Hot Wheels and Matchbox Customizing Thread

  • Thread starter CodeRedR51
  • 9,226 comments
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New projects:

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Cano
Here is a quickie:
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As you can see, this has a helluva lot of potential. Will keep you all posted.
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The potential that I can see in this is huge. Forget customising your own cars, imagine making them!
 
Question: Can someone recommend to me what Id need to purchase to give my cars a glossy finish? I don't want my first custom to be flat since it always came that way so a nice shine to it would do the trick. Also, will I need multiple coats and how long should I wait between coats? till dry?

Thx

DW
 
diabolicwyvern
Question: Can someone recommend to me what Id need to purchase to give my cars a glossy finish? I don't want my first custom to be flat since it always came that way so a nice shine to it would do the trick. Also, will I need multiple coats and how long should I wait between coats? till dry?

Thx

DW
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It all depends on the paint you are using. Some paints don't need a clear coat after them, some do. You'd also need to sand your paint with a very VERY low grit sandpaper designed specifically for such purpose.

Tell us what you're using and maybe we could give a better insight, specially R1600 who is the guy that has painted cars with the best results in here. I could also ask the guy who paints my cars, but I'd need to know what you are using.
 
I sure hope you meant to say high-grit.

I never tried it on die-cast cars, but I read peoples' comments when applying a finish on their skateboard decks is to coat their finished work with resin, sand it gently with 400-grit sandpaper and then apply another layer of resin.

In your case, you can spray a clear coat paint on top, (I think) you should avoid choosing Lacquer if you're using acrylic paint to colour the car. Sand it for any uneven coats and the ndo one final layer.
 
After going through the thread I'm really exited to start on some of my cars, just need to get the equipment together, here's what I'm starting with:

Porsche 911
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BMW Z3
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Range Rover ?Discovery?
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Corvette C5 Convertible
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And a group picture to round it off:
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I wouldn't touch that Land Rover, it's perfect just the way it is. The other cars could do well with wheel swaps and such, but bear in mind your cars are 1:43 scale Bburagos, so finding wheels to swap and what not will be far more difficult than for a 1:64 car.
 
Aye fair enough. I think I have a few others which would appreciate there wheels being donated to a good cause :D I'll just have to do some trial and error.
 
^It's all made by hand???

Holy... Brian surely knows a thing or two on customizing :drool:

Also, pretty soon I'll try to start making my very first customization work :D (but first I'll have to prepare for an exam, it's on 26.VI...)

It's a Maisto's BMW 328i (if I recall correctly, but it's surely a 3 Series) '02. Gonna repaint it and add some details by hand ;)

EDIT:

600th post!!! :D :gtpflag:
 
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Hate to ask if its been asked before, but how would I go about getting new wheels? ie: go from cheesy plastic ones to rubber tires. Or do I just have to scavenge them off another car?

I have a couple boxes of hot wheels laying around along with an old "Johnny Lightning" car that's been busted at the front rivet. Been wanting to fix it somehow, and just saw this thread...maybe I can finally fix it and return it to its glory :).
 
ghsnu
Hate to ask if its been asked before, but how would I go about getting new wheels? ie: go from cheesy plastic ones to rubber tires. Or do I just have to scavenge them off another car?

I have a couple boxes of hot wheels laying around along with an old "Johnny Lightning" car that's been busted at the front rivet. Been wanting to fix it somehow, and just saw this thread...maybe I can finally fix it and return it to its glory :).
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You just have to get them from other cars. Only problem with that is all the cars with those nice wheels are usually $3.50+ each, so it feels weird paying so much for a car just to tear it apart.

My next custom will be a simple wheel swap, but I'm going to have to purchase two cars at $3.50 each just to get it done. :ill:
 
Lucky me I have boxes upon boxes of filler quality and below grade hot wheels from the last 25 years. I've three (yes 3!) projects that are currently drying from the second coat and one in primer. Once I did the first...I went a bit bonkers. Wheels are next and I'm pulling those from my junk box. A couple california customs might be sacrificed but no biggie...they were mostly horrible to look at anyway. I'm kicking around painting in the tail lights, but baby steps. I'm working with are an upfront 924, a royal flash (which was a 🤬 🤬 :banghead: ) to get apart and a spoiler sport.

I wonder if there its a market on eBay for starter projects? I'd take a car apart, strip it and supply donor wheels?
 
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diabolicwyvern
I wonder if there its a market on eBay for starter projects? I'd take a car apart, strip it and supply donor wheels?
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That might be a good idea. If you could drill out the rivets in such a way that you could put it back together with self tapping screws (this can be done) then you could make "customizing kits". 💡
 
Cano
Ugh, that so sounds like me.
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And like you, I'm sure, those are just the crap cars. If you include my loose mint cars in cases I'd be into 2014. :D Ran home from lunch to water, but its looking like rain. Spent time wisely applying third coat to two cars and first coat of gloss to another. Will posts final product tonight. I won't have cleared two cars in case I go for detailing.
 
I bet none of you know how to "clean" the metal 100% Hehehehe.. thank you industrial grade cleaning products, who knew zamac was as shinny as silver..
 
My First Customizing Story


Well, here goes. I didnt think about taking pictures along the way, but as
I've started several projects, I can in a sense walk through the process.

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What the cars looked like after I stripped them

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What the cars looked like after I primed them, (This has 3 coats of clear as its the color I was after)

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What the cars looked like with three coats of paint and two coats clear.
(This car was my how I tested the harshness of my stripper.)
I put it on EVERYTHING as a exercise to see how much damage it could create.

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The final product in pieces.

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The base after stripping and brushing.

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My first custom car -- A Royal Flash in John Deere yellow.

The Ultra Hots I stole from a Sol-Aire I popped open.
I do have a slight modification to make on the rear bumper to fit the larger rims. ​
 
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Ah, I REALLY like the Ultrahots on that car. They fit surprisingly well. Paintjob looks pretty good! Great first effort, bud. Now get ready to never EVER stop.
 

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