DINKY TOYS RESTORATION BEDFORD VAN KODAK 480 

Very nice restoration. I have a very nice little memory of this little Dinky van. It was 1968 and I was 4 and I had the very same Dinky van as yours. I remember that these work men were repairing the road and on the side of the road was a big barrel full of boiling tar. I remember, just like yesterday, dropping the little Dinky van into it. The work man rushed over and pulled me away, concerned that I didn't get scalded. I told him that I dropped the little toy into the barrel. He scooped it out and put it on the ground to cool off. What was left was a big ball of tar, with my little van somewhere inside it. I kept that for years as an ornament. I can still smell that boiling tar, especially when I look at a little Dinky Bedford CA.

That's a beautiful restoration, I love Bedford vans and wagons.

I am glad you kept your focus, and did not make any snap decisions.

Nice restoration, will be taking a leaf out of your book, as I have two of these to restore.

Another beauty saved great work

Totally agree about the Dremel workstation, use mine for every restoration as it is so versatile, good idea about how you use credit cards .

Hello David. Like the old ones the best great restoration. Keep well regards Glyn

Another Excellent restoration!

I love Bedford CA vans - I've known several people who used them as their daily driver. They were often used in Banger Racing, too, where they were affectionately known as the 'Crispy Ambulance'. The youtube channel 'Matchbox Garage' generally strips paint using caustic soda. His receptacle of choice is a 'Foot-long' hotdog jar - it's heat proof glass, and is tall and narrow. He barely covers his models in boiling water, and adds the soda with an old dessert spoon. One is usually enough, but he sometimes adds, very gingerly, a second, as the reaction will be vigorous. The gas given off is mostly hydrogen, so you need to be careful. Lovely finish on the van. Thank you.

Beautiful job david,well done,

Very nice restoration.

Love your videos David, my next project is the Dinky 480 so this video was of great help, thank you.

A great video. Thanks.

Nice work David. 👍

Very nice restoration. For larger scale cars like Dinky, Corgi and the like 2 table spoons of caustic soda will do the job if 2 cars like. In this video 3 would have done the job. We live and learn.

👆 nice job David.

A nice job that turned out surprisingly well considering the force you used in getting it apart. I love the yellow. It suits the vehicle perfectly. Can I suggest a cotton bud instead of a cocktail stick when positioning transfers. Less chance of damaging the transfer. Very neat hand painting the headlights, grille and bumpers. A super finish. Well done and thank you for sharing.

Very good job.

Nice work David . Easy on the soda haha

An excellent restoration of this charming toy. I have noticed on other You Tube videos that some restorers decant the amount of caustic soda required into a smaller container so that the crystals can be gently added to the water to avoid dramatic consequences. Also by adding the crystals straight from the bottle there is a risk that water vapour will enter the bottle and cause coagulation of the crystals.

I enjoy your work. Hope I can find more of the same.

Brilliant 👍👍👍👍

Beauty!

Another wonderful and sympathetic restoration. Well done David. You have inspired me to get out my old Corgi and Dinky cars

David, your work is always flawless. Thanks for sharing this!

Excellent work David. I always find yellow one of the worst colours to spray. Thanks for sharing. Best regards, Bob

Superb

Very nice. I have a similar restoration in the works, water slide decals waiting.

Nice one. A very attractive model in its bright yellow and colorful signwriting. The deep skirting over the rear wheels is similar to a few of the Matchbox cars of the era: Cadillac, Thunderbird etc. With those, the rear axle, as well as the Bedford, does not need to have the axle ends crimped or rounded over. Saves one step during factory production!

Better then new. It looks like New Old Stock . Awesome work. Mike Espo .

Great restoration. Good to see you back restoring Dinky toys.

Wonderful restoration job, impressive details and decals...

Good morning David. What a beautiful job you have done on the Bedford. Thank you for sharing.

The finished vehicle looks very authentic. Thanks for the video.

Very nice restoration indeed! I agree with the silver touches, minimal silver not over done chrome. I still see them as collectable toys. My favourite was the Dinky 289 Routemaster with spun wheels. Always got excited as a child when I saw them. I'd love too see the French Berliet bus 889 restored. Thanks for showing us.

Whilst this is one of your most straightforward restorations i think it is one of my favourites - simple but so effective.

Lovely Job David. Its good to see another Toy saved from landfill. Can I pick you up on one point that you made? The silver parts such as front grills were painted using a spray mask. These masks allowed the silver to be painted very quickly on a production line. If you look very carefully on a original photo you will see that there is often over spray (especially on tight curves) and on the Kodak van the silver never even reached the ends of the bumper. Some matchbox or Dinky toys did have hand painted details such as Horse harnesses. These details could not have been masked. Very often these were done by Homeworkers rather than in the factory.

I think I've said before that this isn't really my area of interest. All the same, the transformation is amazing and well worth a watch. Thanks, Bob

Good to see another dinky from your good self ,looks very smart excellent 👌

A very nice result. The first time I used caustic soda, I ruined several Matchbox Ford Zodiacs which all emerged with pock marked bodies. I think I either used to much of the crystals or left the castings in for too long, possibly both. I go much more carefully now.

Very nice job mate. Always a pleasure to watch your work. Thanks David

Lovely work David. The Bedford van is such a nice model . I really like the way you do your restorations, it keeps the spirit in these models.

Welcome back!

And this is why I use caustic soda outdoors! Excellent results but volatile. Really like this casting...an excellent restoration David. Fully agree with you about staying true to the original finish and not going for a "restoration plus" as some seem to go for.👍

David, A lovely restoration, of which I have a couple in my 'stash' awaiting their restoration. Having built mainly plastic models over too many years I care to remember, could I offer you a tip I picked up...that being if you paint the main body in enamel, then paint the details (bumpers etc) in acrylics. The reason for this is that if you get silver on the body where it is not wanted, then it is a quick and easy clean up by using simply water, or an acrylic thinner, which would not attack the main body colour. This would not be possible if you used enamel on enamel. Hope this makes sense? All the best Andy

32 Yeah the Bedford van......love them, got a few in different liveries. I wish I could add details as precise as you with a brush......Brilliant restoration David.

Nice work David, I really like your approach to preserving originality

"I look on these as toys, 𝑛𝑜𝑡 model cars." ~ brilliant, says it all. A great restoration David. A wee suggestion for the baking soda; use a spoon instead of pouring it in. Apart from more control, it saves getting steam in the bottle, can make the pearls form lumps. 😁

Good to see you back David. Excellent, flawless and precise as always.

Very nice David, look forward to more videos. Thank you. Take care as always.

Good to see that you finally summed up the courage to use the caustic soda David , I usually use a bread tin instead of a plastic container as after a while I found that plastic containers tend to melt ! But as you said , be careful when sprinkling the caustic in. Great job on the old Bedford though mate !

Amazing restoration David nice work take care 👍

Brilliant restoration and great film, interesting and interesting to watch....nice one Bro.👍👍

Beautiful restoration David. Glad accident wasn't serious.

Beautiful job David ! a true Kodak moment (sorry) complete with cautionary tail of whoa, thank you for this one loved it regards Paul.

Regarding the re-assembly and further to my last comment, if you use 2.4mm diameter pop rivets (take the rivet part off the steel shank), and drill out the posts with a 3/32nd inch diameter drill, there is enough of an interference fit that you can just tap the rivets into the holes and there is no need for glue. I find it eases the initial installation of the rivet if a small taper is filed on the end.

Oh wow,David awesome work on this one ,looks better than new Sir. I have done the Lesney dunlop van but not as nice as this.I must subscribe ,thank you ,Laz

That's a splendid job, David! I was scared that the caustic incident would damage the white metal - and you. A good lesson for sure. Kind regards, Ross.

A fine job David, also known as the Bedford Dormobile remember these in the 1960's, there is a product called Nitromors Paint Remover I think you can still buy it... Thanks for sharing.

Beautiful david I've just recently restored one of these myself

Enjoyed that David, rude it be rude to ask if you have considered just running a black highlighter along the panel lines, after you have polished the bear metal then lacquering? both your railway & Dinky restorations I look forward to viewing.

Caustic soda has an exothermic reaction with water so, if you use boiling, or near boiling, water, the extra heat produced makes it all boil over, as you found. You should use cold, or tepid, water, add the crystals to it and give it a stir before putting the model in. You will be surprised at how hot the mixture gets in a very short time. It tales the paint off Dinky Toys in a couple of minutes but, strangely, won't touch some other types of paint.

that yellow is stunning - yellow paint is so hard to get right on models.

You are a brilliant craftsman..... what do you do when you are finished with them.

¡Hola buenos días David! I’ve certainly missed these restoration videos, during your summer recess. Glad to see you back with both rail and road. I was recently gifted some Dinky Toy cars and wondered if they would be of interest to you. I’d be happy to hear from you if you feel a PM would be in order. Stay safe and well. Un saludo. Gary

Hi David. I enjoy your restoration and railway videos greatly. Watching this has brought up a question and thought you might be able to help. I have recently been given a locomotive which hasn't been treated well in its previous life. A buffer has been snapped away from the buffer beam and has left a hole in the plastic. I wondered if there is a product you have encountered in your experience that I could use to fill in the hole and then paint and glue a new buffer on top of?

Lovely job David , Keep the videos coming , By the way where do you purchase your replacement rivets from ? Regards, Tim.

Hi David love watching your tasteful restorations. Just starting out myself could I ask who is your supplier of the rivits you use and what are they called please. Kind regards Martin

Great job. What kind of clips did you use at the end to fix bottom to the shell? Kind Regards.

I have a story to tell about this type of van in the mid fifties i worked for the family firm of plumbers we had one on hire to remove a lead lined storage tank which had burst in the attic of a tenement in bridgeton Glasgow when taking the van back to the hire yard it was early on a cold frosty morning i had not long passed my driving test and not really driven a van with a gearshift on the steering column and forgetting that it only had 3 forward gears i changed down to second gear prior to braking as i approached a t junction and due to the gear ratios and icy roads the van just spun right around ending up facing the way i had just come what a fright i got i then very carefully drove back and put it off hire

Put hot (not boiling) water into the container, add caustic soda spoon by spoon, stir, then add the models. Eye protection is advisable and don't breathe the fumes!

I've only got a replica version of this one but I'd love to find an original.

If you use cold water then all will be well as the chemical reaction between caustic soda and water will produce more than enough heat.

It's a pity that plastic toys have replaced metal ones

Check out “martin dares dinky restoration” he is good as well.

You should measure out an amount of the caustic soda, not just tip it in.