Dan’s quality used motors! (Mostly) 1:43 vehicles.

[TM2201A]

I do like the Coles Hydra, always looks like it's begging to be detailed and given some proper outriggers.

[rekoboy]

Project number 3 in my kit-bashing of 1:120 scale MAN/Roman/RABA cabs etc is the timber truck and trailer. Cab again by Schirmer, chassis and wheels by SES, lots of Evergreen sheet and profiles.

[40 058]

More done today. It always seems to take up time but never actually gets any closer to being finished this project!😄

 

Various bits & bobs done on/for the chassis. Then between waiting for glue to go off etc etc I decided to swap the interior over to right hand drive. Not particularly difficult with this interior as it’s more or less symmetrical.

 

Made up some air hoses from some old nut/bolt locking wire wrapped around a screwdriver. Once they’ve glued solid I’ll manipulate them as needed to line up with the trailer.

 

I’ve painted the cab now too.

Here it is loosely assembled back on the chassis.

Ignore the yellow bit! I know it looks like Noddy’s car like this but the chassis will be in black soon.

 

 

 

 

Im torn though. Do I leave it in block red or add a white (or other colour?) stripe or something.

Obviously the chassis will be black with bits picked out as needed, bumper is black and grill black, which should relieve the amount of red. 
I think sometimes though you risk overdoing it with commercial vehicles. Not many of them were painted like cars with metallic paint, stripes, 2 tones etc. Most were treated as a tool and got a coat of paint in a solid colour, more often than not white, red, blue etc and that was that. Maybe that’s the way to go with this?

[37114]

12 hours ago, 40 058 said:

More done today. It always seems to take up time but never actually gets any closer to being finished this project!😄

 

Various bits & bobs done on/for the chassis. Then between waiting for glue to go off etc etc I decided to swap the interior over to right hand drive. Not particularly difficult with this interior as it’s more or less symmetrical.

 

Made up some air hoses from some old nut/bolt locking wire wrapped around a screwdriver. Once they’ve glued solid I’ll manipulate them as needed to line up with the trailer.

 

I’ve painted the cab now too.

Here it is loosely assembled back on the chassis.

Ignore the yellow bit! I know it looks like Noddy’s car like this but the chassis will be in black soon.

 

 

 

 

Im torn though. Do I leave it in block red or add a white (or other colour?) stripe or something.

Obviously the chassis will be black with bits picked out as needed, bumper is black and grill black, which should relieve the amount of red. 
I think sometimes though you risk overdoing it with commercial vehicles. Not many of them were painted like cars with metallic paint, stripes, 2 tones etc. Most were treated as a tool and got a coat of paint in a solid colour, more often than not white, red, blue etc and that was that. Maybe that’s the way to go with this?

I would be tempted to add a white strip around the cab above the grille level just to break it up. In the 1970s it was more common than you think to have multi colour cabs as they had a longer working life (especially a heavy haulage truck) so worth considering 

[40 058]

27 minutes ago, 37114 said:

I would be tempted to add a white strip around the cab above the grille level just to break it up. In the 1970s it was more common than you think to have multi colour cabs as they had a longer working life (especially a heavy haulage truck) so worth considering 

I think you’re right. I was looking at it this morning and it is a whole lotta red! Definitely needs something to break it up a bit.

A white stripe around in that little recess in the bodywork is probably a good call. Alternatively,

 

What do you reckon?

[40 058]

I decided to go for the white!

Definitely tones the red down a bit I think. It was a bit much before. Once the black trims and chassis are back on it’ll look just right I think.
 

 

Chassis is in the paint shop now too!

 

[40 058]

Paints dry enough now to handle so here’s a loosely assembled pic.

 

 

Looks much better now I think. The black chassis looks right too, I did consider doing it grey but glad I didn’t now.

Of course there’s loads of details to paint in by hand but it’s getting there now. 
I’ve just given the cab a coat of satin varnish to help protect the paint a bit and tone down the shine a bit.

[BernardTPM]

On 28/04/2024 at 22:46, 40 058 said:

Dinky Coles Hydra mobile crane.

Allegedly these are 1:43 scale, or thereabouts (imperial scale measurements?).

Found it on a 1961 Dinky scales list: 17/64in. scale so approx. 6¾mm to 1 foot, or 1:45·2 scale.

Edited May 1 by BernardTPM

[40 058]

51 minutes ago, BernardTPM said:

Found it on a 1961 Dinky scales list: 17/64in. scale so approx. 6¾mm to 1 foot, or 1:45·2 scale.

Near enough to 1:43 I suppose!

[40 058]

Another partwork car arrived today courtesy of eBay! 
This time it’s a Vectra. It’s actually the Chevrolet version instead of a Vauxhall but same difference. 
Not really my preferred era of cars I’ll be honest, I’m much more a fan of 80’s and older stuff but I’d seen these before and thought about getting one as my dad had an R reg one, a 1.8 saloon in silver, which was about a year or so old when he got it. I got this one with a 10% seller offer so the cheaper price swayed me in the end!
 

 

 

It’s quite a nice little model really. Nothing exceptional (much like the real cars!) but not half bad. Definitely one to strip down and Vauxhall-ise one day I think.

[40 058]

While I’m waiting for paint and glue going off on other projects I decided to have a look and make a start on the Ford Transit ‘smiley’.

This ones another partwork, some sort of working vehicles of Spain partwork collection. They come as a rather long box truck with tail lift. I found some at a very good price a while ago so bought 3 or 4 to keep me going!😆

 

 

The cab is a lovely casting, very good likeness of the ‘smiley’ Transit. Chassis is also good. But, to me that box body looks a bit too big. Especially given the tail lift on the back. I could imagine it’d be quite tail heavy like that.

So I removed the box body. The box is actually a nice plastic unit which are definitely suitable for use elsewhere, maybe on something slightly bigger. 
The remaining chassis cab is perfect for… pretty much anything really. Fortunately the cab rear bulkhead wall is there in full detail too which saves some work.

 

 

I really love these Transits! The mk1 and 2 are without doubt the prettiest ones but these (mk3,4,5) are still the absolute best vans out there! I’ve had a few of them myself and also had use of company ones and thought well of all of them.

So with this one I’ll be making it into the once ubiquitous Transit tipper version.

They were extremely common until fairly recently (rust claimed most I expect) but the model needs some alterations.

 

The tipper body could be scratch built from plastic card pretty easily but I happen to have a ready made one spare from another truck that’s pretty much the right size for this.

The chassis needs shortening, which is a simple matter of lopping off a bit of the back end. Then the tipper body subframe needs a few notches and bits cutting out to fit the Transits chassis.

 

I wanted to keep it as a working tipper but if your not bothered about that feature it’d be even easier!

The centre cross member on the chassis needed grinding away a bit so the tipper rams would fit and clear it. 
Notches cut out of the tippers subframe are to lower the tipper bed into the Transit chassis. If not it sits up too high and looks weird.

 

 

 

It took quite a bit of trial and error getting it fitting well then removing a bit more material here and there but it’s looking pretty good now.

 

 

That’s as far as I got today, but next things to do are to find a way to secure the tipper and chassis together. Build a suitable headboard for the tipper behind the cab. Make up a replacement rear bumper. Then start stripping the cab down ready to remove the air con vent on the wing (UK vans with AC were not very common!) then paint.

I’ll most likely be doing this in all over yellow as a council truck type thing I think.

 

Im already thinking of one of the others of this type as a Luton van!

[40 058]

Little more done this afternoon on the Transit.

Offered up the original rear bumper. Had to modify it slightly at the back to fit but that’s now glued back on. Had to trim the chassis ends off a tiny bit more too as the bumper should sit slightly under the back end not flush with it (avoiding tipping whatever you’ve got in the back straight across the tail lights etc!).

 

I was a bit worried this tipper bed would be a bit too wide for the Transit since it came from an FG originally but it seems almost made for it!

 

Made up a few bits to attach the chassis and tipper together with, but while the glue was going off I started stripping the cab down.

 

 

Most of the plastic bits like grill, lights, wipers etc etc are able to be pushed out from behind using a small pick or screwdriver. Glazing is almost always riveted in on this type model, if you’re lucky they’ll only have used some of the rivets but this one had them all squashed over! Simple case of using a suitable drill to drill off the wide head of the rivet then gently pulling the glazing parts free. Just got to be very careful with the drill you don’t crack the plastic or scratch it where it’s visible.

Paint usually comes off very easily with chemical paint stripper. I just use some cheap aerosol stuff off eBay. Then give it a scrape with a small old screwdriver to loosen it up, followed by a good scrub with a fine wire brush. Occasionally you get some stubborn bits of paint that need the screwdriver or pick to get it off, usually in door shut lines or grills etc. 

The wire brush won’t damage the metal, in fact you can use it to buff the casting up so much it’ll become shiny if you fancy doing that! It also give the surface a good key for the primer.

After that I wash it off in warm water, a blob of cream cleaner and a scrub with an old toothbrush, followed by a wash in soapy water and then a rinse.

Obviously following that I often end up doing any filing down, filler work etc then another wash before primer. 
 

Hopefully tomorrow I’ll get the A/C grill on the wing filed off and there’s a little blob of casting flash on one cab corner too which can go.

 

In the meantime, here’s a couple of pics of a Maxichamps 1:43 Escort mk2.

 

 

 

I got this one cheap as the mirror on one side is broken! It was considerably cheaper than a similar Vanguard’s model too.

Is it as good? Maybe. It looks great still, but is left hand drive and something about the grill or headlights doesn’t quite capture the look to me, but I’ll see what, if anything can be done with it at some point.

the main thing for me is, it’s a ‘normal’ Escort!

Almost all the mk1 and 2 Escorts made were like this. Difficult as that might be to fathom these days! And consequently most models of them are bubble arched RS’s and Mexico’s!

It was a small cheap family car, most were 1.1, 1.3 or 1.6 at a push and got used then abused then scrapped. These days all you ever see are RS’s and Mexico’s or rally raplicas - which is nice enough but I love to see these as most were. They’re actually a nice looking car in their standard plain Jane form.

 

[40 058]

I haven’t had much time on models lately. Other things on, then somehow managed to catch a cold (just as the weather starts improving!!) so didn’t fancy sitting out in the shed!

Felt better today though so…

 

Transit has had its air con vent in the wing filed away, then given a coat of white primer. That was then wet flatted down ready to top coat. Also found a spare beacon light so I drilled a hole in the roof for it.

 

 

 

Since the pics, the cab has had its top colour coat put on, and the tipper bed has been rubbed down and a cab protector headboard made up from scraps of brass angle and some fine mesh. 
I’ll get a few better pics tomorrow once it’s all dry!

 

Started putting some of the MAN back together too, just got some bits to brush paint on that now.

[Hal Nail]

I find it very satisfying merging models get something different. The hitch is often an idea would end up with something you can't use which can make it expensive. The more stuff you have, the more options open up!

 

I just managed to sell a wagon body for what I'd paid for the wagon, allowing me to use the free chassis to trigger a whole series of swaps which will give me a few variations.

[Colin_McLeod]

I really like the Volvo estate.  A lovely model of a favourite car of mine.

Edited May 9 by Colin_McLeod
typo

[40 058]

5 hours ago, Hal Nail said:

I find it very satisfying merging models get something different. The hitch is often an idea would end up with something you can't use which can make it expensive. The more stuff you have, the more options open up!

 

I just managed to sell a wagon body for what I'd paid for the wagon, allowing me to use the free chassis to trigger a whole series of swaps which will give me a few variations.

I remember when I first started these models thinking about how I’m struggling to get hold of replacement bodies, wheels etc but as you say, eventually when you start tearing into things you just end up with piles of parts left over you can mix n match with. Also when you scratch build things that leaves various bits left over to use on something else.

 

The only down side, is that I’m gradually ending up with a big stock of truck cabs not suitable for UK trucks! What I’ll use them for I do not know.

[40 058]

Here’s the Transit as it is now the paint is dry.

 

 

 

 

 

Heres some of the mesh I found to fit into the cab back protector frame. It’s very fine but I’ve got no idea what it’s from. I found it rolled up in my grandads old modelling tools box. 
It reminds me of those really old kits you used to get from Halfords etc for ‘repairing’ rust holes in your car! You chopped off a lump of the mesh and shoved it in the rust hole then trowel in body filler to get it the right shape.

[Steadfast]

That Transit is coming on nicely Dan, exactly the sort of thing I remember bobbing around on council jobs or garden lanscapers having when I was a kid.

 

Jo

[40 058]

Here’s a photo of one I based it on for inspiration.

 

Apparently this one was exported in 2009! I wonder where it went? Maybe to sunny climes somewhere like Malta?? Most probably saved it dying a slow death on cold wet salty British roads.

Note also this one has the grey plastic front panel. Much more unusual on these smiley Transits, most were body coloured.

 

It’s a shame Transits aren’t like these nowadays. These ones were absolutely indestructible mechanically. If only they’d been rust proofed better.

[40 058]

3 hours ago, Steadfast said:

That Transit is coming on nicely Dan, exactly the sort of thing I remember bobbing around on council jobs or garden lanscapers having when I was a kid.

 

Jo

Thanks Jo,

I did get your email by the way. It was also in my spam inbox!

I might have to wait a while though, as the models I need the transfers for are now packed away in big boxes ready to move house soon. Obviously that means I can’t measure them up for the transfer sizes! 
Im hoping the house move will finally happen quite soon though so fingers crossed it won’t be too long until I can get to them again.

[40 058]

Here’s an interesting one for the cost conscious modellers out there. This sort of thing can be as expensive as you want it to be!

 

I got this recently off eBay.

1961 Chevy Apache from the Bond in motion partwork. Obviously being a partwork model it hasn’t got much if any branding on it.

 

 

 

 

After a good look at it and comparing it to my older Corgi model of the same truck it’s clearly not in any way related to that.

But it does look familiar somehow…

So after a bit of sleuthing I came across this.

 

 

Eureka! That’s why it looks familiar! 
I’ve seen one of these ones before in a shop or somewhere, but it’s the exact same model. The blue one is made by Premium X who are part of IXO (I think?) and there’s a few on eBay with prices north of £50!

 

Obviously the detail and paint finish on the Bond version isn’t quite as good (but it’s not bad) but it is otherwise identical. It just goes to show it’s worth looking around a bit. My Bond version, still in its original case and as new cost me £7. Yes, £7! With the postage it was just over a tenner.

If your willing to put a bit of modelling work into it there’s no reason the Bond version can’t be made every bit as nice as the Premium X one, at a fraction the cost.

Theres quite a few of these models I’ve found so far, from loads of different partworks, that are actually originally from much more expensive sources.

 

Heres another.

Partworks Mercedes 608d drain cleaner/turd sucker upper truck. Bought for just under £15 posted off eBay.

 

 

Doing a quick search on eBay for ‘Mercedes 608d’ in 1:43 scale should bring up an IXO branded one of these with a recovery truck bed on… at considerably higher price than £15! It’s the same basic model.

Ok the back is different but you can remove that using two screws then do whatever you want with the £15 truck for much less than the IXO one. 

And you get the fun and satisfaction of making and painting your own model!

 

[Steadfast]

1 hour ago, 40 058 said:

Thanks Jo,

I did get your email by the way. It was also in my spam inbox!

I might have to wait a while though, as the models I need the transfers for are now packed away in big boxes ready to move house soon. Obviously that means I can’t measure them up for the transfer sizes! 
Im hoping the house move will finally happen quite soon though so fingers crossed it won’t be too long until I can get to them again.

No problem Dan, hopefully now we've both bounced out the bin next time the emails should come straight through. Any suspected missing mails, just give me a nudge on here.

 

Good luck with the house move, fingers crossed it goes smoothy.

 

Jo

[Hal Nail]

11 hours ago, 40 058 said:

drain cleaner/turd sucker

Always called them sludge gulpers without ever occurring to me that can't be their real name!

[Steadfast]

It's just dawned on my, YPF is an oil company. In the 90s I remember Repsol YPF sponsored Seat rally cars, and having a look online I think that Merc's meant to be an AvGas bowser.

 

Jo

[40 058]

1 hour ago, Steadfast said:

It's just dawned on my, YPF is an oil company. In the 90s I remember Repsol YPF sponsored Seat rally cars, and having a look online I think that Merc's meant to be an AvGas bowser.

 

Jo

Interesting. I don’t know why but I always saw the models and just assumed it was a drain cleaner/waste water truck!

 

Presumably YPF is a Spanish company? I think the model comes from the same partwork as the BMC Sava FG tipper, which are all Spanish working vehicles.

 

Edit; apparently it’s Argentinian! So it’s from the Argentina partwork. Odd because I thought that was entirely made up of cars, SUV’s and pickup’s.

 

Just found this advertisement for the Merc 608d, there’s a little photo of the real YPF bowser.

 

94HP sounds a bit underwhelming for such a large vehicle though! I bet these were a real blast to drive!!

Edited Friday at 09:35 by 40 058