Lesney #53a Aston Martin DB2/4 Restoration

Hot Wheels Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Custom

Hot Wheels 1964 Chevy Impala SS Convertible Custom

Hot Wheels Ferrari 250 GTO Custom

Hot Wheels Mercedes C Class DTM - OVEN BAKED

I've been playing around with using a small toaster oven to bake on paint finishes.  This Merc was a scrap I had laying around, paint already stripped so I thought I'd give it a try. It looks absolutely amazing, take a look..

I hope it comes through in the pics just how deep and flawless the paint is. Looks so good! I'm really amazed by it. And no fancy expensive paint either. It's just 96 cent Walmart brand black spray paint with an application of some Rustoleum clearcoat that was about $3. Then in my toaster oven at 150 degrees for about 20 minutes. Let it cool and here we are! The paint had only been sitting for about 10 minutes when it went in the oven, and after it came out and cooled for about 10 minutes, it was just as hard and shiny as could be. So I'll be doing this on all my projects from here on out, I'm just amazed at the results. 

Well I won't be with the Lesney restorations, as they were never this shiny from the factory! lol

Lesney #38b-Vauxhall Victor Estate Restoration

Finished one up tonight, a 38b Vauxhall Victor Estate. This is a very nice little casting that I definitely need some more of! This particular one was in pretty bad nick when I got it. Looks like it had several "custom" paintjobs over the years haha.

But I decided not to go crazy on the resto, just put it back to stock. I don't have an original to compare to, but I think the shade of yellow I have is fairly close to original. I actually broke the window during disassembly, but luckily it cracked on the roofline, so I was able to put it back in without being noticeable.

Matchbox Saab 9000 Turbo Custom/Restoration

Just finished this one up. I completely forgot to take before pics, but it really wasn't anything remarkable, pretty beat. But I had a donor car, one wing mirror was broken off so I needed an extra door. So that added about $5 to the cost of the project, having to scour ebay to find a cheap donor. It took a while, but I finally found one for cheap. My junkyard just keeps growing and growing.

So anyways, here it is. Nice red paint, and the ONLY proper wheels for a real (pre-GM) Saab, 3 spokes. Red is the best color on the 9000. I usually don't like bright red cars but it just looks so right on that car. Looks good on its platform mates as well, the Alfa Romeo 164 and Lancia Thema. As much as I love Swedish cars, I wish Matchbox had done the Lancia instead of the Saab! But oh well.

The base, I left alone, even though it was kinda beat up. I like to keep some aspect of originality in the cars I restore, usually just the wheels on the Lesneys. But for the newer models with painted metal bases like this, I like to leave them alone as long as the colors work together. Gives them a little character, I think.

I gave the interior a little custom touch as well, black with red inserts! I think it looks pretty cool.

Lesney #15d-VW 1500 Beetle Saloon Restoration

Tonight's quick turn, it arrived in the mail today from a friend on one of the forums, already disassembled and in need of a little assistance:

I tried painting it how Lesney did back in the day, with a gold base coat and red top coat. It's not exactly the same shade as the original, but pretty close. I like it better, in fact. Whatchu think?

Here it is with an original red Beetle. It's not nearly as pink as it looks in the photo, I think the one I painted is a perfect shade! I'll probably order decals for it at some point.