Minix (and other) car improvements

[quicksilvercoaches]

14 hours ago, BernardTPM said:

The last one I saw had a ladder up the side (not the first time for that, either).

Another Kentoy 'Teamsters' vehicle was something Ferrari like. I've not yet found an exact match with those side grilles though.

 

 

 

Never seen one of those before. It looks like a cross between several different Ferraris. The basic shape is similar to the Testarossa but the front is more like a 348 and the round rearlights are from the 355. I see hints of Lotus Esprit too! Probably deliberately not modelled on any specific car to avoid paying a licence fee.

Edited July 7, 2020 by quicksilvercoaches

[BernardTPM]

That was my conclusion too.

The good thing about these models was that the plastic was styrene so they could be 'cut and shut', though what could be made out of this that I'd want, I'm not sure.

Edited July 7, 2020 by BernardTPM

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

As a matter of interest, is there a listing anywhere of the scales of Matchbox/Lesney/Husky etc?

It would be useful so we could work out what to buy. I'm tempted by various models but never sure of the suitability of it for 4mm, so tend to follow leads given by others hereabouts.

 

Mike.

[PhilJ W]

I have a book which lists the scales of Matchbox models up too the first Whizziwheels models. It does however quote the scales given by Matchbox some of which are somewhat dubious. Husky did not quote scales but many of their models were to  or close to 1/76. The Matchbox Morris J2 pick up is almost spot on 1/76 scale and has a lot of detail such as the rear light cluster and filler cap cast in. It has some dimensional faults but they are not noticeable until you compare it with the Oxford J2 van. (Cab too short and back axle to far forward.)

[BernardTPM]

In the cars there was one Matchbox:

No.65 (a) Jaguar 2.4 Mk.I (1955-59)

but four Husky:

No.2 (a) Citroen DS Safari (1959-67)

No.3 (a) Mercedes 220S (1959-65)

No.5 (a) Lancia Flaminia (1957-70)

No.23 (a) Ford Zephyr 6 estate Mk.III (1962-66)

The last is the right length, though a little wide.

Edited July 7, 2020 by BernardTPM

[PhilJ W]

The Husky Forward Control Land Rover is also 1/76 scale.

[BernardTPM]

Ah, but I didn't count that as a car!

[fodenway]

The Matchbox Series No.66 Citroen DS is also 1/76. I always had my reservations about the Husky Lancia and Mercedes, thinking that they were too small. Their Mk10 Jaguar always seemed closer, but since I don't have any of them, I can't check.

[BernardTPM]

Sorry, yes, I forgot the Matchbox Citroen, though now there's the more detailed Oxford version it's probably less worth upgrading.

The original Husky Mk.10 Jaguar is just a little small (the later version with a metal base is too big, like the Matchbox one) at 64.8mm long. The real car was 202" long which makes it 1:79.2, very close to the Trix 3.8mm scale.

The Mercedes 'fintails' came in several sizes. The Husky is correct for the 220.

Real car 4875mm long, Husky 63.8mm = 1:76.4 (close enough, I'd say).

Sadly I no longer have the Lancia, lost in the move, so I can't confirm previous calculations on that.

Edited July 8, 2020 by BernardTPM

[PhilJ W]

There are some models from other manufacturers that are 00 scale or very near. Best of all is Tomica, who have the scale on the box or stamped on the baseplate, their current Yanmar tractor for example is very good and can be placed on a layout 'straight from the box'. A couple of rather surprising models at or near 00 scale come from Hot Wheels. First is a 1938 Cadillac coupe-de-ville which can still be found at swap meets and the other is a c.1931 Packard. The Packard I wasn't aware of until last year when I found one at a swap meet for a pound. Someone had tried to make it into a 'gangster' car by adding bullet holes to the windows. Both will require re-wheeling and a few extra touches but both look like thet are accurate.

[PhilJ W]

On 05/07/2020 at 12:30, PhilJ W said:

I had a look in e-Bay for key rings and found this:-

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Joblot-Mini-Vehicles-Diecast-keyrings/392860825218

£5 the lot + £3:10 postage so I had to grab it. Two each of the pick-up and Ford woody and no less than three Chevy Corvettes. Going back to look for more shortly.

 

On 05/07/2020 at 20:44, fodenway said:

Wow, that was a lucky find. The Corvette should have a wheelbase of 34mm (102") and an overall length of 56mm (168") to be accurate 1/76 scale, likewise the Thunderbird should also have a 34mm wheelbase but with an overall length of just over 58mm (175.3"). The Ford woodies are, as you say, slightly underscale. The yellow Dodge Viper is another one I haven't seen before (assuming it's a Kinsmart), and looks like another possibility. 

Well done!

They arrived this morning, The Dodge Viper is indeed Kinsmart and marked 1/72 on the base. The taxi seems to have gone missing but I'm not bothered about that. The woodies are marked 1/82 on the base.

[fodenway]

I've been checking Viper dimensions, and the results aren't consistent, but yours appears to be a mid-nineties model for which most sources give the following data:

wheelbase 96.2 inches

width 75.7 inches

length 175.1 inches

How does it compare?

[PhilJ W]

The Viper wheelbase is 33 mm which if it is 1/72 scale gives a wheelbase of 93.5 inches. If it were 1/76 scale it would be 98.75 inches. The Thunderbird has a 35 mm wheelbase but the Corvette is 40 mm. The Corvette has no pull and go mechanism and nothing at all on the baseplate, all the others are by Kinsmart having the same pull and go mechanism.

[quicksilvercoaches]

Mention was made of the Kentoys Mercedes E-class, which I had never seen before but I found one on eBay. It's considerably smaller than the Cararama version, which must be 1/60-something and closer to Matchbox size. It should come up well with some paint and attention to the wheels.

 

 

 

 

[Enterprisingwestern]

27 minutes ago, quicksilvercoaches said:

Mention was made of the Kentoys Mercedes E-class, which I had never seen before but I found one on eBay. It's considerably smaller than the Cararama version, which must be 1/60-something and closer to Matchbox size. It should come up well with some paint and attention to the wheels.

 

 

 

 

 

Have you got a motorway on your layout to allow it to sit all day in the outside lane?

 

Mike.

[BernardTPM]

1 hour ago, quicksilvercoaches said:

Mention was made of the Kentoys Mercedes E-class, which I had never seen before but I found one on eBay. It's considerably smaller than the Cararama version, which must be 1/60-something and closer to Matchbox size. It should come up well with some paint and attention to the wheels.

 

The Cararama version is 73mm long, the real thing 4816mm, so 1:66 scale, much too large for "1:72". The Kentoys is very good for 1:72 in size (67mm, 1:71.8), but there's something slightly odd about the waistline, rising too much towards the back (roughly from the middle of the rear doors backwards), but being styrene that can be fixed with a knife and file. The Cararama interior will fit if you take the thick glazing out.

 

 

[steve1]

Bernard do you ever highlight shut lines? I've tried it a few times with a very fine Edding marker and if, careful, it works pretty well.

 

steve

[BernardTPM]

Not generally, but then again I hardly ever consider anything I've done as finished. Shut lines are generally far too wide on models anyway but are, in real life, deep like crevices. A conundrum. I guess in theory filling them in a 'shaded' version of the colour would be the most effective method, but I'd want to make them narrow first, with crisp edges.

[quicksilvercoaches]

A nice easy one for a change. A friend owns this lovely black Jaguar XJS (V12 no less, not a car for the faint-hearted or light of wallet!), which is almost identical to Oxford Diecast's 76XJS005 so all it needed was a change of numberplates.

 

 

[Michael Delamar]

List of ford anglia colours. 
 

https://105eoc.com/technical/technical-information/paint-trim-codes/anglia-paint/?v=79cba1185463
 

I was in Halfords this afternoon and I never had this with me, I only went in for primers but I do have a train load of Minix Anglias to paint. I need to study up and see if Halfords do any or any close to these.

 

[BernardTPM]

Don't forget there were two-tone versions too; I think the Anglia 'Super' was always two-tone, the roof top and stripe matching whereas the deluxe two-tone scheme was split at the waistline. Back in the '80s I bought quite a few old Duplicolor spray cans in obsolete colours cheaply. Most are either now used up or don't work, but I kept the clip-on tops for colour matching as they were sprayed with the actual paint.

[javlinfaw7]

Also there was a standard Anglia with less chrome and a smaller painted grill as on the van.

[PhilJ W]

I had an Anglia 1200 'super' estate (PMY429F), That was only one colour, apparently the estates were not offered in two colours.

[javlinfaw7]

I had a Anglia deluxe estate ,mva135f alas 40 odd years gone it was solid blue  but I have seen estates in all three trims in two colours .

It may have been an optional extra

[SRman]

14 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

I had an Anglia 1200 'super' estate (PMY429F), That was only one colour, apparently the estates were not offered in two colours.

I based my R Parker model on a real one in yellow with white roof.


Parker cars plus Anbrico bus 03 cropped 1 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

I also seem to recall there were two different Anglia estate styles, with one being rarer and described as an Italian version. I think the latter still had only two doors (plus tailgate) and single piece rear side windows and a shallower slope to the rear window/tailgate, but my memory could be faulty. I cannot find any photos to back this up though. there was also a Friary estate version, but that was extremely rare and not the one I am thinking of.

 

Edited July 22, 2020 by SRman