Shite in Miniature II

[bicycle repairman]

one for eddie who likes commers here my fleet ambulance is original rest are restored

[bunglebus]

I do like those Commer vans, real and toy. I'll have to check which ones I have and which I don't. 

[Mad Cyril]

1 hour ago, bunglebus said:

I've looked through the project box, parts cars and my boxes of wheels - best I can come up with are these. Look like they've been painted white but could be re-done easily. 11mm diameter, 29mm axles

I haven't got any of the Superfast wheels you suggested in a suitable width, all my spares are the earlier narrow type. A lot are really worn too and will let down a resto. Yours if you want them unless anyone has a donor car

They will be absolutely excellent, thanks.
I'll message you and sort out the details.

[MarvinsMom]

3 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

Y'know, this is much more your bag than mine - I'll pop it in with your other bits and pieces.

Online prices are wild; it was a nice thing to find.

If there's anything else here that anyone fancies, other than the Grifo, the VW van and the Corsair (which I'm strangely drawn to), I'll be happy to pass them on for the £3 paid.

the jaguar and the landrover, please, if no one else has asked for them.

[bunglebus]

Commers collected:

Film crew bus with usual bent roof rails - rear doors intact

Meat wagon

Army ambulance

Regular ambulance

Weird half panel van half pickup with Trans-O-Lite

The rear body on that is fixed, but I have a spare rear body from the set, as modeled here on the ambulance chassis

Looks like there's a military police version, full panel van in both detachable and fixed versions, the red version as seen earlier which was sold as a camper and there's a milk float too

[Spottedlaurel]

13 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

This plastic, push-fit no-name 'Citroen Diane 6' had clearly had a bad time of it in the parcel:

50p, if anyone fancies this?

Aha, I vaguely know about that one. There was a box for it amongst a few kits I recently bought from @eddyramrod, I don't think there's anything of the 'Diane' left but it does contain most a CX.

It's from the same series as this 14:

I think @vulgalourhad a go at building one?

Given that I have the empty box and no one else has nabbed it, I should probably claim it shouldn't I?...........

[flat4alfa]

On 12/10/2020 at 1:37 PM, flat4alfa said:

If I had a Commer

I'd Commer in the morning

I'd Commer in the evening

All over this land

 

[vulgalour]

Aye, I did one of these a little while ago.  Requires a lot of work to get a terrible fit on the panels but then I don't really think it was ever intended to be better than a plus sized Kinder Egg toy.

[bunglebus]

34 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

 

What is that plastic one?

[flat4alfa]

10 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

What is that plastic one?

[bunglebus]

That's a weirdo. I like it.

[bunglebus]

Arsecakes. I've had the only bid on a lot including this giant plastic version of the Matchbox Foamite Fire Tender, and someone sniped me so late it said I was winning even after the auction ended

[flat4alfa]

wasn't me

[JeeExEll]

Probably been on here before.  I had one of these mid 70s, possibly collector's items now, my one long gone.  Had forgotten all about it till I found a vid today whilst looking at Triumph 2500 stuff.

The proportions of the model were more like a Dolomite and not quite right.  Pressing the roof button started a tape-loop.  Fantastic if you were 6 or 7 and The Sweeney was a new series on one of your 3 available TV channels in 1975.

[flat4alfa]

They are pretty worthless really.  I had this one, bid to a fiver or thereabouts. 

Took it apart to try and get the sound working and found out it's a mechanical device with a stylus.  And very crude at that.  Kept it a few months, then its size meant it had to go, so put it back on and it still only reached just over a fiver despite much better photos

[JeeExEll]

An interesting product of it's time.  Current cash-sale value is irrelevant, but my folks weren't exactly rolling in cash at that time and it was a Christmas pressie for a wee lad who liked cars, I think 1974.  The sound wasn't great even when new but at that time it was fine and you didn't care anyway.

(Had forgotten how it looked from behind, interesting pic).

[eddyramrod]

Continuing the Commer theme...

L-R: Constructor-set Trans-o-Lite chassis and van body, restored but not finished as the window set was broken and I haven't made a replacement yet; Constructor-set non-illuminated chassis and half-pickup body, restored (and I've had both of these from new); holiday minibus, restored, also owned from new; battery-illuminated police van, also restored, picked up from a rummage box somewhere; and a lightly-used replacement for my original Samuelson Film bus, unrestored and likely to remain that way (although carrying the luggage from my old holiday bus).  The police van's chassis is identical to the Constructor version, it's just the body that differs.  I also have a Humbrolled ambulance body (non-illuminated) awaiting restoration, for which I don't seem to have a chassis, so I suppose I need to get into some dealers' rummage boxes again.

And now some more restorations, recently completed...

We will start with another Commer!

The Ecurie Ecosse transporter was famously on a Commer chassis!  Mine was damaged and had been repainted even before I got it, so I had no qualms about restoring it; and I thought, why not have a different livery?  So I dremelled off the cast-in lettering along the sides and this is how it turned out.

I'm quite pleased with it.

The Herald represents the one that was our family car in 1976-78 and wore my L plates.  Unfortunately I couldn't get an aerosol of Valencia Blue, nor even Rover Zircon which would have been an adequate match, so I just used a convenient dark blue I had in stock.  The 2000 doesn't represent any car in particular, It's just a livery I thought would work with the red interior.  It was a white one anyway, issued in the glider set, but was crying out for a restoration.

Corgi Whizzwheels De Tomaso Mangusta came in green, but was in dire need of some tlc, so as befits an Italian sports car, I went for red.

Unless issued as a Fire Chief car, the KS Dodge Monaco normally comes in beige, as this one did.  Again I chose a new colour to befit the red interior.

And then I thought some "wood" along the sides would be good.  I mean, this is a 70s car!  I happen to think it's not one of their best castings; but which is worse, the station wagon or the sister Plymouth sedan mostly seen as a NYPD unit?  Tough judgement.  There doesn't seem to be any commonality between them, unlike the full-size examples.  The models are not even to the same scale.

[bunglebus]

On 07/07/2021 at 18:24, sierraman said:

Think that’s the twin pack release from the late 70’s. 

Found it

[eddyramrod]

I've got one of those trailers in my 50p box...

[bunglebus]

10 hours ago, eddyramrod said:

I've got one of those trailers in my 50p box...

Tempting  - I have yellow regular wheels and Superfast but not in orange.

Popped into the boot sale, a bit quiet but if you wanted a Cortina steering column you'd be in luck

most of what I picked up came from here, I'll have to do a report a bit later as we're going out for a few hours

 

 

[bicycle repairman]

9 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

Tempting  - I have yellow regular wheels and Superfast but not in orange.

Popped into the boot sale, a bit quiet but if you wanted a Cortina steering column you'd be in luck

most of what I picked up came from here, I'll have to do a report a bit later as we're going out for a few hours

 

 

if you bloke with the cortina parts get his detail love spares for mine 

[eddyramrod]

22 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Tempting  - I have yellow regular wheels and Superfast but not in orange.

Oh sorry!  Mine isn't orange!  It was yellow, on regular wheels IIRC, but has been Humbrolled many times.  I didn't mean to get your hopes up there.

Meanwhile, have a couple of projects:

Matchbox Mercury Sable wagon, slowly becoming a sedan to represent the one I owned a few years ago; and a Corgi Juniors Volvo 760 sedan becoming a wagon, to represent one I owned even more years ago.  @paulplom was with me when I bought the Volvo, 10 months ago!

[eddyramrod]

I've just run up against a dilemma.

I have a Dinky 1966 Cadillac ambulance in my paintshop...

...which I was planning to paint up to represent the ambulance used to move the body in Bullitt.  It's white all over at present, and I have some Ford Tibetan Gold left which will work for the coloured flanks.  Now I've just been looking at IMCDB and found the car...

...but it's a 68, with the same sheetmetal below window level as the hearse in the Bond partwork collection. 

The 68 looks different enough to the 66 for me to now be worrying about whether it will bother me significantly on display.  I have the Bond hearse, but being nominally 1/43, it's noticeably smaller than the Dinky, and being a hearse, has different superstructure.  I need to reach a decision, or it'll sit there in the plain white for another year.

[bunglebus]

57 minutes ago, bicycle repairman said:

if you bloke with the cortina parts get his detail love spares for mine 

If I see him again I will - lots of it looked like Zephyr/Zodiac parts

[bicycle repairman]

thankyou

[sierraman]

12 hours ago, eddyramrod said:

I've got one of those trailers in my 50p box...

50p box? Is this still going? 

[eddyramrod]

22 hours ago, sierraman said:

50p box? Is this still going? 

Oh absolutely!  It goes everywhere Huggy does (and in fact lives on the back seat).  There's not so much in it now, maybe a dozen items, if that.

[sierraman]

A road going Fiat Mirafiore. 

[eddyramrod]

22 hours ago, sierraman said:

50p box? Is this still going? 

I also have a £1/£2/£5 box, containing maybe two or three items at each price point.  I suppose now I should nip outside and photograph them!

[Amishtat]

Went to the boot sale this morning, very little of interest really but I did get a couple of things. I'm not a huge fan of this casting but already had a scruffy but intact white/red example bought with the intention of using its chrome strip and wheels elsewhere. Dug it out the other day and was having second thoughts as it's not bad really. Its fate is sealed now I've found this. The hounds have made a break for it and I don't blame them, it must get pretty warm in the back. Other than that it's pretty good, someone took care of this.