HPR Matchbox show Episode 3

Good day to all in HPR land, this is Tony Hughes coming to you again from Blackpool in the UK. To recap this is the 3rd in a series of shows about my hobby of restoring Matchbox and other Die-cast models. In the first 2 shows I introduced the concept and discussed the tools and other equipment you would need to start this hobby.

In this episode I have decided to return to where it all started with the Matchbox No28 the Jaguar Mk10. Please refer to the show notes for the pictures of the process as we move along. You can see in the first picture the 4 castings used in this process.

Picture 000:

This is a lovely little casting and is a nice introduction to the techniques used in the process. Also I have several of these that I can strip down to their components and that should give us enough quality parts to reassemble at least one good example, hopefully one or two more.

The next picture shows you the base of the model and that there is a mushroomed post that needs to be drilled out at the rear of the model, the front of the base is retained by a tab, which once the post is removed and the base released, this can be slid forward to free the tab.

Picture 001:

I drilled out this post. The post is drilled out with a 4mm drill bit, and as you can see in the next picture on this particular casting I was a little over zealous and damaged the base a little, although as it is the base it’s not a major issue.

Picture 003:

I then released the base by prying it off the remainder of the post with a small flat bladed screwdriver to lever it of the body. This now allowed the removal of the inner plastic forming the seating and holding a small plastic suspension piece. In the next picture you can see the casting without any internals but with the plastic window unit still held in place with another shallow mushroom post.

Picture 005:

Being very careful not to be too aggressive drilling this mushroom holding the windscreen unit, it is removed, again with a 4mm drill bit, so that a little pressure from a flat blade slid between the roof and the glassing unit will allow it to pop out without it breaking. It usually takes several attempts of a little drilling, trying with the flat blade, then if not coming free, a little more drilling until it pops off.

Picture 006:

Picture 006x:

This process was repeated with the other 3 castings and the result is shown in the next picture

Picture 008:

As you can see the casting on the upper left of the image still has the bonnet (Hood) attached, this would not come off without me risking damaging it, so I was hoping that once the paint is removed that this will help it to come free. You will have to wait for the next instalment to find out what happened next. I’ve got to keep you wanting some more of this rambling tale.

So until next time this is Tony Hughes saying goodbye to all those in HPR land. Keep safe until the next instalment.