Hot Wheels and Matchbox Customizing Thread

[AOS-]

You're turning it into an El Camino?

 

[Rallywagon]

I think Ranchero would be a better comparison...

 

[Restaurat]

Just this I have planed to do.

 

[Rallywagon]

Oh that poor cosworth!

 

[AOS-]

Found my favouritest store everr.

This hobby shop pretty much eliminates my need to travel downtown to buy supplies, and ordering stuff online.

They've got the standard Tamiya acrylics, sprays, thin masking tapes (incl. the ones for curves), putty, brushes and tools. They've also got bare metal foil sheets and decals so I won't have to order them online. There is also a good selection of brass tubing so I won't need to travel to the next city to find them.

Also found they sold a whole 300ml bottle of Tamiya acrylic thinner so I don't need to buy a whole bunch of 10ml bottles when airbrushing!

If it weren't for some of the items being like $30-40, I'd say I almost found heaven.

 

[Apok]

Also found they sold a whole 300ml bottle of Tamiya acrylic thinner so I don't need to buy a whole bunch of 10ml bottles when airbrushing!

Have you ever tried to make your own acrylic thinner? It's a very cost-effective alternative to branded stuff and works very well in my experience.

 

[Olibob]

Well, at least it isn't this.

 

[Spencer426]

20 minutes past midnight on a Sunday ,I've just joined up as I'm mad on modifying 1:64's . I also do 1:24/5 & even a couple of 1:8th's but I ain't got the space left LOL . I'm bored with fixing the broken plastic stuff now , ham fisted muppet I am ! - I mainly build Old USA stuff , but I do have a collection of British Japanese & Euro stuff too and some GT/DTM/F1 etc etc ( Not biased me )
I started off just looking for 1:64 wheels to modify my cars ( M2 I know of..) but hey , here I am , waffling on as usual !
Intro done , cheers all ,Spence
once I work out how to post up pics , I will.... ( Any hints ?? )

 

[Spencer426]

Doh . forget the post up pix thingy ! that was a piece of cake ! ( for a change ! )
These are some of the " Stock ones that I will be re doing .....

 

[Spencer426]

Interesting idea on the U-Haul, but no.

Edit: Times up! The whole reason I offered the Premium was because I knew nobody would get it.

Spoiler

**** it ! A tad late here , buy hey.... I was going to say Cheech & Chong's low Rider van (its white... )myself ! I have a 1:24 with working electric motor 'pumps' but its purple metalflake at the moment. Print off some decals (from screenshots of Tommy with the soap & sample ....etc ) Come to think of it , hydraulics for a 1:64..... Hmmm....

 

[BurgerBandit]

Almost complete resto on this Matchbox Lomas Ambulance. Just waiting on a pair of reproduction doors for the back

 

[Restaurat]

Sunday I have finished the Dodge Challenger.

During paint is drying I got a second project done.
I took a Ford Police Interceptor and gave him blinking lights on the roof.

 

[GTboyz]

Anyone ever used wheels from Kreauto ? How do you make the wheels stay on the axle ? Do you glue it or something ?

 

[Spencer426]

I had a look at those Kreauto wheels ( Very nice !! ) and my initial idea was to use the old axles from your car . Simply snip one flattened end off with wire cutters , slide off the old ones and put new ones on .Then superglue the " cut end" wheel in place when at the desired track width .Remember to shorten the axle carefully as they do get sharp !!
I save all my axles for such use in an old camera film / medicine tub or small jam samples etc etc . Hope this is of use .

 

[BurgerBandit]

Anyone ever used wheels from Kreauto ? How do you make the wheels stay on the axle ? Do you glue it or something ?

Here's a video on making axles. This guy is very good at customs and I would recommend checking his other stuff out. He also uses some other techniques for doing the same thing, but this one works quite well.

 

[AOS-]

A cost effective way of doing it without having to do all that extra work in the video above, is to get 1/16" tubing (also made by K&S Precisions Metals), pull the axles off an existing HW and cut those in half. Get the wheels you want to use inserted into each of the axle halves. Cut a piece of the tubing that you will insert both axle halves on each end.

Grab some crimper or even some not-so sharp wire cutters and crimp the ends of the tubing so that it pinches the axles hard enough the axles no longer move.

Of course there will be measuring involved, I usually just match the length of the groove on the base where the axle sits to make things simpler.

 

[GTboyz]

A cost effective way of doing it without having to do all that extra work in the video above, is to get 1/16" tubing (also made by K&S Precisions Metals), pull the axles off an existing HW and cut those in half. Get the wheels you want to use inserted into each of the axle halves. Cut a piece of the tubing that you will insert both axle halves on each end.

Grab some crimper or even some not-so sharp wire cutters and crimp the ends of the tubing so that it pinches the axles hard enough the axles no longer move.

Of course there will be measuring involved, I usually just match the length of the groove on the base where the axle sits to make things simpler.

Yeah that's probably the best way. Planning on swapping the wheels on the white Kenmeri Skyline but i'm so freaking nervous screwing it up

 

[Spencer426]

So , hi again ! I have seven photos of recent builds I'd like to share , They're all old school American cars . Hope you like them

The 'Bonkers Donk Hearse' will be stripped & painted matt black - again .
The '32 roadster pick up will get a full chassis eventually - detailed with proper axles and suspension details , and I'll make yet another screen
(The pinstriped plinth is just a kitchen tile with metalflake in it !)
The green 4 - The Willys needs some better wheels , The Dodge I'm happy with as is , The Camaro needs to be lowered somewhat , The vette , another screen .

 

[GTboyz]

Wonder if there's anyway to make a car base wider ?

Like for example, the wheels on Torino Talladega and the XB Falcon are inside the fenders, because they have short axles.

And i'm thinking of a way to make it like this :

 

[AOS-]

Wonder if there's anyway to make a car base wider ?

Like for example, the wheels on Torino Talladega and the XB Falcon are inside the fenders, because they have short axles.

And i'm thinking of a way to make it like this :

The axles aren't short because of the base piece (if that's what you're referring to). It's short because the wheels are physically being blocked by the fenders.

In this scenario, if you're looking to have the wheels be flush with the body, you'll have to shave off parts of the fender to allow adequate space for the wheels. Afterwards, I would then snip the axle and add in a piece of tubing to extend its overall length (see earlier post). If it helps paint a picture, think shower curtain rods or anything telescopic.

 

[GTboyz]

The axles aren't short because of the base piece (if that's what you're referring to). It's short because the wheels are physically being blocked by the fenders.

In this scenario, if you're looking to have the wheels be flush with the body, you'll have to shave off parts of the fender to allow adequate space for the wheels. Afterwards, I would then snip the axle and add in a piece of tubing to extend its overall length (see earlier post). If it helps paint a picture, think shower curtain rods or anything telescopic.

Unless, if i can increase the height of the car then i wouldn't have to shave the fender. I'm gonna buy some tubes then.

 

[AOS-]

Unless, if i can increase the height of the car then i wouldn't have to shave the fender.

I wouldn't raise the height as the fenders aren't even round to begin with. You're not trying to go for a donk car I imagine.

 

[GTboyz]

I wouldn't raise the height as the fenders aren't even round to begin with. You're not trying to go for a donk car I imagine.

Yeah no, i'm going for the real life look.

Well this is gonna be tough, or i could just do this onel the XB Falcon since the fender is rounder than the Talladega.

 

[Spencer426]

RE: Axle width ....
When I did a 1940 Willys gasser ( like the green one in my pics above , but high stanced ) , I removed the axles ,made a groove on the outside of the chassis with a fine saw blade then put the wheels under the chassis . It only needs to hold the axle with glue as I won't be turning it upside down . Wheelies , yes , but not so it shows the grafting .
The same could be done for NASCAR / Dirt track styled muscle cars I guess .
Traditional looking 8 spokes can be used from -correct scale - "Cars movie" toys..... Er ... I mean scaled model race vehicles !!!!
( I did that too ! )
The radius of the arches can sometimes be a problem , that's when drillers and fillers get involved !!
My next project !
This: The paint is SOOOOO thick on these "road trippin" cars ! Dipping it in stripper next week .
Into this !!!: Possibly with rear fender skirts and chromed steel wheels , not wires .

 

[Spencer426]

I'm on a creative streak here !
I saw these in a local ASDA ( part of the wallmart group ) superstore a while ago and brought six in total just for the split 5 spokes .
Drilled rivets , stripped paint with super stinky cellulose thinners (as I'm out of paint stripper) Ground off axle tabs & body casting lines at the rear fenders . Fitted the big 5's easily enough , some clearance trouble with rear end , brute force & ignorance prevails again ! !
Going for Gold & Green . not sure which way around yet . Gold top / green lower ..... or other way ?? What do you guys think ???? "Ford Tibetan Gold" ( bronze-ish ) & "Rover Tara Green" ( same as the above 4 cars ! 👍👍)
Clear coated the green has a great metalflake look "in scale" ! I haven't got to clear coat the Gold yet
Chrome accent & window frames will be sanded back bare after paint

 

[DUBer]

Hot Wheels Lamborghini Aventador

Wheel swap and window tint


These two "Off-roaders" are almost finished. Just some minor touch ups left.

Hot wheels Mega-duty & Matchbox 1997 Land Rover Defender 110

 

[Sonygamer455]

Been a while since I have posted here again. That Speed Blaster I bought recently had bent axles, so I tried snipping them with wire cutters WITHOUT taking the car apart and I was successful.

Now i'm going to try to see if I can use this method and make new axles for it without taking the car apart. If I am successful with this one and a few others, I may proceed to craft some new axles for the Dodge Rampage I recently bought. I have no desire to take it apart, but I do want it to roll good however.

Here is that Tipping Lorry I also got recently. I don't really have any big plans for it. All I really plan to do to it is give it new wheels and some detailing. I like the casting as it is and don't really care to tamper with it too much.

I took it apart the other day and messed around with some of the spare wheels I had leftover from other cars.
Here it is stock of course.

Just a set of PR5's.

Probably can't tell from this angle, but the rear wheel is actually bigger than the front. So I made an additional picture below.

Here's a better view of it. It has a bit of stance to it due to the difference in wheel sizes. Interesting, but not something that belongs on this truck. Despite the rear wheel being bigger than what it originally had, it can still roll without any problems. Interesting.

Here is a set of real riders I had lying around. The rims were actually from a Baja Breaker, but I used the tires from some other castings I took apart since the off road tires were too big. Happy with the result, but they're small.

What set do ya'll like the best?

I really want to get some nice off road real riders small enough to fit on this one. I'd also like to get the wheels from the new Renault 5 Turbo and see how they look as well. Maybe if i'm lucky I can find some off road tires that fit the Renault's rims and combine them for this casting. Be a nice unique twist for a unique casting like this one!

 

[AOS-]

Eeasily the last set. The other two don't even look like service vehicle wheels.

Don't you have other less-sporty less-exotic wheels?


Honestly, matte black/grey 5SPs look more fitting that PR5s any day.

 

[Spencer426]

I like that tipper ! Never seen that one before ...
I.M.O. = Those deep dish Real riders with chunkier tyres would suit it the best.
I'm curious as to what the red convertible at the back of the picture is . My guess is a Gen 1 (67-69) Camaro .

 

[GTboyz]

Well... Crap, anyone know how to tighten that gap on the rear bumper ?