The truth about diecast car collectors

I shamelessly stole this from the web and changed 'Toy Collector' to 'Diecast Car Collector'. I would love to know who created the original. If someone knows let me know and I will credit them.

Fun Ho! 44 Bulldozer repair using Matchbox 8d parts

I was looking at my Fun Ho! fleet in preparation for the April Canberra Model Vehicle Collectors Club meeting - the theme for that evening will be 'state of origin'. I will be taking all my Fun Ho! along - as they are all of NZ origin.

I would like to take the Fun Ho! bulldozer along - but it lacked treads. What to do?

Knowing that many Fun Ho! castings are close copies of Lesney castings, I had a quick flick through Warmans 'Matchbox Field Guide' and sure enough - it's almost identical to the Matchbox regular wheel 8d bulldozer. The main and significant difference being that the Fun Ho! has a lifting bucket at the front.

Matchbox tractor 8d (ebay ad photo)

Fun Ho 44 (photo from the Toy Cabin)

The castings are so similar except that Fun Ho! 44 has a few alterations, that allow it to be used as a bull dozer with a flat blade, and a lifting bucket. My main concern was - would the Matchbox tracks fit the fun Ho!?

I asked on the Matchbox Collectors Community Hall forums for replacement parts suppliers - and received a few pointers. I went with 'RecoverToy' located in Australia. They were able to supply a set of tracks to fit the Matchbox 8d. 

When they arrived - I fitted them - and they were perfect. They aren't black, like the ones in the photo above - but they fit, and suit the playworn dozer. RecoverToy also threw in a sheet of decals with my order - which was a pleasant surprise. I am very happy with the result. 

Worlds smallest scale model car is resin

I once saw some model vehicles meant for the deck of a model aircraft carrier. They were tiny, but still identifiable as vehicles. My eyes probably aren't good enough to identify this model, without access to a microscope. 

Very tiny Indy Car model 

Photo from Wired 'Autopia' Blog

How small is this model ? It is 285 micrometers, or 1/100th of an inch. Smaller than a human hair or a grain of sand! It has been constructed by Austrian scientists using a very advanced form of 3D printing and uses resin as the agent to build the object with. They built this as a demonstration of the new technologies they are developing. 

Of course one has to ask why Austrian scientists in Vienna built a model of an Indy Car, when they could have chosen from any of the fine Austrian cars that have graced the autobahns of Europe. 

I'm not sure if they will be producing any other cars in this scale, or if this is a one off, but its an impressive demonstration of future scale model technology. 

If anyone can advise exactly what scale this is - I'd be grateful.