Lovin' a Bug!

 I mean "Volkswagen" you silly people! 

Last summer I picked up a case of small cars (mainly Matchbox, but with a couple Hot wheels and a Corgi Jr) from a lady off of Facebook Marketplace. She lived a couple of miles from my house, and although I probably overpaid a little, I was glad to get a local find!

In that case was a poor, misused little Matchbox Bug named....Hermy. You see, he couldn't be named the more famous name because no fees were paid to Disney. In fact, I made up "Hermy!" Anyway, this little car was released in 1968 right before Disney released The Love Bug and it's obviously supposed to tie into the film. However, instead of Herbie's "53," Hermy wears "137."

Anyway, Hermy was in tough shape. How tough? Well, here he is!

As you can see, Hermy had a few tough scrapes. Whatever kid played with him was not too forgiving. Hermy needed help. 

Now there are a couple of ways I could repaint him. I could drill out the rivets on the bottom and take him apart, or I could carefully used masking tape to mask off all "non-white" areas and hope for the best. I decided for option two because I wasn't sure how to take him apart. You see, even though I have drilled quite a few other cars, Hermy has a secret. It's this:

If you look closely you can see two tiny pins next to the front axel. These are a mechanism that turns the wheels when you push down on one side or the other. How does it work? Heck, I don't know. And that's why I didn't want to take him apart. I'm not sure how to get him back together!

So, I sat down with some tweezers and little bits of masking tape and went to work. How did he turn out? See for yourself!

I masked around his number so I didn't have to replace it...

Oh look! He's stopping at the church next to the bank (giggle giggle, snort!)

So, I think he turned out pretty well! Sometimes the reward after the effort you put into bringing something "back to life" is all the treasure you need!

Until next time, keep searching for treasure!