Hot Wheels

It was a stock car with hub caps and black walls. I have 3 or 4 more I wish I could do that too. I made a tube axle from a pen again for it. I use what I find around the house.
Picked up a Monogram 68 Mustang Fastback to build today. I'm going to try to photograph that build after this cold spell breaks.

 

Hot Wheels Bug Rod

 

Posted up in a local BS thread, but I'll repost it here after being referred by @williams63 .

I spent some time this evening screwing around with my first modified 1/18 scale model. I collect them as a hobby off and on and although I've greatly pared down my fleet, I still have probably about 35 of them. I started when I was probably 8-9 and had a very long stretch of not buying anything, but I've bought a few as of late. On of the models I bought was of my Corvette. It's by Bburago, so the quality is really meh compared to say, an AutoART like the model I have of my STi, but it's the only one that matches the color of my car. I could always paint an old UT, but I'm not so sure I'd be any good at that.

I later learned that there are companies that make replacement wheels for 1/18 models incluidng the same BBS LM wheels I have on my car, so I ordered up a set as well as bought a spare navy blue Bburago Corvette. I got to playing tonight for a bit. I swapped the Bburago tires as the tires that came with the wheels were stance style rubber bands and I wanted something a bit meatier. Unfortnuately the wheels and axles dont' play well together, so my setup is just resting on those wheels. There are people who spend a ton of time at this and built bearings, etc to make them work. I also painted the front turn signals to match the black housed / clear lens ones I have.

Unfortunately the replacement wheels are way more aggressive in size and offset than what I've got on my actual car, but it's pretty neat to see how close I got. All things being equal, I'd actually prefer my LMs look like these rather than what they look like, but that's not happening. There's an AutoART RX-7 with BBS LMs that look perfect compared to my set, but I wasn't about to buy a $300+ model only to cut it up to put the pieces on a $20 model. So this the end result posed with what I started with:

IMG_3034 by Mike M, on Flickr
IMG_3038 by Mike M, on Flickr
IMG_3043 by Mike M, on Flickr

Then just a pair of reference shots.
IMG_1813 - Copy by Mike M, on Flickr
IMG_1815 - Copy copy by Mike M, on Flickr

I'm not a huge 1/64 guy, although I've got probably 99% of my Matchbox / Hot Wheels cars from when I was a kid in the late 80s / early to mid 90s. My 1/18 models are my primary collection / display setup.

 

I collect all sizes and have 25 - 30 1/18s that I will be posting soon. Most of my collection is 1/24 but I do have a couple hundred 1/64s. If I like it I will buy it but it makes more sense to buy the smaller cars because of space requirements. I like seeing what everyone is posting and enjoy the comments.

 

Well, then here's the rest of the collection:

IMG_8659 by Mike M, on Flickr
Top to bottom:

• Revell Porsche 914
• Ertl 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS
• AutoART 2006 Subaru WRX STi
• Ertl / Racing Champions The Fast and the Furious Supra
• Ertl / Racing Champions The Fast and the Furious Eclipse
• Sunstart DeLorean DMC-12

IMG_8662 by Mike M, on Flickr
Top to bottom, left to right:

• Ertl 1969 Chevrolet Camaro SS
• Ertl 1969 Oldsmobile Cutlass Hurst Olds
• UT Models BMW 328i (E46)
• Hot Wheels Ferrari F355
• Sunstar DeLorean Back to the Future 2 Time Machine
• Bbuargo Dodge Viper GTS Coupe
• Maisto 1972 Chevrolet Chevelle SS
• Bburago Porsche 911 (993)
• Hot Wheels Honda Civic (EK)
• Ertl / Joyride Knight Rider / KITT Trans Am
• UT Models Porsche Boxster

IMG_8660 by Mike M, on Flickr
Top to bottom, left to right:

• Hot Wheels Honda CRX (EF)
• Johnny Lighting VW Beetle (Herbie)
• Maisto Ferrari 348 Targa
• Ertl 1969 Plymouth Road Runner
• UT Models 1996 Chevrolet Impala SS
• Ertl 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona
• Ertl 1969 Ford / Shelby GT500
• Ertl Ford Torino - Starsky and Hutch
• Hot Wheels 1969 Chevrolet Corvette ZL-1
• Random Brand Lamborghini Countach
• Ertl 1973 Pontiac Trans Am SD455

IMG_8638 by Mike M, on Flickr

• Greenlight "First of the V8 Interceptors" Ford XB Falcon sedan - Mad Max MFP Interceptor
• Greenlight "Last of the V8 Interceptors" Ford XB Falcon GT coupe - Mad Max MFP Pursuit Special

Not pictured:
Maisto Ford Mustang (New Edge)
Bburago Dodge Viper RT10 Roadster
Bbuargo Ferrari 288 GTO

I'm trying to limit my 1/18 buying these days to items that pull at my heart strings in one way or another since I'm out of cabinet space. I've been collecting on and off since I was about 10 and many of my models I used to actually play with which is why some aren't in awesome shape. I actually probably got rid of a solid 15-20 a few years back. My short list of cars to grab are the original Ertl / Racing Champions The Fast and the Furious Dom's RX-7 and the Heist Civic and then the 2 Fast 2 Furious Evo. I'd like to replace my Johnny Lightning Herbie with the Hot Wheels one, but it's prohibitively expensive sadly. The Johnny Lightning one stinks in terms of details as the colors aren't right and the "53" is just wrong. But, at the time it was the only Herbie model made, so...

 

Damn I love looking at those, great collection and those cases look great too.

 

Love all of them. Not today but someday you’re going to have to take a few of those out of the case and take some closer pictures. Like the Starsky and Hutch Gran Torino!

 

Now, why the heck has this thread never popped up onto my radar before!?

I like hot wheels. Keep a couple in my office.

Maybe a few boxes full of them in a closet or two. Mostly newer stuff. I’ve only been collecting for a few years.

 

Greenlight Falcon XB

 

Few scuffs and scratches but still pretty cool. Hong Kong version

 

I’ll open it when I get more room to display them.

 

The Cameo is one of my 1/18 scale die casts. Its about 20 - 25 years old. The Duster and Fairlane are models that came molded in color. I left well enough alone and just did upgrades with the wheels and tires.The fat white walls are slightly over sized.

 

I sometimes cheat on hot wheels and buy matchbox. I think I'm going to repaint this one OD green and customize it. It won't make on the hot wheels wall though because, well, it ain't the same without the flame

 

Go for it. Hopefully I will find one of those around here. That one has a lot of potential.

 

Ain't gonna lie. That paint was way harder to remove than on a hot wheels. Must be a different paint system??? Paint stripper didn't work that well. Dremel and wire wheel was needed.

 

Nice!

 

She's primed and ready for that gorgeous OD green

 

The model kits are all Johans that I had built in the late 70s and early 80s. I liked Johan models because they did the less popular cars and the kits were easier to build. Their decals were crap though and the Maverick and Cuda were Sox and Martin and Dyno Don Nicholson cars. The Cuda also has some serious back tire rub. The green car is a 68 New Yorker.

 

Accomplished my first wheel swap, it was more of a test to understand the drilling out rivets, tapping and screwing base back on process. Practiced on some duplicate cars i had, then did the wagon.