Miniature Cars

[jmcohen23]

Found this online the other day, for those of you interested in obtaining a Hot Wheels / Matchbox car version of the Lexus RX300:

http://www.virtual-toy-shop.com/lexus.htm

makes a great gift for that nephew/grandson of yours....

I'm considering getting one for my 4-year old....

[cduluk]

YES! :D

I thought i was the only one interested in these little miniature models :P

When i started becoming in love with Lexus' (in around 2000, 11yrs old) i started to collect the miniature models. I started with the 1/64 scale, then moved onto the 1/72 scale because it was the only scale the Rx300 was made in.

Then in '05 when i got my first REAL Rx300, i customized the miniature to look just like it.

I painted it the exact color (indigo ink pearl 8P4 / gray cladding UCAF4), made a spoiler, added an antenna out of wire, dremeled out the moonroof, dremeled out the little triangular windows next to the mirrors, added the mirror green tinting film, re-did the interior with wood and extra detail, and topped it off with my license plate (made it on paint, shrunk and printed it).

Then i started seeking out the other Lexus miniatures in 1/72. I found the 98-05 GS and 02-09 SC from the same makers of the Rx300 (Hongwell/Cararama) and turned them into the 01-05 GS430 and 06-09 SC430 making similar customizations, including paint and interior redo etc...

But these were the only Lexus miniatures in the 1/72 i could find. I wasn't satisfied :D

With more research i found an 03-08 Toyota Harrier in the 1/72 scale made from a company called "EPOCH", and turned it into the Rx350. It took a lot of body work since the detail from Epoch was.... quite bad- but it turned out awesome. This was way before i just bought my Rx400h, so i made it into the Rx350 instead of Rx400h...

And i found a 1/72 Toyota Crown and a next gen Toyota Crown from another maker, and with a LOT of body work, made one into the 07-09 ES350 and the other into the 04-06 LS430. Those took the most time since there was SOOO much body work involved; dremeling, filing, filling, sanding etc...

And a few years ago in high school, i had to make a model house for one of my architecture classes. I found a picture of a house online, and made a 1/72 replica out of cardboard (created and printed out the patterns on paint, and printed) and found the fake grass and trees on ebay- all to the same scale as the 1/72 miniatures.

Here are a few pics of the cars and house i made :D Keep in mind the cars are about 5cm long lol. I'm gonna take a few more pics tomorrow in daylight, my camera can't get a lot of detail in my basement lighting.

[cduluk]

[jmcohen23]

wow, these are really awesome!

do the wheels move, like a regular matchbox car? my son has those race tracks, and loves to race the cars on them. so getting this model without moving wheels would be somewhat fruitless to a 4-year old....

[lemon]

Nice stuff cduluk, but I really have to wonder if you have too much time on your hands...between this and the steering wheel/interior work...