is probably the bulk of the work on this one.  After looking at several pictures and blogs and videos on Tissiers, it looks like the extension doesn't affect the original wheelbase of the car in most cases, instead having extra subframe/s and bodywork grafted on behind the rear axle, that's what I've done too and the proportions are looking about right.

#

One thing I hadn't been able to figure out was what I was doing with the back of the cab.  That is, until I discovered one of the donors for this has separate cab glazing.  Because of where I cut the roof it just so happens this forms an almost perfect cab back without any work and even the remains of the roof rack doesn't look out of place.  It's nice when you get a bit of good fortune like that.  For the flatbed I'm using the broken off end of a top deck from a DAF transporter which I'll section a little to make it the right width since it's ever so slightly too wide in standard format.  I also already know this will take one of the other standard DS Safari models, which is likely how I'll display this one.

Next up will be stripping the last of the paint off so I can get on with the next stage of assembly and then I'm going to have to figure out what colour I'm doing this one.

[bunglebus]

Used to have a model of one of those but can't find the pictures.

 

These arrived today;

 

Zylmex Ford GT40 and E-Type;

 

20190907_220524 by RS, on Flickr

 

20190907_220433 by RS, on Flickr

 

Kidco Corvette;

 

20190907_220342 by RS, on Flickr

 

 

[eddyramrod]

Diecast grump.

Among my restoration projects is a Corgi Citroen DS Safari, which I've done in a pale beige.  I refitted the upper tailgate a while ago, but that's about as far as I've got.  Now then... in a recent job lot I gained a second example, which is probably due a repaint but rather more urgently needs both parts of the tailgate.  So I bought some repro stock off the bay of E, which have now arrived.  I went to do a test-fit on the beige one and... broke the original tailgate getting it off.

BOLLOCKS!  FUCKITTY FUCK!  Now I need to buy another tailgate.

[egg]

While working on this, I had my own grump when I snapped off the 'quarterlight' pillar on one side. I've glued in a bit of paperclip at a slightly wonky angle, and that will have to do!

[Split_Pin]

My not-diecast grump is that because I have been so busy this weekend I have not yet had a chance to open the parcel that Egg. Esq. Motors (Plastic Division) has sent me. I like to take my time with parcels and admire and study what I have just received before deciding on a good shelf slot for it.

I'm always home first on a Monday so I'll enjoy doing that then

[vulgalour]

Pobeda is done.  For some reason, it attracts black dust like no other kit I have and I have no idea where the black dust is coming from so... that's a thing.  That's why you see black specks in the photos.

The engine I cast worked quite well, even if it's so small a part and the bonnet opens so little because of the hinges I did (not that I could figure out how to do them better at this scale) that the only way to show you on camera was to use the tiniest safety pin as a bonnet prop.  It's suitable for this particular kit at any rate.

So there we go, that's a 1:72 scale GAZ Pobeda.  It's moderately well scaled and while the wheels are a little oversized, it's otherwise pretty good.  The interior is totally pointless because you just can't see it in person or on camera.  As happy as I am with the end result, I wouldn't recommend this kit.  Completion came more with a sense of relief than satisfaction, and that for me is never a good sign.  Even without the additional work of making the bonnet open and casting an engine, it would have still been an awkward fiddly thing to build.  If I want to make stuff in this scale, I'll stick to generic diecast stuff, like this HotWheels hot rod which is useful to show you the scale of the Pobeda against something potentially familiar.

[Datsuncog]

Great work on the Pobeda, Vulg - looks like a right fiddly piece of work. Opening bonnet is a nice touch!

The Tissier DS looks like it's shaping up very well too - I'd wondered if the bashed-up DAF transporter might play a supporting role in this creation...

 

Apologies for the lack of Tat Friday last week, folks. Hopefully normal service will resume at the end of the week.

[ETCHY]

On ‎9‎/‎6‎/‎2019 at 8:30 AM, sierraman said:

Moar useless phacts! It came as part of the First Issue Container Port along with a plastic version of the railway shunter.

Christ, Container Port ! I'd forgotten all about that I had that as a kid !

[Datsuncog]

 

[sierraman]

Bought this lot today, the Rover SD1 a particular scarcity as it still had the tailgate window fitted. The MB68 Cosmobile in Avocado was part of the aforementioned Adventure 2000 range. 

[vulgalour]

Projects currently in the works.  I found an amazing metallic pink that I tried out on one of my Pontiacs, I wish there were more shades of this particular type of metallic, it's a perfect metalflake style finish for this scale straight out of a rattlecan.  I also tried out a turquoise on the other Pontiac which will be getting a white roof.  Annoyingly, the paint on the turquoise one was not as hard as I thought when I turned it over to paint the underside, which pulled a big chunk of paint off the freshly painted roof after painting the inside so I'm not risking masking it until at least tomorrow now, when I'll be redoing the roof.  Interior on the pink one will probably be done in silver, while the turquoise one will likely go black or white.

Since I couldn't go further on those until the paint has hardened enough for them to be handled, I got the Landrover project in primer.  Once the primer was ready for top coat I picked up the board it was on, somehow fumbled it, and basically threw it behind some furniture where it could land in a pile of fluff.  Got to leave that one to dry now so I can rectify the fluff and crash damage.

Rather than risk further catastrophe, I've put everything away for tonight.

[Amishtat]

What's the name/maker of that pink? 

[vulgalour]

Wilkinsons!

[Datsuncog]

Bit late (as ever), but here's some pics of my Matchbox MB30 1963 Cadillac Hearse, as mentioned a page or two back...

It really is a nice casting, with just enough detail picked out in silver to give it a realistic look. It looks really well in white and silver too - didn't know it had appeared in so many different versions.

Base seems to suggest a 2006 date. I ended up buying quite a few from the range around this time - Matchbox appeared to be going through one of their more realistic patches, producing nice models of more unusual cars like the Citroen DS and Volvo P1800S, as well as plain-painted VW Campers and Mini vans. I'll try to dig out the few I have left.

Those wheels appeared on many of the 'retro' releases around this time, and I reckon they really suit it.

And as for 'the hand from the coffin'....

Hard to get a decent pic through the side window (and I think the interior moulding is a little bit warped on my example), but you can just about see this little joke from the Mattel designers...

According to Matchbox.Fandom.com, this model was based on the real-life Cadillac hearse owned by Mattel's VP of Wheels at the time. Which is kinda cool.

https://matchbox.fandom.com/wiki/1963_Cadillac_Hearse

Interesting to learn that cultural disapproval caused Matchbox to convert the casting into an ambulance (some with fairly naff graphics) - I know I would have loved this as a toy when I was little, simply because I was drawn towards unusual vehicles. There was a church right beside my primary school, so there were often hearses near the school gates (Granadas, for the most part, sometimes Daimlers). A toy version would have been ace.

Having said that, I also remember a bit of a kerfuffle whenever a funeral home was planned near to another local primary school, with protestors claiming that, somehow, it would be 'harmful' to their kids as they 'wouldn't understand'.

I think what the parents meant was that they felt uncomfortable having to explain something which is pretty damn fundamental and rather inescapable, and so projected their own fears and unease about death onto their offspring.

Kids understand way more than they're given credit for.

Funny how all the myriad playsets involving zombies, mummies and vampires isn't put in the same category...

Undead = ok

Dead = not ok

Well, ok then.