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Mini-Me

14K views 83 replies 14 participants last post by  95intrepid99kid 
#1 · (Edited)
I went on a silly kick wanting to buy the die-cast models of the Intrepid that Brookfield put out - they did some really nice models before going belly-up, both of Dodge and other Mopar, and some others. They seem to have made some metal, and some plastic, dealer models, but the 1st Gen Intrepid was a die-cast metal model. Made of over 60 individual pieces, I do believe that much, if not all, of it was hand assembled.

Anyway - PICTURES!

Me:


Mini-Me:






The car was originally a very dark charcoal, near black, with silver bumpers and side moldings. I completely took it apart, except for the trunk lid, headlights and foglights. The 'chassis' drops out the bottom with two screws, taking with it the seats, axles, wheels, etc. The hood comes out with two screws and a little bar on the underside of the dash, and then two screws remove the dash. The doors in front come out with one screw each from underneath, and the back doors come out with one screw from each side. The rear window and front window are glued in to the roof, easy to pop them loose, and same with the long OTIS/mirror. The door panels are hot-glued in, they pop off nice. The rear parcel shelf also pops off easily. Then the engine, cowl, and wipers come off all together by popping the glue loose. The tail light lenses come out really easy, not hard at all to break the glue bond on both the quarter panels and the center bar on the deck lid.

With the body completely stripped, I scuffed the whole car except for the B and C pillars by hand using a white Scotch-Brite pad. This knocked down the gloss on the factory paint. I did the same with the doors, except everything above the belt-line. The curves in the bumper and molding were very hard to scuff, and I thought I did well enough - turns out I sucked at it, and should have used a chemical scuffer or something.

Anyway, I then shot it with single stage rattle can paint that is pre-mixed in Indy Red PRB. Bought it on eBay just to do this model. The paint laid on just fine, except where I didn't scuff it enough. It beaded up like water on wax really bad. So, some of it didn't go so well.

I then put it all back together using a crafters superglue gel. You can see the paint beading problem in the photo below pretty well.



And as long as I'm at it, here is my new exhaust, along with my new license plate, and the car sitting on the trunk.



The car was a gift for my nephew - he is autistic, and he has a car for everyone who visits the house... Last time my car was there, he had an ugly 2 door Camero to represent my car - but it was his only red car... So, I gave him this one. The only difference is the wheels.
 
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#65 · (Edited)
I will probably be stuck for the spoiler, but Its not a huge thing.

I also wanna find a 94 style Caravan for my buddy. I think he'd get a kick out of it.

edit: I dug it out. The tissue is from when it was shipped. The Passenger side Mirror is gone, otherwise its complete. Its the blue, but shows slightly purple in the pics for some reason. I bought this from Gaze when he was liquidating his Intrepid stuff.

 
#70 ·
The headlights are probably the most disappointing feature of the car, followed by the tires. The tires are a pathetic lump of rubber, but they are at least KINDA like GoodYear sidewalls.

The headlights, when I repaint mine, will have to be taken off completely (masking doesn't work), and the back side of the headlights will be painted silver (the metal part, not the back of the plastic). Then super glue the lights back on. The fog lights, however, will be a challenge - as they are not possible to remove, and are hard to mask. I think I may try masking them with drinking straws.
 
#72 ·
#82 ·
Here ya go, Tim. Just listed.

Good price, too. Brand new, in box - box has some pencil marks on it though. Van appears to be in great shape. If it is anything like the Intrepids, it will be fantastic. I've never seen good interior pics, but I've read that they are just as detailed as the Intrepids. The wheels look a little too plastic-y, but not overly bad.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Brookfield-...Action_Figures_Diecast_US&hash=item2ec3df865c

I'm not going to bid on it, no desire to have it, so I won't be bidding against you at all.
 
#79 · (Edited)
I've had quite a bit of experience building and reworking models. I won a Jada toys contest with a 240z that I rebuilt and you mentioned every problem that has plagued model car builders since the dawn of time! Especially the metal flake issue! The trick is to find a suitable match that was designed for use on models. Using real automotive paint almost always ends in comically large flake or paint that is so thick all of the fine detail is lost forever! Also keep in mind that automotive paint is very "hot" and will melt most plastics used in models, its not a big deal on the diecast body but those trim pieces could get ruined!

Heres a couple shots of the Z that I did to give yall some inspiration. I did a lot of subtle mods, shaving the mirrors and door handles, and a few not so subtle mods, scratch built engine!

 
#81 ·
The model came with a four banger so I cut that out of there and built a factory straight six then added weber carbs and twin turbos, that unfortunately cant be seen :(

If you really want to use the auto paint on the plastic bits the trick is to build up lots of very thin layers. Just mist the paint on each time, do NOT go for full coverage. It will take half dozen or so rounds but eventually youll get a nice even coat and no melted plastic. To solve the thickness issue you really need to use an airbrush instead of the rattle can, but thats getting into some expensive equipment.
 
#84 ·
Hey CDMCCUL, how do you keep the hood up (I am currently using an old paperclip that I cut down to size to hold the hood up), and repair one that has a siezed passenger wiper (and it broke off too :pissed:) and a Passengers side mirror (came broken, in trunk w/ passengers wiper/arm) Who knew that the trunk would be so useful on a model? For anyone that wonders, the Concorde has no damage.
 
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