Hot Wheels and Matchbox Customizing Thread
- Thread starter CodeRedR51
- 9,226 comments
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- 5,375
- The US of A
Awesome work Cano! I look forward to seeing them finished! Especially that hard top Second Wind! What are you using to make the roof?
- 24
- Brighton , East Sussex
Awesome cars there . (I'm amazed I only recognise two of them as well !! LOL) What is car #2 - the chopped 50's looking one ??
Cano
Premium
- 20,758
- Cephiro
It's all epoxy putty, I just now finished filing and sanding it and I think I might have nailed the final shape of the roof. Also decided on wheels and tires:
Don't worry if you don't recognize them, they're mostly old 70s and 80s castings. The futuristic 49 Ford is called Gangster Grin.
- 24
- Brighton , East Sussex
Thanks Cano . Now you said '49 ford' , I looked at the grille & 
" Oh yeah ! DUH !!! " LOL ... Kustoms eh ??
Its so nice to see some older cars/vans getting modded !
GTboyz : Nice Skyline
.Anything '70's I love ( not flared jeans & knitted tanktops though !)
Re: fitting minilites .... How many spare axles do you have ??
1/2 length the axles with a connecting "tube" in the centre & a blob of superglue ... ?? Might be a thread on here earlier ....
Good luck .......
I'm going to be sorting out a camera today .... hopefully .... and have a count up of the 1:64's (might take a loooooooooooong time .....)
👍
" Oh yeah ! DUH !!! " LOL ... Kustoms eh ??Its so nice to see some older cars/vans getting modded !
GTboyz : Nice Skyline
.Anything '70's I love ( not flared jeans & knitted tanktops though !)Re: fitting minilites .... How many spare axles do you have ??
1/2 length the axles with a connecting "tube" in the centre & a blob of superglue ... ?? Might be a thread on here earlier ....
Good luck .......
I'm going to be sorting out a camera today .... hopefully .... and have a count up of the 1:64's (might take a loooooooooooong time .....)
👍
- 5,375
- The US of A
Since we are on a new page now, I think I will finally share my wheel swapped Tipping Lorry!
![IMG_2338[1].JPG](https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/data/attachments/665/665646-f3435ef749ea2cfb0a6aebcae3b93c27.jpg "IMG_2338[1].JPG")
Rims came from a Renault Clio and the tires came from a Ford Transit Supervan. The wheels are only slightly smaller than the maximum size it can take, but they are bigger than what it had originally. I think the wheels go great with this casting and give it a nice custom look without straying away from what it's supposed to be. Only catch was the axles on the Renault were two different lengths, so I shaved some plastic on the sides of the base so they could fit. You can't see it unless you take it apart though. And yes the bed still tilts properly after all this.
Whether it be by me or someone else, this is easily one of my most favorite wheel swaps ever! Only thing i'd probably change is the tires if I ever get any off road tires that can fit this thing. (Which I don't think exist) This won't be the last Tipping Lorry wheel swap I do though, i'll probably get another so I can put PC5 wheels on it like I was originally going to do.
Rims came from a Renault Clio and the tires came from a Ford Transit Supervan. The wheels are only slightly smaller than the maximum size it can take, but they are bigger than what it had originally. I think the wheels go great with this casting and give it a nice custom look without straying away from what it's supposed to be. Only catch was the axles on the Renault were two different lengths, so I shaved some plastic on the sides of the base so they could fit. You can't see it unless you take it apart though. And yes the bed still tilts properly after all this.
Whether it be by me or someone else, this is easily one of my most favorite wheel swaps ever! Only thing i'd probably change is the tires if I ever get any off road tires that can fit this thing. (Which I don't think exist) This won't be the last Tipping Lorry wheel swap I do though, i'll probably get another so I can put PC5 wheels on it like I was originally going to do.
- 24
- Brighton , East Sussex
Love those 'lil Datsun 510's .
I remember an X Box game years ago ( Forza ??) where you could stuff a turbo Skyline GT-R motor in it : 8 second 1/4 mile car !
I nearly wet my self laughing as I blew the doors off a LMP car in it .
I remember an X Box game years ago ( Forza ??) where you could stuff a turbo Skyline GT-R motor in it : 8 second 1/4 mile car !
I nearly wet my self laughing as I blew the doors off a LMP car in it .
- 54
- The World
Oh no. @GTboyz Datsun's looking good though.
I'm looking into making a diorama, bit like the one by MyCustomHotWheels
For those who don't know, here:
[ amazing how to's on the website as well http://mycustomhotwheels.com/ ]
Quick question, as mine will be smaller, what sort of thing should I focus on,
1) Car park
2) Road
3) Corner of a race track
4) Race track starting grid
5) a piece like the garage above
Here are some pictures I am inspired by:
Amazing diorama by a company called 'TINY' (The bus depot?) These have really nice scale features. (If anybody's wondering, those aren't custom hot wheels, they're by a company called Hot Works apparantly
By MyCustomHW
Or I could just keep it simple, and do a mock- concrete floor design.
Or should I go smaller like this?
Use wise, I'd like the city scene, as most my customs are street cars, but having a race one has it's perks. Also, the last one here looks amazing, but only has a use for Initial D styled cars, which I don't really specialise in.
Have any of you got any dioramas? If so, please show me for inspiration...
Thanks,
Olibob
In other news, I've opened up a Matchbox F-150 and plan to raise it. Any tips or tricks for doing so? Is the only way gluing the axle to the bottom of the chassis?
Thanks again,
Olibob
I'm looking into making a diorama, bit like the one by MyCustomHotWheels
For those who don't know, here:
[ amazing how to's on the website as well http://mycustomhotwheels.com/ ]
Quick question, as mine will be smaller, what sort of thing should I focus on,
1) Car park
2) Road
3) Corner of a race track
4) Race track starting grid
5) a piece like the garage above
Here are some pictures I am inspired by:
Amazing diorama by a company called 'TINY' (The bus depot?) These have really nice scale features. (If anybody's wondering, those aren't custom hot wheels, they're by a company called Hot Works apparantly
By MyCustomHW
Or I could just keep it simple, and do a mock- concrete floor design.
Or should I go smaller like this?
Use wise, I'd like the city scene, as most my customs are street cars, but having a race one has it's perks. Also, the last one here looks amazing, but only has a use for Initial D styled cars, which I don't really specialise in.
Have any of you got any dioramas? If so, please show me for inspiration...
Thanks,
Olibob
In other news, I've opened up a Matchbox F-150 and plan to raise it. Any tips or tricks for doing so? Is the only way gluing the axle to the bottom of the chassis?
Thanks again,
Olibob
Last edited:
- 24
- Brighton , East Sussex
Olibob . I recently brought a roll of sticky back road ( looks just like the one in the "big picture" of your post ) from a 'train specialist' . Its by a company called Busch , and seeing as it says strassenfolie , I guess its German.....
You can curve it gently and the surface looks rather realistic. Care needed when cutting the stuff & applying to the surface : it is super sticky !!!
I also got some 'building sheets' there , (like corrugated metal for roofing) & a nicely detailed wooden shack with a porch , that's now a '50's diner !!!
"ol' Jacks Shakes 'n' snacks shack" !! Fonts made with stationers 'rub off lettering' ( from WH Smiths etc ...)
Unfortunately , I still haven't found my digital camera ... 8 big boxes of "that'll do for now" to sort through...
but I do have some nice dioramas when i get my ... 🤬.... together .
If worst comes to worst I'll try taking pics with the pc camera FaceTime thingy .... smoke signals ??? stone carvings ??? projected thoughts .
er better not eh ?
You can curve it gently and the surface looks rather realistic. Care needed when cutting the stuff & applying to the surface : it is super sticky !!!
I also got some 'building sheets' there , (like corrugated metal for roofing) & a nicely detailed wooden shack with a porch , that's now a '50's diner !!!
"ol' Jacks Shakes 'n' snacks shack" !! Fonts made with stationers 'rub off lettering' ( from WH Smiths etc ...)
Unfortunately , I still haven't found my digital camera ... 8 big boxes of "that'll do for now" to sort through...
but I do have some nice dioramas when i get my ... 🤬.... together .
If worst comes to worst I'll try taking pics with the pc camera FaceTime thingy .... smoke signals ??? stone carvings ??? projected thoughts .
er better not eh ?
AOS-
Premium
- 28,788
- 'Sauga, ON
@Olibob, You decide what to do. It's going to be your diorama after all.
What I can leave you with are some questions which may help you determine what you'll want to do.
1) What is it about dioramas do you like so much that makes you want to make your own? Is it how well it simulates a real-life setting at a smaller scale? Is it because you want to give toy cars a world to live in?
2) Can you afford to make something huge? In what sense? Financially- yes, but more so real estate. I've seen some people use up an entire space where their breakfast/dining table would be. It's totally awesome to have something large because of all the magic you can make happen and take convincing photos of a landscape, but at the same time, do you really want to go that far? I mean, if in the event I lose interest in dioramas, or need to move to another house, what the hell am I going to do with something like this? I can't bear the thought of taking apart something I put so much time into creating, but it would be a hell of an inconvenience to have something so big take up so much space in your place of dwelling.
I'll share with you why I got into dioramas:
I am largely drawn to learning how professional artists do things; music, visual arts, movie effects, studio photography, CGI, animations, sculptors, fabricators, you name it. And with that I do enjoy the process of getting into it myself.
With dioramas, I found myself initially interested in the idea of building your own world when I was little, but I would never have the supplies (both access to, nor the funds) to make it happen. I would craft these "parts of the world" with whatever scrap materials I have on me. Usually it's just paper, cardboard, tape, and a marker. It was fun to make something, but in the end I wouldn't be content with it, because it clearly still looks like scrap material. No matter how straight I draw the sidewalk cracks, it still looks like drawn lines on paper.
Fast forward 15 something years, I get a part-time job so I can afford to buy some better supplies to try something for real. With all the little-boy and big-boy cars I've collected, I'm limited on space. Yet I'd still want to make dioramas look as real as possible with whatever I have. I found a compromise of the two where I can have both, and this is the first one I made some years ago:
![[Final]+Sample.jpg](/forum/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2F3.bp.blogspot.com%2F-cH0wFDRAMJ8%2FUd4Tz7_c_-I%2FAAAAAAAADRg%2FY_apsE1P6Uw%2Fs900%2F%5BFinal%5D%2BSample.jpg&hash=72727e19a35b0eae1b19e8a7a32542f4)
I wanted to give the impression I used a large space to capture this photo, but in fact, this piece of land is just two blocks of craft foam I hacked away at with a knife:
And the only way I thought of doing backdrops without taking it to a real location or printing out something huge was to use my computer monitor:
To double up on this, for every custom Hot Wheels I did in nail polish paint, I made a new diorama to go along with it. If you want to see more, you can visit my blog post here, and look under the "Dream Cruisers" section.
What I can leave you with are some questions which may help you determine what you'll want to do.
1) What is it about dioramas do you like so much that makes you want to make your own? Is it how well it simulates a real-life setting at a smaller scale? Is it because you want to give toy cars a world to live in?
2) Can you afford to make something huge? In what sense? Financially- yes, but more so real estate. I've seen some people use up an entire space where their breakfast/dining table would be. It's totally awesome to have something large because of all the magic you can make happen and take convincing photos of a landscape, but at the same time, do you really want to go that far? I mean, if in the event I lose interest in dioramas, or need to move to another house, what the hell am I going to do with something like this? I can't bear the thought of taking apart something I put so much time into creating, but it would be a hell of an inconvenience to have something so big take up so much space in your place of dwelling.
I'll share with you why I got into dioramas:
I am largely drawn to learning how professional artists do things; music, visual arts, movie effects, studio photography, CGI, animations, sculptors, fabricators, you name it. And with that I do enjoy the process of getting into it myself.
With dioramas, I found myself initially interested in the idea of building your own world when I was little, but I would never have the supplies (both access to, nor the funds) to make it happen. I would craft these "parts of the world" with whatever scrap materials I have on me. Usually it's just paper, cardboard, tape, and a marker. It was fun to make something, but in the end I wouldn't be content with it, because it clearly still looks like scrap material. No matter how straight I draw the sidewalk cracks, it still looks like drawn lines on paper.
Fast forward 15 something years, I get a part-time job so I can afford to buy some better supplies to try something for real. With all the little-boy and big-boy cars I've collected, I'm limited on space. Yet I'd still want to make dioramas look as real as possible with whatever I have. I found a compromise of the two where I can have both, and this is the first one I made some years ago:
I wanted to give the impression I used a large space to capture this photo, but in fact, this piece of land is just two blocks of craft foam I hacked away at with a knife:
And the only way I thought of doing backdrops without taking it to a real location or printing out something huge was to use my computer monitor:
To double up on this, for every custom Hot Wheels I did in nail polish paint, I made a new diorama to go along with it. If you want to see more, you can visit my blog post here, and look under the "Dream Cruisers" section.
- 6,875
- Jakarta
I botched up the Kreauto wheels when i was trying to wheelswap the Kenmeri, one of the axles ended up longer than the other. Luckily it fits just nice on the Fugu Z , still, the shorter axle is a bit to short, so i have to hold the car to the ground harder to roll the wheels but eh better than nothing.
, still, the shorter axle is a bit to short, so i have to hold the car to the ground harder to roll the wheels but eh better than nothing.
- 6,875
- Jakarta
I didn't have to fix anything lol, the longer axle fits just the right size for the rear part of the Fugu Z. Better than just put it on a shelf.
The Kenmeri itself luckily was unharmed. The left front part of the casting was scraping the wheels so that's why i couldn't do the wheelswap, it doesn't look apparent with the plastic wheels, it even rolls nicely
. Guess i'll just leave it like it was just off the card.
