More Humor In Diecast

You can't take life too seriously, so that's why I can always find humor in anything.  Even little toy cars.

Save my walrus.

There's a joke here somewhere.

Your classic Pimpmobile.

No joke here, but it does have lots of possibilities for a funny caption.

This is a customized vehicle of mine I call "The Druglord."

Car stripped while Police turn a blind eye.

A monster truck got loose at Harrah's.

3 out of 4 giant Astronauts prefer the easy-opening hatch on the new DeLorean DMC-12.

Cows and Diecast - A Perfect Combination

These are just some random pictures of cows posed with diecast vehicles.  I hope you enjoy them - I know I sure do.

Truckin' Big

The Lindberg Line had a long history of making model kits of military vehicles, planes, ships and cars and trucks. In 1968 they released a line of Hot Wheels-sized model kits called "Mini-Lindys." For more information on this series, see this link. This series ended in 1970, but Lindberg kept adding new models and re-releasing old castings in new series. One model from the initial 1968 series was called the Ryder Truck, a Ford-based moving van. It was re-released in the Truckin' Big series renamed "The Moving Van." It came molded in yellow, but I painted the one I had black:

Here is the original instruction sheet that came with it:

On the other side of the instructions, were directions on how to put together the little garage that also came with the kit. These are some of the trucks that were in these subsequent series, such as "Truckin' Big," "Hi-Rollers," "Over The Road," "Van Go" and "Big Wheels":

"High Rollers" series:
1. Dump Truck. (Mini Lindy No. 11)
2. Mail Truck. (Mini Lindy No. 13)
3. High Hauler. (Mini Lindy No. 32)
4. Van Machine. (Mini Lindy No. 8)
5. Cement Mixer. (Mini Lindy No. 14)
6. Tow Truck. (Mini Lindy No. 16)
7. Pickup Camper. (Mini Lindy No. 22)
8. Tractor-Trailer. (Mini Lindy No. 24)

"Van Go" series:
1. Gypsy Van. (Mini Lindy No. 13)
2. Can Van. (Mini Lindy No. 7)
3. Van Camp. (Mini Lindy No. 22)
4. Van Do Van. (Mini Lindy No. 8)
5. The Moving Van. (Mini Lindy No. 32)
6. Travelin' Van. (Mini Lindy No. 23)
7. Mighty Van. (Mini Lindy No. 12)
8. Vandit. (Mini Lindy No. 2)

"Big Wheels" series:
1. Pickup and Camper. (Mini Lindy No. 22 - I would really love to acqure this model. It features a Chevrolet pickup on the cover, but is actually a Ford truck.)

"Truckin' Big" series:
1. The Moving Van. (Mini Lindy No. 32)

There are others in these series, but I'm still researching which models were released.

A True Classic

Here's a real beauty I found the other day by Greenlight - a 1953 Cadillac Eldorado convertible. It's solid metal with both a diecast metal body and frame. It's part of their Motor World series. Check out the detail on this model:

Look for further shots of this classic sooner or later. It just screams to be used in some kind of diorama setting.

New Kid On The Block

Matchbox recently put out an iconic legend - a station wagon! Yes, when most vehicle manufacturers are stuck on minivans and SUVs and crossovers, Cadillac released the modern version of the venerable classic. Matchbox has recreated this Cadillac CTS wagon in great detail. I've also seen this same model in silver, so be on the lookout for that one as well. Without further ado, here's the car:

And I finally found the silver version:

It's Truck Month Again!

Once again, it's Truck Month here at Diecast Destination. And this month we're featuring Chevrolet trucks. So wander through the lot and see if there's anything you like!

I think this Chevrolet stepside pickup from the 1970's was made by Yat Ming.

And I'm almost certain that this was the same Chevrolet stepside, but a copy of the Yat Ming model made by another company as a knock-off.

This is a Hot Wheels Custom '69 Chevrolet.

Hot Wheels '56 Flashsider.

Hot Wheels '50's Chevy Truck.

This beauty is a 1968 Chevrolet C-10 pickup made by Greenlight.

Here's a Hot Wheels '83 Chevy Silverado.

Another Hot Wheels, this time a Custom '62 Chevy pickup.

This one is of a newer Chevrolet Silverado, made by Matchbox.

Matchbox Chevrolet Avalanche.

Restored Flash

Hot Wheels released their version of the British-made Lotus Esprit in 1979 and called it "Royal Flash." The first version was in white, and apparently it was only released one more time, in orange. I started with an old first version model and decided it needed to be "brought back to life" by restoring it. Rather than recreating the original paint scheme, I decided to go with a finish in blue that would look deep. This would be achieved by using a certain kind of candy apple-type paint over a base coat of chrome silver. The car itself was in decent shape, as you can see by the above photo, but the wheels were pretty worn. I opted to update the wheels as well.

Here's a view of the base, showing some age, but not pitted anywhere. The way it was designed employed only one rivet instead of the usual two. This would be drilled out and the body pieces would be cleaned and the paint stripped.

Here's another view showing how the original paint was heavily chipped at most edges and the tampo in red, white and blue was all but gone from the roof. Despite this, I thought it had a lot of potential.

Here it is after the paint had been stripped and I was trying out some Hot Wheels real rider tires to see what they would look like. They ended up being a little too thick for the look I was going for, so I decided against using them.

This image shows all the different pieces laid out, newly cleaned and the body sporting it's base coat of chrome silver. The plastic window glass piece wasn't cracked anywhere and shined up nicely.

Here it is again with a test fit of the newly-painted body and with some different wheels and tires. It was starting to look like it would turn out nice and with a good "stance."

And here is the finished car, with it's new deep blue paint and the modern wheels fitted. It certainly brings the car into the modern era and gives it a distinctive look all it's own. I had a lot of fun working on this project and I can't wait for the next one!