Quick Tips: Blow By The Competition Without Blowing The Bank

Hot Wheels only cost a dollar, but modding them costs a lot. Right? Wrong! It’s possible to save money and still make a great mod. These quick tips demonstrate that you can hold on to your hard-earned dollars by using common sense.

1. Think outside the brand. You can save money by buying alternatives to brands and products specifically designed for diecast modding. Wasteland Games takes you through a variety of products (many from the Dollar Store) that you can use to create rust and other details on your car in his video “Gaslands Mad Max Buyers Guide Part 2: Cheap detailing on a budget”.

Video 1: https://youtu.be/GKTJ2u4va20

2. Buy secondhand. By shopping at flea markets, garage sales and resale shops, you can get a lot of cars (which means a lot of parts) for not a lot of dough. Check out the possibilities when you build with used cars in Fastback Customs’ video “Hanson’s speed shop budget gasser build off”.

Video 2: https://youtu.be/lZ1bki4Ixos

3. Use what you have. You don’t always need to buy new things to mod your car for speed. In “How to modify Hot Wheels or Diecast axle”, Jakartown The Journal shows you how a plastic cotton swab doubles as the perfect axle tube.

Video 3: https://youtu.be/8oKKLVtvrbM

4. Waste not, want not. You can save a lot of cash if you get creative with your trash. JHMiniatures takes budget building to the next level in his video “255 Corvette Challenge”. By using bits and pieces pulled from household waste, he manages to do a full Gaslands modification for the cost of one bottle of paint.

Video 4: https://youtu.be/H0J6ytiJJ_E

5. Prioritize your spending. To get your best build, spend your money where it matters most. For Flying Valiant, the priority was paint (under a school glue clear-coat). You can see him beg, borrow and steal the rest in the video “How to Build a Custom Diecast Car on a Budget – Hansen’s Speed Shop $5 Gasser Build w/1963 Corvette”.

Video 5: https://youtu.be/DoYja3vKAtA