Not Models. Well, Not Exactly.

Somewhere along the way, in my collectors' frenzy, I added two Scooby-Doo "models" to my collection.

These are snap-together models.  For any reasonably coordinated child above the age of 8 or 9, they're basically "some assembly required" toys.  They're not on sprues like normal plastic models, so there's nothing to cut.  They're modelled in several colours of plastic, so there's no painting required either.

They come with 3 pre-painted figures each and the figures are articulated like action figures, if not quite so mobile.  Again, these are more toys than models.  I am used to building models that take a LOT more skill and time to build, so these were about as challenging as elementary school arithmetic.

They come like this:

 

It's not super obvious, but the colour schemes DON'T match.

It's truly odd that they chose to model the bi-plane in the same turquoise blue but instead of the lime green they went with an olive drab.  The wood struts and landing gear would be okay if only they hadn't used RED on the engine cowl instead of the obvious choice of orange to match the Mystery Machine. 

Being me, this meant there was something I had to fix.  I like fixing stuff.

 

Half of these parts are the wrong colour!

So I did this:

 

I was amazed to find such good colour match in spray paint!

I spray painted most of the parts since you lose the brush strokes that way and it looks more like the plastic finish the "model" came with.  The only hand paint was the two wheels as I couldn't mask them well with the tools I had on hand.  Since I had to paint one piece orange, I decided to paint all the "wood" coloured pieces orange as well.

 

Aside from the tail, the piece in my hand is the only one with two colours on it.

I had to mask it and paint just the little portion of lime green on it.

 

The assembly went quickly once everything was dry.

 

I had to stop here to paint the inside of the middle wing strut.  I missed it on the first pass.

 

It was a good time to assemble the figures.

 

And there you go.

 

The only brush painting was done to the wheels, both the green and the little flowers.

The upper wing has an odd hole in the middle of it, so unlike the box, I decided that Velma would take the rear seat (I'd trust her as a pilot over Shaggy, any day!) and I now think of that odd little hole in the wing as the "Scooby Slot."  Besides, getting stuck in the wing seems very, very Scooby.

The Mystery Machine was another story.

A much, much shorter story.

 

No cutting, no glue.  No challenge.

 

Everything goes pretty much exactly by the book.

 

I took a pic before the stickers went on, just in case...

 

However, nothing went on too cockeyed.

 

It looks pretty good!

 

I figured Daphne should drive.  I'm progressive like that.

From start to finish, the assembly took 23 minutes, including applying the stickers.

You'll notice that the Scooby that came with the Mystery Machine isn't in the van.  I'm going to try to paint him as Scooby-Dum since I already have a Scooby-Doo in the bi-plane.  

If you don't see pictures up soon, it did not go well. 

 

That little red hat will likely be the toughest part of this whole build.

Stay tuned!