Minix (and other) car improvements

[BernardTPM]

Thanks Steve, though of course Tri-ang did most of the work on the basic model. Shows how they can be 'bulled up' with proper colours and a few extra details; well, when I finish it anyway!

[ianmacc]

Finally managed to pick up three of the nowadays elusive Lima Fiat 131 saloons from the United States of America of all places. I now have three and the plan is to work up from a basic tidy up of the kind that would have been done in the 1980s to a full respray and detailing works on the third one. 
 

Here is a very basic reworking of the first one as the starter. Painted the sills and the radiator grille black - the former removing the short and stubby optical illusion of the moulding. Also repositioned the axles and painted the rims. The original model sits like a low rider! 
 

 

[PhilJ W]

I have a couple of these in my stash. How 'get at able' are the interiors? as I wish to convert them to RHD.

[BernardTPM]

The silly low stance on these and the Capri are a worthwhile and fairly easy improvement. The rear lights could also use improving. To match the original front you want the 'T' shape arrangement. There isn't really much in the way of a dashboard and the steering wheel looks more like a brake wheel of some sort. From memory there was a little bit of glue each end where the bumpers met the body. Incidentally, the 131 uses the Capri interior. I cut the seat wells out and shortened the parcel shelf so I could move the rear seats back.

 

Later versions lost those recesses on the bonnet and boot and had large oblong headlights up front, but there were two different styles of branding : diagonal Fiat badge replaced later by a round Fiat badge while at the back there were larger rearlights : 1st revision, 2nd revision. The 2nd revision ones usually had side rubbing strips or cladding, which varied according to trim level.

Edited February 11, 2022 by BernardTPM

[ianmacc]

1 hour ago, PhilJ W said:

I have a couple of these in my stash. How 'get at able' are the interiors? as I wish to convert them to RHD.

The rear is a small blob of glue and I used nothing more than a fingernail! The front is a glued in tab that will destroy the front end if separation is attempted. There is enough flex in the chassis to pull out the interior and glazing through the back end once ot is released. Thankfully there is no sliver of body colour between the front grille and the bumper on the real thing so painting it with the bumper on was at enough. 
 

it’s just a one evening experiment thus far. 

[ianmacc]

I’m a fan of this niche thread. Just bumping it to encourage folks to show their contributions! 

[BernardTPM]

Got a lot of rebuilds 'in progress'* but none ready yet. Really must try harder!

 

*of the glacial variety

[PhilJ W]

26 minutes ago, BernardTPM said:

Got a lot of rebuilds 'in progress'* but none ready yet. Really must try harder!

 

*of the glacial variety

SNAP!

[divibandit]

Ian,

That really makes a difference, it doesn't even need a repaint!

 

Steve

[Pylon King]

Always loved the Minix range ever since I was six years old . I recently built a diorama incorporating  several pre release/preproduction sample Model-Land buildings , Triang-Hornby scatter materials, Britains Trees , Model-Land figures to capture how the Minix and Model-Land ranges were promoted during the 1960’s and early 70’s.

 

 

 

Edited October 25, 2023 by Pylon King
Photo update

[Pylon King]

A couple more photos.

 

Edited October 25, 2023 by Pylon King
Photo update

[fodenway]

Some rarities there - the Cresta estate (I have two in white), the ladder trailer and the Thames van in yellow, neither of which I can recall seeing before. Congratulations !

[ianmacc]

7 hours ago, Pylon King said:

Fifty or sixty years ago we had a lot more scenic accessory availability than is really realised. It looks like a Triang Hornby catalogue of the time! 
 

I also liked the Lego 1/86 accessory range too which was a similarly comprehensive system. 
 

I think you just wanted somewhere to show your Crestas! 
 

It was possible to recreate proper paving as I think the super quick range was out then too! 

Edited December 12, 2022 by ianmacc

[SRman]

10 hours ago, fodenway said:

Some rarities there - the Cresta estate (I have two in white), the ladder trailer and the Thames van in yellow, neither of which I can recall seeing before. Congratulations !

 

I have never seen the Cresta estate in the flesh, only in photos. And as for the yellow Thames van, red, white and blue versions are as common as muck, but I can't say I've seen a yellow one before, either.

[BernardTPM]

Green is not that uncommon for the Thames van. Crestas and Ramblers though are like hen's teeth.

[PhilJ W]

9 hours ago, BernardTPM said:

Green is not that uncommon for the Thames van. Crestas and Ramblers though are like hen's teeth.

Especially the Ramblers as they were intended for the USA market which Triang was trying to penetrate and most were exported. Unfortunately being 1/76 scale they didn't sell very well.

[ianmacc]

I’ve had a couple of Crestas. In an act of sacrilege I detailed up one with Oxford Diecast wheels etc  but was careful to make it reversible if needed! 
 

I have never seen the Rambler in the flesh. To be fair I’ve never chased after one either as it’s not of modelling use. If one turned up in a job lot cheap it’s a seller onner.

[fodenway]

Here are my two remaining Ramblers - I originally had six, bought literally for pennies when ERG were closing down many years ago. I gave one away to a friend, two more were sold on (before I realised their rarity) very cheaply decades ago, and the last was converted into a model of the four-door sedan that I owned at the time, and sprayed metallic silver-grey which ruined the surface. I've no idea where that one is now, although the real thing is still around, albeit on SORN. The two Crestas, in pale yellow (not white as I thought) and another odd Thames colour - orange - are pictured. The Thames was picked up recently for £1 but has has had a little black paint applied to the tyres and numberplates, and some silver trim, both of which will be carefully removed in time. The Ramblers could legitimately be shown on a British layout as they were officially imported at the time, although usually in right-hand drive form rather than the LHD of the Minix. The estate versions especially seemed to be quite popular here for a while.

Edited December 15, 2022 by fodenway
additional information

[ianmacc]

I mentioned the Lego 1/87 range of the 50s and 60s earlier. Here are a couple of shots of it. A very attractive little range and would also look great like the triang stuff. I have had bits and bats of this over the years and modified and chopped it up unfortunately such as taking the bases off the little scooters and cyclists. These items still have valid use on layouts of today with a bit of fettling. 
 

The price or the cars and vans etc though when people who know what they have put them up for sale is eye watering  and in Rambler territory!

[ianmacc]

2 minutes ago, ianmacc said:

I mentioned the Lego 1/87 range of the 50s and 60s earlier. Here are a couple of shots of it. A very attractive little range and would also look great like the triang stuff. I have had bits and bats of this over the years and modified and chopped it up unfortunately such as taking the bases off the little scooters and cyclists. These items still have valid use on layouts of today with a bit of fettling. 
 

The price or the cars and vans etc though when people who know what they have put them up for sale is eye watering  and in Rambler territory!

Quoting myself is poor etiquette I know but the modular element of Lego lends itself well to concrete buildings such as that magnificent bank at the back and I’m getting inspired to commandeer some of the little ones blocks and with a bit of detailing such as replacing the bobbly boards with proper roofs has potential!

[steve1]

With that Rambler, I would be sooo tempted to add huge wheels, side pipes and a blower poking out of the hood, allied to a suitably wild paint scheme.

 

 

 

steve

[fodenway]

40 minutes ago, ianmacc said:

Quoting myself is poor etiquette I know but the modular element of Lego lends itself well to concrete buildings such as that magnificent bank at the back and I’m getting inspired to commandeer some of the little ones blocks and with a bit of detailing such as replacing the bobbly boards with proper roofs has potential!

My first encounter with Lego would have been around 1962/3, with the gift of an Esso Filling Station set. It comprised sufficient bricks to build said filling station, a set of Esso petrol pumps and a Bedford tanker. There was never any addition to my stock of bricks, but I did accumulate several more vehicles over the years. I must admit to being very (pleasantly) shocked at the price they achieved on a well-known internet auction site. I still have a couple of the Bedfords, and a dark red VW Beetle in excellent condition which I picked up for just £2 in a rummage box at a recent model railway show. Coincidentally, this Beetle is obviously a slightly larger scale than other cars in the series, and a few measurements confirm that it's within a coat of paint of being 1/76 scale in wheelbase, length and width. It's almost exactly the same size as the Oxford Diecast version, although not as well detailed.

[Les Bird]

I have some of the Lego vehicles, a Beetle with a small section of the rear bumper missing, a Bedford flatbed and Mercedes articulated tanker both in Esso red. I wonder what they would fetch if I put them up for sale.

Edited December 17, 2022 by Les Bird

[Invicta]

On 15/12/2022 at 10:02, fodenway said:

The Ramblers could legitimately be shown on a British layout as they were officially imported at the time, although usually in right-hand drive form rather than the LHD of the Minix. The estate versions especially seemed to be quite popular here for a while.

 

 

Indeed - I can remember a near-neighbour having a 60's Rambler estate when I was a kid in the early 70's - they were in the market garden/garden centre business, so the amount of boot space in a big US estate car probably outweighed the fuel mileage etc.

[ianmacc]

On 13/12/2022 at 10:04, PhilJ W said:

Especially the Ramblers as they were intended for the USA market which Triang was trying to penetrate and most were exported. Unfortunately being 1/76 scale they didn't sell very well.

I’m surprised they didn’t make it in 1/87. I understand the uniformity of scale but they made the Strachan bus to around TT scale so they had form. 
 

I can’t recall if the Strachan bus was 1/120. If so it’s a nice link between the old and new for anyone doing a new TT120 layout :)