Marty's Restorations

[Sidebottom]

What does the forum think of Marty's Restorations on Youtube? I subscribe and generally enjoy his stuff but yesterday his resto of a #43 Minx really annoyed me...it was a neat example with an in-tact hitch albeit with poor paint...and then he fillets it, paints it (wrongly detailing the trim) and the wheels; and adds those ridiculous rivets...It annoys me when he tackles window-less "A'' series in this way as they generally do not need to have the baseplate removed to be painted, just use a little finesse with masking etc. Marty is entertaining but soooo heavy-handed with his resto's which need not matter with latter cars but gee, in Australia (I actually live only about 15 minutes from Marty) all "A'' series Lesney's command a huge premium, for example I sold a plain, playworn green Minor recently for $45 AUD

[GHOSTHUNTER]

I guess doing the work with his skills is more enjoyable and important to him than the model's stand alone value. You will find serious collectors will have very few restored models while restorers will have very few original untouched models as a collection.

The term 'Restored' of course means different things among collectors so if he uses a common aluminum headed rivet to secure baseplates he is simply rebuilding a model to a displayable condition and not to a factory specification finish condition.

Ghosthunter.

[SupraBob]

I have about 25 Matchbox "a" series models from my childhood. Some were damaged and missing parts, and every time I looked at them I was sad that they were not in better shape. It was stumbling onto one of Marty's videos that I learned about the world of repro parts, decals, and stickers, oops!, I meant to say labels, for the Matchbox 1-75 series. As I have said in other threads on this forum, I do understand the mantra that it is only original once, and if it is intact but somewhat playworn, leave it alone. However, if the model is damaged or missing parts, then it is a candidate for a restoration. So I am restoring the ones that are damaged or missing parts, as it is for my own enjoyment to be able to display on a bookshelf the Matchbox models that I played with 65 years ago.

Bulldozer before.jpg (30.42 KiB) Viewed 9390 times

Bulldozer after.jpg (42.23 KiB) Viewed 9390 times

I sourced a repro Land Rover driver and grafted the head onto the shoulders of the Caterpillar driver whose head was missing. Amazingly enough, the smoke stack and hook on the back were still intact.

Anyway, to defend Marty, I believe that he was never a "collector", but rather a model builder who saw an opportunity to exercise his model building skills to restore Matchbox models that in his estimation are "well past it" as the Brits would say. He not only enjoys the process of doing the restoration, but also enjoys making something whole again that most would consign to the bin, and the worst shape to start with the better the challenge. For the most part, he seems to concentrate on models that are in very poor shape, missing parts, or are damaged, and would not be of much interest to a serious collector.

I do agree that the blind rivet method of reattaching the base not one that I would use. It seems to me that the pressure of setting the rivet could very well split the post. I like the small 2mm screw method much better. I feel that this shows that the model has been restored so that no claim can be made that the model is in mint original condition.

Just my opinion

Bob

[GHOSTHUNTER]

You carry on Bob, that looks to be a fine rebuild job in your pictures and if all your projects turn out as good, then you have found a skill of benefit and I bet you enjoyed doing it.

Pictures here of any more please!

Ghosthunter.

[Tinman]

That is a very nice job on the Cat! I've done the same thing and it's a great way to "get ahead."

[SupraBob]

25 A Bedford Dunlop Van before.jpg (41.43 KiB) Viewed 9007 times

Well, OK, here's one more, he said quite humbly.

Sidebottom might say that this one should be left alone, and I might agree, except that this is not what I really started with. It had apparently been stepped on, and the front of the cab had been mashed down and over so that the "A" pillars were at about a 30 degree angle and the center post was "S" shaped. The base plate was also bent. Deciding that I had nothing to lose, I clamped it in a vise and began tapping with a small hammer at a point where the "A" pillar meets the roof. I was able to gradually get it back so that the "A" pillars were at the proper angle. There was still a low spot on the roof that required some putty, and the center post broke off. I straightened the center post and carefully glued it back in. However, during the paint removal process I forgot that it was delicate and due to my too vigorous use of the toothbrush, it disappeared down the drain. A length of 1/16 inch aluminum rod was glued in and shaped with a file to get it to the proper width and profile of the original center post. The paint is Krylon "Short Cuts" no. SCS-073 Forever Blue from Hobby Lobby. It looks a little darker than the photo of the 25A on Nick's site, but it is pretty much spot on to the original color of my model. Certainly as close as I could have gotten with custom mixing and I didn't have to clean my airbrush. It also works on the No 15 C Dennis Tippax cab and frame. New axles, clean wheels, and repro decals finished it off nicely.

I'm happy with that!

25 A Bedford Dunlop Van after.jpg (27.05 KiB) Viewed 9007 times

[GHOSTHUNTER]

Superb!

[Idris]

These restorations are simply superb!

[paelzermaen]

That's a real beauty!

[Malibu]

I wonder waht´s wrong with Marty.
No restauration video within the last 3 weeks.
Does anyone know anything?

Stephan