Advice from you DieCast Guru's

[Dennis45]

I'm a novice at this and I know there are a few Die Cast Experts on the forum so I'm asking for some expert opinions.

I purchased an 04 Merlot from one of our esteemed members and during shipping if contracted an bit of a smudge on the plastic windshield. Anyone have ideas on how to rub out a smudge without destroying the windshield?

Also, on the underside the casting says 2003 Thunderbird. But the Merlot is a 2004 color only. Did they just use an 03 casting and paint it Merlot?

[11TH GEN]

Re: Advice from you DieCast Guru's

I'm not a Guru but I have removed paint and smudges from plastic with a q tip and acetone without harming the surface.

[wcoates]

Re: Advice from you DieCast Guru's

Dennis if any thing you do doesn't work, I'll be glad to send you a windshield from a beanstalk model that was damaged in transit to me. Bad news is we are away until May but it will come. Frank from LA, Paul, Dino, Skip and Charlie all might be able to help.

I know that Maisto had the same model ( i.e a 2002 engine ) in subsequent years they produced.
Having the exact same body, I'd bet beanstalk
didn't go to the trouble to change the mold.
Just a guess on my part.

[Jimr]

Re: Advice from you DieCast Guru's

Dennis if any thing you do doesn't work, I'll be glad to send you a windshield from a beanstalk model that was damaged in transit to me. Bad news is we are away until May but it will come. Frank from LA, Paul, Dino, Skip and Charlie all might be able to help.

I know that Maisto had the same model ( i.e a 2002 engine ) in subsequent years they produced.
Having the exact same body, I'd bet beanstalk
didn't go to the trouble to change the mold.
Just a guess on my part.

tooth paste is an excellent polish for plastic.

[Dennis45]

Re: Advice from you DieCast Guru's

Dennis if any thing you do doesn't work, I'll be glad to send you a windshield from a beanstalk model that was damaged in transit to me. Bad news is we are away until May but it will come. Frank from LA, Paul, Dino, Skip and Charlie all might be able to help.

I know that Maisto had the same model ( i.e a 2002 engine ) in subsequent years they produced.
Having the exact same body, I'd bet beanstalk
didn't go to the trouble to change the mold.
Just a guess on my part.

Thanks Bill, I'll play with it and see how it goes. Not on the top of my Roundtoit but if I screw it up, I'll give you a shout. Thanks for the offer.
I'm not familiar with these things but that was my guess. Because these retros were all basically the same, they would just use the same mould.

[FEsTbird]

Re: Advice from you DieCast Guru's

Acetone on the windshield isn't a good idea. Rubbing alcohol on the Q-tip would be better. Sometimes a filtered water will work.

[FEsTbird]

Re: Advice from you DieCast Guru's

Also, on the underside the casting says 2003 Thunderbird. But the Merlot is a 2004 color only. Did they just use an 03 casting and paint it Merlot?

The construction of nearly all the Beanstalk models is basically the same, the paint and interiors were changed as Ford did the cars. The 2004 models are different from the earlier ones by having the V-8 symbol on the sides of the car by the door. The signage on the side of the display stand tells the year and model of the car. I assume by the "underside of the casting" you mean the black floor of the model.

Dot Lange's Porthole Authority has a complete listing of the various die casts.
http://www.portholeauthority.com/

[Blue Heaven]

Re: Advice from you DieCast Guru's

Dennis if any thing you do doesn't work, I'll be glad to send you a windshield from a beanstalk model that was damaged in transit to me. Bad news is we are away until May but it will come. Frank from LA, Paul, Dino, Skip and Charlie all might be able to help.

Dennis,
I have a Beanstalk windshield I could send you. It does require you dis-assemble the car to replace it, are you familiar with how to do that??

Dino

[Dennis45]

Re: Advice from you DieCast Guru's

Dennis,
I have a Beanstalk windshield I could send you. It does require you dis-assemble the car to replace it, are you familiar with how to do that??

Dino

Appreciate the offer. I have not dismantled one. I will try to clean this one up first and if it goes south on me I'll go to plan B.

[Rondor]

Re: Advice from you DieCast Guru's

I too would be Leary of acetone as it will likely the plastic

[Skip]

Re: Advice from you DieCast Guru's

I'm a novice at this and I know there are a few Die Cast Experts on the forum so I'm asking for some expert opinions.
I purchased an 04 Merlot from one of our esteemed members and during shipping if contracted an bit of a smudge on the plastic windshield. Anyone have ideas on how to rub out a smudge without destroying the windshield?
Also, on the underside the casting says 2003 Thunderbird. But the Merlot is a 2004 color only. Did they just use an 03 casting and paint it Merlot?

Dennis:

All of the Beanstalk's were 2003 models regardless of color. Similarly, all of the Maisto's were 2002, regardless of color. Each company did one casting or mold and used that for all of their production runs. Beanstalk's were all 1:18 scale. Maisto did 1:18, 1:24 and 1:43. Yat Ming did only 1:43 in various colors, including MSG and DSB, but the casting was essentially an '02. And other companies did limited runs of 1:24 and even 1:64 versions, but all were essentially '02s even though other years might be indicated on the packaging. If you check out Paul's very complete listing in the thread "Retrobird Diecasts - 1999 to present" and/or Dot's (Porthole Authority.com) you will see a very detailed summary of the models produced.

Skip

[2K2BIRD]

Re: Advice from you DieCast Guru's

I've found that polishing clear plastic is one of the most challenging things a person can try with a model. There are specific plastic polishes available, but I can't say I've had very good luck with the one I've tried.

The key thing if you are going to try it, is to absolutely keep the polish away from the windshield frame or your "chrome" will be gone or at least dulled in a flash.

My best advise is to take advantage of one of the generous offers for a replacement windshield and spend the time you'll waste trying to polish the plastic, disassembling and reassembling the model. The Beanstalk Merlot is too nice to go halfway with the repair.