 |
 |
 |
You have ventured into the official photo gallery where you'll find items from my past collections such as diecast cars, brochures, catalogs, dioramas, odds and ends, plastic and diecast model kits I have built, slot cars and other things scale automotive related I wish you share via photos. You will also find some current photos such as diecast cars, model kits, radio control vehicles, etc. I will give you some background information on specific vehicles and items including links to a review if there is one and other trivia / tidbits so be sure to visit the site blog, the diecast page, reviews and the main page which links to feature articles / reviews I have written up.
Diecast This and That Gallery
From odd diecast vehicles to older catalogs, brochures, etc. relating to diecast model cars and replicas, you'll find it in this gallery. The idea is to stay away from what most other sites are doing so I won't duplicate their subject matter. This will be the place to feature a few items out of my collection and what I have come across during my adventures in collecting / building over the years from diecast to slot cars to model kits. You might find the odd catalog, odd diecast car or truck or a surprise so take a look at what I have featured. Items pictured here are for reference only and not available for sale. Check the for sale / trade / wanted section to see what I have currently up for sale.
 |
 |
M2 Machines 1:64 Detroit Muscle Mini Catalog Most of my M2 Machines collection is via Walmart thus they are in cubes instead of blister packages. I wasn't aware that M2 Machines included mini catalogs in some of their blister packed cars until I bought a new old stock 1966 Dodge Charger from their Detroit Muscle line-up. Who knows maybe some of the cubed cars had them in too but I never noticed because I didn't open them up. I talked to the person that I bought it from, a very nice guy and he looked at what other cars had them from his stock. This issue of the 1966 Charger was from their Release 07 but the catalog I scanned came out of an extra car, a 1970 Mustang from Release 17. You can view all of the past and current M2 Machines vehicles on their own website for reference with much more detail and better photos: www.m2machines.com I apologize for the quality but the catalog was folded up in the package for ages so it was hard to get a decent scan without all the creases. They should offer a color print catalog of past and present models for purchase to us collectors. If you know of other mini catalogs from them, contact me. |
 Here's a 1969 Charger 500 packaged the opposite way facing left from their 2016 line. |
 A missing windshield on this 1963 Ford Mustang II Concept Car from the mainline 2011 series. |
 Broken rear roof posts on a Nissan 370Z from the 2014 line-up. |
Hot Wheels Factory Errors There might be a surge of them online but I only encountered about roughly 1 in 500 by my own unscientific calculations. Mattel has fairly good quality control over their toy cars considering all that they produce over a production year. Sometimes there are tampo errors, missing parts, a broken piece, parts not assembled, etc. Mattel backs their Hot Wheels with a guarantee so you can always contact them on how to get a replacement but it might not be the same exact car. The only problem as some other collectors have noted to me and I have found out is that Mattel's QC has varied recently in that more errors are being found than from years before. As for price, it is up to people who actually collect these errors. I can't really put a value on them. At the very least, they have a retail price of about $1.00 I thought it would be nice to share some of my findings from collecting the line of Hot Wheels and diecast cars over time. I thought they're different thus making them a part of my collection but I have passed them on to other collectors. Again, Mattel is fairly good with their quality and it is difficult to put an exact value on these as they are not regularly collected. |
 |
Lesney Matchbox #8 Mustang Fastback The one on the left I discovered while at a collectibles antique shop that mostly deals in other items so there wasn't many diecast. The reason I picked it up in such bad condition with a bent roof was because of the working steering. The lever you see sticking out from under the driver's door moves the front wheels left or right by moving the lever either way. A pretty neat design for around 1966. Months later I came across a nicer example in a bag of diecasts at a thrift store which made my day. There was a tire or two missing as this version has separate rubber type tires compared to the metal tire version on the left. I like the contrast between the two of them. |
 |
More Hot Wheels Factory Variations / Errors One downfall about these errors is that you might find one such as a missing wheel, misaligned body or missing / scratched detail but then you'll need to get another to actually have a nice looking example. They could be classified as variations such as the Scion FR-S (Toyota 86) shown here issued in 2015 and others are actually factory quality control errors. I would like to again state that they are fairly rare to find with Mattel keeping their quality control high with good paint, decals, tampos, etc. for how many Hot Wheels they produce in a year's time. Pictured is a 2015 issue #237 Scion FR-S from the end of the 2015 line (Q case code) factory sealed without the roof and hood tamp decal decos. I'm not sure how rare this one is but the others I saw around always had the roof and hood deco. You can see a photo of the common one on my Revroz review page of the site. Be leery of loose ones as tampos can easily be removed if you know the technique. |
. |
PlayTape Highway Diorama Blacktop The photo on the left shows a piece of Classic Road Series Black, 30' x 4" wide PlayTape on black construction paper. The material is similar to masking tape but a little thicker. You can reposition it easily and will stick again as long as the surfaces you stick on is clean and not that dirty or dusty. It will stick pretty well the first time and is fairly durable but will tear by hand. For the street price of $13.99, it is worth it if you have kids or wish to do a lot of diorama pieces. The wide width is needed as it is scaled for 1/64 type cars such as Hot Wheels, Matchbox and others from Maisto, M2, Greenlight, Johnny Lightning, etc. One caveat with this tape is not to let the sticky side stick to itself as you can't pull it apart easily. Another is to test it on surfaces such as construction paper as it is fairly easy to reposition but it still very sticky. The 2015 Mustang GT on the right side of the road (our left when viewing the photo) is a Maisto All-Stars release which I used a silver paint marker to bring out the black wheels and on the left (our right) is a Stars n Stripes Walmart series Hot Wheels 1965 Mustang that was released in 2016. |
Plastic Model Kit Builds Gallery 2017
As stated below for the other gallery, I mostly build diecast prepainted kits and avoid plastic kits that require glue and paint. Sometimes, I'll have to use Testors cement for metal and wood models in the green tube to make sure a part is attached more securely. Here I get my hands dirty again with my first stab at painting and detailing a plastic model kit in over ten years. The first one is only a snap kit but I decided to give it a paint job and some more detailing rather than leaving it as-is. Maybe more will come in the future but I'm going to make them more in the line of fun builds than being stressed out over the details. I might even dedicate a section of this site to my second build as it will be a more casual take on model building.
It has been at least five years now since this I did a painted up kit - the Testors tube glue is fine at times for regular plastic model kits the orange one but as always be sure to have adequate ventilation when assembling any model kit even diecast requiring some use of any type of glue. Maybe sometime in the future I'll try my hand at getting back into this with another plastic kit to paint up myself instead of just assembling them with some very minor tweaks.
 After Spray Painting Main Body |
 Finished Result |
Revell 1/25 2014 Corvette Stingray Snap Kit (2017 Build) This snaptite kit originally came molded in a bright yellow color and chosen out of my batch to get me back into building plastic model kits again as a change of pace. Here you'll see the finished project which won't be perfect or even contest quality. I think I did a fairly good job for not building any plastic model car kits such as painting or detailing them in over ten years since about 2005. Now it's 2017 with me finally getting back into the groove a bit. This won't win anything at a model contest but for me it is fine as I enjoyed building this up after a long hiatus and for fun. It isn't perfect or on par with the professional-style model kit builders but still happy with the results, Remember to build for fun and not be disappointed by the fancy builds you see online as we improve over time. A few hiccups like the rear spoiler got broken during assembly, the black hand-painted areas could have been done better are shown here but all in all it was for enjoyment and to try model kit building again. Main color is Testors spray enamel copper with details painted with a Gundam black paint marker. I prefer the Tamiya paint markers such as silver and the Testors acrylic paint markers. They are harder to find these days in 2024 compared to the past but there are still paint markers available. |
Plastic Model Kit Builds Gallery
Back around 2005, I decided to build up some plastic
model kits after a long hiatus which required painting and some glue. I have done these few then
retired again so now at times I might do a snap kit out of the box or prepainted diecast kits
which require very little painting. The main thing I do with metal
model kits is
if they have the rear view mirror molded in with the glass unit is to mask
it off then use an acrylic paint marker to paint the rear flat black and the
front with bright silver for the front mirror part to give it a more
realistic look. It is best for me to stay away
from paints and regular model glue so I stick to just prepainted metal kits or molded in
color plastic snap kits if I want to build something.
 |
 |
Revell 1/25 1994 Impala SS This was originally a snap kit then released as a glue kit since it has enough parts and detail. First molded in black and later white. I did a orange paint job instead of doing a stock Impala SS color, sanded the tires and some other minor paint details |
 |
 |
1/25 1950 Chevy Panel Monster Truck This original issue 1/25 Grave Digger Monster Truck kit from Revell was bought cheap with the box already opened and missing the decals so I built it up as a generic monster truck. I would do things a little differently such as sanding the tires to get rid of the shine along with using different decals to give it a more realistic look. The main stumbling block was finding out in the middle of the project that I was missing a piece for the engine support. I was able to scratch-build something but still wasn't the same as from the factory. Back in 2013, Revell had re-issued this 1/25 plastic snap kit but then it had been discontinued again briefly in late 2016. The kit came back briefly listed #851234 from one source. The kit was listed available at a few other places as #85-1978. As of 2024, the kit has been discontinued for many years now. They might reissue it again in the future so keep watch, never know with Revell. |
 |
 |
Testors Fujimi 1/24 Isuzu Impulse Turbo This kit was built stock with a lime gold metal flake paint job plus some custom touches such as a set of ARII chrome wheels instead of the stock ones. This built as a mild custom street tuner with tinted dark rear hatch and side windows. The custom rear lights were made by cutting pieces of extra clear plastic sprue which was then painted clear red. The tuner exhaust style pipe came from my parts bin of screws and other various pieces. After all these years, I look at the photos to see I should have dull-coated the interior seats plus painting those front marker lights gold was totally wrong. The kit comes without an engine or opening hood with a sparse interior. I didn't care to do much more detailing at the time but a little bit more work would have helped the look of the car. |
Portable HO Slot Car Track and Slot Car Related
This was one of the first HO slot car
sets that was completely portable, self-containing and folded up in its
own plastic case for storage when not in use. It runs on 4D batteries and
included thumb controllers for each lane. The set was made by Spirit Toys
and features two unique HO slot car Formula 1 cars with small guide flags
instead of a guide pin with normal pick-up shoes similar to other HO slot
cars. Once you unfold it and put up the supports, the center fits together
so you won't have any gaps. The slot is slightly wider than standard HO
track so you will have some problems with standard HO cars. A simple mechanical lap counter is integrated into the track
along with two cross-over sections.
 |
This was purchased from a retail catalog years back and I do not currently know of any sources for this set. I only have had one for myself which just collects dust now so it went to a better home in early 2024. As of 2013, there was larger scale about 1/43 portable folding sets out available with the same concept but use generators as controllers for crank power or batteries. I have not personally tried one out so I can't comment on the pros and cons of them overall. While not perfect, it was easy to fold up and put under a bed or in a closet, etc. If you are looking for something that you would use more often and allow for easy expansion including adding more cars and layout options, I'd recommend investing in a Tyco / Mattel, AutoWorld, Life-Like Racing or Tomy AFX HO slot car set. It is best to mount it on a 4 x 8 foot board. By searching online, you can find various resources to help you with your HO slot car quest. |
 |
1964 Plymouth Belvedere 1/24 Slot Car for Home Track Racing: 1997-1998 era While not really wanting to go into the subject of slot cars that much, I do want to share a photo I found of a 1/24 slot car I had put together around 1997. I had to scan in this photo due to it being an actual 5 x 7 print. This was one of my earlier creations. The body is Lexan / polycarbonate by Harmon's Hobbies, the rear tires and wheel combo are Candies brand silicones New Old Stock from the 1960s and the chassis is probably a Dynamic with a 36D Mabuchi motor - the 16D was smaller and became the standard for decades. I could be mistaken in exact details as I would pick up chassis / parts in trades and numerous sources to make these runners. I tried to build these on the cheap without spending a lot of money as some wanted big money for vintage chassis so I went for the more common and lower priced ones. This was set-up to run on my two-lane low amp Sears / Marx 1/24 home track road course in the basement at the time. The body was hand painted on the inside using Monogram ProModeler acrylic paint, decals came from the parts box and I added the trim tape I got at the local mall hobby shop that closed in early 1998. Sadly, I never kept one of these creations to look back even as a display. They were great therapy at the time to build up from parts and create. |