CONTENTS of the print edition
Model Auto Review 227
Publication 7 November 200804 Cars in colour (captions page 06) 07 Stretch Checker Aerobus John F Quilter, USA • JMK Edsel Maz Woolley, UK 08 First Continentals Dave Turner, UK 12 Mikansue Rileys John Hanson, UK 14 Olds 62 Graeme Ogg, UK 15 Land Rover John F Quilter, USA 16-17 Cars 18 Letters 19 Competitions 20 Book Reviews 24 A Very Rewarding Exercise 4: Graeme Watt, UK 25 Truckstop 26 Emergency Captions to page 29 27 Club News Collated by Rod Ward • Wild Goose Chase 29 Buses and emergency vehicles
EDITORIAL
by Rod WardHARD TIMES IN GUANGDONG
Many of us have an outdated view of Chinese factories as sweat shops with underpaid workers in dangerous conditions. Most factories in our sector are actually sparklingly clean automated set-ups, more advanced that anything seen in the west. Most are in Guangdong province, one of the first ‘special economic zones’, close to Hong Kong, which attracted workers from all over China, and where 30% of China’s exports were produced. Now, however, industry is developing in all parts of China, so workers can find a job nearer home, and Guangdong is finding it hard to retain its workforce. Wages have risen by two thirds in three years. Overheads have also increased as higher standards are set for workers’ health and safety, and more stringent quality control over materials and processes is demanded. The US government has just introduced the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, requiring that toys be tested before they are sold, and banning lead and phthalates in toys. This is expected to make imports from China more expensive and slower as items are tested. Anti-pollution measures mean that much older plant has to be replaced. Growth in the value of the Chinese currency by 10% in a year has raised export prices, making China less competitive; Indonesia, Vietnam and India offer lower cost levels. The world economic slowdown means China’s customers are reducing orders and thus future income. 10% of factories in Guangdong have already closed; it is predicted that a third will have closed within three years, with no new firms to take their place. Perhaps an early indication of how this may affect our market sector is the news that Jiarun Model Co Ltd of Shenzen (Guangdong) are closing down. This was the firm which made those 1:43 handbuilt Daimler DS420s, Rolls-Royce Silver Spurs, Bentley Arnages etc.
They may just be the first of many...
AUTO REVIEW
The latest Auto Review book is now available, a Riley Album. So here is yet another appeal for material I can include in future publications: among Auto Review books currently in preparation are on Jowett (and other Yorkshire vehicle builders), British motorcycles, Standard, Daimler (plus Lanchester and BSA), Vauxhall, Humber, pedal cycles (including mopeds), Wolseley, Sunbeam (plus Talbot), Armstrong- Siddeley, tractors, ‘aviatrices’ and others. If you have illustrations (adverts, brochures, your own photographs etc) or personal anecdotes, please send them to me as soon as possible for inclusion in these publications.
ECONOMICS #1
In this current uncertain economic climate, where we are advised to have a ‘diversified portfolio’ of investments (ie not all in property, cash or shares), aren’t you glad that you have so much money tied up in your collection? It might as well be in the display case as in a sock under the bed...
IMPORTANT!
Credit card payments
This note is particularly addressed to those MAR subscribers on automatic renewal, but it applies to all credit card transactions. We MUST have the 3-digit security code from the back of your credit card in order to process a ‘secure’ charge. The credit card processing centre charges us an additional fee for any ‘insecure’ charge (ie without the 3-digit security code). We will have to pass on any such charge in future, so please ensure we have your 3-digit card security code. You can send the code to us by email, phone, fax or mail. Please DO IT NOW!
OUR PRIZE
BBR 1:18 handbuilt from Italy: HE180005 Ferrari F430. Two years in the development, and now our superb competition prize, this model has a diecast body, and other components in steel, aluminium, rubber and plastic. The engine is made of 58 parts, including soft rubber timing belt and spark plug cables, and then soldered on to the chassis by hand. The two leather-look seats are assembled from 28 parts and eight tampo-prints. The rear suspension is accurately reproduced from 54 parts. Cuoio Schedoni, the leather specialists from Modena, have supplied a set of matching sutcases for each car. A magnetic pen is supplied with the model to open the filler cap and the passenger side glove box, in which the lucky winner will find the car’s documents and a torch. This is one of our most expensive prizes ever, costing around 300 Euros in the Eurozone (about £230.00). Our thanks to BBR for their generosity...
Vanguards News
Here are Hornby’s plans for the Corgi 1:43 diecast Vanguards range for early 2009. More new castings are promised later.
LR3002 Land Rover Series I 60th Anniversary 1958 two piece set VA00517 Triumph Herald hardtop 948cc saloon 50th Anniversary VA05106 Austin Healey Soft Top 3000 Mk 1 50th Anniversary VA05807 Morris Minor Series 2 60th Anniversary rose taupe VA06517 Rover 3500 V8 paprika VA09806 Vauxhall Cavalier Sri 130 astro silver VA10108 Triumph Stag Mk1 hard top damson VA10306 Ford Cortina Mk3 copper brown VA10403 Hillman Avenger 1500 Super electric blue: Top Hat Special VA11001 Escort Mk III XR3i black VA00129 Ford Anglia 105E RAC Rally Ann Hall VA02529 Mini Cooper Colin McRae VA06811 Hillman Minx East African Safari 1962 VA10011 Ford Sierra Cosworth 1991 Bertie Fisher VA10505 TR7 V8 Tony Pond (red-blue) VA10707 MGB Monte Carlo rally Morley brothers VA10804 Ford Capri 1978 Gordon Spice VA00418 Ford Anglia Van London Country VA01129 Morris Minor Van Michelin VA06622 Ford Transit Mk I Lillywhites VA09408 Vauxhall Astra BSM VA09711 Land Rover Defender Royal Mail Glenshee VA10606 Morris J2 Van British Railways SR VA08912 Austin 1800 British Airports Authority Police VA09613 Range Rover West Yorks Police VA10405 Hillman Avenger Avon & Somerset Police VA10605 Morris J2 minibus Met Police VA10805 Ford Capri Sussex Police VA11002 Ford Escort XR3i Cambridgeshire Police VA11102 Land Rover Series I Cumberland & Westmorland Constabulary
Book Reviews
BRITAINS NEW TOY SOLDIERS 1973 to Present Day: Traditional gloss- painted metal models; by Norman Joplin and John T Waterworth. Published by Schiffer, available in Europe from Bushwood Books, 6 Marksbury Avenue, Kew Gardens, Surrey TW9 4JF, tel: 44 (0) 20 8392 8585. 272 pages, 1100+ photographs, hardbound with dustjacket 225 x 290 mm landscape. £79.95 p&p free in UK, plus £5.50 p&p surface mail elsewhere.
Norman Joplin’s expertise in this field is well-known (I first met Norman soon after the beginning of the period covered in this book). He now lives in the USA, but he originally hails from the north east of England, like his co-author on this book. Over 3,200 ‘54mm gloss- painted figures’ are illustrated in this amazingly comprehensive volume, mostly miltary, including British ceremonial troops, American Civil War, Indian Army, Delhi Durbar, Great war, Zulu War and so on. Also included are civilian figures in the Home Farm and Circus series, plus special issues for Harrods and Hamleys. Also included are wheeled vehicles, artillery and other related accessories, making a complete coverage of Britains products from the past 35 years.I hesitate to criticise anything at all in such a well-researched tome, but I did find the persistent mis-spelling of Thornycroft trucks as Thorneycroft rather irritating. (Sorry). 20 pages of comprehensive price guide at the back of the book complete a very useful reference work which I recommend highly. Rod Ward
BRS Parcels Services and the Express Carriers by Gordon Mustoe with Arthur Ingram and Robin Pearson. Published by Nynehead Books (under their Roundoak imprint) The Old Dairy, Perry Farm, East Nynehead, Wellington, Somerset TA21 ODA. 304 pages, 615+ mono illustrations, hardbound with dustjacket 275 x 205 mm. £34.50 plus £3.50 p&p.
I used to live near to a BRS Parcels depot, and was fascinated by their green lorries. This book tells the story of the organisation, the first third of the book covering the historical background of the transport firms Pickfords, Carter Paterson, Suttons, Fisher Renwick, Bouts, and Holdsworth & Hanson which were nationalised as British Road Services Parcels under the 1947 Transport Act, under the control of the British Transport Commission. Their vehicles are extensively pictured, from horse drays to 1950s trucks. Under the 1953 Transport Act, the Parcels Group became BRS (Parcels) Ltd from 1955, a subsidiary of BRS Ltd. The evolution of BRS Parcels is covered in detail, the vehicles adopted from the constituent companies gradually being replaced by new deliveries of vans purpose built for the new organisation. The late 1950s saw the introduction of the ubiquitous VA or Noddy van. Though remaining in public ownership, from 1962 the firm transferred to the Transport Holding Co, which then added a number of smaller parcels firms. Another new umbrella appeared in 1969, the National Freight Corporation, with a new subsidiary National Carriers Ltd (NCL), combining BRS Parcels with the British Rail Express Parcels service. In 1976 the company was renamed Roadline UK Ltd. Are you keeping up? No wonder they struggled to make a profit; it must have been hard to remember what to answer when the phone rang. From 1969 to 1977 staff and vehicle fleets had been reduced by half in an effort to move into profitability, with the aim of eventual privatisation. NCL concentrated on contract and dedicated distribution work, and was renamed Exel Logistics. Roadline was severely cut down in size in 1981, many depots being closed, leading to combination with National Carriers from 1985 as National Carriers- Roadline, relaunched as Lynx Express Delivery Network in 1987. In 1997 a management buyout took Lynx Express Parcels private. Two years later Lynx took over Red Star, the orphaned offspring of the old British Rail Red Star service. In 2005 the original financial backers of the management buyout sold Lynx to UPS (United Parcel Service) of America. The book also analyses the impact of competition from independent parcels firms Hanson Haulage, Harrisons of Dewsbury, Carryfast, Wilkinson, Atlas Express, United Carriers, Blue Band Express, Crowfoot Carriers, TNT, FedEx, Royal Mail and Parcelforce. All of these firms and their vehicles are described in the last third of the book, as are UPS, DHL, Parceline, CityLink, UK Mail, ANC, Geopost and Nightfreight.This book’s title rather understates its usefulness; it is really a history of parcels carriage in Britain, describing every firm ever involved in this activity, with many of their vehicles pictured. Very impressive, very comprehensive and a great read. The 600-plus pictures will keep any enthusiast absorbed for hours. Rod Ward
BUS BODIES BY SODOMKA ON TATRA CHASSIS: Volume II of the Sodomka series by Jan Cerny. pub: Regionalni Muzeum ve Vysokem Myte, Czech Republic. A4 softbound, 120 pages, profusely illustrated. Dual language: Czech-English. ISBN 978 80 254 2189 5. Price approx £20.00.
I previously reviewed the first volume in this series: Tatra Cars with Sodomka Bodywork and everything I said then also applies to this book. Sodomka not only made exotic bodywork for Tatra cars; they also produced equally stylish bus and coach bodies on various chassis from 1928 for specific orders. From 1935 they began their own range of buses, all built on chassis by Tatra. By the late 1930s they were competing for contracts to build bus bodies on Tatra, Skoda and Praga chassis.The Second World War stopped Josef Sodomka’s expansion in this field, and after the War Sodomka’s main activity was building bus bodies on Skoda chassis, under the new name of Karosa national enterprise. Once again this book was passed on to me by Jiri Havlicek, with its high- definition black and white Sodomka factory photos, the related order book pages and concisely informative captions. And again it is highly recommended (if you can get hold of a copy). Rod Ward
Moderne Polizeifahrzeuge in Deutschland (Modern Police Vehicles in Germany) by Achim Schmidt, German text. Published by and available from Motorbuch Verlag, Postfach 10 37 43; 70032 Stuttgart, Germany. 240 pages, 355 colour-photographs. Hardbound 230 x 300 mm. ISBN 978-3-613-02857-9. €uros 24.90
This book covers current patrol cars and special vehicles of the German police, but also of other security authorities in Germany, such as the Federal Police, Customs, German and US military police, and the Federal department of goods transport. These different police bodies and their work is described, and as well as cars, their buses, trucks, motorcycles, helicopters and boats are pictured. Liveries include the traditional white and green, alongside the more recent green and silver, both of them now beginning to be edged out by the latest German police vehicles finished in their elegant blue and silver livery. Hans-Georg SchmittWW II Tank Encyclopaedia in colour 1939-1945. by Jean Restayn, translated into English by Sally and Lawrence Brown. Originally published by Histoire & Collections, English language edition available from Chris Lloyd Sales and Marketing Services. 50A Willis Way, Poole, Dorset BH15 3SY. 176 pages, 528 colour drawings. Hardbound 235 x 320 mm. ISBN 978-2-915239-47-8. £30.00.
This outstanding book includes over 500 colour drawings, of armoured vehicles by Jean Restayn, a world famous illustrator. These are the combat tanks used by all nations involved of the Second World War, famous tanks such as Tiger, Panther, Sherman, Churchill, and also the unjustly less-known French tanks and those of other countries such as Belgium, Bulgaria, China, Italy and Japan. This book provides excellent colour reference on armoured fighting vehicles. Hans- Georg Schmitt
CLUB NEWS
Collated by Rod WardThe magazine of South Hants Model Auto Club (Secretary Dave Painter: 01264 366048) is Wheel Nuts, edited by Sue Leake. Someone cut off the Club’s Nuts from its masthead logo, replacing them with a sprocket. You will be relieved to know that their Nuts have now been restored. The latest issue contains the usual interesting mix of articles by members (just to make other club magazine editors jealous), including one by Charles Morris where he refers to an old Stranglers song called Golden Brown. ‘It can’t have been about our PM, can it?’ he asks. I seem to recall that it referred to a choice type of cannabis, quite a different kind of brown stuff. Cliff Maddock, editor of Wheel Bearings, the Maidenhead Static Model Club monthly newsletter, reminds everyone that his tenure is completed in March 2009. He invites his replacement to volunteer as soon as possible, so that the handover can be seamless. ‘By that time I will have produced 36 issues and have devoted a heck of a lot of time to it, which has left little time for other pursuits’, he says. That’s just the way to encourage someone else to volunteer, isn’t it? MSMC Membership Secretary is Alan Simpson: 01494 813903. The Coventry Diecast Model Club magazine Wheelspin advertises itself as 33 Years of Publication Non-Stop. I guess Non-Stop is how it feels to editor Mick (Mixxy) Russell, and his august predecessors, including El Presidente Will Roe, who still contributes his Backchat page. Will attributes the Dinky Toys brand to ‘Frank Horny’ in the latest issue. Apparently the name of the brand originated in Frank’s wife saying ‘Ooh, that’s dinky’. Damning with faint praise? Contact the Club at cdmc@ntlworld.com Keith Allen has stepped in at the last moment to become the new editor of Showcase, the West Australian Model Collectors Club magazine, to avert the threat of it being reduced to a news-letter. It has already grown to a 44 pages, packed with photos and features. If Keith can keep this up, Showcase will be a force to be reckoned with in club publishing.
Wild Goose Chase
John Toldsted from Denmark sent us a cutting from a German magazine describing a visit to Blackpool. There they came across a Mini Wildgoose motor caravan which John suggests would make a nice 1:43 Oxford Diecast model. Hmm. They were told that four people could sleep in the caravan. When they doubted that, the owner said the caravan was ‘smaller than his uncle’s garden, but bigger than his nephew’s hat’. John asks; is that a typical English saying? They were also told that a typical English meal was wild boar with peppermint sauce, served with ice cold red wine, or warm beer, so the reporter concluded it is no wonder the that British drive on the wrong side of the road! Sadly John, we have to refer to a genuine English saying; the caravanner sent the German reporter on a ‘wild goose chase’. It is a hobby which amuses any Engishman when talking to ‘foreigners’ (ie anyone not local, not just non-British) to give misleading information. Wild boar is almost unknown in the UK, except to foodies, and mint sauce (a vinegary concoction) is served with lamb, continuing a supposed tradition from the 16th century. Beer is always served chilled in Britain; it’s ale that is served at room temperature, as it is in Germany. And driving on the left came first, so driving on the other side must be ‘wrong’. Lastly, we think the ‘typical English saying’ was invented on the spot, to make fun of the foreigner.
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