Retro Matchbox/Lesney Restomod

[charles97]

So me and my dad have been going to local toy fairs and similar events on and off for most of my life. Due to me not ever having much money to spend I'd always be looking for something cheap that was still cool. And this often pushed me towards old stuff that was well play worn, which more often that not resulted in the purchase of a Lesney era Matchbox car or similar. Soon I had built up a decent size collection of less than decent matchbox cars.



Last Sunday we went to a model railway club trade event and I was really on the look out for some Tri-ang Transcontinental bits as I have quite a collection of that too, however, there were only two coaches and they were £5 and they were far worse than what I already have and were priced up for more than I payed! So this left me with no real need to buy anything, but you know what it's like - you never want to leave empty handed. So I found a No. 57 1959 Chevrolet Impala 2 door in much better condition than the one I already had, and at £2 I thought I'd be silly not to.





So this now leaves me with an original Impala with very little paint that flakes off every time you pick it up and the newly acquired one which isn't much better, but is better at least. So I sat there thinking that this makes the original one worthless and may as well bin it as it'll have no monetary value. But remembering how cool it was ten or so years ago I thought maybe I'll just have to do something with it.

And looking at the two E-types I have (wouldn't that be nice!) I noticed the same was true there too. A case of one fairly decent, and one fairly bad example of each car. So I decide rather than just bin them, I'll do something with them.





Then I get to the point of no return as I get out the heavy box of assorted drill bits.

I drilled out the posts that connect body and chassis on both cars just with the drill bit in my hand as I didn't want to remove too much material, and I had no real way of holding it without crushing them in a vice to use a drill on them. It took a little while longer but the sound was much more pleasant. So this leaves both cars in bits like so



The windows in the impala are held in the same way the body is attached to the chassis, where as, the E-Type has an interior that holds the Windows in place against the body.
After a little look at the Impala I decided to put the chassis on the body, upside down. This results in a significantly lower car so this will definitely happen, or be mimicked when the car goes back together.



And that's as far as I got last night but next time there wil be some paint removal and discussing thoughts for their restoration/modification I think. Hope this interests people and there's not too much waffle. Unlike my other threads I'm working on this project alone so if this thread ends up in the abandoned section there is only me to blame - hopefully enough to motivate me if all else fails

Also this may be down to the fact I've been wanting a project for so long but everytime storage is the issue so I've had to resort to cars that only take up a matchbox not a whole garage

[pistonpopper]

Interesting, I shall be watching how this goes with interest. I also have that '59 Chevy model which I repainted badly with humbrol enamel about 20 years ago.

[Jez]

Great idea! I love old Lesney Matchbox. Look forward to seeing how this turns out...

[charles97]

Thanks for the interest, genuinely didn't think this would generate as much. Spurred on by said interest, I got home from work and continued on with the impala, and may have ordered a Mercedes 300 Coupé

Here is a picture from last night showing all you need for this project so far.



Think the drill bit was a 5/32 bit which I found to be perfect for drilling out the posts as the diameter matches that of the post, not something to worry about on the flat bottomed Impala, however, the E-Type has a recess in the floor for the rear post where a drill bit any larger would damage the floor.

Tonight I got the body of the Impala and decided I'd have to do something. Probably not the best idea but I decided to paint the interior, first just with random primer then with random can of satin black. Better than brushing on Humbrol paint that it would appear both me and pistonpopper are guilty of, but still not as good as using that airbrush that's in the loft somewhere. I will dig that out for exterior paintwork though as I can't just rattle can that, especially when the rattle can black was probably as old as me. This didn't really leave the best results but test fitting the glazing shows that it actually looks okay after all.

Wrap car in a little bit of masking tape to avoid painting the wrong stuff. Despite not masking the windows separate to the body I actually got no overspray at all despite the obvious gaps. Now ready for paint.


First apply even, light coating of primer.


Next shake the can of black very well knowing its old, spray test area on back wall of "spray booth" (big box from euros), and then spray car. Watch as spray goes from fine, constant misting to heavy, inconsistent splattering. Realise it's too late and carry on regardless.


Step three: leave horrible mess to dry for a couple of hours then come back and inspect it later. Not too bad, better with windows in and chassis back on.

By this point you may have seen there is a third project now on the go, completely accidental, was just using it to prop up the Impala whilst it was getting painted. This is my Humbrol car: a Lesney 65/66 Mustang Fastback that cost 10p probably ten years ago. Had many repaints since then, all by brush and Humbrol or Revell paints. But after sustaining much abuse, nearly losing the roof after separating from the rear quarters after they have been damaged and a lot of outside play as a child, it's time it got some love. As a result of it being in such poor condition it won't be anything special though.



I do actually have another one of these with working steering and possibly an interior so will have some good before and after shots for most of these projects. Notice at least three different colours on the windows; red, white, blue(somewhere) and eventually black.

[MiataMark]

I've got these that I could/should do something with

[charles97]

I really like those jags, has the mk10 got a plastic body? And I put a bid in on a couple of job lots that had Corsairs in but it was the only car that I really wanted in those lots and got out bid already - I reckon the Corsair has great potential!

[MiataMark]

Yes the Jag is plastic, so not sure I could easily repaint it. Pity about the the Corsair's windscreen, though.

[charles97]

I was thinking the same about repainting it, though you must be able to get good plastic friendly paints for airfix kits and similar that could work? Yeah I had noticed that, is a shame but should be replaceable.

[pistonpopper]

I think you'd paint that Jag ok, I've painted plastic kits in my model making days with aerosol car paint and it worked ok. Just very lightly dust it with primer a few times, then blezz on your top coat.

[59impala]

You have my approval for the restoration of the Impala, not that you need it, lol. But I own a real one hence the approval. I also collect model cars and have a sizeable collection, at the moment I'm sorting out a model display room with 1/43 scale models which is my main interest. That said while sorting out the packing boxes that I put my models in some three years ago before I moved house I found way more small scale stuff than I remembered! Loads of 59 Impalas naturally but much other stuff. I still have many of the Matchbox cars from my childhood, they cost two shillings for ages. I'm looking forward to following your restorations!

[charles97]

Oct 11, 2017 20:44:12 GMT 59impala said:

You have my approval for the restoration of the Impala, not that you need it, lol. But I own a real one hence the approval. I also collect model cars and have a sizeable collection, at the moment I'm sorting out a model display room with 1/43 scale models which is my main interest. That said while sorting out the packing boxes that I put my models in some three years ago before I moved house I found way more small scale stuff than I remembered! Loads of 59 Impalas naturally but much other stuff. I still have many of the Matchbox cars from my childhood, they cost two shillings for ages. I'm looking forward to following your restorations!

Thanks 59impala! Funnily enough I saw the name 59impala elsewhere on the forum after posting this and wondered if you'd end up here


Uhhhhh gutted...
Last night I filled the gap below the door on the mustang where the steering lever would have been with Solder. I did a good job of that too! Tonight, trying to file it back, I got it flush on the outside but it wasn't quite flush on the inside which meant the chassis and body wouldn't mate correctly. Going back in with the file to remove the tiniest amount of solder and the whole bloody lump falls out. Tried doing the same again but the solder just would not stick to car like it did before.

Soooo, we'll have to try something else. Other news is got some cheap paint stripper that works wonders on the etype and mustang but the impala isn't giving up its paint so easy. The solder as filler is also a pain as I wanted to use that to fill the hole where the tow hook would be on the Impala.

[MiataMark]

Oct 11, 2017 21:31:57 GMT charles97 said:

Other news is got some cheap paint stripper that works wonders on the etype and mustang but the impala isn't giving up its paint so easy. The solder as filler is also a pain as I wanted to use that to fill the hole where the tow hook would be on the Impala.

Try a wire wheel in a dremel.


resto_3 by Mark Palmer, on Flickr

[charles97]

Looks to have worked pretty well @miatamark! Will get a wire wheel at the weekend, though the paint is pretty flakey so a wire brush may work.

This is the etype with a little paint stripper on it, look at the peel on that paint - good stuff. And on the mustang the paint fell off when I was putting the stripper on it.





Love it when the postman comes while I'm at work.
New project, Mercedes 300 SE. The model is newer than I thought, but based off the earlier car which is the one I like so happy with that.



Putting away my newly acquired locomotive I rediscovered some models 59impala may approve of



Also, etype now has a layer of primer on ready for me to choose what colour I want to paint it. So progress has been made, not only been buying new projects.

[pistonpopper]

What was the paint stripper you've used? Also, why do you prime them? They weren't primed from the factory, they just got their top coat straight on the zamac bodywork.

[charles97]

pistonpopper its Managers paint and varnish remover, from the shop QD. I got the smallest tub and it was £5 for 500ml, so far I've just used whatever stays on the lid after shaking it.

No reason other than experimentation really, though I was concerned about pitting in the metal and thought priming may provide a better finish overall. It's only a light coat anyway so not too worried about losing detail of the casting. Though now you have made me realise there isn't any real reason to prime it so I think that's a stage we'll miss next time lol

[Ritchie]

A tip for using the rattle cans, if you heat them up in a basin of hot water prior to spraying, the spray pattern will be a lot finer due to the raised pressure in the can.
That's the theory anyway, but it definitely helps the "spatter".

[strikey]

don't over heat them......BOOM!!!

[Ritchie]

Would make your kitchen a nice metallic blue.
TBH, I think the cans are plenty strong enough, I have had them pretty hot and haven't painted myself yet.

[strikey]

I have heard tales of them letting go. I normally warm the can and whatever I'm spraying gently with a hairdryer.

[charles97]

Wish the Impala's paint was this easy to remove!



That was literally left for about 2 minutes. I then rinsed it off, leaving this, and then after that removed the rest with the tip of a craft knife.



Next gave it a bit of a spray, this green is a touch darker than the original and just right for the look I wanted. And now is the time to say, one of the main reasons I got this car is this: forum.retro-rides.org/thread/198149/1972-mercedes-benz-w108-280se
That car is a true beauty, but where as a real 280SE is on eBay for about sixty thousand this was about six pounds delivered. Fair to say the matchbox was the winner.

Anyway, the paint!



Look at the detail on the inside of those doors, honestly amazed by the detail on such a small casting, especially as it's on the inside.

After all had been painted



And all back together.