Shite in Miniature II

[BL Bloke]

Mehari?

[Sudsprint]

Bijou?

 

[Volksy]

It is a Mehari, this kit is made by Heller.

It the first one of theirs I've built, it is quite a crude affair, when compared with the Japanese kits I'm more used to building.

It borrows heavily from their 2cv kit, so you get quite a lot of parts that aren't relevant as they just chuck the whole sprue in. So it can be a little confusing.

 

[sierraman]

Any interest in these two from Britain’s? BMW motorbike think handle bar is missing and some sort of motorbike coke tank thing with the front wheel missing. £2 plus post for the pair? 

[Mr Pastry]

Interesting to see the Heller Mehari.  I built their 2CV, but found that the front wheels were about 2mm too far back, so it didn't look quite right - might be worth checking before finalising the body.  I corrected it by moving the axle forwards but this upset the gearbox and driveshafts, it would have been better to lengthen the suspension arms. 

 

[Volksy]

43 minutes ago, Mr Pastry said:

Interesting to see the Heller Mehari.  I built their 2CV, but found that the front wheels were about 2mm too far back, so it didn't look quite right - might be worth checking before finalising the body.  I corrected it by moving the axle forwards but this upset the gearbox and driveshafts, it would have been better to lengthen the suspension arms. 

 

Good advice, I've just done a dry mock up, and it looks like they have sorted it for the Mehari. Judging by the casting for the body, which is very sharp with hardly any bits of excess, I assume its a new casting but on the older 2cv kits underpinnings. 

[Jon]

Sorry for the lack of keeping up at the back, here (despite me being 11 hours ahead!) but if anyone's interested in adding a Superkings Sierra to their horde of mini-tat, I'll see if they're still at my favourite model shop, next time I visit:

 

 

$20 is pretty much £10. I had a white one as a kid but with the regular wheels - so pretty much the antithesis of what RoadworkUK was looking for! I distantly remember that my brother helped* me remove the rear wings and I wouldn't be surprised if a silver paint pen was involved in giving it a bit of a makeover. The great ides we have as young'uns, eh?

[Tenmil Socket]

15 hours ago, sierraman said:

I was quite into Sierras as you can tell...

Didn't matchbox do one with lights and sound?

[flat4alfa]

2 hours ago, sierraman said:

motorbike coke tank thing 

Kettenkrad (NSU)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sd.Kfz._2

[flat4alfa]

21 minutes ago, Tenmil Socket said:

Didn't matchbox do one with lights and sound?

Yes in similar UK and US releases.  Notice the US artwork is of a Crown Vic, not a Sierra.  It would have been a Merkur over there anyhow

http://www.mbx-u.com/models-detail-ver-listing.php?model=SF0275

[155V6]

20 minutes ago, Tenmil Socket said:

Didn't matchbox do one with lights and sound?

I think the Airport Security version is one of those.I've got one in black & white Sheriff livery.

[Jon]

In other news, I'm very much behind in my fulsome documentation of frivolous, needless buying. Here's a few updates:

Zylmex Beetle was one I'd not seen outside of these pages before, so it'd be rude not to snaffle it from the 50p tub at the model shop.

 

Likewise this Lesney Merryweather fire engine. I do drive a fire engine as a hobby but I don't at all feel the need to collect them but this has those removable axles that early Superfasts came with (great for scrap yard scenes), so again, a 50 year old toy bought for the price of a Kit Kat.

 

This Nissan UD was a Trademe buy, poorly listed and photographed as a Tomica 1/43, which it isn't. It is a Tomica Dandy but more 1/60 scale, so not quite as impressive as I'd hoped. Ah well. The tractor unit is much better detailed than the trailer but the 'hydraulics' still hold the tipper up quite well. Just a shame I've no real interest in it, really.

 

This was what I was expecting, though! A Siku Hanomag truck and trailer! As can be seen, it's not in the best of nick but Sikus aren't two a penny in NZ and I don't have limitless funds, so I'll take what I can get. Obviously, it's been lovingly repainted and thus devalued by a well meaning previous owner, who was selling his quite prolific collection of previously rare/valuable subjects, painted in a similar fashion.

Here's what it is in actual fact:

An ADAC vehicle test centre! Now, I've seen some silly things mounted to the back of Siku trucks (like a pre-fab petrol station), so put this idea down to pure whimsy. 

 

Turns out I was wrong!

 

 

 

More details here:

https://www.empl.at/en/news/press-releases/press-releases-detail/testphase-von-mobilen-pruefstationen-fuer-adac-erfolgreich-beendet/

 

[Jon]

Well meaning repaint man had also applied his talents to this Spot on Land Rover, which again I couldn't resist:

 

There's evidence this is a repaint of a repaint, as the same blue the Hanomag was daubed in is showing below, where the paint is chipping. There's a  couple of screws hacked into the chassis to hold this together, so I could easily try and rectify this work but I'm not sure I could actually make this look much better; there's a sort of quaintness to the colour palette and the delicate signwriting this and the Hanomag show, which I liken as a form of folk art. I've also got a couple of Spot on Land Rover station wagons, again both with very careworn paint jobs, so maybe I should try my hand on the worst of those first and leave this be until I can make my mind up.

[flat4alfa]

19 hours ago, sierraman said:

'Please change my batteries as they want to see me come alive again!'

 

[bunglebus]

I hadn't realised Poundland were stocking 2020 cars, usual they're old stock

 

20200607_134630 by RS, on Flickr

20200607_134609 by RS, on Flickr

20200607_134650 by RS, on Flickr

 

This pisses me off - I would have bought the Syclone and XJ220

 

20200607_124425 by RS, on Flickr

[155V6]

28 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

'Please change my batteries as they want to see me come alive again!'

 

Mine just about still works

[junkyarddog]

Sounds very similar to the Majorette sonic flashers. 

Probably uses the same component. 

 

[sierraman]

Mine still works but sounds a bit flaccid. 

[sierraman]

1 hour ago, bunglebus said:

I hadn't realised Poundland were stocking 2020 cars, usual they're old stock

 

20200607_134630 by RS, on Flickr

20200607_134609 by RS, on Flickr

20200607_134650 by RS, on Flickr

 

This pisses me off - I would have bought the Syclone and XJ220

 

20200607_124425 by RS, on Flickr

They’re £1.50 now though no? 

[flat4alfa]

Flaccid Fords.   They were all the rage!

 

7 hours ago, junkyarddog said:

Sounds very similar to the Majorette sonic flashers. 

Probably uses the same component. 

Quite likely same sound chip yes

 

[155V6]

2 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

Flaccid Fords.   They were all the ra

Quite likely same sound chip yes

 

Thanks,saves me looking for mine,only to find none of them work ?

[Spottedlaurel]

More plastic projects underway:

Estate is a 1966 Chevelle by Revell.

Being built late '80s Street Machine style, so smoothed out, lowered, painted a single bright colour and fitted with period wheels. I've also de-specced it, as the kit is a Malibu but I'm doing it as the plainer 300. Will be Camel Yellow (as per the front panel). Can't help but think it looks like the Victor FD estate in profile (a fine-looking car, so no bad thing).

Other one is a WIP which I started 25+ years ago.....

Monogram Maserati 3500 GT fitted with a big V8, fat wire wheels and smoothed out bodywork in Ford Hawaiian/Gemini blue. Above photo was from more than 12 years ago, it hadn't changed much until yesterday.

Given the good progress I've been making on others I thought I should get on with it.

A bit more filler work was required, since then it's been rubbed down, primed and given a couple of blue coats. The blue goes down really nicely, I'm not sure if it's the tin I originally had from way back when but there's plenty left and it'll be good for another project. Have made a start on painting the interior and all of the suspension and running gear is done, so it should be straightforward enough to complete this summer.

[Amishtat]

Found that Darda 205 whilst looking for something else, it's clearly suffered from some marker pen attention and hasn't got a working motor any more. From Everybody's Hobbies in Ipswich about 1988,this was a great shop but we didn't go to Ipswich much when I was a child. Now I look at it properly, the front valance was clearly less sturdy than my grandparents kitchen. 

[Spottedlaurel]

1 hour ago, Amishtat said:

From Everybody's Hobbies in Ipswich about 1988,this was a great shop...................

I used to love going in there, especially after I moved into Ipswich in 1989 - still have some kits in my stash that came from there (and others from Galaxy Models, also now gone). I think the Scalextric 300 set that I got for a present in 1980 was also bought there.

[AndyW201]

Apologies for dragging up an already well-discussed subject, but today I dug this out, in it's incredibly fragile and battered, and typically yellowed packaging,

Bit of an oddball this version. 

IIRC this casting first saw the light of day as the 'Spender' Sierra, released as a tie-in to the Jimmy Nail BBC cop show of the time.

However it wasn't a great effort. Sapphire Cossies always came with colour coded bumpers and bonnet. Plus the small fact that the real G325 WVW in the series was Ebony black in colour, not silver...

Nevertheless, it seemed to sell pretty well and can still be picked up today at reasonable money. 

That also did a police version, and a couple of rally versions too,

It seems though that the normal road going Cosworth is virtually unheard of. I've found one picture of it on Google and can't ever remember seeing one on eBay, whereas the other versions seem to come up quite regularly.

So, I got her out of the box for what must be the first time in over 25 years.

Ah, the old ludicrously simple Corgi way of securing a car to the base. Much more pleasant than having to undo 793 screws and piss about with small plinths securing the car to the big plinth like with Corgi Vanguard models these days.

What I can't figure out with this car (and Corgi generally, around this time) is what it is meant to be. Is it meant to be a toy, or a collector's item? The packaging seems to be identical to RUK's earlier 2.3 Ghia Sierra, with the badge/sign thing. Haven't got a clue what that's for either, whether it's meant to make the car look like it's in a showroom, I don't know,

However the bumf on the back of the box seems to allude to some sort of collectability! This Sapphire also seems to be the only pretty recent casting in this collection (I'm guessing it's why it's called the Ford Cosworth on the packaging, to differentiate it from the earlier Ghia hatch version, referred to as Ford Sierra on this box) the rest going back to the mid '80s and beyond.

It's still a mystery as to why it was cast in the old 1/36 scale though, as Corgi seemed to be getting more into producing vehicles in 1/43 by then for its collectable and TV related stuff.

However, for something originating in the early '90s and with a toy like feel, it's not a bad model. The front is recognisable as a Cosworth, woeful bonnet gaps notwithstanding.

Not a bad representation of the engine and ancillaries. The cast-in strut towers are a nice touch.

Inside we have a fairly good representation of a set of leather Recaros and the Sierra dash. RHD too,

I did have to 'improve' it a bit. As can be seen, the door frames are a tad on the thick side, some black around the window frames would have helped things a bit. However I blacked out the small triangular trims on the bottom corner of the rear side windows, the C pillar trims either side of the rear screen, the edge of the rear spoiler and the door handles, which helped the looks I think. I also added a bit of silver sharpie to the inner spokes of the wheels. Compare the trims and the wheels with the other versions above, and I think it looks better.

A bit of an oddball, and a bit 'toy-like' compared to the 1/43s in my collection, but it's been nice having this one out again.

[AndyW201]

And another one, currently on display,

I do like the Corgi Vanguards Sapphire casting too. Sadly the Cosworths seem to attract too much miniature scene-tax for my liking, so this is the only Saph in the collection so far, although I have been tempted by the cancelled-order black GLSi's currently all over eBay.

So, this one (obviously) is part of the Vanguards Boy Racer collection. Pretty well rendered, and a contrast to the mostly 1970s flavoured cars in the rest of the series. I remember from my Max Power days, loads of modified and tuned up Fords having Tiger Stripe graphics. These are done well, and I like the big TurboSystems windscreen graphic.

As usual, small details like the badging are done nicely, including the tiny 4X4 ones on the front wings, the lattice wheels are good, though some blackwash in between the spokes would make them better, and the stance is nice and low, like a proper 'Cosseh'.

Again, the Cosworth Recaros are done very nicely, with a 'ruched' leather effect.

(Excuse the chipped spoiler, this one's been in the wars a bit!)

[flat4alfa]

Ok, I give in, I'm feeling so left out I will just have to photograph the only Sierra I have!

Built up from spare parts gathered together as it came to me as a bare shell, now up and running complete with lights front and rear. 

[flat4alfa]

Got this from @eddyramrod.  Hot Wheels Dodge Aries Wagon

Wanted to do a sort of wagon homage to this kitch heap from Planes Trains & Automobiles

Gave it a fiddle and now looks like this.  Not completely happy and needs more detailing, but oh well, at least it kept me off the streets

I just don't have the eyes to do these small ones anymore

[flat4alfa]

Got this from job lot internet purchase.  Matchbox Mercury Commuter

Wanted to do a homage to the kitch heap I smoked along to Festival Unexceptional last year

 Gave it a fiddle and come up with this.  

Not completely happy, or quite finished it, but the doggies seem happy enough

[Split_Pin]

I've never seen the Corgi Sapphire presented in that collectors box before.

That series was a bit of a strange one for the reasons you mention. They also did a 2cv in green and white but that appears to have been deleted. I had the Peugeot 205 and I got the Mercedes from a car boot sale, sadly without its box. Apart from the Sapphire it seemed to be a way of wringing some more mileage out of some models which were pretty long in the tooth by the late 1980s. The Rolls Royce, Jaguar XJS and the 2cv were all 1970s castings and the Sierra MK1 was nearly 10 years old by then. It's a pity they didn't offer the Rover 800, Mini, Escort MK3 or even the Metro with this packaging as that would have been something I'd really have liked to own.