Customize Your Matchbox Cars

This shows how to take an ordinary cheap matchbox car and mod it to beat hell out of its old self. They drift really well, too.

Please, rate if you like it.

Step 1 What You Need

This is one of very few instructables that doesn't really require anything advanced. No soldering, no drilling, no hot gluing. All you need is:

a)A matchbox or hot wheels car. I recommend matchbox.
b)Some lead based spray paint.
c)Duct tape.
d)Sand paper.
e)Oil based acrylic paints for touch-ups.
f)Non serrated hobby quality knife.
g)Scissors.

Comments

[jumpingcat]

?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????WHAT IS THIS DO????????

[DAV706]

???

[DAV706]

seriously.you need drill for the rivet under the car and drill it and disassemble it.(if it is a screw.you will need screwdriver and unscrew it.)

[Asmodeous]

looks like dog

[cokecola]

What kind of paint did you use to get such a fine silver finish?

[ultrauber]

it's called rust-oleum: bright coat: metallic finish. see the pic. i also used it for my rocket, in the second photo

[amtdude]

do u colect rockets? i do. i have 10 difrent rockets!!!:-)

[ultrauber]

I have 4, the Quark, the Alpha III, the Wizard (I think, something like that), and Baby Bertha (not yet built). But I haven't launched any yet even though I have all the equip.

[MACKattacksnipe]

i launch mine but cant find them if they even came down but its fun

[Mr.NHRA]

This is awesome. I dont know why these people even look at these kind of instructables if they are going to talk crap about them. Though its not perfect, its far better than my first attempt. I taped a string to the bottom and dunked it in wall paint lol. That was a loooong time ago. Now I paint lexan models. Use masking tape and just cover the whole window next time. Then cut arround the frame with the knife. If you know what a scotch bright is, you may want to run it over the whole car b4 u paint. Nice work, keep at it.

[kurtdaniel]

(removed by author or community request)

[ultrauber]

Thanks for a nice comment, everyone else is picking on me. Just be sure to use masking tape if you can. Post some pics if you do this!

[Hellchild]

Do you want to know why everyone is "picking" on you?

[ultrauber]

Oh, nice site btw.

[ultrauber]

Oh, thanks for REMOVING my only nice comment. What is this, Youtube?

[Hellchild]

stop complaining. the idea of spraypainting the car is stupid, just face it.
use painters tape, xactos, and a fine paintbrush.

[TFElite]

Not a bad Instructable. I recently want to Wal-Mart and found (only one!) 2010 Camaro- My favorite car of all time. But, the colors suck (Red with white racing stripes). So, my favorite movie being Transformers, I'm going for that Awesome Bumblebee look. Any tips?

[Holden_vy_s]

The end result really is terrible. You're better off hand painting smaller objects like these.

[GREYHOUNDareAWESOME]

 And even better off if he got a matchbox Brock Commodore =]

[gh0straider]

I would have used Masking tape or painters tape as it is designed not to leave residue behind and it is much easier to cut into precise shapes.

[GREYHOUNDareAWESOME]

Or you could have just removed the rivets so you ONLY have the metal body.

[GREYHOUNDareAWESOME]

and it makes the wheel to have scratches on it. SMART OF YOU.

[GREYHOUNDareAWESOME]

Your a dummy just bloody remove the rivets . You don't need masking tape seriously. .

[lololzak]

oh cool...ive been sanding down one of my hotwheels just to see what it looks like with no paint... and i think i might custom paint it now...thanks

[explosivemaker]

....it would look a LOT better if you: -sanded the old paint off first (much smoother and the paint sticks better) -used regular masking tape or painters/artists tape (no residue) -used an airbrush (if you have one, thats great......if not, regular spray paint would still be fine) -used a better knife to cut out the tape (you can get single blade razor blades in a 100 pack for under $5) .....just some suggestions.....

[jessevc]

it looks cool

[ctknex1000]

.

[ultrauber]

Your point being?

[power]

aww man you are destroying cars only do it to cars that is like trashed

[ultrauber]

Well, it could be ruining them if you did as bad a job as me, but I have seen some truly great matchbox mods from my friends. Honestly, if you don't like it, don't do it.

[ShotPain]

im sorry i think you are just ruining these and wastin gyour money.

[ultrauber]

Well, it could be ruining them if you did as bad a job as me, but I have seen some truly great matchbox mods from my friends. And besides--how expensive is one matchbox car? You can get a pack of 5 for about $2.50 at Rite Aid.

[Dr.Paj]

The car never saw it coming *cry*. WHY IS IT ALWAYS THE BEAUTIFUL ONES!

[ultrauber]

well, i gave her a nice talking too, but...she didn't really understand

[ultrauber]

no votes...*sniff*

[Chefboy6382]

great idea and there are alot of magazine articles and web posts about this sort of thing. i definitely agree that masking or painters tape is a much better choice. also an airbrush would come in handy for better paint jobs!! good work

[GorillazMiko]

That's awesome, it actually looks pretty cool! Masking tape is also a good idea, agreeing with the others. Nice job, for the Pocket-Sized, I have a couple of things up my sleeve. :D

_{Wait. I'm not wearing a shirt with sleeves! Noooo!}

[mxdreams]

rather than using duct-tape.. why don't you use masking tape?

[ultrauber]

yeah, i put that as a suggestion at the end. i just couldn't find any