THarrison351

Thanks for the education. I'm always happy to learn!

On the cream version it's all chrome. No paint. The production cars had a painted grill with chrome edges.

That paint really sets off the fastback styling! Excellent!

Exactly!? First thought I had!?

Well, if you Google Aston Martin DB5, the Silver Birch color version of the James Bond movie car pops up everywhere. As well as it should. Prior to the release of the movie Goldfinger, the car had barely been released to the public. The movie's special effects expert John Stears, persuaded Aston Martin to make its DB5 prototype available to make the film. Which Mr Stears modified into the famous Bond car with all the special gadgets. Ian Flemming released the novel Goldfinger with James Bond driving a DB3. The DB5 built from 1963-1965, was largely a carryover from the 1958-1963 DB4. The principle difference being the all-aluminium 4.0 liter engine; a ZF five-speed transmission, and three SU carburetors. The engine produced 282 hp and could achieve 145 mph. The DB4/5 had nothing in common with the previous DB3 design. The DB3 had a platform style chassis while the DB4/5 used a magnesium-alloy body/chassis built to superleggera or tubular type patent technique. Standard equipment on the DB5 included reclining leather seats, wool pile carpets, electric windows, twin fuel tanks, chrome wire wheels, oil cooler, full leather trim in the cabin and even a fire extinguisher. I've tried unsuccessfully for some time to find a repairable Danbury Mint James Bond DB5, but either they're too far gone or out of my price range. The standard version in Dubonnet Rosso metallic however, is in my price range, you just have to be careful of severe paint rash to the point of structural failure. I've seen a lot, especially in the gas cap covers, hoods, and trunk lids. This is an older release from DM, but it is very well detailed. The engine bay is plumbed and wired, the leather covered seats articulate, there's a cover in the floor for the spare in the trunk, the grille and badges are photo-etched, a working antenna, adjustable sun visors, opening gas caps, finely executed wire wheels. and all the markers and lighting lens are clear, amber, or red plastic instead of painted chrome. The only thing that's kind of heavy handed is the front steering mechanism. I'm very happy to say I got a good deal on this one in it's box and all it needed was a good polish to bring out this beautiful paint's shine. Here's the pictures Tomorrow I post the 1968 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible

I've looked at these for some years and they're all over the place price wise. There appears to be four versions the cream with black top being the first, least accurate and cheapest. The maroon with tan top which is the one I have now is the second release. It has some updates to fix a few of the inaccuracies, mainly the grille chrome. The blue one with cream top and the black one with a cream top are limited editions and can go for some big bucks. I've only seen a couple of the black ones and they were ate up with rash to the point the structure was compromised. This one came with papers and is dirty. I'll follow it up with it's own topic once I've cleaned it up and polished the paint.

Now that you ask, I had noticed they seemed like they might, but I hadn't tried. So, to answer your question. Yes, they do.

My favorite French car and you did a splendid job!

The 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 Skyliner is an incredible car. A fully automatic hardtop convertible! I've watched videos of a Skyliner in action and it is an impressive marvel. According to the Wiki page on the Skyliner, the top has seven reversible electric motors [only six for 1959 models], four lift jacks, a series of relays, ten limit switches, ten solenoids, four locking mechanisms for the roof and two locking mechanisms for the trunk lid, and a total of 610 ft of wiring. From what I know about today's automatic convertibles, if one of those switches or relays are out of sync, the whole thing fails. Danbury Mint and Franklin Mint have both produce a few versions of the car. DM having a much higher detailed product due to it coming out at a later time period. The DM has a fully operational and retractable top and it can be deployed by pushing on a hidden button in the spare tire cavity on the chassis. The interior is nicely detailed with movable seatbacks and visors. A fully detailed, wired, and plumbed Ford 312 Y block is under the hood. When you open the trunk lid to raise or lower the top, the small storage compartment in the lined trunk is exposed along with simulated lift cylinders and plumbing. The gas cap door opens too. All in all a beautifully executed diecast. When I won this, the only obvious thing wrong with it and it was disclosed by the seller the RH vent window glass was missing which I fabricated and replaced. However, when it arrived it was quite worse. The seller placed it in the Styrofoam shell as is without any protection around it. It proceeded to beat itself to death inside the Styrofoam. The rear axle springs were broken, the windshield was loose, a door was askew and the door sill underneath had come unglued. Fortunately, nothing was so bad I couldn't fix it. The biggest disappointment has been the top. It won't fully deploy. Nothing appears to be bent or broken, I just can't get it to come all the way forward to the windshield header. It misses it by about 1/32". I don't think this was from shipping. I think it was built that way. Oh well, here's the pictures Tomorrow I post the 1964 Aston Martin DB5

I think when they released it in 1991 the majority of people purchasing them didn't have complete access to quality color pictures of the F40 like we do now and Franklin Mint was counting on that. Almost all of the diecasts from the early years were flawed under the skin.

I have to say, the 1936 Ford has some very good looks. Introduced in 1935 to replace the Model 40, the new car was called the Model 48, it had a heavily revised chassis and it wore new sheet metal. To go along with this new revision, the engine was pushed forward in the chassis, allowing for greater room in the passenger compartment. The Standard and Deluxe trim lines were offered, with only the 221 Cubic Inch V8 to be fitted across the lineup. Ford freshened up the car in 1936 with a rounder look that had a slight nautical feel and 1936 was the last year a Ford had separate headlight pods as in 1937 the cars received a drastic restyling and bore little resemblance to their predecessors. This must be a very popular vehicle for model subject matter. In plastic models, AMT has and continues to make in the guise of Round 2 in both coupe and convertible/roadster. Monogram had there own version in convertible and coupe or both in the same kit and Revell has released the same kit as well with updates. Looks like even Pyro/Lindberg had a 1/32 scale version also. Well needless to say, both of the Mints have cast a Deluxe Cabriolet version too. I actually started comparing the two Mints to see which one I liked better. They both look very nice and come in a few different colors. In the end I felt the DM looked better overall. I really like how DM executed the interior. I think the engine has a better appearance too. This one was in sad condition when I got it and it still needs a passenger door handle. There's some typical paint rash on the rumble seat lid. Along with the missing door handle, the mirrors were off and overall the car was just dirty. I fixed the mirrors, cleaned and polished it up, and I need to dig through my parts and find a door handle. Oddly, the top and boot had never been removed from their protective pink tissue paper and had left pink ghost stains on them. I got most of them off, but not quite. Something to think about on the Mint models that have never been opened. Also, there's some gold tinting on the chrome wheels I think from the glue vapors they used to hold the hubcaps on on. It won't polish off. Here's the pictures. Tomorrow I post the 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 Skyliner

That looks cool!

Yeah, the prices on these can get way out of hand considering the lack of detail and the condition the majority most of them are in. I saw a white one (lower production earlier version) on eBay with only one mirror and no hood ornament and filthy to boot. and they wanted $50+ shipping to start with. I'm happy I got this for what I paid and the condition it's in.

Looks pretty good to me.

This will be short and sweet. Superbowl kind of interrupted my process. Hope the team you wanted to win won and if not, sorry, there's always next year. I had no dogs in the hunt. From Danbury Mint I present the 1955 Willys mail truck. Based the four-wheel drive civilian CJ series Jeep, the DJ (also known as the Dispatcher) was a two-wheel-drive variant. Produced by Willys Motors from 1955–1962, Kaiser Jeep 1963–1970, American Motors 1970, and AM General 1971–1984, the Dispatcher was built with right hand drive to give access for the mail carrier to place mail in rural mailboxes without driving on the wrong side of the road. Power came from 4 cylinder inlines and 6 cylinder inlines depending who was manufacturing them. Later models were equipped with automatic transmissions. This Danbury mint model comes with a few features, Both side doors slide and the rear door is hinged. The drivers seat tilts forward. The engine is fully wires and plumbed. There are three bags of mail, and two sorting trays for letters to be displayed on and they can be and are stored inside. I was fortunate to come across this one at a really low buy it now with the paperwork and box and all that was wrong with it was one mirror face had come unglued off the arm, easy fix. Oddly enough the other one came off too. So, here it is. Tomorrow 1936 Ford Deluxe Cabriolet

Not being a member of the army or a follower of ground weaponry. I'm going to guess it's a tripod for mounting the TOW missile system on the ground, because I've looked at some online pictures and they sort of match. It's too bad they molded this as a solid piece instead of making these removable parts.

I did use Future on one of my DM models the 1957 Studebaker Golden Hawk. It did improve the shine significantly. The Rolls is shiny. The problem with this one and it really doesn't show in the photos, is the color is not as even as it should be. A real car could be cut and buffed. There just isn't enough paint on this to cut with compound and be buffed out. I might try another type of cleaner wax. Maybe Meguiars.

That's not a Monogram it's AMT, but it turned out well none the less.

So what does a mail truck have to do with one of the most recognizable vehicles from Desert Storm and the Gulf War? They came from the same company, AM General. A subdivision of AMC. The High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) better known to most everyone as the Humvee was the replacement for the M151 Jeep, the M561 "Gama Goat", and other light trucks in 1979. Incredibly wide at 7 feet 1 inches, it is very stable. It also has very little front and rear overhang which allowed it to climb and depart steep obstacles. The fully independent suspension has helical gear-reduction hubs similar to portal axles which attach at the top rather than the center of each wheel to allow the axle shafts to have a full 16 in of ground clearance. The 4 wheel disc brakes are tucked up near the differentials. At 15 feet long, 6 feet high and weighing between 5200 to 8500 lbs this truck is big. Powered by either a GM 6.2 Liter V8 diesel a 6.3 Liter gasoline with a 3 speed automatic transmission or in later configurations a 6.5 Liter V8 turbo diesel or non-turbo diesel with a 4 speed automatic transmission. As big as this sucker is, there is only room for 4 people. To maximize ground clearance, the drive train takes up the center of the vehicle. Even the area for the 4 seats is cramped due to the locations of the wheel wells. I've ridden in these things, and at 6 foot 4 inches, it ain't no fun. There is a utility bed in the back for storage. It had run flat tires that were capable of being aired up or down and a self sealing explosion resistant fuel tank. And like most military and off road vehicles, it could be equipped with snorkels for deep water travel. Like a Jeep, the body can be configured in multiple ways. The top comes off and other types can be bolted on. I've seen the Humvee without any top or doors, the full top with portal in it weaponized for a machine gun or TOW missile launcher, half top, leaving the bed open like a pickup, canvas top, never knew what they were used for, ambulance body and then there were the up-armored vehicles and weaponized platforms I saw in Baghdad just before I left the military. This model however is from Franklin Mint and surprisingly when originally released, was only $69. They came in three different colors, olive green, olive green, brown and black (Euro Ops) and Tan (Desert Storm). All of them came with the same accessories, a machine gun, TOW missile, a field pack, a whip antenna and this round object that I've never been able to figure out what it is used for. There is a place in the cabin that looks like the round object might fit on, but it won't. The rear deck and tailgate opens exposing more ammo for the TOW missile and other equipment, but it's all fixed in place. Up under the back end there are implements of destruction (shovel, pick, and axe) fixed in place. The roof hatch opens and folds and you can install the machine gun and the TOW missile launcher, but in reality it would be one or the other, not both. This is also built in the original non-armored configuration. The front bull bar folds down and the hood will tilt forward. My hood's hinges were broken off when I purchased this, so I created new ones and used fabric material to limit it from opening too far. The suspension can be moved as well. Other Items I had to fix were the mirrors and one was missing a part of the tube so I had to make that too. Here are the photos. Sellers picture with broken hood and mirrors Tomorrow I post it's older brother, the 1954 Willys Mail Truck

Sorry, I was tired last night and neglected to mention that part. As others have said it is a Franklin Mint.

The Rolls-Royce Corniche was produced in coupe and convertible from 1971 to 1995. The IV 1992-95 visually differed from the III by only the rear plastic window being replaced with glass. Mechanically the differences were a 4 speed electronic transmission GM4L80 to replace the 3 speed automatic GMHM400. The convertible top had become fully automatic. R-12 refrigerant was replaced with R-134, and driver and passenger airbags were updated.The venerable Rolls-Royce 6.75 liter version of the V-8 which has powered countless Rolls and Bentleys since 1959 had been updated with modern fuel injection in 1989 and somehow by 1993 they were able to coax 20% more adequate power out of it. This diecast is painted Ming blue, but in my eyes it's purple. The interior is light beige plastic and the dash and center console are covered in sad looking decals to represent the instruments, switches and wood. Under the hood you find a simplified version of the Rolls V-8 and other accessories, but no wiring and little else. The trunk is a simple fuzzy lined box and the chassis does have a few simple details, such as the IRS, separate exhaust and spare tire. These diecast are difficult to find with the Spirit of Ecstasy and the mirrors intact. So many are missing one, or all. The only thing that was wrong with mine, and I'm still not happy with it, the paint. It just doesn't want to brighten up. Anyways, here are the pictures. Oh yeah, the headlights are odd looking on these cars. Tomorrow I post that Desert Storm vehicle, The AM General HMMWV or as everyone knows it Humvee.

This is my third Lincoln from Franklin Mint. The first one was a damaged FM 1941 burgundy Continental that I repaired and it soon took a dive off of one of my shelves and had to be repaired again. My second was the black 1956 Lincoln that was missing a hood ornament, some chrome and the antenna was loose and was filthy overall inside and out. A replacement hood ornament, repairs, and a thorough cleaning and polishing and it was as good as new. The one I'd like to have is one of those resin Lincoln Mk IIIs that go for a small fortune.

I have to admit, even though it suffers from the detail limitations from the time period. It does present well. I'm happy I was able to find a whole one for cheap. I think this is one to keep on the shelf in a nice display case with everything closed.

Fabulous colors!

Very nice, I'm impressed!