Shite in Miniature II

[Crusty Sills]

7 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

THERE IS A MICRO MACHINES BOOK BEING RELEASED ON 27TH APRIL WITH A PICTURE OF EVERY ONE RELEASED AND A DESCRIPTION.

That is all.

*Breathes into a paper bag*

I love micro machines. The early ones that were painted nicely with the nicer wheels not the cheaper looking later ones. 

[bunglebus]

Fixed my Wildcat with an engine from a Baja Buggy, fits perfectly

 

20200417_154236 by RS, on Flickr

[sierraman]

Zephyr is in a coat of primer. The paint was a right bastard to get off. Sadly Steve Flowers is shut otherwise I’d have been ordering a pair of doors and the front and rear bumpers. 

[quicksilver]

On 4/16/2020 at 4:27 PM, bunglebus said:

The purple 760's arrival means I can do the Volvo edition of WDIB?

 

From left to right; MC Toys, Zymex, Matchbox, Majorette, Corgi

 

20200416_160730 by RS, on Flickr

20200416_160735 by RS, on Flickr

20200416_160831 by RS, on Flickr

20200416_160803 by RS, on Flickr

Bonus laughable Chinese job I saw on eBay

20200416_082820 by RS, on Flickr

20200416_082807 by RS, on Flickr

20200416_082737 by RS, on Flickr

Although the Matchbox and Majorette both have opening doors, I reckon the French version is the most accurate and detailed

 

Slim pickings in the world of 240s

 

20200416_161014 by RS, on Flickr

20200416_161023 by RS, on Flickr

20200416_161033 by RS, on Flickr

20200416_161107 by RS, on Flickr

 

Again, the French effort is much nicer, despite the rear window being miles off

I had one of those purple MC Toys Volvos. It was a colour changer so if you put that one in the sun it'll probably turn pink.

[bramz7]

Okay the weird Italian parcel arrived. 

No bubble wrap at all, just shredded newspaper. Definitely some warp in the model, the casting is pretty dire too, as you can see! I think it's been dropped at some point as there is a chunk of nearside headlight missing and the base has lifted at that end. 

Wonder who made it?

Yep dunno who that is. 

 

I've paid less for better, I'll be honest. But I couldn't stop looking at it. I just had to have it. 

[MarvinsMom]

today i have mostly been striping the paint off of this Spot-on Armstrong Siddeley, courtesy of Mr Ramrod,

having drilled out the rivets this happened.

and then some of the paint fell off.

revealing more paint.

who knew that Joseph had a car of many colours, as well as that coat.

its like been an archaeologist. under the cream was blue, and under that was red, and under that was green, which was the original colour.

the glazing is shot, so until i get another window thing, Steve Flowers been closed cos of the chinese virus......

so until i get another one, i have done it proper gansta/drug dealer blacked out spec.....

putting the car back together it looks like this, the casting is, in common with most of these golden oldies really detailed.

but that now leaves me having a choice as to what colour to paint it. looking through the tins of paint, i have several choices. all humbrol colours, even though that is anathema to most folks, it is what i've got available, especially as most of the shops are shut. 

metallic gold? i have seen a picture of an Armstrong Siddeley in a similar colour, and that would set off the grill and bumpers nicely. this is the colour scheme i am leaning towards. 

or, brunswick green gloss, really close to british racing green. maybe italian racing red gloss? would something as posh as an Armstrong Siddeley really be painted such a daring colour?

i had thought about painting it Mid Admiralty Grey, though i think if i did use that colour the grill and bumpers would be lost against the grey. and gloss white that would make the car look like a wedding car.

my poor eye sight and none too steady hand does rule out a two-tone paint scheme.

choices, choices....

[flat4alfa]

[Datsuncog]

 

10 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

What did Corgi do wrong?  Did they mention the track being compatible with HW products in their advertising or something? 

Straightforward copyright infringement, apparently. Mattel held a patent for flexible plastic racing track, and (perhaps somewhat vindictively) held fire until Corgi's version had been on the market for several months and awarded Toy of the Year for 1971. With Rockets production now in full swing, and sales booming, Mattel then slapped a writ on them. Corporate chaos ensued.

I'm not sure about the ins and outs of the case, but ultimately the court found in Mattel's favour and so Corgi were legally barred from producing any more Rockets track. They were allowed to sell through their existing shop and warehouse stock, but by Court order the track extrusion tooling had to be destroyed (one story has it that it was dumped in Swansea harbour).

Lesney, as it happens, were also taken to court by Mattel over their Superfast track (alongside other manufacturers, too), though I'm less clear what the outcome of that case was.

Certainly, Matchbox Superfast track sets stayed in the range (in one form or another) from 1970 until well into the 1990s, so possibly Lesney were able to cut some sort of royalties deal with Mattel?

Or, maybe the differing outcomes boiled down to Corgi making and advertising sets of plastic adaptors which made their track compatible with "other brands". Could this have been key? If Lesney's track was deemed incompatible with anything other than itself, then maybe the court took a different view of the infringement? I should probably ask my brother about this; Intellectual Property law is his field...

A flick through my old Matchbox catalogues shows that, rather strangely, the original Superfast Race Track range lasted for one year only.

The range that was launched with great fanfare in 1970 all began with an SF code; yet these were replaced for the 1971 catalogue by a similar, yet subtly different range, all beginning with a T code. I wonder whether there were other material changes made to the track itself following the legal action? The Charlie Mack book remains silent on the subject.

Regardless of the reasons, the whole affair put a massive spanner in Mettoy's works, as they'd invested heavily in product development, tooling and a massive advertising blitz for their new Rockets range and suddenly were legally bound to scrap the core product line, at ruinous cost.

As it happens, the candy-chrome finish of much of the Rockets range - which Corgi termed 'Solarbrite' - was a direct lift of Mattel's Spectraflame process, but since it was just a tinted lacquer sprayed over a silver coating, apparently it wasn't subject to any Mattel patents. Corgi had sold toy cars in both the Husky and regular line with shiny metal vacuum-plated finish from the early 60s and continued to use it with a tinted finish on some of their larger 1/43 toys in the early 70s, such as the Toyota 2000GT cabrio and Chevrolet Corvette).

Rockets cars, with their separate chassis and 'tune-up key' weren't directly affected by the legal action - but they were expensive to produce, and in future would be very expensive on the toy shop pegs compared to mainline Lesneys and the like. Corgi's accountants had costed them so that the individual cars would act as effective loss leaders for the much more profitable track sets. No more track sales meant no more subsidy for the carded cars. They had to go.

The Rockets debacle occurred around the same time that Mettoy were launching the Corgi Juniors range, having recently ended their exclusive deal with Woolworths to market Matchbox-sized models under the Husky brand. A 'crash programme' was already underway to rebrand Huskys as Corgi Juniors and bring in brand new models; the overall idea had been that Rockets would do the lairy stunt stuff, while Juniors would do nice detailed models of passenger cars and commercials.

But with Rockets now dead in the water, there was now a scramble to amalgamate two very different lines into a unified range - resulting in Rockets wheels being added to hastily modified former Husky base castings and taking on the Whizzwheels moniker from the bigger range. Results ranged from comical to terrible, with the NSU Ro80 and Duple Vista coach in particular seeing their previously elegant lines ruined with sticky-out binlid wheels.

Just to put the tin hat on Mettoy's annus horribilus, a fire at their Swansea warehouse in March 1969 had wiped out nearly a year's production of their larger models, leading to severe product line shortages and a pressing need to get something, anything, out to toy shops.

The Rockets range was supposed to temporarily switch the consumer focus onto smaller cars (made in their Northampton factory) while allowing the company to rebuild a new large-scale inventory in Swansea. But following the disastrous legal action, the Juniors range had to step up to the mark far too quickly in an attempt to prevent Dinky and Matchbox from further muscling in on Corgi's turf. But it was a traumatized birth for the small Corgi line, and it showed.

In fact, with large job losses at the factories as a direct result of all this, it's possible Mettoy's diecast division could have gone to the wall in late 1971. But what saved them? Diversification.

Mettoy's parent company also made and marketed that icon of the 1970s, the wildly successful Space Hopper.

Thanks to a grinning rubber ball with horns, Corgi would rise from the Mattel debacle  and live to fight another day.

[MarvinsMom]

58 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

having had a look in the paint stash, i do indeed have a part used tin of humbrol 47, sea blue gloss which is a very close approximation of this colour.

 

[eddyramrod]

@MarvinsMom: I would put the window unit back in the caustic.  With a bit of patience and maybe toothbrushing, it should come clean, thus saving you money and waiting time.  As for paint, many outlets are closed, true; but Wilkinsons is open, at least in Barrow it is, and I managed to get some aerosols there the other day.  Choice of colour was a bit limited, but it could be worth a look.  If you can get a nice dark blue/green/maroon, that should look the part.

[Sudsprint]

Brilliant write up Datsuncog. I can just about remember Hot Wheels hitting the shops (I was about eight)  in the UK and having a few HW cars.

I remember they seemed very exotic and exciting but I didn't really relate to the actual cars that much.

Corgi Rockets also felt new and exciting, the metallic blue AM DBS was a favourite but had silly oversize wheels. 

The mirror green XJ6 was a favourite and I still have it.

[hennabm]

I agree - a very good write up Mr Datsoncog.

As a lad I had a lot of CR stuff and could pick up the cars even as late as 1975 for around 25p each. I had a number of sets and accessories. To me I also felt the cars were more like the ones on the road and not fantasies from a long long way away.

I sold off all my CR stuff in 2000. This included several cars still in their bubble packs and a Jensen Interceptor that wasn’t even opened. Some of the track accessories were also still boxed. All I got for it was £35.

Do I regret selling the cars - you bet I do.......

[Split_Pin]

Fantastic write up DC, I didn't know any of that. I have a couple of Husky models, a few Whizzwheels, some Corgi Juniors and a lot of later ones rebranded as Corgi. I'll be taking a look at these now, all in a row to see the development timeline!

[bunglebus]

9 hours ago, MarvinsMom said:

the glazing is shot, so until i get another window thing, Steve Flowers been closed cos of the chinese virus......

so until i get another one, i have done it proper gansta/drug dealer blacked out spec.....

 

 

 

How bad is it? I've revived some nasty ones with wet and dry, polishing and/or a dip in some wood floor polish

[flat4alfa]

10 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

Or, maybe the differing outcomes boiled down to Corgi making and advertising sets of plastic adaptors which made their track compatible with "other brands". Could this have been key? If Lesney's track was deemed incompatible with anything other than itself, then maybe the court took a different view of the infringement? I should probably ask my brother about this; Intellectual Property law is his field...

A flick through my old Matchbox catalogues shows that, rather strangely, the original Superfast Race Track range lasted for one year only.

The range that was launched with great fanfare in 1970 all began with an SF code; yet these were replaced for the 1971 catalogue by a similar, yet subtly different range, all beginning with a T code. I wonder whether there were other material changes made to the track itself following the legal action? The Charlie Mack book remains silent on the subject.

Aha! Adaptors. I've never seen these either advertised or in photos that they existed!

Those three paragraphs raise enough questions to expand the research into an entire chapter (in that book you were writing - you know the Cog Book I want to pre-order)  ?

[flat4alfa]

5 hours ago, eddyramrod said:

@MarvinsMom As for paint, many outlets are closed, true; but Wilkinsons is open, at least in Barrow it is, and I managed to get some aerosols there the other day. 

Yesterday I ordered a rattle can of Rustoleum Mirror Gold off Amazon next day delivery, so you don't even need to go out. It was cheap too

[Jon]

Was this worth the £2.50 I shelled out for it? Not sure but it is nice, for a modern casting. But I don't know why this was 5 times the price of the Mitsubisi i-MiEV taxi I bought at the same time.

 

I quite like the back number plate, though. Should this light anyone's candle, I'll gladly sell/swap it on at cost value, or thereabouts. Don't all rush at once!

[RoadworkUK]

Couldn't resist following the crowd with a bit of cars 'n flowerbeds action.

[MarvinsMom]

The glazing for the Armstrong Siddeley is pretty nasty, its cracked and the surface is deeply pitted, giving it a wipe with some black is the temporary measure as i have ordered a replacement off the bay of fleas..... now i have gotta wait for it to come. hopefully.

it has come out a couple of quid dearer than Steve Flowers would have been, but hey ho!

the nearest Wilko is in Redcar, so only a few miles from home, but i am trying to avoid leaving home and spend even more money....

so what has happened today?

seems the car has fallen into some paint!

more updates to follow.

[flat4alfa]

[DoctorRetro]

Started on this Studebaker Wagonaire I got in a tat box a while back. 

I don't have any paint stripping chemicals, so it's a painstaking process, especially as it has a lot of paint layers. Also, managed to crack the chassis when removing, as it's very brittle and I'm very clumsy

 

[bunglebus]

Nice. There are a few differences between this and the later Corgi job

 

Calling this done now

 

20200418_154202 by RS, on Flickr

20200418_154152 by RS, on Flickr

20200418_154141 by RS, on Flickr

20200418_154128 by RS, on Flickr

[Amishtat]

Weather permitting I'm going to take some model/garden photos tomorrow. Good work so far everyone, I've thoroughly enjoyed it. 

[egg]

quiz I've found here - can you name all the matchbox regular wheels models? In this quiz, you just need one word from each model name. Also, you get multiple answers correct when you get an answer right. Have fun.

https://www.sporcle.com/games/needapausebutton/matchbox

[flat4alfa]

First go

Faltered start

Sorry.

[flat4alfa]

Second go

[Datsuncog]

I'm not convinced the BMC 1800 Pininfarina should be in that list!

Ah well. Good craic all the same.

[Spottedlaurel]

Second kit completion of 2020!

Loosely based on this one I saw back in the '90s:

1981 Datsun Skyline (C210) Ipswich c.1994/95 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

And of course the pre-facelift example I had:

1979 Datsun 240K GT (C210) on Dalsnibba, Norway 2002 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

I've ended up with this:

1:20 Nissan Skyline Turbo C211 kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

1:20 Nissan Skyline Turbo C211 kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

1:20 Nissan Skyline Turbo C211 kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

1:20 Nissan Skyline Turbo C211 kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

The photos show one or two bits that I need to tidy-up, but I'm pleased with how it turned-out.

[155V6]

Very nice ?.The real car is one that.would have have been around while I was growing up,but I.remember hardly any of them.Very cool car though ?

 

[flat4alfa]

Third and last go

At least* I got to the magic 75