Shite in Miniature II

[FakeConcern]

1 minute ago, flat4alfa said:

I spot Clockwork Robots !!

A video of them wobbling about would be great to see 😎

I shall get Mrs Concern on to it ASAP

[bunglebus]

41 minutes ago, WillCarter said:

Holy shit, I had these as a kid. Pretty sure they were Hot Wheels branded.

They are 100% Hot Wheels, I've got quite a lot of different versions of the Baja. I would be very surprised if the vehicles in the Corgi set were any different as the packaging is so similar to the Hot Wheels version.

Did I post up these pics I found of a Realtoy set?

That's a Majorette beach buggy. I'd be interested to see the base of that one!

[puntopaul]

Spent the best part of the late afternoon an evening, making the background for this diorama for my 1/43 scale cars. I've been meaning to do something like this for ages, turned out not too bad!

[Split_Pin]

I love that!

[eddyramrod]

Me too!

[junkyarddog]

11 hours ago, puntopaul said:

Spent the best part of the late afternoon an evening, making the background for this diorama for my 1/43 scale cars. I've been meaning to do something like this for ages, turned out not too bad!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SdsKz_0JcQk

[bunglebus]

Restock!

 

[Datsuncog]

Remember this?

On 5/6/2021 at 12:23 AM, RichardK said:

Don't suppose anyone would want to split these with me?

I want the Tavria and maybe a coupe of others....

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/153042691075?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

And this?

On 5/6/2021 at 4:01 PM, Datsuncog said:

Well, I can see why you might be wanting a Tavria, of course...

Some very nice stuff in there, mind:

I count 31 models in the pictures, so there seems to be a duplicate or two in there (two green Alekos, for a start).

I already have a fair few of these - but I'm interested in your proposition here! 

I reckon we'd be looking at £80 or so delivered from Italy, assuming no further taxes or imports due, putting it in at £2.60 or so per model... now that's tempting.

I've the usual Friday Market Tat happening tomorrow, so I don't want to overstretch myself in case there's diecast galore happening - but maybe have a chat about this tomorrow afternoon?

Well, yesterday saw a large box along with a simply enormous ream of shipping documentation touch down at Casa Datsuncog...

Filled with lots of scrumpled-up pages from what appears to be an Italian Lidl-competitor.

And beneath that...

Much Iron Curtain diecast fun.

 

It turns out that the eBay description was the accurate portion of the listing, and not the pictures - so in the end 29 vehicles arrived, rather than the 31 shown in the photos.

In the spirit of Who Dares, Wins, a number of the items have been set aside for @RichardK and @eddyramrod - but I'll let them post their own reveals as and when they touch down!

And I think @bunglebus had expressed interest in the JGL Mk1 Golf?

For my part, the spoils amounted to:

I've been after a Moskvitch 412 for a long while now, so I'm pleased to finally have this one.

One turned up on a local used car dealer's forecourt when I was about 14 or 15 for a few hundred quid, and I was utterly smitten with it. I did badger my father into going and taking me out in it for a test drive, but compared to his Sierra Chasseur it seemed a little on the agricultural side, especially the column gearshift... I wonder if it survived; all I can remember is that it was mid-blue, very clean, and on an M-reg. This would have been around 1995, so they weren't common at all - never seen another one.

The Dacia 1310 is the same as the those briefly marketed in the UK as the 'very acceptable' Dacia Denem - their own ad agency damning them with faint praise from the off. This particularly odd shade of lavender-blue is how I remember them (not that I ever saw very many), so this is a nice one for the nostalgia shelves.

The Yugo Florida (Sana over here in Blighty) from this DeAgostini collection is one I've nearly bought a number of times online, but it's not an especially detailed model of what was quite a bland-looking car, and so I've always baulked at the last minute. But, since it's in my hot little hands now...

The Wartburg 353 (Knight, to us) is one of two different versions of the same model in the job lot.

Both are later-model 353S versions from 1985 on, featuring body-coloured grilles. It's not however the very last version, the Wartburg 1.3, which binned off the old three-cylinder two-stroke in favour of a pensioned-off VW lump out of the Polo. This generation can be spotted by their flared wheelarches, to accommodate a wider track needed due to the bigger four-stroke engine.

I plumped for a brown version as a keeper, as it's so very brown - and not all that many diecast seem to be finished in that shade.

Incidentally, there's a mustard-coloured 1970s Knight knocking about locally that I've photographed a couple of times; a left-hooker on recent NI plates driven by an oul fella, and I'm determined to find out more about this.

The Wartburg 353 Trans is, as you may be able to guess, the commercial transporter version of the saloon that Wartburg, rather touchingly, always insisted on referring to as a 'Limousine'. It's very green. I've been getting more and more drawn towards commercials recently, so this one'll be staying for now, too.

There was also a slightly creased softback book in there, which I'd completely overlooked - and it seems to be a sort of self-published catalogue of 1/43 highlights from some Italian guy's collection.

Running to 120 pages, with two very tastefully shot colour photos per page, it's a delightful little thing, listed alphabetically by the real-life marques, and covering the usual suspects like Dinky, Corgi and Solido but also less common makers like Maxwell and Asahi.

My Italian's not that great, but the text is fairly limited so even I should be able to work out what's what.

Pics of what's still unclaimed from the box to follow!

[bunglebus]

Awesome stuff, yes I'll take the Golf, and look forward to seeing what else is in there!

As I mentioned earlier, one of the local Tescos has restocked, so I purchased;

A lilac Bini, just cos I liked it

An eyes-open Mister Two 

and a proper Mini

while I was wandering around, I stuck my head into Home Sense - and could not resist this. RRP £25, their price £15 - clearance at £5!

and it DOES STUFF.

I didn't extract the missiles as I'm putting it back in its box

[Datsuncog]

So then, what's up for grabs from the 1/43 Italian Job(lot)?

Well, there's still Wartburg fun to be had for some lucky lad or lass, with a beige 353S sedan for the taking - along with the endearingly frumpy Dacia Solenza, the forerunner to the Logan (and a long-in-the-tooth final development of the 1980s Dacia Nova/Supernova).

[**EDIT: beige Wartburg and Solenza both taken!!**]

The Dacia's box had already come adrift en route, but it's no worse for its journey other than a missing doormirror.

Then there's more Renault-based Romanian fun to be had with these:

Early Dacia 1300 break, looking functionally identical to the R12 estate, along with a later, local development - the mildly awkward-looking 1309 crew-cab pick up.

Don't know if there may be any interest in this little 1300 from celebrity Dacia owners like, ooh I dunno, @catsinthewelder?

It's a duplicate to me, as I bought one for rather more a few months ago, from a French seller.

[**EDIT: both Dacias now taken!!**]

Then we've some Yugoslav tin, in the form of these:

A Zastava 1400, the licence-built version of Fiat's 1400 sedan from the 1950s - together with a more recognisable Yugo 45A (to UK eyes, anyway).

Perhaps any Yugo owners in the house could be tempted by this one?

(**Koff koff @brownnova koff koff**)

[**EDIT: super-special slippery-slope offer accepted - Yugo now taken!!**]

If you like Ladas, you're in luck...

Not just one, but two, five-door Samaras are available.

[**EDIT: both Samaras spoken for!!**]

Russian fun continues with a brace of Moskvitches:

Saloon 407 of 1958-1964, and estate 423 N which was produced between 1958-1963.

These were the first genuinely successful Soviet motor industry exports, with half its production - nearly 200,000 units - going abroad. Popular throughout Europe as taxis due to their toughness and competitive pricing, quite a few were assembled in Belgium with a Perkins diesel, but rebranded as the Elite to get around Peugeot's finicky insistence that they owned all the three-digit numbers with a zero in the middle.

Anyway, slight digression. What else is there?

Ah yes, a LuAZ 969M - a sort of Soviet hybrid of a Mini Moke and a bathtub but made out of Caramac, apparently, this was an amphibious GRP bodied off-roader developed in the 1950s for the Red Army, but later made available to the proletariat, presumably in areas where state-sponsored drainage schemes weren't going too brilliantly. Think of it as a pocket-sized Russki version of the Alvis Stalwart and you're halfway there.

And lastly, the Melkus RS1000 - East Germany's might-have-been supercar, if only a mid-mounted 2-stroke had been the way forward. Built in tiny numbers between 1969 and 1979 and underpinned by Wartburg mechanicals, the Melkus is surely the only solution for those Shiters who want all the inconvenience and home-made build quality of a Marcos or Clan Crusader, with none of the cred or spares support.

[**EDIT: LuAZ and Melkus both spoken for!!**]

So! Them's the goods - but what about the price, I hear you gasp in anticipation?

Well, once shipping and other costs were factored in, the joblot arrived with a unit price of £2.82 per model. And that's what I'm knocking them out for, plus postage of your choice.

So, at £2.82 each, let me know what you fancy and I'll set them aside for you! Happy to add to existing tat boxes, or open up a new tat box for anyone who so desires.

[bunglebus]

Melkus please! That's just too weird to resist and its got my initials as its model number

[flat4alfa]

57 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

I didn't extract the missiles as I'm putting it back in its box

Booooooooo!

[Datsuncog]

10 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

Melkus please! That's just too weird to resist and its got my initials as its model number

Sure thing! Will tuck that one away for you, along with the JGL Golf.

It really is quite wonderful. Awesome wheels, too.

[brownnova]

16 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

 

Perhaps any Yugo owners in the house could be tempted by this one?

(**Koff koff @brownnova koff koff**)

 

Well... that’s an offer I can’t refuse... even though i already own a Yugo 45 model!

I think my collection would be boosted also by the Lada Samara and Wartburg please!

Might lead me to the real thing! 

[Datsuncog]

3 minutes ago, brownnova said:

Well... that’s an offer I can’t refuse... even though i already own a Yugo 45 model!

I think my collection would be boosted also by the Lada Samara and Wartburg please!

Might lead me to the real thing! 

No bother - will pop those three aside for you!

Out of interest, is your other Yugo model the same as this 'un, or are there different 45A models kicking around out there?

Asking for a friend... 😜

[junkyarddog]

Picked up this Maisto 55 Chevrolet yesterday, but didn't like the awful wheels it was fitted with,so Smoll Eddy came to the rescue with some old matchbox wheels he had laying out the back of his lockup. 

"Looks proppa mota now innit M8"

[bunglebus]

That looks better. I've been checking in Poundland but not found one yet

[RoadworkUK]

Please sign me up for a Samara, Tim!

Edit: Aah, screw it. And the Dacia Solenza and , if @catsinthewelder doesn't leap at them, Dacias 1300 and 1309, please!

[bunglebus]

Someone posted this on Facebook and it's too good not to share

Anyone got other examples?

[Datsuncog]

1 hour ago, RoadworkUK said:

Please sign me up for a Samara, Tim!

Edit: Aah, screw it. And the Dacia Solenza and , if @catsinthewelder doesn't leap at them, Dacias 1300 and 1309, please!

Can do! Happy to give Mr Cats first refusal on either/both of the R12-based Dacias; and will pop the other two in with your Joal Scania bus in the meantime. Cheers!

[catsinthewelder]

It's very nice of you both to think of me @RoadworkUK @Datsuncog but I'm sticking to trains in 1:43 and 1:1 scale in cars for the time being 😉

[Datsuncog]

11 minutes ago, catsinthewelder said:

It's very nice of you both to think of me @RoadworkUK @Datsuncog but I'm sticking to trains in 1:43 and 1:1 scale in cars for the time being 😉

Heh, not a bother, dude - we've all gotta draw a line somewhere... Hope things are good with you at the mo!

[Datsuncog]

So, after that rather rapid quick-fire round, we're down to just the Final Three left from the Italian Job Lot:

Yup, it's the late fifties/ early sixties Moskvitches, and the Fiat cousin from the other side of the Adriatic.

Cost price of £2.82 on each of them, kids, as we're all fraternal comrades here rather than capitalist running dogs* - and thanks for all the orders so far!

(*although I suspected the fifties cars would prove less of a draw than the more recent models, so these are probably going on eBay in the not-too-distant future - in best capitalist fashion.)

[andrew e]

One for the Essex mafia, toyfairs on the horizon!

https://m.facebook.com/srptoyfairs/

[bunglebus]

57 minutes ago, andrew e said:

One for the Essex mafia, toyfairs on the horizon!

https://m.facebook.com/srptoyfairs/

I've not been to the Raleigh one - any good? Brentwood isn't until October 

[MarvinsMom]

1 hour ago, andrew e said:

One for the Essex mafia, toyfairs on the horizon!

https://m.facebook.com/srptoyfairs/

but for the shitters oooop norf, there is no sign as of yet of any toyfairs taking place this year.

we used to like the big one up at  Gateshead Stadium, though given there is now indian bat flu floating about now on Tyneside, i doubt there will ben any toyfairs at all round here this year.

[bunglebus]

Slap me sideways - is it Tat Wednesday already?

[andrew e]

8 hours ago, bunglebus said:

I've not been to the Raleigh one - any good? Brentwood isn't until October 

Small but a good variety of die cast and trains. Worth a mooch! 

[DoctorRetro]

[Vincent Velocette]

I made more miniature shite.