Karl AKA Stroget is an active curator at HobbyDB of many of the 1/43 model car brands. He has been adding model cars to the DB since 2014; some of his favorites are Alfa Romeo and obsolete Tekno from Denmark!
NOTE: Photos are by the Author.
Tired, neglected and replete with paint chips, I saw this old #431 Tekno Volvo truck in a local hobby shop. I immediately saw its great potential for creating worthwhile Volvo-themed display scenarios with my smaller scale vintage pieces. After all, the subject five-and-a-half decade-old Tekno set features the venerable Volvo Titan, arguably one of the most beautiful vintage trucks of the past century. The Volvo Titan truck was an extraordinarily robust series that Volvo produced from 1951 through 1973.
After a thorough cleanup which involved the use of all three grades of the Tamiya Polishing Compound, the unit looked a lot better. The bent front axle was straightened and since I wasn’t working with a mint, original piece, I added some welcome detail enhancements to the front fascia. I scraped the paint off the vertical grille bars and used black Tamiya Panel Line Accent Color to make the Titan’s nose come alive.
Above the grille was a deep gash which I concealed by hand painting a horizontal trim piece just like on the actual vehicle. Thankfully the jeweled headlights and cab glazing were intact and undamaged, so the years of neglect weren’t as apparent after the black lower bodywork was treated to a “camouflage touch-up”. What I was unable to rectify were the remaining paint chips on the green and yellow areas of the model, due to the obvious difficulty in doing a color match. That said, this tired Tekno set didn’t look that bad at that point, because, well, it’s the model of an old, well-used truck, and an acceptable degree of patina certainly adds to its overall presence and nostalgic charm.
I then brought out some “era correct” Volvo model car buddies that would serve as the appropriate “cargo” for this truly endearing vintage set. The 1:46 scale Corgi Toys Volvo P1800 Coupe I restored and re-shot to make it look like Simon Templar’s ride in the Sixties British television action drama The Saint. The similarly scaled (1:43 or 1:44) pair of Nacoral Intercars Volvo 245 DL Estates from Spain are also old restoration projects of mine.
Thankfully these 1:43ish cars fit nicely and are a perfect match when loaded onto the 1:50ish scale Tekno Volvo Titan truck pulling the Auto Transport trailer, especially with the dedicated Volvo insignias that proudly proclaim MY kind of brand loyalty.
You just gotta love a bevy of vintage diecast models from Denmark (Tekno), Great Britain (Corgi) and Spain (Nacoral Intercars) that are four and five decades old. While all the units here have been lovingly restored and have benefited from some thoughtful detail enhancements, they retain their simplistic Old School charm. They certainly don’t make ’em like they used to.
Considering the current prices of the #431 Tekno Volvo Titan Truck and Auto Transport Trailer set in the collectors market, I believe I’ve given this formerly distressed piece a well-deserved Second Chance. Well, in the ultimate analysis, VINTAGE VOLVO TOYS ROCK, even when they show acceptable signs of being used as toy vehicles before they became coveted pieces for mature collectors.
Enter your email address if you like to receive notifications of new posts by email.
Email Address
Subscribe
hobbyDB is a participant in Amazon, eBay, Entertainment Earth, LEGO, and other affiliate advertising programs designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to other websites.
We also occasionally accept consideration from Brands, Service Providers, or Retailers (which is then clearly marked as Sponsored Content) all editorial opinions are our own.