Random Corgi/Solido Restorations

[dr_gn]

The Christmas holidays always seem to make me nostalgic, and I end up looking at my old toys and wanting to restore some of my favourites. My son found this Corgi Porsche Carrera at Doncaster toy fair yesterday:









Thought it would be a good one to restore for the sake of £4. Also dug out my old Corgi Ferrari Berlinetta (basically scrap), so dunked them in Nitromors. This stuff removed about 20% of the paint, then decided to try caustic soda for the first time. Wow. 1 minute in that stuff resulted in this:



I’m amazed it’s freely available in B&Q.

Anyway, ordered some new decals for the Porsche (couldn’t find any for the Ferrari, but I’ll make some), and a new windscreen for the Ferrari.

Flushed with nostalgia, I dug out these two Solido 917’s That I got from the old model shed at Silverstone back in the 70’s:



I think these just need mirrors for the Can-Am, and decals for both; I’ve found some generic ones from the US. Looks like I put them on wrong to start with, but I still love the look of them. BTW the 917K is the ‘71 Le Mans winner, one of the drivers was Helmut Marko of Red Bull fame these days.

[dr_gn]

Here are the cleaned up components:



and the original Ferrari windscreen:



The Carrera 6 is a much more refined model, not sure what the relative release dates were.

[robemcdonald]

Could you use caustic soda on styrene?

[dr_gn]

robemcdonald said:

Could you use caustic soda on styrene?

Don’t see why not - it’s drain cleaner after all. I think it’s the active ingredient in oven cleaners too.

[Red Firecracker]

You can, yes. Whilst the solution was boiling hot, I'd strip the bodyshells and once it had cooled down the glazing units would go in.

[dr_gn]

Red Firecracker said:

You can, yes. Whilst the solution was boiling hot, I'd strip the bodyshells and once it had cooled down the glazing units would go in.

I left the jewelled rear lights in ( couldn’t get them out). Not sure if they’re plastic? Caustic Soda didn’t touch them.

[Red Firecracker]

dr_gn said:

I left the jewelled rear lights in ( couldn’t get them out). Not sure if they’re plastic? Caustic Soda didn’t touch them.

It'll sometimes soften the glue and they'll drop out (and then it can have a go at the silvered backing), but if they stay in, a bit of PVA over them masks them nicely when painting.

The main thing with caustic is to make sure to fastidiously clean the castings afterwards. (sucking eggs, I know :-D )

[Plinth]

dr_gn said:

The Carrera 6 is a much more refined model, not sure what the relative release dates were.

The Corgi Carrera 6 was sold between 1967-69 (there is a second version - white with blue panels and an orange engine cover, which is quite rare).
From 1970-73 it was made with the plastic "Whizzwheels" (which look terrible!)

The Solido 917K was issued in late 1971 (a model of the 917 without the fins was made from 1969) and the Can Am car was from 1972 (I think) - all continued in production for many years in various liveries and packaging.
Later issues lack the crispness of the original castings and the paint finish is not as good.

[dr_gn]

Plinth said:

dr_gn said:

The Carrera 6 is a much more refined model, not sure what the relative release dates were.

The Corgi Carrera 6 was sold between 1967-69 (there is a second version - white with blue panels and an orange engine cover, which is quite rare).
From 1970-73 it was made with the plastic "Whizzwheels" (which look terrible!)

The Solido 917K was issued in late 1971 (a model of the 917 without the fins was made from 1969) and the Can Am car was from 1972 (I think) - all continued in production for many years in various liveries and packaging.
Later issues lack the crispness of the original castings and the paint finish is not as good.

Thanks, but I was comparing the Corgi toys - Porsche vs. Ferrari when I said the Porsche was more refined. I think the Solido Porsches are far better than either of the Corgi cars; perhaps intended more as models than toys.

[Plinth]

dr_gn said:

Plinth said:

dr_gn said:

The Carrera 6 is a much more refined model, not sure what the relative release dates were.

The Corgi Carrera 6 was sold between 1967-69 (there is a second version - white with blue panels and an orange engine cover, which is quite rare).
From 1970-73 it was made with the plastic "Whizzwheels" (which look terrible!)

The Solido 917K was issued in late 1971 (a model of the 917 without the fins was made from 1969) and the Can Am car was from 1972 (I think) - all continued in production for many years in various liveries and packaging.
Later issues lack the crispness of the original castings and the paint finish is not as good.

Thanks, but I was comparing the Corgi toys - Porsche vs. Ferrari when I said the Porsche was more refined. I think the Solido Porsches are far better than either of the Corgi cars; perhaps intended more as models than toys.

My mistake!
The Ferrari was issued from 1965-72 with no significant variations.
One of the few cars to continue into the Whizzwheels era with the original metal wheels and 'rubber' tyres.

1967-8 catalogue:



Corgi (like Dinky and Matchbox) were focussed on making toy cars, so scale and accuracy and were not as important as "play value" . Variations in quality between models probably reflects which pattern maker had made the moulds.
Solido (like Verem, Norev etc) were trying to make more realistic 1/43 cars that could be played with but were more appealing to collectors.

[dr_gn]

OK thanks. It’s a significant refinement difference. I only found out today that the Ferrari should have a spare wheel. Also, the suspension rods are missing, despite the model never having been to pieces before. It definitely had them at one point - it was great at the school field dirt track downhill. Very odd.

I’ve also got my dads old Corgi MGC GT still with the number stickers not applied, and it’s suitcase in the boot. IIRC it was incorrectly boxed as an MGB GT. also got a Marcos GT with integral jacks and removable wheels. I’ll have to find them.

[dr_gn]

Got the replacement Ferrari windscreen today; looks OK:



Also replaced the missing suspension springs with stainless wire from an old model aircraft undercarriage:



and made a new exhaust out of some bent aluminium tube:



Still waiting for some screws to hold everything together, and some Tamiya “Italian Red” spray.

[dr_gn]

The decals for the Solido ‘917’s turned up from the US today:



So I dunked the cars in a tray with warm water and some MicroSol:



Some decals floated off, the rest needed some persuasion with a cocktail stick:



I didn’t re-paint them, I wanted to keep them as original as I can. Considering the decals are generic 1:43 items, And it’s basically a toy, I’m pretty chuffed with the result. After 40 years, this one now has its full set of markings, in more or less the right places. I used the wheel and tyre decals even though the wheels should be black:







Nice to spend a few hours doing some simple modelling and actually getting a result. Now for the Can-Am version...

[Gary29]

Are the decals from Indycals?

[dr_gn]

Gary29 said:

Are the decals from Indycals?

I think so - found them on EBay and just pressed the button.

[dr_gn]

Next up was the 917 Can-Am:



Again, the generic decals fitted pretty well, but a bit more work to do touching up a few cracked areas, and more of an issue, making replacement mirrors:

[dr_gn]

That’s the Corgi Carrera 6 done:

[Red Firecracker]

Nice. Are the roundels bought in? Look quite thin/transparent. (although I do remember supply of the really good screen printed ones was running very short)

[dr_gn]

Red Firecracker said:

Nice. Are the roundels bought in? Look quite thin/transparent. (although I do remember supply of the really good screen printed ones was running very short)

Yes, from EBay. The first ones they sent were worse - very fuzzy. These are the second lot - better but as you say not perfect. Then again the rest of the car isn't perfect, so I'm happy with it all things considered.

[Red Firecracker]

It's a nice casting that one. Lost count of the amount I did in (the horrific) Gulf livery. Good earners