Hot Wheels and Matchbox Customizing Thread

[194GVan]

So in about a week I went from simply buying too many hot wheels, to cutting them up and buying way too many more because now I am looking for parts donors and stuff to trade, etc..

temporary work space growing

started to tinker with the flatout 442 over the weekend. need to get some aircraft stripper. any tips on polishing the plastic windows? wheels just tested for fitment but they actually look decent on there and dont need any axle modification. Although Im thinking maybe the finished product will be worthy of some real riders or some custom "782" wheels from 7eight toys.

not sure, is trading hot wheels allowed to be discussed here? I am starting to amass a pile of stuff that im willing to trade for stuff i cant find or isnt brand new and on the shelves.

 

[Emmcee]

Wow, your work space is so much more tidier than mine lol.

 

[Cano]

So in about a week I went from simply buying too many hot wheels, to cutting them up and buying way too many more because now I am looking for parts donors and stuff to trade, etc..
temporary work space growing.

Wow, your work space is so much more tidier than mine lol.

This omg. I blame it that it's been only a couple weeks. Give him a couple months and half his house -and of course that desk- will be a mess covered with dead-car bodies, wheels, paint bottles and plastic scrap 👍

started to tinker with the flatout 442 over the weekend. need to get some aircraft stripper. any tips on polishing the plastic windows? wheels just tested for fitment but they actually look decent on there and dont need any axle modification. Although Im thinking maybe the finished product will be worthy of some real riders or some custom "782" wheels from 7eight toys.

Really cool that you are restoring a car, very few people do this around here (just me lol). Window polishing can be accomplished with that headlight-polishing compound they sell in Autozone, great results... HOWEVER! Some windows -specially of newer cars- tend to go dull when the thing's applied and there's no turning back, not even a Future shower will save them from that. So first, try it in a portion of the clear plasitc that you can't see from outside. The Flat-out 442 is an old casting, so I'd say you're good to go. In our experience, 90s-onwards windows get dull, before that you're good to go... but there have been painful exceptions, so always try first.

Also, there's nothing like a Future bath after a good polishing session. The glass really looks like glass 👍

As for the wheels, due to the style of the car, I'd say look around for a NASCAR donor and swap it's wheels over.

not sure, is trading hot wheels allowed to be discussed here? I am starting to amass a pile of stuff that im willing to trade for stuff i cant find or isnt brand new and on the shelves.

Use the other thread for trading and stuff, unless it's custom-related. If so, it's fine here... I guess.

 

[194GVan]

good tip on the headlight polish. i need to do my actual headlights so i should be getting a 3m kit soon anyways. I did snag a couple nascar donors last week. i can try them on for size but the staggered wheel arches may look silly with the same size wheel all around. Come to think of it i could snag the cage and window net from those to stick in the 442 for an even racier look.......

I do have a loose jc whitney hotwheel like this one that could be a potentoal donor for white letter real rider tires

 

[Missfrost]

Bin out off the country but have bin working on some new pant projects this lot is ready for primer then pant

 

[elang]

hi, Guys..
this is my latest custom i made..
just a simple one tho..

Started out with this SWAT Super Van..

And then i removed the decals by wiping it with Cajuput Oil..

that's the easiest way to remove the Decals without damaging the paint.. but be careful to not get the Cajuput oil to touch the plastic parts because the plastic parts could melt.

And i painted this baby with brush and acrilic paint..
here's the result:

just a simple one to motivate myself for upcoming year..



That's all about my latest custom..
i hope You guys like it

Happy Holidays take a good care of You and Everyone around..

Best Regards,
elang

 

[Emmcee]

Merry Xmas all, here's some work I've done recently.

959 Porsche totally repainted, lowered,detailed and wheel swap.

Wrx STI hatch, lowered, detailed and wheel swap.

Kaido house 240z, lowered and detailed.

Lexus ccsr lowered,detailed and wheel swap.

 

[txcustmtrucks]

Merry Xmas all, here's some work I've done recently.

959 Porsche totally repainted, lowered,detailed and wheel swap.

Wrx STI hatch, lowered, detailed and wheel swap.

Kaido house 240z, lowered and detailed.

Lexus ccsr lowered,detailed and wheel swap.

Im working on a porsche similar to that top one. I'll post some pics when i get a chance. That subaru is nice, just needs some blue titanium tips on it!

 

[Emmcee]

Carrera GT

Lowered, wheel swap and detailed.

 

[Cano]

@Emmcee the wheels on the 959 give me nightmares.

 

[Emmcee]

What's wrong with them? There the black ones of a boxed takara Tomy dies cast.

 

[R5]

What's wrong with them? There the black ones of a boxed takara Tomy dies cast.

They look very weedy, I mean I get why but they'd need to be a bit bigger to avoid looking like a lazy replica of a 959.

 

[194GVan]

decided to lower a baja breaker on some fat real riders. had to come up with a way to drop it and keep the axles in place, this was my solution. nice even drop, still rolls smooth and straight. scrap pieces from another car i cut up.

started removing tampos but some were being difficult, this one's another candidate for a full strip and repaint. still need to get a can of aircraft stripper to play with.

 

[Cano]

There the black ones of a boxed takara Tomy dies cast.

That's precisely what's wrong with them

Also cool Baja Breaker, @194GVan!

 

[Emmcee]

Lowered and detailed Lincoln continental

Lowered mustang with wheel swap and detail.

 

[Sonygamer455]

Well this is going to be fun!

Get a load of the mech for the opening doors.

Interesting.

 

[Cano]

So you finally got around to it. interested to see where this goes.

 

[Sonygamer455]

So you finally got around to it. interested to see where this goes.

Yep, finally! I had planned this design way back in 2012, but this casting has proven to be quite illusive for me, so it's not until now I am finally getting to it. I plan to keep this one rather "simplistic", but it's definitely going to be great when it's finished. Corgi did a great job with the interior and I am going to have blast detailing it.

Here is a sneak peek of what you can expect for this Ford:

Casting is being stripped as we speak right now. Going to prime and paint it as soon as it is done. I am not wasting any time on this one at all.

 

[Cano]

I'm polarized about it. On the one hand I can totally see where you're coming from with the Minilite-style wheels and I do like it... but at the same time I also think it's way too modern for them and some custom made wheels with BBS centers would rock the socks out of it.

 

[Sonygamer455]

Not a bad idea. 👍 Any wheels would go good with this casting. I don't have those though.

These wheels came off a Honda Civic Boulevard I bought back when it was new and I have been saving them for this ever since. It's one of my favorite touches on this one.

In other news, got the casting stripped:


And just applied the primer:

Waiting on it to dry right now. As soon as it is finished, I am going to apply the paint. I am not "rushing" this project, but I am working extra hard tonight.

 

[Emmcee]

Can't wait to see this, primers are a picky thing for me, I hate most as they simple dry to thick and hide to many lines and details of the original casting. It took ages to find one I like and the best one turned out to be a $2 rattle can from the local hardware store.

 

[Sonygamer455]

Alright, one word of advice I want to give to everybody is when working with castings with opening doors, close the doors when priming and painting! I didn't quite catch it until after I finished priming it.

 

[Emmcee]

Lmao, that's a no brainer dude, it will almost be impossible to get the same desired finish on both doors and body of doors are open as you have to change the angle of the painting can/tool to paint it and this is often enough to change the colour effect.

 

[Apok]

On the other hand if you have closed doors the paint will pool in the gap between the body and doors, so when you open them it'll tear the paint and do damage (unless you somehow manage to open the doors when the paint is still wet, but that's messy and unnecessary). I'd say painting with open doors is a better idea, or ideally you can remove the doors and paint them separately and then reassemble the car when dry.

 

[Emmcee]

I never have the paint pooling issue on the joins. Just don't do a thick coat so close. I prefer to do more misty coats to get the desired effect more so than spraying more heavily.

 

[Sonygamer455]

Lmao, that's a no brainer dude

It is, but somehow it escaped my attention while I was priming. I guess I thought I could do it without having to mess with the doors, but after some inspection, I seen a zamac spot where I missed. So I think I know not to make that mistake again. This is my first custom with opening doors though.

On the other hand if you have closed doors the paint will pool in the gap between the body and doors, so when you open them it'll tear the paint and do damage

That may just be the biggest challenge of this entire project. I'll have to make sure it is handled with care.

(unless you somehow manage to open the doors when the paint is still wet, but that's messy and unnecessary).

I know from experience not to do that because I have made that mistake with other castings before. (They don't have opening doors though)

I'd say painting with open doors is a better idea, or ideally you can remove the doors and paint them separately and then reassemble the car when dry.

I originally thought about taking the doors off at first, but then I seen what was holding them together and I thought it was best if I left that alone.

Perhaps if I can open the doors just a tad, I can get the body entirely without any missing spots and without chipping the paint either. The inside of the doors will be detailed in a different color than the rest of the car.

 

[Emmcee]

today's castings are crap IMO. When I was a kid 90% of die casts of this size hade either opening doors,trunk or hood. Now it's all about quantity of quality.

 

[txcustmtrucks]

I never have the paint pooling issue on the joins. Just don't do a thick coat so close. I prefer to do more misty coats to get the desired effect more so than spraying more heavily.

Neither have i. I use this:

I do 2 - 3 light coats, never heavy coats. Same with paint. This self etching primer will actually stain the metal rather than putting a layer over the metal. So you can choose how thick you need the layer of primer to be. Its pricey but its a tall can and it lasts me a long time.

 

[Sonygamer455]

today's castings are crap IMO. When I was a kid 90% of die casts of this size hade either opening doors,trunk or hood. Now it's all about quantity of quality.

I think Hot Wheels has gotten somewhat better over the years with including moving parts. However, opening doors has never been much of a thing for them. I mean, have they done it before? Yes, but if you exclude this Sierra and ever other former Corgi that came to the Hot Wheels name, their really isn't many out their that do that.

In other news regarding the Sierra, had to strip it and repaint it once for a number of reasons, but I got it this time on the 2nd try. Not going post pictures until it is done, don't want to spoil it. Added most of the detailing already and will finish it soon. All that's left to do is finish detailing it, add the decals, then clear coat it and it will be done!

Now I just got to remember how to print on decal paper with my printer. I go too long without using it and then I forget how to set it up.

 

[194GVan]

is that escort a hotwheels casting? i swear i had a gray matchbox one with red interior as a kid but dont remember the doors being able to open.