Maisto Lexus IS300 Custom

Back at it again! Just a simple repaint and wheel swap to start things off. Got a lot of those Lesneys on the second shelf stripped and ready to go.... 

I'm a big fan of Maisto castings. What they sacrifice in interiors, they make up for with excellent casting detail and proportion. With some nicer wheels and a little detailing, they usually come out really nice. This little Lexus is no exception! Silly me forgot my red paint in the move, so no tail light details until I can find some haha. 

Before:

After:

Maisto Porsche 356A Coupe - Detail and Wheel Swap

The Porsche 356 is one of history's all time greats. Great styling, a perky little air cooled engine, and fantastic competition history make for a perfect classic. I always made fun of the guys that, back in the day, thought the end times were near when the 356 was replaced by the new-fangled 911.. But having spent some time around the old bathtub Porsches, I can certainly see why one would think that way.. I'd have a hard time buying a 911 knowing that the 356 is out there...

The 356 is a car that has been sadly under-represented in small scale diecast. I have a Brumm 1/43 model, the Maisto 1/24th replica of the original 356, and a very well-worn Bburago 1/18 356 Cabriolet. That Bburago is very special to me, as it was the first diecast car I ever received as a kid.

I've wished for a long time that Matchbox would do a 356. I've heard rumors for a while that Hot Wheels is doing one, but I haven't seen it yet. So I picked up this Maisto at the Dollar Tree recently.. Nice casting, but no interior, ugly wheels, and lack of tampo detailing left a lot to be desired.

So I decided to do it up a bit... Some Matchbox wheels, and a bit of silver sharpie detailing is all I did here, but wow did it transform this car!! Now I'm hoping to find more of these cars to play with :)

Maisto 1956 Buick Century "Un-Customized"

Good evening folks. As a bit of a Buick enthusiast, I couldn't pass up this new Maisto model when I saw it on the shelves the other day. For only $2.50, it's a very high quality model, and I like it a lot! But "resto-mods" really don't do much for me on classic American iron generally. I much prefer the stock original, un-molested look. This old Century was just begging to be brought back to stock.

All I really did was remove the wheels and grind some holes in the base so the new wheels would fit and give it the proper ride height. Oh, and added a couple coats of gloss clear to take away the "satin" look of the paint. It sits with a bit of a lean to one side, but overall I'm very pleased with how it turned out. 

1956 Chrysler 300B by Maisto

Another nearly finished car that's been languishing in a box for far too long.. I'm absolutely thrilled with how this one came out. I always loved these old Chryslers and I think the bronze color suits it wonderfully.

BMW 850i by Maisto

I finished up a couple of cars tonight, and this is one of them. They've been painted for a couple years now and have just been floating around from box to box, so I thought it was time to get them done! This was a very tired old burgundy BMW when I got it. A little bit of love and here it is now...