Shite in Miniature II

[Split_Pin]

A grand retrospective @Datsuncog.  The good weather during the first lockdown is something I recall and it was a lovely reminder of the diecast-in-the-garden phase, I think I joined in with that one!

Thanks so much for every Tat Friday and as said at no profit to yourself. Lots of diecast which may have otherwise been trashed by kids or sold on at a profit by a greedy buyer have indeed found new happy lives far and wide. I'm pleased to be a part of that, there are quite a few I now recognise as part of my collection. The best was quite possibly saved until last with the fine ABC Dennis Jubilant bus, one I have promised myself for 20 years but put off due to its cost. Finding one at such a bargain price was a high point.

Diecast have always kept me sane for as long as I can remember. They provide a subconscious call of the past in an otherwise bleak world right now and save for a few pounds to bring them into your life, they require no other input.

I don't expect things will change quickly in 2021 but hopefully we will see even a small improvement, one way or another by next December.

Happy New Year everyone.

[sierraman]

Happy miniature shite buying in the new year folks! 

[Amishtat]

3 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

A grand retrospective @Datsuncog.  The good weather during the first lockdown is something I recall and it was a lovely reminder of the diecast-in-the-garden phase, I think I joined in with that one!

Thanks so much for every Tat Friday and as said at no profit to yourself. Lots of diecast which may have otherwise been trashed by kids or sold on at a profit by a greedy buyer have indeed found new happy lives far and wide. I'm pleased to be a part of that, there are quite a few I now recognise as part of my collection. The best was quite possibly saved until last with the fine ABC Dennis Jubilant bus, one I have promised myself for 20 years but put off due to its cost. Finding one at such a bargain price was a high point.

Diecast have always kept me sane for as long as I can remember. They provide a subconscious call of the past in an otherwise bleak world right now and save for a few pounds to bring them into your life, they require no other input.

I don't expect things will change quickly in 2021 but hopefully we will see even a small improvement, one way or another by next December.

Happy New Year everyone.

Small tat has kept me sane this year for sure. A Happy New Year to all my fellow diecast nutters and thanks for supporting Tat Wednesday, which was a dreadfully half-arsed attempt to compensate for a lack of Tat Friday.. And also a delightful way to be reliably late for work every sunny Wednesday morning for a couple of months. Having just looked I don't have a picture on my phone of the Corgi Bentley Continental which was my diecast highlight of the year, or any of the outdoors photography shenanigans I enjoyed so much (Jesus, was that really back in March?). So with all that behind us I wish all of you  a Spot-on 2021.

[bezzabsa]

best entry level air brush set up to get?????

[bunglebus]

1 hour ago, Amishtat said:

Small tat has kept me sane this year for sure. A Happy New Year to all my fellow diecast nutters and thanks for supporting Tat Wednesday, which was a dreadfully half-arsed attempt to compensate for a lack of Tat Friday

You found some superb stuff, plenty of which ended up with me! Was good to meet up with you a  couple of times, hopefully you'll find a source of tatty toys north of the border next year

1 hour ago, bezzabsa said:

best entry level air brush set up to get?????

Mine is an ancient thing that I suspect is a copy of a Badger unit. I'd probably just buy a cheap one initially and see if it suits you, mine very rarely comes out as I just can't be arsed with the setup and cleaning. It is good if you want to match a colour or try something different like my nail varnish experiments.

[bezzabsa]

20 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

You found some superb stuff, plenty of which ended up with me! Was good to meet up with you a  couple of times, hopefully you'll find a source of tatty toys north of the border next year

Mine is an ancient thing that I suspect is a copy of a Badger unit. I'd probably just buy a cheap one initially and see if it suits you, mine very rarely comes out as I just can't be arsed with the setup and cleaning. It is good if you want to match a colour or try something different like my nail varnish experiments.

I'm crap at brush painting, so anything would probably come out looking like a tired 5 year old painted it while in the rear of a Land rover going through a ploughed field!!

[flat4alfa]

On 7/4/2020 at 6:05 PM, Amishtat said:

the Bentley is just lovely, I haven't been able to stop admiring it. I have been to the pub though. 

@Amishtat  HNY !

@everybodyelse  HNY!

[Datsuncog]

On 12/31/2020 at 9:30 AM, Amishtat said:

I had an arrival last week from Norn Iron too, on reflection it's probably the first time it's lived anywhere else. Only my third Spot-on and easily the best so far, it won't be restored. I definitely* haven't been idly looking for other releases (PB Cresta, A60 and Mk3 Zephyr in particular) on ebay but for what they seem to make that'll have to wait a while. For now I'm just happy to have this. Thanks DC! 

Hey, glad that everyone's recent stuff seems to have made it through the festive postal overload safely!

Also great to see the Volvo in its new (temporary) home - I do quite like seeing the end of the journey for all these assorted toys and models. I may not know where they've come from, but it's nice somehow to feel I've been able to send them on to a fresh start, and a new chapter in their existence.

20 hours ago, Jon said:

I'll happily claim both Aleko and Zil, please, as they are next to non-existent here - to the point that I even consider zinc pest infested stuff, purely as it's usually cheap...

Good stuff! Will set those two aside for you - the Aleko is surprisingly minty fresh, while the ZIL has cleaned up pretty nicely too.

(Yup, as noted I do sometimes carry out a bit of valeting on the market finds!)

19 hours ago, RoadworkUK said:

Thought I'd round my 2020 off with a long overdue look at this, which has been scowling at me for attention since the esteemed Mr D. Cog liberated it from St George's Market.

A bit of background: I like buses, and have done from toddling age. It's an aesthetic thing, I'm sure; there's a certain poetry in the way they carry momentum, moving as they do in a less jagged, more fluid way than lighter vehicles. There's no doubt whatsoever that I latently hold the same highly romanticised view of them that I did when I was much younger; we all went on coach trips at school, which we remember fondly for the mischief and giddiness that abounded in the rearmost rows.

My two most vivid sets of bus-related memories concern two trips: The first, a school trip to St Omer, I'm ashamed to admit to not remembering what the actual coach concerned was. I do, though, recall that our pair of drivers were somewhat sporting, and that there had been a Duple 0.425 parked adjacent to our coach in the vehicle deck of the Pride Of Kent on the way back. They formed a kind of matey rivalry with the Duple drivers, and on the journey back up the M20 from Dover we jockeyed for position all the way, all aboard cheering when we passed the Duple, and then booing when it overtook us. I think we were first to reach the M25.

The other memory was from the annual trip to the Earls Court Boat Show, which I used to make in the company of the local Sea Cadets. I wasn't a member, but I tagged along. We went in a Bova Futura of Windmill Coaches, Colchester, and the journey there was, of course, one of excitement and anticipation. On the trip home, though, we were all absolutely knackered after a day of clambering all over £500k yachts and begging weary display staff for freebies. We were far more mellow at that point, and once past the indulgence of an "Executive Tea Drink" (for me as a 12 year old, there was something incredibly surreal and appealing about being able to get out of my seat while in motion and get a cup of tea), I reclined in my comfy seat (back then I wasn't quite in such dire need of leg room as I am now) and listened to my Aiwa personal stereo. It being January, we were travelling in darkness and the music melded with the rythmic passing of the motorway lights, as well as the red and white streams of cars way below, those overtaking affording me a brief glimpse into somebody elses world — I'd look down at them and wonder what they had been up to that day, where they were going and what they were listening to.

Anyway. When I first went to Florida in 1993, I discovered that they had buses in America, too; and that, inevitably, they were much bigger than ours. In the process of having Disney crammed down my throat, I became aware of two specific forms of bus. The first was the Gillig Phantom; a briliantly noisy thing that conveyed us from Orlando International Airport terminal to the Alamo car rental desk. The second was the MCI 102. I didn't travel on one, but I saw them everywhere, and marvelled at how virtually every coach I saw had six wheels. How incredibly exotic.

So, when this example showed up on the stall of Sir Market Blokey, I was all aquiver and trembling with excitement. Well, perhaps that's a stretch but I certainly said "gosh" audibly, even though there was nobody there to hear me.

The first thing that struck me as I freed it from its (remarkably well preserved) box, was that Mr C must have given it a good spruce-up before sending it across the sea from Norn Iron. It was described as "huge, heavy and utterly filthy", but it's now only two of those things. As you can see from the pics upthread,  it was treated to a full valet before delivery — not something I'm used to when buying any vehicle, let alone one eight inches long. (Thank you Tim, very much).

The second thing that struck me is its bigness. It really is an impressive thing, and I feel it's a great shame that this isn't a more popular scale. It would probably sit quite well with the amusingly trademark-circumvented SETRR (sic) double decker I have knocking about. I'll do a side-by side shoot at some point for a looksee.

So, anyway, what's it like? Well, it's more or less superb. In terms of fidelity, in some ways it's actually a little way behind what you get from recent EFE releases and the like; the lights are all painted on, aside from the headlights, which are formed from unpained diecast metal. While undoubtedly colourful, the livery is printed to a far lower resolution than today's releases, but I don't really think that's anything worth crying over.

There's little to moan about when it comes to the way it's modelled, though; from my own memories and actual photos (although I can't find a prototype that carries this exact livery anywhere), the shape and proportions are bob on, and all the grilles and vents look good.

Lets just take a moment to drink in the specialness of North American coaches. I really like the almost militaristic utilitarianism of their design. There are none of the styling flourishes you found on European coaches, but the purposeful nature of MCIs, Prevosts and the like have an appeal all of their own. The high-mounted rear lights — similar in style to those of the Duple 0.425 — are actually quite an intelligent feature.

I really like how the rear wheels are modelled, too. Being so much bigger than 1:76 scale, their chunkiness comes across rather well, and I always found the "one concave, one convex" setup you'd get on a bogey with a single driven axle — this typically being the middle one, as it tends to be with three-axle buses in Europe, too.

I think what I like most, though, is the (very) tinted glass. From recollection, those examples I saw in Florida had windows that were tinted to such an extend that you were only given the vaguest hint that there was an interior at all, but the darkness of the glass dissolved at night, when internal illumination laid the interior bare for all to see.

Were the model to be rigged up with some internal LEDs, that effect could probably be quite well recreated; the interior seating looks to be very neatly modelled.

So there we have it. Just one of the many happy outcomes of Tat Friday, which I know for sure to be the highlight of many an Autoshiter's week. Big thanks again to Datsuncog for feeding our collective habit, one which I'm sure none of us will hatch any new year's resolution to cut back on.

Happy new year.

Great to see more of this monster in detail, and also hear more about your personal connections! I really do enjoy learning about why certain models appeal to different folks, as I find it helps me appreciate things I'd maybe never looked at closely before. Cheers for the write-up!

Indeed, this one was very grimy, and I couldn't in all conscience wrap it up for posting in that state...

...so a couple of squirts of Dettol surface cleanser, quickly patted down with paper towels and then given a final buff with a hand towel (kept expressly for diecast purposes) got the worst of the gack off it.

18 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

That reminds me, I had a Playart Daimler Fleetline bus in China Motor Bus Livery that was a knock off Matchbox Superkings casting.

Talking of valeted buses, I think DC also gave the same treatment to my Dennis Jubilant as it arrived very clean, not like it had been sitting in a tray at a market stall.

Heh, well spotted! I gave the Jubilant a light dry-brushing with a very soft paintbrush, just to get the majority of the dust off it. As with the Corgi MCI, it seemed wrong to wrap it up with all that mank adhering to it...

And thanks so much for the comparison pics; the detail on this really is tremendous. I've never seen a separate engine block and tiny mesh grille on anything this scale; and I'd never even heard of ABC either.

This is why Tat Friday means a lot to me - it's not just the diecast thrill which formerly I only got to experience two or three times a year, it's a great opportunity to pluck things under guidance from the Tat Stalls which I wouldn't have even spotted, so it's a learning experience too.

One of my favourite things is giving some of the market finds a good scrub - it's incredible how fresh and shiny some models appear after a quick dunk in warm soapy water, a going-over with a soft toothbrush and then patted dry... though obviously more fragile items/ things with waterslide transfers like the Jubilant and the Peter Pan bus receive more sensitive treatment. But basic Matchbox and Corgi from the 50p Box tend to come up a treat.

12 hours ago, Amishtat said:

 ...a delightful way to be reliably late for work...

That's basically Tat Events in a nutshell!

It's actually a bit scary to realise how quickly two hours can vanish while I'm shuttling between stalls, posting pics and responding to queries, all the while trying to not to slop coffee down myself (and, more recently, simulaneously answer work emails on my other phone)... but it's truly a highlight of my week, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Happy 2021, folks!

[flat4alfa]

Happy Tat Friday New Year!

This is how my head feels this morning

[Amishtat]

11 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

Happy Tat Friday New Year!

This is how my head feels this morning

Same here.. Working up the impetus to walk the dog but it's a slow old process for some reason.. 

[flat4alfa]

Anyone for a brain de-fogging New Year’s Tat Friday Day identification game?

What am I?

Brand ; Model of ; Approximate scale ; Special ability 

Q1:

Q2:

Q3:

Q4:

Q5:

Q6:

Q7:

Q8:

Q9:

Q10:

[Amishtat]

Cor I'm bad at this! 2 is a Corgi Rover 2000 with transolite headlights, 1:43ish,3 is one of the 1:36 Corgi Chev vans, 5 the Burago 1:18 Camargue and 9 a 1:36 Corgi Polo. No idea what the special features of the last three are though, someone will come along and score a clean sheet shortly I expect. 

[flat4alfa]

19 minutes ago, Amishtat said:

2 is a Corgi Rover 2000 with transolite headlights, 1:43ish,

3 is one of the 1:36 Corgi Chev vans 

5 the Burago 1:18 Camargue

9 a 1:36 Corgi Polo

2 - FOUR OUT OF FOUR !

3 - three points

5 - two points, ...well ok you can have the third - it’s labelled 1/22 but still enormous

9 - three points

[Split_Pin]

I have the Triumph 2000 or what's left of it from my childhood. 

It's from Z-Cars and has the following voices when you press the dome light:

"PD to ZedVictorFour"

"#siren"

"HE'S GOT A GUN!!" #BANG-BANG

I've had a few chances to buy a nice condition one but so far passed them up. That's my resolution for 2021, to buy one the next time I see it. I'll ask Mum_Pin to then dig out the picture of me on my 3rd birthday sitting on an ancient Triang tricycle, clutching my then- new Triumph!

The Camargue is actually 1/22 scale and was a prelude to Bburagos subsequent 1/18 range a few years later.

[Split_Pin]

1 is a Corgitronics Scammell Landtrain and 3 is the Rough Rider Chevy Van.

 

 

[Split_Pin]

6 and 8 look interesting! I think I'll do a similar quiz from my own collection after I've been a walk as this is kinda fun!

[Jon]

If I can be so bold as to join in the 'end of year tat account' contributions, it appears that 2020 was a flipping epic one for me. Here, in chronological order of photos taken, are my personal highlights:

 

Spot On Land Rover, repainted at least twice. This is how it shall remain in my ownership.

 

Gama 1/43 MkII Golf, came as part of a set of 4, for around £5 delivered during lockdown. I can happily live with the odd remaining marker pen daubing, as I managed to get rid of most of it.

 

Schuco 1/43 Passat cost only a little more but is in lovely shape and in general, this is 'peak 1/43' for me (barring USSR stuff).

 

Scammel was part of a value-laden lockdown delivery. In my eyes, the daubed yellow headlights actually work very well.

 

Despite suffering from auction fever with this one, not noticing that its bubble pack had been sliced open, it did mean that I could at least touch and document this Commer Walk-Thru. Look at that fresh paint and unscratched window glass!

 

2020 was also a pleasingly Siku-heavy year for me:

This was also from the same lo-cost, high-gain auction win as the Scammel and again, I don't dislike the painted headlights.

 

I heart skinny wheel Sikus.

 

They're just so right.

 

Fat wheel ones are OK too, though.

 

I even dabbled in some early 90's ones, which is new territory for me. I'm beginning to warm to this era. (EDIT: I think I got the Astra in 2019, sorry!)

 

All barring the bay window VW were bought in '20. Featured here is Mrs_Jon's famed yoga mat, which makes an excellent shooting stage for group shots.

 

A mixed bag of small tat bought again for a pocket money price. A few of these turned out to be PlayArt castings, so it appears I'm now somewhat a collector of these! 

 

Half of these were bought last year but I've since acquired a few more to add into the mix!

 

Yoga mat is also good to highlight features of single cars, too. I've since bought another Corgi 1/36, which has been a long-termer on the personal wish list.

 

Period-correct material for the subject can be useful, too. Only the Lotus was bought last year as I don't think I knew of its existence. Very happy to have scored it from an antiques dealer for less than £5!

 

On the subject of Dinkies, I was very fortunate to nab a couple of the Hong Kong issued ones, though I must admit I'm now on the prowl for a Corvair to go with them.

 

 

I also added another Impy to my collection, doubling the total in the process. I did miss out on a mint/boxed Viva coupe but on reflection, I'm happy to have lost, as it really was beyond my 'hobby' budget.

 

Anyway, apologies for the indulgence but here's hoping that 2021 is fruitful, too. I'm yet to book a slot in for some camera time, as I've tasty entrants from Majorette, Lesney, Corgi, Gama, Schuco and Spot On to add, as well as others I've totally forgotten. Hopefully I'll get the chance in the next couple of weeks!

 

 

[bunglebus]

2 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

Anyone for a brain de-fogging New Year’s Tat Friday Day identification game?

What am I?

Brand ; Model of ; Approximate scale ; Special ability 

 

Q1: ?

 

Q2: Corgi Rover P6/2000 with Trans-o-lite headlights 

 

Q3: Corgi Chevrolet van, Rough Rider version?

 

Q4: Jada Fast and Furious MK1 Escort

 

Q5: Bburago Rolls Royce Camargue

 

Q6: ??? Jaguar MK2, brand has me stumped

 

Q7: Lucky Toys Rover 2000TC

 

Q8: ?

 

Q9: Corgi VW Polo

 

Q10: Hot Wheels '32 Ford Vicky

I'm useless at scales so I'm not even going to try. Somewhere between 1:64 and 1:1!

[andrew e]

Q1 is the Corgitronics truck.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/264298260509?ul_ref=https%3A%2F%2Frover.ebay.com%2Frover%2F1%2F710-53481-19255-0%2F1%3Fff3%3D4%26pub%3D5574735181%26toolid%3D10001%26campid%3D5338722076%26mpre%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.ebay.co.uk%252Fitm%252F264298260509%26srcrot%3D710-53481-19255-0%26rvr_id%3D2750857421373%26rvr_ts%3Dbe6fd3511760a6e55b675e3bffb94882&ul_noapp=true

Q8 is one of those Italian friction things in 1/24 - they do an Amgio van and a 127 from memory.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_242

[bezzabsa]

is that a HA van? light blue with patterned roof???

[Split_Pin]

Made a start on the Range Rover.

I was tempted to do a tan interior but there's absolutely no way that would ever appear on a hard-wearing Police vehicle.

So most of it is Matt black except springs, brake discs and the light bar!

[bunglebus]

1 hour ago, bezzabsa said:

is that a HA van? light blue with patterned roof???

I reckon it's mean to be something like a Ford Bronco or Jeep Wagoneer

[sierraman]

Finished the Rover 800, going to have a look for some better wheels, think they’d really set it off. Modern Hot Wheels obviously do have a use!

Another recent project Astra. 

[bunglebus]

46 minutes ago, sierraman said:

Finished the Rover 800, going to have a look for some better wheels, think they’d really set it off. Modern Hot Wheels obviously do have a use!

Most 800s seem to run quite plain wheels except the Vitesse, there's a few I think might suit it

Or something like this to represent wheel trims

These might also work

 

[Amishtat]

1 hour ago, Split_Pin said:

Made a start on the Range Rover.

I was tempted to do a tan interior but there's absolutely no way that would ever appear on a hard-wearing Police vehicle.

So most of it is Matt black except springs, brake discs and the light bar!

I came across a couple of unbuilt kits when we moved, an AMT Plymouth GTX and a Tamiya Monte Carlo Mini Cooper which I can't wait to get stuck into when the dust settles. I haven't built a kit in ages. 

[Mr Laurence]

45 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

Or something like this to represent wheel trims

 

Those look like a pretty close match to the hubcaps some of them had

[flat4alfa]

3 hours ago, bezzabsa said:

is that a HA van? light blue with patterned roof???

It's a Tootsietoy.  An effort on modelling the removal hard top styling of the International Harvester Scout II

 

[flat4alfa]

6 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

I have the Triumph 2000 or what's left of it from my childhood. 

It's from Z-Cars and has the following voices when you press the dome light:

"PD to ZedVictorFour"

"#siren"

"HE'S GOT A GUN!!" #BANG-BANG

Q7: Two points!  

Good to now know the extra info as unfortunately, this one is silent.  I've had it apart and there is an intriguing mechanism to play back the sound using a stylus on a rotating disc, of sorts

Quote

1 is a Corgitronics Scammell Landtrain and 3 is the Rough Rider Chevy Van

Q1: Three points!

Q3: Two points.. Well ok three then as it is the Rough Rider but that's not quite what I was wanting as the model's 'special' detail.

[flat4alfa]

7 hours ago, andrew e said:

Q1 is the Corgitronics truck.

Q8 is one of those Italian friction things in 1/24 - they do an Amgio van and a 127 from memory.  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_242

Q1: Two points.  Yes it does have electronic circuitry as its 'special' ability, in this case case it can be driven about the floor / bundled Play Mat.

Q8: excellent!  Three points!  But the model itself is not actually an Italian manufacturer

[flat4alfa]

8 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Q2: Corgi Rover P6/2000 with Trans-o-lite headlights 

Q3: Corgi Chevrolet van, Rough Rider version?

Q4: Jada Fast and Furious MK1 Escort

Q5: Bburago Rolls Royce Camargue

Q6: ??? Jaguar MK2, brand has me stumped

Q7: Lucky Toys Rover 2000TC

Q9: Corgi VW Polo

Q10: Hot Wheels '32 Ford Vicky

Q2: Three points!

Q3: Two points.  Well ok three then as it is the Rough Rider but that's not quite what I was wanting as the model's 'special' detail.

Q4: Three points!  

Q5: Two

Q6: One, as it's not a Mk2; it's too old for that

Q7: Nil points unfortunately.  It does have gawky modelling details, but it's not of a Rover.

Q9: Two

Q10: Two