Hot Wheels and Matchbox Customizing Thread

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FinksGolf1.jpg


Awesome work, Finkelstein. I'm stunned at the detail here - did you also do the taillight shading and rear-window heater element?
 
@ Harry.
Wrong thread, but i'm diggin that too. Some 1/24 Fujimi and Tamiya models i have, come with the rear heated screen element water slide decals, it's either that or he's scribed/etched them himself on the inside of the screen.

@ Katiegan.
Props for doing your 1st custom on a Morris Mini 👍, i did the same (my 1st custom), it didn't turn out how i'd expected it to (i still need to finish it), but found it to be an interesting learning curve. I really need to strip it and start again at some point.

couple of pics:



 
At 1ness
@ Katiegan.
Props for doing your 1st custom on a Morris Mini 👍, i did the same (my 1st custom), it didn't turn out how i'd expected it to (i still need to finish it), but found it to be an interesting learning curve. I really need to strip it and start again at some point.

couple of pics:
Click to expand...

It was the first Hot Wheels I got and it was starting to chip, so I thought I'd use it as my first project! :D

Yours didn't come out too bad, although it looks to me as if your paint was too thick? I made that mistake with a Mustang I was building out of a plastic model kit. I think I ruined that beyond repair :scared:.

Work has started on my Mini. My dad has a dremel and a few decent drill bits for it from when he was a construction worker, so I'm using that. I have no paint stripper so I'm having to use a sanding tool from the dremel to get the paint off... good move or not? It's working, it just doesn't sand away the small bits, which was expected. The rivets took forever to come off, I'm not sure if that's because it's a mixture of metal and plastic or just because the drill bit is blunt. I can't get the windows off, which is annoying, as I was planning on taking them out and spraying them. I've caught the front and back window slightly whilst sanding, hopefully that doesn't cause too much of a drama. I still need to take apart the donor car for the wheel swap. Oh, and how do you get the wheels out? They seem to be held in, do you just drill off those metal clip looking things or is there another way?

Pics will come soon!
 
Yes, welcome to the thread and hobby. :D

As far as paint stripper is concerned, I'd make a quick jaunt down to your local hardware store for a can of the spayable kind. I mean, if you're going to get into this hobby you'll need the stuff evenually. :P

And then for the little clips...I'm sure your dad must have a Dremel bit that'll work to remove those buggers.
 
Nice work, I have done this before. It was a C3 corvette that my friend gave me
I have taken apart a dodge viper but never got around to doing anything to it.
I am now planning on working on 1998 Porsche 911 GT1 :)
 
Paint stripper is defintely on the shopping list, along with sharper drill bits. I still can't get the windows off and the donor car's rivets show no signs of drilling through. Even the headlight wouldn't drill through for the induction kit! The sanding worked for the majority of the paint, now we just have to wait for some stripper to take the rest of it off.

Pictures are of appauling quality, the camera was being a PITA with its flash. I tried to get a picture of the rivets on the donor car, but the lense casts a shadow too much, so all I got was an upside-down wheel and a huge black shape across the rest of the picture.


Finally got the Mini apart, tested the sander on the dremel to see if it did a decent job.



The rivet for the windows which would not drill through at all.



The most of what I could get off with the sander.





That's the donor car in the background, wearing the wheels I'm hoping to put on the Mini, if I can get the rivets off it...

 
Lookin good, i just used sand paper on my matchbox car, but will definitely have to make a trip to B&Q to get some paint stripper.

Just got a quick question, as i'm going to re-paint the car, do i need a base coat/primer?
 
AOS-
Good choice of wheels, but you could totally redo the paintjob, including the wheels.
Click to expand...

Cheers. I plan on doing exactly that (repainting the Mini). That 'Z' funny car looks really cool, though i think that sill cut/gap is maybe a bit too big (imo), as for the mirrored livery, i'm with DarkAvenger on that one.. can't stand them, but the wheels he chose are perfect, and the car sits just right. 👍

@ DarkAvenger.
As i said before: looking forward to the photo's, even if you think they're awful, it should serve as a good reference, to show your improvement when it comes to your next custom. 👍

@ Katiegan.
Thanks 👍, and you're right.. the black enamel (roof, wheelarches) was applied way too thickly. Having access to a Dremel should be well handy (wish i had one myself :(), looking at the pics, you managed to get a fair bit of paint off, but using paint stripper is far easier, (this may intrest 'mp10' as well) i can't remember the name of the stuff i got from 'B&Q' (recently ran out) but it came in a white bottle (small shampoo sized bottle) and cost about 7-8 quid if i remember correctly, there was a few choices there, but i couldn't seem to find the spray variety, only the liquid/gel stuff.. also if you use this stuff, make sure you wear rubber gloves, as it does irritate the skin.
As for the PITA roof rivet, it took me about 20 mins remove the windows :ouch:.... my drill battery charger decided it would no-longer charge, so i literally had to drill it off by hand :crazy:, i just held the drill bit firmly in my aching palm and spun the car around on it's roof until i could free the windows :lol:, it left a slight dimple in the roof though, (pressed down too hard with the drill bit).
To free the axles, try using a chisel or flat-head screwdriver between the 3 prongs to try and prize/twist them open (i usually use a small engineering ruler, seems to do the trick), What 'McZachen' suggested (Dremel bit), should be far easier though.
 
Last edited:
No different from Hotwheels, both made by Mattel

- drill apart
- strip green paint
- clean thoroughly
- light coat of primer / wait a day
- paint black / wait a day
- detail lights, etc
- clearcoat / wait 2 days
- re-assemble
- finished

:)
 
I am quite suprised that they got the cabin details close to the real thing.

You can see a dimple of where the Engine Start button is.
 
How do you guys go about fixing crooked drill lines?

Sometimes I can drill out the rivet just fine, and more often it ends up trailing off to the side where it becomes impossible to fix.
 
At 1ness
Cheers. I plan on doing exactly that (repainting the Mini). That 'Z' funny car looks really cool, though i think that sill cut/gap is maybe a bit too big (imo), as for the mirrored livery, i'm with DarkAvenger on that one.. can't stand them, but the wheels he chose are perfect, and the car sits just right. 👍

@ DarkAvenger.
As i said before: looking forward to the photo's, even if you think they're awful, it should serve as a good reference, to show your improvement when it comes to your next custom. 👍
Click to expand...

Aaaah... i think i will not do a custom anymore. I lack materials and tools for it. lol.
 
AOS-
How do you guys go about fixing crooked drill lines?

Sometimes I can drill out the rivet just fine, and more often it ends up trailing off to the side where it becomes impossible to fix.
Click to expand...

Drill it with a smaller bit first, like I do for my 2/56 screws. Even if you are not going to do the screw thing, it works great as a pilot hole to keep the larger bit centered.
 
Or you could get what I have which is a bit with smaller one on the tip that fits perfectly in the rivet.
 
R1600Turbo
Drill it with a smaller bit first, like I do for my 2/56 screws. Even if you are not going to do the screw thing, it works great as a pilot hole to keep the larger bit centered.
Click to expand...

Yeah, but the funny thing is that I can get a straight down sometimes without a pilot hole... maybe it's just the rivet itself, but I take it that's not what you do if you wanted out in less than 30 seconds, right?
 
Really all you are trying to do is remove the rivet head so the chassis separates. You shouldn't be drilling any more than that. I think if it's sliding side to side, that's way past the point for you to stop...
 
Before I left for school today, I tried a 13/64 bit and I still screwed up :lol:
This is rather pathetic.

A day earlier, I figured that one side got burrowed quicker than the other is because the drill bit wasn't perfectly perpendicular meaning one side got dug out more than the other resulting in the drill bit moving in that direction.

It sounds dumb, but I'm going to use a bit that even larger so that it becomes fail-proof on most chassis. Obviously I won't do this with rivets that are tucked inside the base like a inney belly button.
 

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