Hot Wheels Volkswagen Golf GTI Mk7 Custom

WOW it's been a while since I posted here (or have done any customs for that matter). Work has been keeping me sooooo busy. But I've got a lot of stuff in the queue to be finished and posted!! Starting with this Hot Wheels Mk7 Golf GTI that I made to give to a buddy of mine as a copy of his car.

Hot Wheels BMW 3.0 CSL Street Custom

Here's my take on one of the best recent HW releases, the BMW 3.0 CSL! These have been my favorite BMW model for as long as I can remember. They are just the ideal car to me, elegant styling, great performance and just an overall classiness that modern cars can't touch.

HW has done nothing but racing spec ones so far, and they've made some very nice ones... But I decided to see what I could do with a street version.. And I am absolutely thrilled with how it came out. 

Lesney Matchbox #46c Mercedes 300SE Chassis Swap

This is kind of an odd one that I've had sitting on a dusty corner of the work bench for quite some time now. I came across a strange listing for a mint condition green 300SE body and windows, minus the interior and chassis! Only 99 cents, so I bought it. The plan was to turn it into what you see here, a one of none transitional!
Only problem was, the gold super fast version isn't always the easiest model to find, and my parts supply didn't include a good condition chassis.. So I have waited almost a year to find a good donor car on eBay, and I finally got one! So here it is:

Hot Wheels Porsche 356 "Outlaw" Custom

How about this for a custom... It's way up there on the list of favorite cars in my entire collection!! I've been itching to get one on the workbench ever since this casting was announced... Very exciting to have one now. What do you think?

(The red one is a custom as well, check out more pics here)

Hot Wheels Porsche 934 RSR Turbo

Hey guys! I got xmas off from work so I decided to drive home to Kentucky for the holiday. Get to hang out with my family, wrench on the Volvo, and do some customs!!! Here'e the first one.. A Porsche 934, such an awesome casting. I was planning on painting it another color, but I thought the green etch primer looked pretty sweet, so I went with it! And I don't seem to have a paintbrush small enough to do the lights.

Matchbox VW Transporter 50th Anniversary Wheel Swap

Hey everybody. This isn't quite a proper custom, just a little wheel swap. I bought a lot of premium series HW and MBXs a year or so ago that were mint, but just missing wheels. I've been slowly adding wheels as I obtain appropriate ones. This morning I did a nice VW Transporter.

Matchbox Porsche 928 Restoration

The big grand tourer from Porsche has always held a special place in my heart. Intended to replace the great 911, it has spent most of its life not getting the respect it deserves. Same goes for the 914, 924, 944, etc. But those tides seem to be changing finally, and I'm glad for it! I came across this beat looking model on ebay and had to have it.

Nothing too drastic, just a paint job and a wheel swap. I think it came out looking superb! I had toyed with the idea of adding modern wheels, but the old Matchbox 8 dots somewhat closely replicate the original "phone dials" these cars came with, so that was the winner!

And hanging out with some friends from the collection.

Lesney #53b - Mercedes 220SE Coupe Restoration

Hello!!!! I bet you all thought I'd forgotten and abandoned this little blog. Nope, just been caught up in moving to another state and starting a new job! But I'm getting settled in now, and slowly unpacking my workbench and getting it set up again. And this Mercedes is the first product of new workshop. I forgot to take before pics (or just can't find them on my computer), but it was in a pretty sorry state. I like working on the older Lesneys like this, they look great sitting on the shelf afterwards.

For this one, I decided to go with a dark metallic blue, over light grey interior to complement the silver plastic wheels. It looks great!! Not as perfect as I would've liked, but it's ok.

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 :)