1 18 scale diecast vehicles thread
- Thread starter oddball
- Start date
i dont have much more than about 10-15...i ran out of room and the prices on the things started to get ridiculous
I only have a few, and those are too many for me, since they don't blend nicely with the Joe's sadly.
Working on the Hot Wheels movie with the boy this summer has somewhat reignited my love of diecast cars. I've got dozens of 1:18 cars, consisting primarily of 1:18th versions of all the real cars I have owned over the years, 1:18 diecast equivalents of the '84 Autobots, some iconic TV/Movie cars, and various other muscle cars.
For a while about ten years ago, I had grand plans to customize all of the key vehicles from the Dukes of Hazzard in 1:18th scale, but over the last decade, Johnny Lightning, Joyride, & Greenlight have largely beaten me to it. Boss's Cadillac and Cooters tow truck are about the only ones that have yet to get produced. I simply have a box of random disassembled cars that likely will never get repainted and rebuilt.
But now having worked on our little movie project, I wanted to preserve the beat-up and abused 1/64 cars that we used in filming, sort of a little time-capsule keepsake. Those cars have a great story to tell, and I've grown attached to them. So I ordered a display case that holds 56 cars. BUT WE DIDN'T USE THAT MANY. HOW WILL I FILL IT UP?... So I'm currently on a quest to find all of my real cars in 1/64 form, the '84 Autobots in tiny diecast form, and I already own all of the DoH cars in 1/64 scale from Johnny Lightning.
BUT not all of my real cars exist in the right colors, interiors, and wheels from typical manufacturers, so I then began looking into hot wheels customization... which is a massive rabbit hole. I did learn that I already own almost all of the correct tools from customizing action figures and real construction. So that's good, but I feel like I'm slowly turning into a hot wheels person.
No, I'm not going to be a collector that runs into the store to find the rare white-walled, red-lined, shortpacked whatever. I don't care about collecting them. I have too many collections already. But I could see myself customizing a few dozen for grins. It'll give me something to do when I have to work from home after school starts.
For a while about ten years ago, I had grand plans to customize all of the key vehicles from the Dukes of Hazzard in 1:18th scale, but over the last decade, Johnny Lightning, Joyride, & Greenlight have largely beaten me to it. Boss's Cadillac and Cooters tow truck are about the only ones that have yet to get produced. I simply have a box of random disassembled cars that likely will never get repainted and rebuilt.
But now having worked on our little movie project, I wanted to preserve the beat-up and abused 1/64 cars that we used in filming, sort of a little time-capsule keepsake. Those cars have a great story to tell, and I've grown attached to them. So I ordered a display case that holds 56 cars. BUT WE DIDN'T USE THAT MANY. HOW WILL I FILL IT UP?... So I'm currently on a quest to find all of my real cars in 1/64 form, the '84 Autobots in tiny diecast form, and I already own all of the DoH cars in 1/64 scale from Johnny Lightning.
BUT not all of my real cars exist in the right colors, interiors, and wheels from typical manufacturers, so I then began looking into hot wheels customization... which is a massive rabbit hole. I did learn that I already own almost all of the correct tools from customizing action figures and real construction. So that's good, but I feel like I'm slowly turning into a hot wheels person.
No, I'm not going to be a collector that runs into the store to find the rare white-walled, red-lined, shortpacked whatever. I don't care about collecting them. I have too many collections already. But I could see myself customizing a few dozen for grins. It'll give me something to do when I have to work from home after school starts.
I can't imagine the size/weight of 1:18 diecast working well for me. I have a lot of diecast stuff (mostly aircraft) in significantly smaller scales (1:48, 1:72, 1:144, etc.). I can imagine the work that would need to go into customizing diecast and could never imagine undertaking it myself. To me, most of the point paying the premium to buy diecast, as opposed to plastic models, is that they are typically already fully painted and decorated for the particular types and units out of the box. That obviously limits what I can get, but that's probably a good thing, at least where my wallet (and shelf space) is concerned.
Hot wheels are a little different though. I'm not going to be making wild customs, just drilling out two rivets to take them apart, swapping axles/wheels, stripping/repainting. Pretty basic stuff with relatively cheap raw materials. If I screw up, I've wasted $5, tops. That's very different than the prospect of taking a hacksaw to a $100 diecast bird.
1:18th cars... those are a different story. I have a lot of shelf space because I have a ton of books and built a lot of bookcases into the house. But books aren't nearly as deep as the 12" shelves, and thus I put cars on the front edge of the shelves. I very much enjoy looking at them. But even with those, my "custom" plans revolve largely around simply repainting them, maybe a few waterslide decals. I'm not going to be fabricating parts or anything crazy. That's too much like work!
1:18th cars... those are a different story. I have a lot of shelf space because I have a ton of books and built a lot of bookcases into the house. But books aren't nearly as deep as the 12" shelves, and thus I put cars on the front edge of the shelves. I very much enjoy looking at them. But even with those, my "custom" plans revolve largely around simply repainting them, maybe a few waterslide decals. I'm not going to be fabricating parts or anything crazy. That's too much like work!
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I ended up getting more 1:18 diecast stuff to fit in.. but it gets expensive for the good stuff.
I guess the expensive ones have more detail? I dunno. But like I can't find a normal priced Honda Civic.. they're all like $150 which.. it's a damn Civic! I'd love to have one of all my cars.
I guess the expensive ones have more detail? I dunno. But like I can't find a normal priced Honda Civic.. they're all like $150 which.. it's a damn Civic! I'd love to have one of all my cars.
I have exactly one of my rides in 1:18, but mostly no. Nobody makes a Taco of any generation in that scale. I learned to drive on an '80, drove a '91 in high school, and I drive an '08 when the kids aren't in school. Plus they'd make awesome technicals for all my sandbox OpFor's.
-'91 Taco (nope)
-'98 Maxima (nope)
-'99 Prelude (nope) - correction, holy shit, they DO make one, and it's $200. WTF Mattel.
-'01 Camaro SS (yep!)
-'08 Taco (nope)
-'17 Challenger T/A 392 (nope)
(I didn't count my '69 charger, as it was a project car, not really a DD).
So finding them in 1:18 is highly unlikely. But customizing them in 1/64 scale should be doable.
-'91 Taco (nope)
-'98 Maxima (nope)
-'99 Prelude (nope) - correction, holy shit, they DO make one, and it's $200. WTF Mattel.
-'01 Camaro SS (yep!)
-'08 Taco (nope)
-'17 Challenger T/A 392 (nope)
(I didn't count my '69 charger, as it was a project car, not really a DD).
So finding them in 1:18 is highly unlikely. But customizing them in 1/64 scale should be doable.
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I can find Ford Explorers.. but they're all police models, which is kind of cool but not the cheapest.
Honda Civics are all riced up, available, but expensive.
Haven't seen a 2014 Ford Fusion Hybrid, not sure I want one either.
Lets see..
1988 Honda Accord - Doubtful
2002 Honda Accord - Maybe but doubtful
2007 Volkswagen Jetta - Don't really want one
2010 Ford Fusion - Would want, not sure if I've seen one
2012 Ford Focus - Maybe.
2013 Ford Explorer - Maybe.
2014 Ford Fusion - Nah.
2015 Ford Edge - Nah.
2017 Ford Flex - Would want one of these.
2017 Honda Civic - Not riced up please.
2020 Ford Explorer - Sure.
Damn that's a lot of cars in a decade. Granted it includes the "wifes" cars too since we swap back and forth. I miss having my own car, I get whatever car she's not using lol
Honda Civics are all riced up, available, but expensive.
Haven't seen a 2014 Ford Fusion Hybrid, not sure I want one either.
Lets see..
1988 Honda Accord - Doubtful
2002 Honda Accord - Maybe but doubtful
2007 Volkswagen Jetta - Don't really want one
2010 Ford Fusion - Would want, not sure if I've seen one
2012 Ford Focus - Maybe.
2013 Ford Explorer - Maybe.
2014 Ford Fusion - Nah.
2015 Ford Edge - Nah.
2017 Ford Flex - Would want one of these.
2017 Honda Civic - Not riced up please.
2020 Ford Explorer - Sure.
Damn that's a lot of cars in a decade. Granted it includes the "wifes" cars too since we swap back and forth. I miss having my own car, I get whatever car she's not using lol
I found a 1/24 scale version of my wife’s father’s 1951 Ford pickup truck several years ago. My own vehicles, and this might not be complete: 1973 Dodge Colt. 1974 Chevy Custom 10 pickup. 1975-76 AMC Hornet. 1978 Ford Fiesta. 1972?? Ford Grenada 1987 Ford Tempo 1989 Ford F-150 Lariat extended cab. 1972 VW Beetle (wish I still had it). Unk year Plymouth Voyager. 1997? Ford Windstar. 2002? Dodge Grand Caravan. 2007? Dodge Caravan. 1982 Chevrolet S10 pickup. 2016 Dodge Grand Caravan. For vehicles I’ve used as an MP in the army or as a police officer/trooper I’d have to think hard? M151A2 1/4 ton Utility Truck. 1982 Dodge K Car. 1975-76? Ford Maverick. 1971-72 Chevrolet Sedan (tuna boat) 1985 Mercury Topaz. M113A2 Armored Personnel Carrier. Deuce and a half, Humvee, and various Dodge Rams 
1987 Ford Crown VIC, 1991 Chevrolet Impala, 1995 Chevrolet Impala (Best ever-LT-1 engine) 1999 Ford Crown Vic, 2005 Ford Crown Vic, 2002 Chevrolet Impala, unk year Chevrolet Malibu Max, Unk year Chevrolet Monte Carlo, 2010 Chevrolet Impala, 2008 or 2009 Ford Crown Vic, 2012 Chevrolet Impala. I know I missed something but I’m having a hard time remembering years. I have a project that I am working on to fix my 1/18 M151A2 up in 1980’s paint scheme with two 5th MP’s manning it.
1987 Ford Crown VIC, 1991 Chevrolet Impala, 1995 Chevrolet Impala (Best ever-LT-1 engine) 1999 Ford Crown Vic, 2005 Ford Crown Vic, 2002 Chevrolet Impala, unk year Chevrolet Malibu Max, Unk year Chevrolet Monte Carlo, 2010 Chevrolet Impala, 2008 or 2009 Ford Crown Vic, 2012 Chevrolet Impala. I know I missed something but I’m having a hard time remembering years. I have a project that I am working on to fix my 1/18 M151A2 up in 1980’s paint scheme with two 5th MP’s manning it.
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For all you well-heeled 1:18th diecast enthusiasts, there are a handful of new offerings that will appeal to those looking for 1:18th Transformers in diecast form.
Jazz Porsche 935 with a proper #4 - PORSCHE 935 - WINNER 6H WATKINS GLEN 1976
Mirage JS-11 - LIGIER JS11 - GP ESPAGNE 1979
And Cooter's Place is offering a PO for a limited run of orange chargers with General Lee decal kits. They'll have the push bar and the correct wheels, but you'll have to apply the decals yourself. Regardless, it's the AutoWorld version (I have one, it's very nice, not the old gimpy Ertl release), and it'll probably be worth a mint in a decade since the woke police at WB have wished the Dukes into the cornfield.
cootersplace.com
Jazz Porsche 935 with a proper #4 - PORSCHE 935 - WINNER 6H WATKINS GLEN 1976
Mirage JS-11 - LIGIER JS11 - GP ESPAGNE 1979
And Cooter's Place is offering a PO for a limited run of orange chargers with General Lee decal kits. They'll have the push bar and the correct wheels, but you'll have to apply the decals yourself. Regardless, it's the AutoWorld version (I have one, it's very nice, not the old gimpy Ertl release), and it'll probably be worth a mint in a decade since the woke police at WB have wished the Dukes into the cornfield.
1:18 Cooter’s Garage 1969 Dodge Charger with General Lee Decal Kit
Cooter’s Garage 1:18 Scale General Lee 1969 Dodge Charger
cootersplace.com
