Hoffman Posted February 28, 2018 Share Posted February 28, 2018 Here's a small collection of orphan diecasts I've been restoring lately. Typically these are purchased in damaged condition to varying degrees. First up, a Danbury Mint 1932 Cadillac. This one had quite a few missing pieces. I ended up using the windshield frame from a Monogram '32 Cadillac Phaeton. The shape is more accurate than the Danbury Mint piece anyway, plus it includes correctly shaped wind wings. The top boot was made from a Johan 1931 Cadillac piece, widened and modified to fit. Many other missing pieces were taken from a Danbury Mint '32 Phaeton. And lastly, D.B.M. did not include a luggage rack on these models for some reason. Every fullsize '32 Cadillac I've seen has them, so I modified one to fit and added it, color coded to match, in the manner Cadillac originally did them. Next up, this Neo 1933 Cadillac had "some assembly required" as they say. That's ok though. Actually, when I first bid on it, I lost, but the buyer backed out and I got a second chance. I was SO glad I won the 2nd auction. I was able to make all the necessary repairs using the pieces that came with the model. (Thank you, Replicarz!) the only exception was the front axle. I ended up using a metal front axle and springs from a Danbury Mint '32 Phaeton. So, I fixed everything, made a new chrome windshield frame, added photo reduced 1933 California license plates and called it good. Third little orphan is this Danbury Mint 1932 Ford roadster. This one didn't look too bad in the auction, but it arrived with the windshield frame broken in 6 pieces and a few bits knocked off. I could tell it had been damaged and repaired before, and it just didn't travel well. I was able to piece it back together without too much trouble. I modified the convertible top to make it sit properly on the windshield posts. And, looking at pictures of a fullsize '32, I decided I really didn't like the whitewall tires. The cast in color of the wheels seemed a little off to me too. Plus, the diameter was just a shade too small. So, I mixed up some craft paint in a nice shade of yellow, painted the wheels, and expanded the rims by painting on the whitewall too. Then I painted the rest of the whitewall black, reassembled the wheels and tires and voila! Add another photo reduced '32 license plate and she's ready for the 1/24th scale road...... Final installment this evening is a Danbury Mint 1932 Ford 3-window coupe. This one really didn't have much damage to repair. It's just that I found I liked the roadster so much better with black walls, I decided to paint the tires on this coupe as well. Here are pictures of each style. The first version with white walls isn't the exact car I bought, a little nicer, but very close. The second one is mine, with black walls. See which one you like better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russell C Posted February 28, 2018 Share Posted February 28, 2018 Nice saves! Quite likely there are increasing numbers of non-car guy people who will be selling somewhat busted large diecasts for cheap in the coming years. I scored the 24th scale Franklin Mint Checker cab in my collection that way, it's missing its luggage, 3 door handles, the antenna and one wiper blade, but it was cheap compared to other complete ones which occasionally come up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geno Posted February 28, 2018 Share Posted February 28, 2018 Beautifully done Tim, they look exceptional. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike999 Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 (edited) On 2/28/2018 at 12:56 AM, Russell C said: Nice saves! Quite likely there are increasing numbers of non-car guy people who will be selling somewhat busted large diecasts for cheap in the coming years... I see that already, at the big flea markets around here. I've snagged some die-cast "beaters" just for parts, to doll up plastic kits or other die-casts. Things like the separate window and door handles are really useful. I bought a couple with the dreaded "die-cast rash," where the metal is actually deteriorating. Those go really cheap. One woman came to a flea market several weeks in a row, to sell off her late father's die-cast collection. She said it took up a whole outbuilding. Lots of hard-to-find Franklins and Danburys. Some had minor damage or missing parts, since they were on display in that outbuilding and the collector had little grand-kids. All were missing the original boxes and shipping material, though he did save some Certificates Of Authenticity. She sold most of them for $10-20. I got two '48 Tuckers that I had been trying to find forever. Also a '57 Ford Retractable. Those were all complete and undamaged. Outstanding work on those cars by Tim! I really like seeing die-casts detailed. Right now I'm just about done (famous last words) with a Maisto '55 Buick California Highway Patrol car. That started as a "quick weekend project" (more famous last words). The basic die-cast is very nice for a low-end item you can find for $10 on eBay. Maisto based it on a real replica CHP car (none of the originals survived). I just wanted to add some interior and trim detail, but it took longer than I thought. As usual... Edited March 1, 2018 by Mike999 error Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoffman Posted March 1, 2018 Author Share Posted March 1, 2018 On 2/27/2018 at 9:56 PM, Russell C said: Nice saves! Quite likely there are increasing numbers of non-car guy people who will be selling somewhat busted large diecasts for cheap in the coming years. I scored the 24th scale Franklin Mint Checker cab in my collection that way, it's missing its luggage, 3 door handles, the antenna and one wiper blade, but it was cheap compared to other complete ones which occasionally come up. Thank you, Russel! Your cab collection is impressive! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoffman Posted March 1, 2018 Author Share Posted March 1, 2018 On 2/28/2018 at 3:34 AM, Geno said: Beautifully done Tim, they look exceptional. Thank you, Geno! I'll post some more orphan examples in the weeks ahead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geno Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 You're welcome, I can't wait to see some more. You do great work, I love modifying diecast as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoffman Posted March 1, 2018 Author Share Posted March 1, 2018 7 minutes ago, Mike999 said: I see that already, at the big flea markets around here. I've snagged some die-cast "beaters" just for parts, to doll up plastic kits or other die-casts. Things like the separate window and door handles are really useful. I bought a couple with the dreaded "die-cast rash," where the metal is actually deteriorating. Those go really cheap. One woman came to a flea market several weeks in a row, to sell off her late father's die-cast collection. She said it took up a whole outbuilding. Lots of hard-to-find Franklins and Danburys. Some had minor damage or missing parts, since they were on display in that outbuilding and the collector had little grand-kids. All were missing the original boxes and shipping material, though he did save some Certificates Of Authenticity. She sold most of them for $10-20. I got two '48 Tuckers that I had been trying to find forever. Also a '57 Ford Retractable. Those were all complete and undamaged. Outstanding work on those cars by Tim! I really like seeing die-casts detailed. Right now I'm just about done (famous last words) with a Maisto '55 Buick California Highway Patrol car. That started as a "quick weekend project" (more famous last words). The basic die-cast is very nice for a low-end item you can find for $10 on eBay. Maisto based it on a real replica CHP car (none of the originals survived). I just wanted to add some interior and trim detail, but it took longer than I thought. As usual... Hi Mike. I'm looking forward to seeing your CHP Buick. Actually, that was the great part of the old TV series "Highway Patrol" with Broderick Crawford; the cars were the stars, at least to me they were! I've seen a couple of Buick replicas. There was one that was actually a pro street car with steamroller tires in back, but on wide steel wheels with dog-dish caps. The shield graphics on the door said something like, "back alley patrol". It was black and white with lights and a siren on top, but the interior was gutted with a race bucket, if I remember correctly. Interesting mix; something like the old Monogram Cop-out Duster funny car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geno Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 LOL, sounds like we do a lot of the same style projects and have a lot in common. I'm anxious to see some more of your work, I dig this kind of stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike999 Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 1 hour ago, Hoffman said: Hi Mike. I'm looking forward to seeing your CHP Buick... Just a few more days, I hope! You're right, there are many replicas of the "Broderick Crawford" cars out there. For anyone else who wants to do that '55 Buick, you have to be careful looking at those replicas. One of the most famous is a 2-door hardtop, which is completely wrong. The owner knew that, but he wanted a hardtop. The real cars were Buick Special 2-door sedans, with a Century front clip (that's why they have 4 portholes). Those cars were only built for the 1955 CHP contract and not sold to the public. The Maisto die-cast body is exactly right. Enough of hijacking your thread! Sorry. Here's a link to an old Hemmings article about those CHP Buicks: https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2013/03/17/sia-flashback-broderick-crawford-lives-1955-chp-buick/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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