Shite in Miniature II

[flat4alfa]

10 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

 

@vulgalour put together an absolute belter of a 'Grandma Torino' last year, from a plastic kit - dunno if you caught the building of it?

Ford Gran(dma) Torino:

 

[Bren]

2 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

Is the pond still there?

I don't think so

[bunglebus]

I got a couple more of the weenie Hot Wheels - Micro Color Racers apparently

 

20200501_154219 by RS, on Flickr

20200501_154718 by RS, on Flickr

20200501_154700 by RS, on Flickr

[Datsuncog]

Ah, Friday.

It's weird, but I still find myself waking earlier on Friday mornings, with a strange ripple of excitement - which, in recent weeks, has quickly dissipated again.

Sad, but true.

Of course, as St George's Market is owned by Belfast City Council, it's still padlocked - and will remain so for the foreseeable.

But this morning I had to go and retrieve a few files from work needed to start a new workstream - so since I was up anyway after 7, I fired up the Forester and headed on in to the city centre.

The roads aren't quite empty at the minute, but they're certainly way quieter than they used to be.

I headed over the River Lagan on the M3, and peeled off at the junction by the SSE Arena - now a drive-through C-19 Testing Centre, with a series of blank white tents standing in the May sunlight.

The city centre was a bit more animated - with on-street parking charges and time restrictions suspended, key worker vehicles are lining the streets rather than in the private car parks (which are still charging as usual).

I'd hoped to get close to the Market building in Oxford St, and maybe snap a few pics in remembrance of all the good times, but after doing a couple of circuits of the site there really was nowhere to stop the Subaru without causing a blockage.

However, cutting through Verner St, which runs along the loading bay side of St George's, I was intrigued to see some vans pulled up half-on the pavement... with rear doors open, revealing sacks of spuds and trays of fish within.

And people milling around.

And there, just as I slowed down, a flash of colour from a long-abandoned service yard behind Microfocus House... and through the gate, market stalls.

OMG GUERRILLA MARKET ?

Well, you can just imagine my excitement...

... which was reasonably short-lived, as it became apparent that the market was both tiny and food-only - a bare half-dozen stalls, selling meat, fish, and fruit 'n' veg. No Market Blokey to be seen; no Tat Stall, and no Giffer Alley.

All totally legit, it should be pointed out - there's no ban on open-air food markets, and this is an inner-city location with numerous residential streets nearby (which has played merry hell with any attempts to set up a residents parking scheme) and there are precious few local shops selling basic groceries. So it makes sense to keep things going, especially for older folks with no access to a car.

I'd have liked to snap a few pics, but since those attending were not exactly demonstrating fantastic social distancing skills - and I was looking a bit official with my Slightly Scary Coat and Departmental insignia displayed on the Forester - I didn't want to be mistaken for some sort of meddling bureaucratic busybody. I'm guessing the SiM II thread is in no need of its own very own martyr; the Markets area does have a reputation for administering its own instant community justice...

Anyway, I got whatever needed done work-wise, then failed to procure some scones from the only city bakery still open (queued right the way down the street; bollocks to that), but was home in time for this to arrive:

 

Ohhhhh...

Now, I hadn't really intended to buy this - I'd been browsing Matchbox Dinky models on a well-known internet auction site, when this popped up.

And it was cheap.

So I hit the Buy It Now...

I was vaguely aware of the existence of the C825 Chevrolet Bel Air from my 1985 Corgi Catalogue, but I've never seen one in the metal before.

In fact, so unfamiliar was it that I'd thought it was one of the many toys from the '85 catalogue which never made it onto the shelves.

So, let's see what we have here...

First off, the box is ludicrously oversized for the small size of the car.

In that respect, it's already a bit of an oddity.

This one's part of the silver-boxed C800-series Corgi Classics range, which in 1985 comprised a number of cars that first appeared in the earlier Mettoy-era 'Cars of the 1950s' range - such as the Ford Thunderbird, Mercedes 300 SL and Jaguar XK120. These were reboxed as Corgi Classics post-Mettoy, but they were all standard 1/35 scale of the larger Corgi range.

Yet this boyo's 1/43 scale.

Only the 1920s commercials in the range came in that scale - which kinda makes this the first modern 1/43 Corgi Classics car, and a direct foreunner of the wider Classics range that arrived in 1988 including the Morris Minor and Mk2 Zephyr, marking the new Corgi Toy Co's serious assault on the 'adult collectables' market.

Unlike the fairly realistic wheels shown in the catalogue, the finished model sadly uses the same 'cobweb' one-piece plastic wheels as some of the Corgi Toys range - the VW Polo, Renault 5 and the Mercedes and Scania smaller-scale trucks. Which is a bit of a shame, as I think they look a bit rubbishy.

Oddly, there's no method to secure the model in the box either, which means it rattles round inside something shocking. The cardboard inner is pocked with dents from the pointy-fendered bumpers, but it seems to have had no lasting damage to the model (which was pretty dingy when it arrived, so I gave it a good scrub before taking some pics).

But the proportions are generally pretty good, for a model which has been extensively modelled but on which the overall shape seems often a bit wrong.

It's also heavy - the diecast base is detailed, and it's all pretty chunky. Front wheels are set quite far outboard, for some reason - those at the back are much narrower.

Unfortunately, as the pics above show, this may have been designed as a model but it's been built like a toy, including the by-now familiar paint flaws, bubbling and gratuitous flashing left on the casting that characterise so many of my Corgis from this era.

 

But leaving that gripe aside, it does still have a lot of appeal - while the opening bonnet and boot make it feel more like a toy from Corgi's heyday, both in scale and features, rather than the later Classics line.

Detailed engine bay shows the Chevy V8 quite nicely, albeit hiding at the back a bit. Dunno how accurate this placing is!

Boot is also nicely finished inside, and the bootlid is a heavy casting in its own right, with a thick right-angle reinforcement piece cast in.

It's certainly a curiosity, and I'd be interested to know more about its background - whether it was developed in a hurry from an older Mettoy-era project, possibly intended as a slightly larger version of the 'Simon & Simon' Juniors-scale Chevy?

The budget Turbos range of 1985 was also made in 1/43 scale; simply because less metal content meant they could be sold for less. But they also had plastic bases, simplified bodies and no opening features, something which this model doesn't have - there are a lot of components here, such as the engine, two-piece contrast seating and the brightwork insert on the bonnet.

I don't even know how long it appeared in the range for.

Is it a head-scratcher?

Yup.

Do I like it?

Also yup.

While the '57 Chevy and '59 Caddy remain the archetypal 'American cars' to me, having been used all through the 1980s in film and advertising as icons of 1950s retro cool, it's easy to overlook their actual qualities. I think Corgi did a reasonably good job here on the Chevrolet.

It's been a while since I've had a piece of Friday tat to prod at.

Happy Friday, all!

[barrett]

I had one of those Bel Airs, but in pale blue with much more detailed wheels and removable rubber tyres. Not sure if that was an earlier or later edition. I think it was probably still hanging about, dismantled and stripped, in my box of tat that I sold to somebody on here a couple of years ago...

[Datsuncog]

21 minutes ago, barrett said:

I had one of those Bel Airs, but in pale blue with much more detailed wheels and removable rubber tyres. Not sure if that was an earlier or later edition. I think it was probably still hanging about, dismantled and stripped, in my box of tat that I sold to somebody on here a couple of years ago...

Oooh... that's another one for me to look out for!

 

[EDIT] Or was it the Matchbox Dinky version?

I had the red coupe version in the Dinky range, and that's what I was browsing for when the Corgi one appeared! Seems a blue droptop arrived in the range a bit later.

[barrett]

ah yes, it was the Matchbox Dinky, but with a hardtop. I thought the red one looked a bit wrong, but the engine bay is (as far as I can remember) virtually identical! I remember that big expanse of nothing at the front...

[Split_Pin]

That's a very interesting one indeed. As you say it's the scale of the 1988-on 'proper' classics range but it has the qualities of the older 1/36 Classics range. I had 3 of those, a lovely blue Mercedes with opening bonnet, a 300 SL gull-wing and a pink Thunderbird which I still have. 

It looks as if it was a transitional model and whilst I like it I'm glad Corgi developed this into the more adult-orientated Classic Cars range.

[Datsuncog]

1 hour ago, barrett said:

ah yes, it was the Matchbox Dinky, but with a hardtop. I thought the red one looked a bit wrong, but the engine bay is (as far as I can remember) virtually identical! I remember that big expanse of nothing at the front...

I do beg your pardon -  you were quite right, yours must have been a Corgi too!

It's the same casting alright, but much better finished now - with more authentic-looking rubber-tyred wheels fitted, and the brightwork properly picked out.

As far as I was aware, none of the Corgi Classics (or the Matchbox Dinkys, come to that) had opening features, so that set the alarm bells ringing when you mentioned the gaping maw under the bonnet.

Well well well. Another new one on me.

Despite hanging round plenty of model shops, I never saw either the original or the reworked Bel Air in the standard Classics range. That box in the pic looks like one of the early 90s efforts, so I'm astonished that it never came onto my radar at the time.

From a spot of Google-fu, it appears that the silver boxed cars with the cheap one-piece wheels appeared in both red and black; the later green boxed Classics came in blue (as above) and then later in gold, in a special box to commemorate the '50 Millionth Chevy'.

Interestingly, I do remember a number of different police and fire liveried '57 Chevies appearing in the catalogues for the Corgi American Classics range around the mid-90s - and again, this seems to be the same casting, with additional lights and sirens and whatnot. But they didn't really appeal to me so much.

Corgi certainly seem to have got their money's worth out of the tooling, that's for sure!

[MarvinsMom]

the corgi chevy bel air is a new one on me too, 

i was spending my paper round money on corgi classics/matchbox dinkies as quickly as i could earn it, back in the early 1990's and i don't ever recall seeing a Corgi Bel Air in the shops.

if i had seen one, i'd have bought it!

the Matchbox Dinky one i do remember, cos i've got one upstairs in the cardboard box of boxed toy cars "reserve collection"

[bunglebus]

That's an oddity. I had the Matchbox/Dinky 57 Chevy, 59 Cadillac and 51 Beetle. They're nicely made things, but somehow too obviously not meant to be toys that they don't really make me love them. There's a balance somewhere between lovely detail/accuracy/opening bits etc and fun

[sheffcortinacentre]

Love to see you do a NASCAR Torino replica.

 

[flat4alfa]

[eddyramrod]

Mention above of the Corgi 1/36 Thunderbird reminds me that I have a boxed one tucked away: silver, with a Marilyn Monroe figure.  I won it from Classic American magazine many years ago.  Somewhere also tucked away (ie buried) I also have a couple of Corgi 1/36 Minis, I think.  These bigger models are mostly after my time really, as I was nominally well into adulthood by the time they appeared, with all the dull expense that goes with it.  Therefore there won't be many in my "boxed" collection, and you've pretty-much seen the unboxed ones a page or two back.

Incidentally, sitrep:  yesterday I drilled apart the rough Kojak Buick.  It's held together by SIX rivets!  I decided not to transplant the window section into the better model; I'm just going to paint this one.  The better model, with no windscreen, is therefore available, a quid plus postage.

[Split_Pin]

14 hours ago, bunglebus said:

That's an oddity. I had the Matchbox/Dinky 57 Chevy, 59 Cadillac and 51 Beetle. They're nicely made things, but somehow too obviously not meant to be toys that they don't really make me love them. There's a balance somewhere between lovely detail/accuracy/opening bits etc and fun

You've hit the nail squarely on the head there, for me anyway.

I think late 1980's and up to about 1991 Corgi Classics still hold an appeal for me. My parents realised I was serious about cars by then and were buying me Popular Classics magazine every month. Both my friend Euan and I joined the Corgi Collector Club and in the days before social media, the bi-monthly issue of the magazine was a joy as it dropped through the letterbox. We would meet up quickly after and discuss the releases. We stood in solidarity through the agonising wait for the Collector Club van which usually took until June. 

When Santa brought me a blue Morris Minor for Christmas 1988 I remember being ecstatic opening it at 4am on Christmas morning, the dim bedside light creating a reflection on the mirrored card interior of the box.

I' m going into the loft now to find them. Sadly all the Collector Club vans were sold by me in around 2013. I wish I'd kept the  Fordson van for the 1989 year.

[flat4alfa]

1 hour ago, eddyramrod said:

yesterday I drilled apart the rough Kojak Buick.  It's held together by SIX rivets!  I decided not to transplant the window section into the better model; I'm just going to paint this one.  The better model, with no windscreen, is therefore available, a quid plus postage.

'Hold it lads, I've got an idea'

[Jon]

LADS LADS LADS LADS!

I know we have a miniature ebay tat thread but I imagine it's overlooked by some and this guy is selling a muthaload of rare ace stuff on Trademe:

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/search?member_listing=64039

Not sure how financially solvent many of us are at the moment but I reckon there's a few that might interest @bramz7 @Split_Pin and maybe @Spottedlaurel

Plus whoever collects Majorette Dodges I think @flat4alfa or @155V6?

 

Anyway, happy to bid on others' behalves and post to UK/elsewhere, so long as I can take a photo before I post.

.....All except for one, which I have my beady eye on and am current highest bidder of!

[Amishtat]

Wow! A Lone Star Firenza! 

[Jon]

Shhhhh! You didn't see that one!

[155V6]

6 minutes ago, Jon said:

Shhhhh! You didn't see that one!

 

23 minutes ago, Jon said:

LADS LADS LADS LADS!

I know we have a miniature ebay tat thread but I imagine it's overlooked by some and this guy is selling a muthaload of rare ace stuff on Trademe:

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/search?member_listing=64039

Not sure how financially solvent many of us are at the moment but I reckon there's a few that might interest @bramz7 @Split_Pin and maybe @Spottedlaurel

Plus whoever collects Majorette Dodges I think @flat4alfa or @155V6?

 

Anyway, happy to bid on others' behalves and post to UK/elsewhere, so long as I can take a photo before I post.

.....All except for one, which I have my beady eye on and am current highest bidder of!

Thanks for thinking of me ?

I'm trying not to buy any more Majorette Dodges though,this is isn't all of them ?

He does have some nice stuff though,the Maisto trucks with garage/car wash on the back are interesting.

[bramz7]

42 minutes ago, Jon said:

LADS LADS LADS LADS!

I know we have a miniature ebay tat thread but I imagine it's overlooked by some and this guy is selling a muthaload of rare ace stuff on Trademe:

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/search?member_listing=64039

Not sure how financially solvent many of us are at the moment but I reckon there's a few that might interest @bramz7 @Split_Pin and maybe @Spottedlaurel

Plus whoever collects Majorette Dodges I think @flat4alfa or @155V6?

 

Anyway, happy to bid on others' behalves and post to UK/elsewhere, so long as I can take a photo before I post.

.....All except for one, which I have my beady eye on and am current highest bidder of!

I quite fancy the Polisitl Alfa 2000, Alfetta and 132. Not sure what they may go for though...not seen one go through eBay for a long time. 

 

Also I've still got that parcel of yours! So if you do end up bidding and winning something for me, you can keep custody of it until you're visiting here next? 

[flat4alfa]

I went wow!

Then ohhhh. When I saw the prices

Then remembered $1 NZD = 50p GBP

[Datsuncog]

2 hours ago, Amishtat said:

Wow! A Lone Star Firenza! 

 

2 hours ago, Jon said:

Shhhhh! You didn't see that one!

Heh, that's the one that my beady eye went straight to... best of luck with that!

Cracking haul on offer, there...

[Jon]

16 hours ago, 155V6 said:

Thanks for thinking of me ?

 

That's OK, apologies for forgetting who collects what on this thread. I also get you and flat4alfa mixed up, purely because of your Alfa Romeo related forum names! 

 

16 hours ago, bramz7 said:

I quite fancy the Polisitl Alfa 2000, Alfetta and 132. Not sure what they may go for though...not seen one go through eBay for a long time. 

 

Also I've still got that parcel of yours! So if you do end up bidding and winning something for me, you can keep custody of it until you're visiting here next? 

If you think you'd like any of the above, send me a PM with how much you'd like to spend and I'll happily bid for you. Postage may not actually be too bad (starts a shade under £9) due to the low weight. I'd happily hold on to any items until I come back to visit the UK. But that won't now be until 2021; I was due to fly out at the end of next week!

I sporadically remember the parcel you still have and then promptly forget to get in touch, so no worries! I should just bite the bullet, get you to post it to the UK handling centre NZ post has and then I'll pay whatever the rest of the postage is. A bit of a gamble but then I need to buy a couple of bits for Mrs_Jon's Clio and they do offer a repackaging service, to save cash.

[Spottedlaurel]

More progress has been made on the Quattro:

1:24 Tamiya Audi Quattro kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Got weekend's chores out of the way yesterday so should be able to get lots done today.

[Split_Pin]

20 hours ago, Jon said:

LADS LADS LADS LADS!

I know we have a miniature ebay tat thread but I imagine it's overlooked by some and this guy is selling a muthaload of rare ace stuff on Trademe:

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/search?member_listing=64039

Not sure how financially solvent many of us are at the moment but I reckon there's a few that might interest @bramz7 @Split_Pin and maybe @Spottedlaurel

Plus whoever collects Majorette Dodges I think @flat4alfa or @155V6?

 

Anyway, happy to bid on others' behalves and post to UK/elsewhere, so long as I can take a photo before I post.

.....All except for one, which I have my beady eye on and am current highest bidder of!

Good grief what a haul there! The Polistil Fiat 132 GLS has been on my list since, well, the start of everything.

Sadly those are above my radar at that price but mercy there are some honeys in there, cheers @Jon !

[Jon]

1 hour ago, Split_Pin said:

Good grief what a haul there! The Polistil Fiat 132 GLS has been on my list since, well, the start of everything.

Sadly those are above my radar at that price but mercy there are some honeys in there, cheers @Jon !

How about a 'group buy'? Maybe sell other miniature tats you prefer less to other shiters, to fund the 132? 

Happy to bid up to a pre-determined level for you and you pay me back if successful? Can't have a lifetime wishlist item slip by, if it can be helped!

I've also had some other stuff arrive in the post and there's others on their way. Just need the house free again, so I can get my photo books out!

[bunglebus]

Some Corgis have landed.

 

Studebaker Golden Hawk

 

20200502_192329 by RS, on Flickr

 

These next two have been on my wish list for ages, Daf City car with loads of opening bits

 

20200502_114438 by RS, on Flickr

20200502_114447 by RS, on Flickr

20200502_114205 by RS, on Flickr

20200502_114140 by RS, on Flickr

 

And Radio Luxembourg version of the Quartermaster

 

20200502_192433 by RS, on Flickr

20200502_192439 by RS, on Flickr

20200502_192457 by RS, on Flickr

 

I have the more common green one already

 

20190519_200551 by RS, on Flickr

[Datsuncog]

4 hours ago, Jon said:

I sporadically remember the parcel you still have and then promptly forget to get in touch, so no worries! 

Ahhhh, so your Belfast Tat Market parcel is still in this hemisphere? From the very first day of tat procurement, no less!

A pleasure yet to come then...

And if you're going the postal route, then I ought to get that green Dinky Mini Moke over to make up the parcel, too - there's also an orange one available, should that interest you instead/as well?

Damn, I should really pull together a sales post...

[Jon]

Ooh, can't resist a bit of double moke action! I also can't believe there's booty to procure from tat collect #1. I knew it'd been a while but not quite that long ago!

Am just off to bed at this part of the world but I'll get in touch tomorrow, when I'm a bit more awake/lucid.