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My introduction to Wellys and Diecasts


Gramps46

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My introduction to 1/24 Wellys

 

It all started about 3 years ago when my wife and I were out of town and she announced she needed some dental floss.  I pulled into a Rite Aid drugstore and got the floss for her and as I was approaching the checkout spied this rack of diecast Wellys.  I was flabbergasted and immediately picked out 4 models and the price for each was $9.99.  When we returned home I headed to our local Rite Aid and scored some more.

 

Now I was not a diecast collector but prided myself in being a builder since 1957 and had 2 display cabinets to prove it.  But my goal now was to find some appropriate diecast models to include as background in forced perspective and diorama photographs.

 

What I like about Wellys is they have a good mix of European and American models.  Ferraris and Porsches to Cadillacs and Fords plus pickup trucks and SUVs. Now I will admit the scale varies a bit and the newer window boxes are labeled as 1/27 to 1/24.  The quality of the models would be hard for me to match and the price is hard to beat.  Even on eBay they range from about $12 to $20 and some with free shipping.  But do be careful in the drugstore as kids play with them in the store and review mirrors, windshield wipers and headlight lenses seem to be vulnerable.  I spoke with a clerk at Rite Aid and she said they get a new shipment every two weeks. I am hoping Rite Aid stores continue to carry the Welly diecasts as they are absorbed into the Walgreen empire.

Edited by Gramps46
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Last night I was fooling around with the Welly '70 Challenger TA I bought last September (where does the time go?), and after examining it closely, I like it even MORE than I did when I bought it. Body shape/proportions seem right on, size is almost identical to the Lindberg/Palmer 1/25 '74, and even the paint on this one is nice. It won't take much Snake-Fu at all to get it sitting proudly on the shelf with some of my better 1/25 plastic Camaros and Mustangs or Mopars, not just on the "diecast shelf." 

The biggest nit I can find to pick with it is, all 4 tires are the same size, whereas the rears should be bigger (Gs vs Es on the front). But I can live with that until I figure out how to get some bigger ones on it. The biggest Snake-Fu job will be detail painting the all-chrome Rally wheels, which actually have all the holes molded open. It is one SWEET cheap diecast! 

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I agree with both Gary and Richard,, in that Welly do offer a good range of cars, covering European and American models. The quality and scale seems consistently good and as you say the prices are hard to beat. For anyone who does collect diecast rather than plastic built kits the Welly's can give the Danbury Mint's and the Franklin Mint's a run for their money. My collection tends to be about 50 percent plastic built kits and 50 percent diecast, so although I favour the plastic I do use diecasts quite a lot in diorama photography. The one Welly model I have is an Austin FX4 London Taxi and it is a real shame that Welly don't do the FX3 taxi of the older type. Recently I have been transforming diecasts into specific cars that I need for my diorama setting from the '50's, so this has included Fred Astaire's 1927 Rolls-Royce Phantom I Sedanca de Ville, converted from the Franklin Mint version, and two Rolls-Royce Phantom III's from 1937 and 1938 which have changed from the standard burgundy red paint finish

David

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I haven't set foot in a Rite Aid store in ages, I'll have to check them out. Welly makes some really good models of subjects the plastic kit manufacturers have not/will not. They make great gap-fillers and if you want to knock them down to repaint/customize, all the better. The trio I got earlier this summer via Ebay and free shipping are their new Ford GT in 2 colors and the C7 Z06. Revell seems to have abandoned doing any more variants of the C7 Corvette beyond bare-bones stock and the low-detail C7R, the Welly Z06 is a definite step up from the Maisto version, the only issue are red taillights instead of "clear" that both companies seemed to have missed. I'll be soon refinishing the Corvette. The Ford GT destroys Revell's "effort" in kiddie toy plastic. There is literally nothing in the Revell kit that is superior to the Welly model. Both subjects have steerable wheels, authentic brakes (rotor rotates inside of fixed caliper), tighter-fitting opening features than their competition. I look forward to later this year getting their new McLaren 675LT and 2016 Porsche GT3RS. 

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1 hour ago, Zoom Zoom said:

I haven't set foot in a Rite Aid store in ages, I'll have to check them out. Welly makes some really good models of subjects the plastic kit manufacturers have not/will not. They make great gap-fillers and if you want to knock them down to repaint/customize, all the better. The trio I got earlier this summer via Ebay and free shipping are their new Ford GT in 2 colors and the C7 Z06. Revell seems to have abandoned doing any more variants of the C7 Corvette beyond bare-bones stock and the low-detail C7R, the Welly Z06 is a definite step up from the Maisto version, the only issue are red taillights instead of "clear" that both companies seemed to have missed. I'll be soon refinishing the Corvette. The Ford GT destroys Revell's "effort" in kiddie toy plastic. There is literally nothing in the Revell kit that is superior to the Welly model. Both subjects have steerable wheels, authentic brakes (rotor rotates inside of fixed caliper), tighter-fitting opening features than their competition. I look forward to later this year getting their new McLaren 675LT and 2016 Porsche GT3RS. 

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Is it possible for a magazine article on a repaint of a diecast?   Model mags are often hesitant to include diecasts.  Even this site, we are relegated to this one area.   I don't think we are allowed to post anything diecast in the workbench or under glass areas.   But if we are working on something, or have changed it, I think it should.   But I'm not sure.  I know I'd like to see more diecast articles at this point in my life.  

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And thanks Gramps, for turning me on to the RiteAid Welly finds.   I'll be checking back more often.   I remember back around 2000 when I owned a hobby shop, that Welly diecasts were generally just car-shaped blobs of metal and plastic.  Most were pretty crude.   BUT that has changed.  I guess the abundance of "mint" cars led the Chinese to clone those.  I have a motormax 50 Chevy posted on here that is pretty nice and much less than the mint version.  Yes it is more crude, but makes a reasonable shelf model.  If you look past the lack of detail painting on wheels and grills, they are great starting points.  Or at least what I'm seeing seem to be.  I have started looking at them more and more.

 

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1 hour ago, randyc said:

I don't think we are allowed to post anything diecast in the workbench or under glass areas.   But if we are working on something, or have changed it, I think it should.   

I'm with you. To me, if it's a subject that would be in Workbench or Under Glass in plastic, and you're working some actual model-fu skills on it, not just buying it and putting it on the shelf, it should be allowed up there. I know there are resin-bodied cars and full resin kits up there that don't get kicked down here, so I don't understand the double standard. 

I've been thinking for some time of posting a very polite inquiry about this up in General Discussion. Perhaps I will in the near future. 

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4 hours ago, Anglia105E said:

I agree with both Gary and Richard,, in that Welly do offer a good range of cars, covering European and American models. The quality and scale seems consistently good and as you say the prices are hard to beat. For anyone who does collect diecast rather than plastic built kits the Welly's can give the Danbury Mint's and the Franklin Mint's a run for their money. 

David

I wouldn't say the Wellys rival Franklin Mint or Danbury, especially their older ones, but they do have at least some, like the '70 Challenger I mentioned, that are VERY nice. You're right about their range, and they do offer many things not available in plastic, and nearly all their stuff represents good to excellent value for the modest price paid. 

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 I haven't much luck at most of the CVS around here, but I had to make a quick trip to Abilene Texas yesterday  and stopped at a CVS. They had a Welly display rack and I got a couple for $12.99 each. They had a pretty good selection, but a lot of them were looking shopworn. I also got the Alfa in red as well.

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I went by the Rite Aid yesterday.   The 2005 GTO that was beat all to BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH was BACkl on the display after the check out lady said she would put that in the "return" pile.    Someone will buy it?  IDK.   Nothing else I liked better than my money.  

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I went by mine today and got a Porsche Carrera S, whatever that is (it looks fast and cool!). Should Snake-Fu up nicely. 

Even better, I got the guy to tell me exactly when the new shipment will come in! :D (A week from Friday.) 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Based upon Bob Downie's recommendation I ordered the Welly 2017 Ford GT and am not disappointed at all.  Thanks Bob.Corvette_100_1045.jpg.9f493a4842da272e2bdf5c6e44cda145.jpg

The Revell 1963 Corvette roadster promo I have been chasing for an affordable one for some time.  Finally found one under $30. 

The Revell diecast of the same is an unmitigated disaster.

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Edited by Gramps46
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1 hour ago, Snake45 said:

That's now officially the SECOND worst looking Corvette I've ever seen. (I have a '66 Palmer.) 

I paid less than a cheeseburger and fries so I am not too broken up over it and the wheels, which are some of the best Corvette aluminum wheels I have seen, are much better than the original AMT kit wheels and the gas cap is worth saving and put to good use.

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I had a guy send me two free Sunnyside 57 Vettes to see if I could do anything with them.  UGH.   But maybe not as bad as that revell vette.   LOL.   Have to be very careful when ordering things like those.   Unless they are very cheap.

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Randy,

If they are the same Sunnyside 57 Corvettes I have seen pictures of they are not good at all.  The grille protrudes too far, the wheels and tires are not stock, the steering wheel is not correct, etc.  Maybe convert to a race car is the only thing I can think of.  How about a Sebring race version?

Gary

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I had to go to Rite Aid for a prescription refill and swung by the diecast rack, surprise. :D

The only thing that looked interesting to me was the Maisto 1968 Camaro SS396 convertible.  I was in a hurry so did not look at it very closely till got I home.

My biggest complaints are the windshield, the clear insert makes the frame look way too wide.  Wondering if I disassemble it I can heat and smash something more appropriate.  The antenna is about the size of a walking cane unfortunately.  Welly does a much better job with a wire inside the antenna.  Typically with the die cast the wheels need to be toned done and detailed.

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But I did learn something new, Maisto showed me Chevrolet produced a flat 396 V8 for the Camaro, I thought only the Corvair had a flat engine. ;)

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16 minutes ago, Gramps46 said:

I had to go to Rite Aid for a prescription refill and swung by the diecast rack, surprise. :D

The only thing that looked interesting to me was the Maisto 1968 Camaro SS396 convertible.  I was in a hurry so did not look at it very closely till got I home.

My biggest complaints are the windshield, the clear insert makes the frame look way too wide.  Wondering if I disassemble it I can heat and smash something more appropriate.  The antenna is about the size of a walking cane unfortunately.  Welly does a much better job with a wire inside the antenna.  Typically with the die cast the wheels need to be toned done and detailed.

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But I did learn something new, Maisto showed me Chevrolet produced a flat 396 V8 for the Camaro, I thought only the Corvair had a flat engine. ;)

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That's not a great looking Camaro. But you know what, if I ran across one, I might buy it just for the cool '68 Corvette Bronze paint. B)

I have somebody's '67 Camaro diecast that had what looked like the same problem with the windshield frame as you're talking about. It had its own frame molded into the glass, giving the whole windshield a double frame. I took it apart, got the the glass out, and filed/sanded/polished that frame off. Looked about 100% better. That might work for you too. 

If/when I get one of these, I'll be making some other changes too. The grille is inset much too deeply. I'll see if that can be mounted out a bit. The front bumper is too low. I'll have to move that up. And the black stripe is WAY too fat around the nose. That will be coming off with acetone-free nail polish remover. Might see about painting the rocker panels black, too. 

Fixing the flat engine is easy. Shut the hood and leave it shut. B)

I don't think I could get this thing looking as good as I'd like, but I could get it looking quite a bit better. 

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18 minutes ago, Snake45 said:

That's not a great looking Camaro. But you know what, if I ran across one, I might buy it just for the cool '68 Corvette Bronze paint. B)

I have somebody's '67 Camaro diecast that had what looked like the same problem with the windshield frame as you're talking about. It had its own frame molded into the glass, giving the whole windshield a double frame. I took it apart, got the the glass out, and filed/sanded/polished that frame off. Looked about 100% better. That might work for you too. 

If/when I get one of these, I'll be making some other changes too. The grille is inset much too deeply. I'll see if that can be mounted out a bit. The front bumper is too low. I'll have to move that up. And the black stripe is WAY too fat around the nose. That will be coming off with acetone-free nail polish remover. Might see about painting the rocker panels black, too. 

Fixing the flat engine is easy. Shut the hood and leave it shut. B)

I don't think I could get this thing looking as good as I'd like, but I could get it looking quite a bit better. 

Good call on fixes, thank you.

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That is a frugly Camaro.  I have a Motormax Mustang that has it's share of flaws.  The hood should not have vents. The black stripe on the trunk is wrong, the grille is weird and the air cleaner should be blue just to name a few things.  Since these things cost 1/10 of what a nice Danbury MInt model was ten years ago, I'd say I cannot be too critical.

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