Shite in Miniature II

[flat4alfa]

Well I never!

[bunglebus]

Brilliant - just need red MK1 door on the MK2 now.

I could actual do it myself as I have both in the display cabinet, but this is more fun

Later door seems to have a flatter profile 

[Split_Pin]

Excellent work @Datsuncog, good to see the differences in detail.

[flat4alfa]

On 10/11/2020 at 1:26 PM, 155V6 said:

late night eBay incident earlier in the week

Ahh.....  oops

[Datsuncog]

21 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

- just need red MK1 door on the MK2 now.

Wish/command etc...

Bonus!

[bunglebus]

Excellent. Now I need a knackered MK1 with an intact side door for 50p

[flat4alfa]

On 10/11/2020 at 1:26 PM, 155V6 said:

eBay incident

Ohh FFS !!!

[bunglebus]

I'll just leave this here...

[antony denman]

dont forget the fire brigade had 2 holes for there axes sad git i know,keep few spares just in case,

[andrew e]

So there’s even different doors for the same period??? No wonder Meccano were skint 😁

MOAR 6 wheel action @bunglebus 😳

[bunglebus]

Just now, andrew e said:

MOAR 6 wheel action @bunglebus 😳

Sadly not one of mine, came up when I was Googling Dinky Transits

[bunglebus]

29 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

Wish/command etc...

Bonus!

Actually - they're still different aren't they? So I need a MK2 door for my MK2.

 

[antony denman]

here couple i restored,have 2 early spare doors one a fire brigade one,

[Datsuncog]

On 10/11/2020 at 1:26 PM, 155V6 said:

the late night eBay incident earlier in the week

There's a lot of it about.

If anyone asks, it was £2.79 - give or take a decimal point place...

[flat4alfa]

Googling Dinky Transits...

[andrew e]

Admit it that came up when you were googling Corgi ‘dags’ 😆

[flat4alfa]

Crikey

[flat4alfa]

Ahhh

[andrew e]

Now Dinky could have quite easily made that.

[Datsuncog]

1 hour ago, bunglebus said:

Actually - they're still different aren't they? So I need a MK2 door for my MK2.

 

Mmm... I'll have to check again - it's possible that one looks a bit out of whack as I hadn't put the base back on the Mk2 police van, so it wasn't securely held. All may not be lost!

[Datsuncog]

So then, Transit love aplenty tonight...

Disassemblo Transito.

Boom.

So, the Mk1 then...

A Dinky #287 Police Accident Unit, first seen in 1967 in cream with orange lower quarters, and later appearing in all-white with orange stickers like this one around 1971, before bowing out in 1974. 

Like the blue #407 Kenwood delivery van version which appeared the previous year, the Transit boasted a sliding driver's door, opening side door and opening back doors. Crikey. A very smol, legless police driver was included with version and this later iteration came with an extendable radar gun mounted on the roof, plus police signs and cones in the back.

As toys go, this had heaps to recommend it.

The same basic casting also appeared as #286, a fire appliance with a recoiling hose mounted in the back.

Looking at the main casting, the glazing unit has been riveted in place, so won't come out without some work. But there's no need, cos this unit is in good shape. There's also a riveted in runner for the sliding door, plus posts to hold the other doors in place.

Interior is very similar on both versions - the later one is just a bit bigger.

I'd guess that the same blueprint was used, just scaled up slightly to fit the revised Transit - with some mods for the doors.

Like the body casting, the base on the earlier version is totally different from those that followed.

Different inside too.

Same general idea, with the flexible metal plate riveted to hold the axles in place. Early version has the lower runner for the sliding door cast in; later versions have a post for the side door instead.

As mentioned upthread, the earlier version is quite a bit smaller than the ones that followed.

And narrower, too - not much chance of using the doors from a Mk1 to fill a missing tailgate on a later version.

Overall though, this is a terrific toy with heaps of play value. Dinky were on to a winner with this one.

(Right - a minor disaster has resulted in the rest of the text and pics for this post vanishing without trace, so there's more to follow as I can't countenance trying to tap it all out again at this hour of the night... Stay tuned!)

[bunglebus]

Found this online - slight variation in the early bases with 407 stamped in one

 

Also, not to steal your thunder but the MK2 appears to have phatter tyres, another difference I'd not appreciated before

[Datsuncog]

The second Transit casting appeared in 1975, representing Ford's midlife facelift of their Mk1 Transit. Dinky took this opportunity to scale up their model by a small amount, possibly to make their toys seem better value - in exactly the same way Mettoy did when they'd begun their range shift from 1/42 to 1/36 scale a year or two before. It's longer, taller and wider.

This second casting was again offered as a red fire tender (#271), and a white police accident unit (#272), but also this time as a white ambulance (#276), featuring stickers to the rear representing blacked-out windows and a patient on a stretcher, plus a yellow motorway service  van (#416). There was also an unpainted kit version (#1025) and a rare promotional version made for the Ford Motor Company celebrating 'One Million Transits', made in 1976 only.

Although the first casting has bags of character, I have to say I think the second version is more accurate in its proportions.

The more realistic wheels, and a body that looks less 'tucked under' seems to give it more realism. Less opening parts also mean fewer shut lines. The second casting also chose to model a single piece tailgate, rather than horizontal twin doors.

My much-abused version was acquired with barely any yellow paint left on it which was why I repainted it in sludge brown using some lumpy dregs from a Humbrol pot. Once dry, I believe I then augmented it with some Thundercats temporary tattoos. Sadly no pics of my handiwork exist, though some of this delightful* paintjob survive on the inside of the side door hinge.

The original yellow is visible inside too:

Thankfully, the roof beacon is the giveaway that this was originally a common motorway services version, and not the rare Ford promo version. It came with a red interior, and would have had the plastic insert to hold road signs like the others, but this had gone walkies on mine, just like the tailgate.

The second paintjob of this van in my custody involved an aerosol spray can of Tamiya paint, and some cheap masking tape. Why I didn't dismantle it properly using the single screw, I'll never know - and predictably the paint ran everywhere. I ruined the glazing by leaving it to soak in a jar of white spirit to get the red paint off, making it brittle and milky. So I reckoned I'd 'fix' it by painting the glazing silver using the same Tamiya paint pen I'd use for detailing . Nice.

Although the resto did not go particularly well (hey, I was about twelve) I still have plans to transform this, with some replacement parts and additional Code3 detailing... Someday soon, anyway.

The axles from the first casting are too narrow to fit onto the base of later castings, with smaller wheels and tyres as noted, but we can kinda get a custom look happening by just dropping the body over them.

Mmm.

Final chapter in the Dinky Transit story to follow!

[bunglebus]

Another new box in Poundland - and no Supers

 

[eddyramrod]

Been in Tesco this morning, less stock in the Matchbox box but still no sign of the 59 Dodge copcar. 😕

[sierraman]

Perhaps this is why Dinky went bust, fannying about with stuff like this. 

[bunglebus]

Never mind Dinky, I have finally found the Wade/Lesney ashtray with the Sand Cat still in place!

One rivet is loose but that's an excuse to re-chrome the engine and polish off 40 years worth of fag ash

 

Still got the other one, I reckon the fixing on the base was snapped off so it could be used as a toy, otherwise the wheels would be off the ground

 

 

 

[flat4alfa]

4 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

The glazing looks intact so it might be possible to polish the milking off.  What happens when you rub with a nail 

[155V6]

Very interesting about the Transits @Datsuncog,I've got several of each version,but don't remember any of the Mk 2s having a different base to the late Mk1s.Mind you,most of mine had come second-hand & had bits swopped around,so they could have started off totally different to how they are now.

I'll have to gather them all together at some point & see what I've actually got.

I wonder if I'm the 1st one to comment,whilst actually sat in a Transit van? 😁

[Datsuncog]

2 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

The glazing looks intact so it might be possible to polish the milking off.  What happens when you rub with a nail 

It seems to have gone opaque right the way through, and has some odd circular cracking that almost resembles scoring from rubbish wipers... but the unit is very fragile and cracked in several places, plus the surface is damaged from where I tried to scrape the overspray off using a modelling knife...

I think a reproduction job from Steve Flowers might be the way forward! Plus a replacement rear door, naturally.