ALOR GAJAH, Nov 12 — Even if you are not big on politics (or toy cars), one look at these custom-built toy cars in the colours of Malaysia's political parties and you have to admit they are pretty cute.
Mohamad Ariffin Mohamad Sokher can put a custom-made Ford F-150 Raptor decked in Barisan Nasional's (BN) iconic blue (or whichever political party of your choice) in your palm.
Have a liking for non-mainstream political parties in Malaysia? Do not fret as Mohd Ariffin is willing to design any political parties of your choice for the price of RM90 per piece.
Mohd Ariffin has custom-built several other similar diecast vehicles decked in the iconic colours of various other political parties in Malaysia, including DAP, PKR, PAS, Parti Pejuang Tanahair, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, Parti Warisan and also a Malaysia United Democratic Alliance (Muda) limited edition release!
“I only made 20 of those. This is a free gift for those who purchased a full set of eight cars,” Mohd Ariffin said as he gestured to a Muda limited edition blister card featuring a smiling Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman lying on the floor of his “workshop.”
For the 35-year-old prison warden who hails from Alor Gajah, Melaka, custom-building die-cast vehicles began as a hobby that stemmed from his interest in collecting scale-model cars produced by US-based Hot Wheels and Japan-based Tomica.
“When I first started collecting and selling these cars in 2017, I felt that existing designs of the cars were uninspiring so I started designing my own.”
It was not smooth sailing for Mohd Ariffin when he started, as designing and custom-building was mostly trial and error, with him looking up tutorials online and even asking around for pointers from friends.
“One of my first successful redesigns was a van jenazah,” he told Malay Mail in an interview at his home recently, using the Malay term for hearse.
As for his custom-built vehicles in conjunction with this year's general election, Mohd Ariffin said he had not expected his custom-built vehicles to garner such an overwhelming response online since he had only initially planned to make several pieces on a pre-order basis.
“I actually plan to build 16 pieces. But now I have hundreds of orders from interested buyers who have placed their orders... I have to rope in my friends to help source for the vehicle model I'm using. Truly a surprise,” he said.
Mohd Ariffin also revealed he had previously ventured into similar endeavours back in 2018 but the response had been milder as compared to this time around.
He also made it clear they were not official merchandise of the political parties and were strictly custom-built products of his own.
So how does the redesigning work? Mohd Ariffin explained that the meticulous process always starts with designing the blister card, the decals to go along with the vehicle and the overall design of the custom-built model using Adobe Photoshop.
After the designing process is completed and a default model is selected, Mohd Ariffin would separate the metallic chassis from the toy's bottom plastic frame before scraping off the original paint using sandpaper.
Now with an empty metallic body slate, Mohd Ariffin would then spray paint them and leave them to dry for several hours before the custom-designed decals are stuck onto the frame.
Mohd Ariffin explained that the water slide decals are made using white toner printing method from a printer of his own.
If he were to commit a single mistake in the assembly process, he would have no choice but to start over again from scratch, Mohd Ariffin explained when asked further.
All that's left is the final packaging where Mohd Ariffin's wife Muzainah Mohammad would occasionally help out.
Mohd Ariffin said due to his full-time job, he can only complete at most one or two pieces on weekdays and up to 10 on the weekends depending on the vehicle's design.
“The time-consuming part is assembly and waiting for the paint to dry," he further explained but noted the sense of fulfilment was worth every effort.”
For those who are interested in Mohd Ariffin's work and wish to make a purchase, you can visit his online shop on Shopee here.
