Part 80

From Zeitschrift, August 2005

Hello fellow collectors, this month’s edition of the Toy Department brings us up to date with some recent new releases of Matchbox VW models currently available at your local shop.

	Firstly the new beetle convertible and yellow taxi beetle we spoke about in last month’s edition. These models are available if you look hard and consistently, I would have to say a lot more available than the No 45 purple microbus of few months back

	Also in the five pack series a white beetle and yellow kombi with the burger zone livery, at least you get 2 out 5 V dubs for the price.

There is another five pack series with a red 4x4 Baja; the name escapes me at moment, but look out for it any way.

	Also to my surprise, realtoy or otherwise known as Action City have released 4 (four) alpine microbuses, they are in two tone blue, red, green and orange as seen here and can be found in the 5 pack or 3 pack sets. They can be best described as very similar to the Johnny lightning/ Matchbox kombis. These models are great value for the $5 price and good quality. You can source them at K mart or big W.

Finally Welly have done well with a release of a 1/25 scale touareg in various colours. I have not seen them for sale in Australia as yet but I am sure we will start to see them pop up at our local market stalls in the near future.

Happy Hunting

Tony Bezzina

Part 79

From Zeitschrift, July 2005

Hello again, hot off the press this month are two new Hotwheels castings due in October this year.

Due to be released in the US by Mattel are of a split window ute and yes a Karmann Ghia, as you can see they are still in bare metal with colours yet to be decided.

Also if you are treasure hunt collector of Hotwheels, an unusual occurrence has taken place. Where normally the treasure hunt series are in groups of 1 to 12 there is a 13th, in fact it numbered 13 of 12? This number 13 is a VW drag bus as shown here in black with yellow flames.

	The catch is you have to live in US or have a reliable resident friend to assist. To get one of these you must buy 20 Hotwheel cars and send in the bar codes to receive a voucher, when you have 4 vouchers you can redeem them for one of many mystery cars including the following 3, Black drag bus, Baja in yellow, or black and white oval beetle.

I recently also picked up one of these new Matchbox super wheels kombis in two tone green.

Happy hunting

Tony Bezzina

Part 78

From Zeitschrift, June 2005

By now those of you who know me well would also know that while I am out of town on business or pleasure, there is no stopping me visiting the odd hobby or toy shop, in fact there is no town, city or country that I have ventured in the past 20 years and not sourced out the local hobby shop.

Usually there is a hidden agenda in the lead up, but the rest of the family are pretty much on to it a lot sooner these days.

Recently while on business on the central coast I came across a unique diecast model shop. So if you are ever in the area look up Past & Present Model Cars.

Owner Terry Quinlan would will be most obliging in assisting you source out any diecast model car you may be after.

Past & Present Model Cars can be contacted on 02 43891501 or ppmc@kooee.com.au They are situated at 7 Cara St Killarney Vale NSW; trust me you will have look them up in the street directory.

This month I would like to report on two new Matchbox releases the first being the No 41 yellow beetle taxi and the other a new beetle convertible in white.

Also this month I will leave you with some images of some Majorette kombis. These kombis are 1/60 scale which is a little larger that the tomica or Matchbox series.

The down side to these models was the poor suspension, you would be very lucky to find any in as good condition these.

You will notice slight variations in some models such as different wheels, different coloured windows, or even the police beacon being a different colour.

Tony Bezzina

Part 77

From Zeitschrift, May 2005

It was good to catch up with many of you at our VW Nationals. For those who missed seeing my Bay window bus collection on display here it is again.

Speaking of Bay windows, I was recently contacted by Roland Röttges from Germany, Roland is a member of a VW model club and you may recall we featured an article by him on bay window Kombis in an earlier edition of the Toy Department.

The good news is that there is to be released a further late model 1/43 scale Bay Window models by Schuco and Minichamps.

Our prayers have been answered!!

This year is the year of the new bay window Kombi models. The international toy-fair in Nuremberg just closed and Roland has forward the following images of some exciting new models.

	Firstly, we have some images of the club members cars being actually measured up for scale in preparation for the drawing board and final production.

The images that follow are exceptional models of an Orange Micro Bus, Martini yellow Kombi van, a blue pick up & white dual cab pick- up, the latter to be released later on this year.

There will also be a new WIKING special edition of bay window Kombis later this year.

Roland would be very happy to receive emails from club members at http://shop.bulli.org/ or vorsitz@bulli.org

The shop can deliver to Australia by DHL, and payment is possible via Pay Pal.

Tony Bezzina

Part 76

From Zeitschrift, April 2005, VW Nationals issue.

In the January edition of the Toy Department we featured some model kits and the some basics tips on putting these kits together.

The TD recently received details of a high standard beetle kit which include serious conversions, such as a left to right hand dash conversion, which started out as 1/24 Tamiya kit that was transformed by Peter Roberts into a 1963 Bathurst winner.

In the mean time looking forward to seeing you at the Nationals, I also hope to have some of my models on display again, and the theme this year being “Bay windows”

	Peter Roberts writes; The basic kit for this model is the Tamiya 1/24 Scale 1966 Model Volkswagen 1300 Beetle. Unfortunately, there were several subtle changes between the 1963 and 1966 VWs. I have tried to incorporate most of the more obvious differences in building this model of the 1963 Ferguson/Ford car. Barry Ferguson kindly helped with the interpretation of some of the “sign writing” on the car, as the photo references were not too clear on these points. The following list covers most of the changes to the basic kit. Converted to right hand drive, using a dash board from a Hasegawa kit (also ’66!) Interior modified to 1963 spec, primarily the steering wheel and dash board All chrome strip mouldings removed from body, doors and bonnet Front wing-window “pillar” changed from slanted to vertical (1963 spec) Rear number plate light pod modified. This was done by shortening the width, but to be more accurate, it should also be a little deeper. (1963 spec)

Engine lid handle changed to “T” shape (this was taken from a Mini Minor kit!)
(1963 spec)

Wheel ventilation slots filled to give solid wheels (1963 spec)

Valve stems added to wheels – a little detail touch that can look quite effective and is obvious with the white wheels

Engine detailed – distributor wired, vac-advance and fuel line added. Unfortunately, this work is difficult to see on the finished model, and equally difficult to photograph!

Wire headlight guards built from scratch and added to lights

All chrome items stripped, cleaned up and repainted with a chrome finish

Rego label decal reduced from original 1963 item (by chance, the correct month too!)

Decals made from own artwork using photos as a guide

Unfortunately, this model was rushed a bit in order to have it ready for a club competition, and in doing so, some of the green stripe (Castrol Green?) “bled” under the clear finish. I did not have time to correct this, so it is a slight blemish on the finished model. I also did not have time to “rubber” all the windows, but these points are not overly obvious and do not seem to detract too much from the appearance of the finished model. As well as the information kindly offered by Barry Ferguson, I used the following references in making this model. “Original VW Beetle” by L. Meredith, Bay View Books Ltd, 1994

“Australia’s Greatest Motor Race 1960-1999” by Greenhalgh, Floyd and Tuckey, Chevron Publishing Group, 2000

“Australia’s Greatest Motor Race – The Complete History” by Tuckey, Lansdowne Press, 1981

Peter Roberts

Victoria, Australia

Part 75

From Zeitschrift, February 2005

In recent times I have been approached by many, about the availability of model dual cab kombis, which are very rare, and I must confess that my collection is only limited to a couple of 1/87 Brekina models.

In my search for these models I came across a web site dedicated to the model kombi pick up, Ute, or dual cab. The site is actually called VW truck toys.

The following images and many others cam be found at www.dropgates.com There are other great links, which are most interesting to say the least.

	The site boasts examples made by Tekno, Corgi, Husky, Bandai, Shuco, and many others. These models owned by many are sent to the site and displayed for all to enjoy and comment on.

Finally this last image is of a real life stretched kombi also found at the drop gates web site; you would have to agree that it is a kombi that you would have to die for!

Tony Bezzina

Part 74

From Zeitschrift, January 2005 (there was no December 2004)

	During the Christmas break I had the opportunity to build two model kits. The kits I am referring to are the Hasegawa brand, and in particular the 1/24 scale blue delivery van and 1967 type 2 pick up.

As I have previously indicated, putting together model kits is not one my strengths, however these Hasegawa kits are not too complicated to put together.

I have seen some real fine examples of some put together kits, some which have been sprayed with air brushes and even some detailed modifications

If you consider the following basic tips you can accomplish your task and enjoy your model without gluing your fingers together.

· Always wash your parts in warm soapy water before assembly, this assists with paint adheresion.

· Use a precision needle cement applicator rather than the old style cement tubes

· Before gluing chrome parts remove some of the plating with sand paper or a blade for better bonding of parts.

· Assemble most of the body and then spray paint your model using a light coat of primer, followed by 2 or 3 light coats of final colour allowing for drying in between coats.

· Use clear craft glue for all window or clear plastic parts to avoid the foggy reaction.

· Take your time

When it comes to painting I found that if you are just starting out, using one colour spray paint gives a fine consistent finish.

Also surprisingly using mat spray paint gives an excellent finish . I painted my pick up in grey primer and it looks great. Also, yes black mat comes up well too!

Some of those $2 spray paints work just as good!

Consider some signage for your model. I cut out some Heinz and Arnott's labels from grocery items and applied them with some diluted wood glue, which also dries clear.

In this edition I have included examples of some model kits.

Other Items of interest

For those of us who are serious about our interest, the following items may also interest you.
Big W is selling single bed doona covers with large spilt window kombis printed on them.
Also at Big W, men's T- Shirts displaying a military Split window Kombi.

You also may be familiar with the Solido 1/18 Microbus model. It appears that someone has got hold of the mould and has produced a ceramic version of this model, less any interior.

This I would not put into the category of a model, as it is very ruff indeed, nor is it worth the $20 price tag,…. but thinking out side the square, it would look really good positioned in a fish tank, you would only have to remove the metal base plate, as the rest is ceramic.

You can see these in two- tone red and blue at the 'Ware house' discount stores.

In the mean time I am giving the fish tank some more thought.

Tony Bezzina

Part 73

From Zeitschrift, November 2004

I recently came across some general releases in the general Matchbox range.

In particular the #45 purple kombi in hero city livery, also the # 44 red beetle. Both these models are rare for the time being.

Also there are two new 4WD beetles # 54 in green and #45 in yellow.

The 3rd Australian release of the concept Microbus # 57 Extreme Park is also now available at most of your usual places . This model unfortunately is very similar to the # 54 version partially in colour.

Finally this month some very rare Gama 1/43 kombis, again they would have to once in life time finds. Happy collecting

Tony Bezzina

Part 72

From Zeitschrift, October 2004

In keeping with the theme of peace in the world at this time, I have sourced some images of peace loving cars of the 60's.

These Johnny lighting models are fine examples of the feelings and what people went to, and how they expressed their feelings for peace at the time, for some of us any way.

Dating back to the same era the split window kombi was famous, in various shapes forms, and had many purposes, such as the army service, chocolate runs or peace van.

In particular the light blue Corgi 1/43 Toblerone kombi van, with the perspex light entry on the roof, which if held up to the light and if you covered the top with your finger in an on/off fashion, would give the effect the head lights were flashing.

Not many people, even those who have this model, know that this is the intended reason for the opening on the roof. It certainly shows the innovations of the past as for as model car makers are concerned.

Any way that's all from me this month.

Tony Bezzina

Part 71

From Zeitschrift, September 2004

Some of us may recall or have rare examples of the original Hot wheels beach bomb kombis or beetles in our collections.

In earlier editions of the Toy Department we spoke about how an original beach bomb kombi in mint condition sold at Christies auction in London for 2,500 pounds.

There were two versions of the kombi, one with surfboards in the rear, and another with boards on the side.

Hot wheels this year have re-released this fine model in some variations and colours, including metallic Green or red, & chrome. Expect to pay up to $80.00 for each of these.

Suki has been making superior quality German model cars now for over 27 years. If anyone is going to make a superior German model, it’s going to be none other than Germany.

One example of superior quality is the time and effort gone into the suspension in the Suki range.

Compare this to some others such as the Majorette range of bay window Kombis, and you will immediately notice the difference. In some cases the suspension will not hold out to what they were intended for, that is to be played with by young and old. Of course unless you prefer the lowered look!

This next image of a Suki bay window, which is a Maltese Ambulance Kombi, and comes with a bit of a story.

Coincidently I am a Maltese Australian. In 1977 at the age of 15 I visited Malta and saw these Ambulance’s racing down the narrow streets exactly as presented here.

I was not to know that in 1980 I would purchase my own ‘77 Microbus.

The only disappointment is that I don’t own this fine model.

Tony Bezzina