Hot Wheels and Matchbox Customizing Thread

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Nice. The FC looks much sportier now. 👍




http://lamleydlm.blogspot.ca/2013/0...howComment=1378095842107#c5655653467618147709

Lamley's picks for the week:

That muddied Bel-Air Gasser is just :drool:

I agree - and quite a few other great customs in there, too. The site seems to be taking off quite well, and I'm glad for their success; they are attracting the right kind of people.
Got to love those diorama shots in there.

One thing I cannot wrap my head around is when people spend so much time customising and making a car look realistic, and then photograph it placed on a couch beside a cushion.
 
One thing I cannot wrap my head around is when people spend so much time customising and making a car look realistic, and then photograph it placed on a couch beside a cushion.

This. These people don't realize the importance of presentation.

Same goes with capturing photos in focus. That's the other biggie.
 
I don't believe there's a way to undo coloured windows because the acrylic (material of the plastic) was coloured during fabrication so it's going to stay that colour. If you want to add a tint to a clear window for instance, you could try dyes. Those, like markers, don't have opaque pigment.
 
I always thought your only option would be to find a donor with a neutral colored tint. Or you could go the extreme limo black and sharpie em in lol
 
Mad race is now on to be able to enter as many Hot Wheels customs as possible in the Mexico Convention, which is held two weeks from now. So far my possible car count is 15.
 
Picked this up off eBay during the week for 95 cents, got delivered yesterday. Appears to be an older custom by the looks of it:)
 
Forgot to post this. Another month later, here's the progress report:

Tree's blooming, grass is shaping up neatly.

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The Stude's sinking rather evenly. The loose wheel sitting beside it is almost gone!

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Blitzer is still going strong. That piece of moss I placed under it is likely the sole reason why it hasn't sunk like its back end; the moss was attached to clay and that is probably not going to sink from the mud.

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The Wooden truck didn't come out as imaginative as I wanted back when I first toppled it over, but I guess it's cool enough the grass has sprouted in through the gaps.

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Scrambulance has a neat stature and its load is rather tidy. It's sinking though. May take up to 2.5 years for it to be fully submerged into the soil at this rate.

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M80 hanging in there. Its tilt was not deliberate. It's like it landed in a sinkhole area of the basket.

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That's the Charger. Sitting on top of the Lincoln, it has a long while until the dirt rises to its level.... or when it sinks down to ground level. That Lincoln is practically buried at this point.

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Armored Van still going great. It has sunk as much as the RV in the front end. It's at around "flood" level, I'd say.

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The RV is one of the cars I can get a very good shot of from the front. It'd be sad to see it bury its face.

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That's the M1. Yup, it's dug itself in the most! It'll probably be first to dip its entire head in before the others get covered.

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That wild tree. It's budding at the top! At this point, I don't know whether I should add supports at the cost of the planter's overall appearance, or see how long it can continue growing upward without collapsing on itself.

A part of me wants to pull the guys out, but after giving one a light tug, I can say the roots won't like that. I guess I can leave it and let it sink in on its own and replace them as time goes on. Maybe I should switch to a basket with a deeper vessel so I can watch them sink completely!
 
Man, you people are pretty skilled! Here's one I just finished. Looks like junk because of my detailing, macro, craftsmanship, but anyways. I tried to put the exhaust through the side of the bed up from the bottom.

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Picked this up off eBay during the week for 95 cents, got delivered yesterday. Appears to be an older custom by the looks of it:)

Oi, that looks really really cool :0 the main problem of th0ose Matchbox has always been their absolutely hideous wheels, but late redlines really solve that! I also like the blower. And for a buck, what a steal! Very good grab dude.

Forgot to post this. Another month later, here's the progress report:

Tree's blooming, grass is shaping up neatly.

Haha, awesome. That Stude looks pretty cool. Also, that tree is enormous :0

Man, you people are pretty skilled! Here's one I just finished. Looks like junk because of my detailing, macro, craftsmanship, but anyways. I tried to put the exhaust through the side of the bed up from the bottom.

I really like the exhaust in the bed. I also want to slam one of those.
 
A part of me is waiting for the day that tree shifts everything inside, and another part of me wants to see it grow until it collapses from its own weight.
 
Guess what? Can't see it here :crazy:

I do, however, can tell you I finished three cars yesterday that I had hanging around for a while, a couple of them for a REAL while. I also did a few quick wheelswaps. Also, your Cobra finally has it's rear axle in place.
 
Ok, I am a massive toyota celsior fan, iv'e loved them every since the 1st generation, But i noticed no diecast company had a highly detailed 1:64 model, So i decided to make my own, Yes, i know tomica has a Celsior, but it was only in the standard tomica run, lacking alot of details, and a poorly proportioned body.

So for this, Used a motormax LS430, has bang on proportions, since it's a scaled down verison of the 1:18 LS430, it also retained alot of interior separate pieces, to work with.







Some interior details, wood trim.



Posing beside a Tomica limited Nissan Skyline 350GT





I plan to shape up the details more, around trim and tailights, it's a work in progress.

Wheels are from a Tomica limited Vintage neo model, model slips my memory at the moment, but it got a set of work look alikes(hotwheels civic SI boulevard)
 
That's a Motormax? I'd never seen it, looks pretty good with the mods! Do you have a pic of it stock? I'm sure the wheels were horrid.
 
Putty. Polyester putty or automotive body filler works great.


If you don't have either one, you can use a mix of super glue and baking soda. When the two mix it will instantly crystallize. I assume you're giving it a new paintjob in the end?
Sorry for the delay but yes I am looking to paint it. ;) I already knew about the superglue and baking soda method but I wasn't sure it was necessary for a small cut like this or not. I don't have any of those except baking soda. :lol:

Here it is in its current state:
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Wheels have been swapped, the spoiler has been cut off and paint is stripped.

Here is a crappy picture of the cut I accidentally made when deleting the spoiler :ouch::
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Of the things you mentioned, what do you recommend for this? :confused:

Edit: Reuploaded since I no longer need Photobucket.
 
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If you are able to buy online, I'd do polyestor putty since it is forgiving and easy to work with. If not, baking soda (go to the grocery store or a big box department store).

That's pretty easy to fix up actually.
 
I can't exactly order anything online but I will try to see if I can find it somewhere, if I can't, I will just use super glue and baking soda. Seeing that is a small cut it shouldn't be to hard. ;)

About the putty but will it come off really easy if I am not careful? :scared:
 
Putty is naturally a sticky substance. It works like epoxy where you mix the sticky substance with a hardener. The epoxy alone will not harden until a chemical reaction with the hardener takes place. Note some epoxies can air-dry, but that's irrelevant.

If the surface you're working on is slippery that the epoxy can't grip on, then yes it can come off. If you deliberately try to pick at it, it will probably come off too. A small piece like that is vulnerable to falling off easily. On the market, there is a filler that is made especially for tiny cracks like that. Bondo sells tubes for this, but if you ask me, baking soda is probably your best investment.

However, that Bondo scratch filler kit is like $10, and for a one-time use (for just that little scratch on the Supra), I'd rather buy baking soda instead. At least with that, you can still use it to glue your cars back together. That super glue baking soda thing on the other hand won't come off easily. Sanding will be a little more work, but at such a small scale it shouldn't be too bad. Go for it.



Anyway, I've pulled more members out of the Stealth Project roster:

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And will be saved for a different custom. Reason why I didn't just use another body is because I don't have other bodies available (save for the R35), and I'm unsatisfied with these sitting as Stealth cars anyway. It's time to recycle.


Pulling Jadas out of the collection, but I anxiously want to mod this:

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I have the black Highway Patrol Impala which I'll leave as is, but this one just seems to let me down. The chrome parts are flat black, yet the wheels are all bling. It doesn't make sense to me. A Fire Dept. livery is cute, but I feel there's potential for it to look really baller. I was thinking of swapping wheels, removing the siren and doing an entire paintjob, but another part of me thinks those wheels are perfectly fitting for an Impala.

Opinions?
 
Oooh. Not bad at all. You think the Impala will look good in a green similar to that metallic finish? I still got a whole can of that green anodize paint to use up. :)
 
Oh yes, it will. You could even ad some scalop decals to it. Only problem I can see is finding widewhites of that size.
 
I was thinking of looking for another Jada model or maybe one off a Muscle Machines. It's convenient that they're screwed on. The catch is that the axles are held down with a piece of metal that's riveted to the base so I was bound to pull out the drill either way.


This is going to be a desktop decor so I do want it to look pretty.
 
If I remember correctly, that thing is quite bigger than your average Hot Wheels. Then again, you wouldn't need that bigger wheels and tires if you're going for a traditional custom look. The rears on this could do the trick:

R3769b.jpg


Not widewhites but traditional-looking hubcaps. Also, you could always pull off the billet look with the wheels it has, it shouldn't look bad at all.
 
Size 2s are good enough. They're a tad smaller, but size 3s are too big. I've got one of the hubcaps I took off the Boulevard Beetle.

RR WW look a bit bland on it, RR10SP doesn't suit it well, RR5SP is a bit too beefy for it, LW is tempting (because I have a weakspot for it), but I'm overusing it.

I'll look up some other Jada models to see what other options I have. Hot Wheels has some, but I think if I look into other brands, I'll find something perfect.


 
Putty is naturally a sticky substance. It works like epoxy where you mix the sticky substance with a hardener. The epoxy alone will not harden until a chemical reaction with the hardener takes place. Note some epoxies can air-dry, but that's irrelevant.

If the surface you're working on is slippery that the epoxy can't grip on, then yes it can come off. If you deliberately try to pick at it, it will probably come off too. A small piece like that is vulnerable to falling off easily. On the market, there is a filler that is made especially for tiny cracks like that. Bondo sells tubes for this, but if you ask me, baking soda is probably your best investment.

However, that Bondo scratch filler kit is like $10, and for a one-time use (for just that little scratch on the Supra), I'd rather buy baking soda instead. At least with that, you can still use it to glue your cars back together. That super glue baking soda thing on the other hand won't come off easily. Sanding will be a little more work, but at such a small scale it shouldn't be too bad. Go for it.
My dad was just telling me yesterday about this Bondo stuff you speak off. He used to use substances like that a lot so he may be able to help me out with this since I am new to it. One thing my dad mentioned to me is to prevent it from slipping, I should sand it first, but like you said, it is kind of pricey to get it when I am just looking to fix one small place on it. I probably will get the super glue since it seems fast and easy as well as more affordable. ;)

One thing I should note is it may be a while before I ever finish the Hamada or any other projects due to the release of GT6 coming soon. As of right now, I am somewhat broke and I really don't have much room to spend my money on anything, so it may be some time before I have any new customs. :indiff:
 
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