fodenway

Try BLACK SQUARE DECALS, Ian does a big range of very high quality transfers for restoring old diecasts, including several 'code 3 custom' transfers, and will also do bespoke transfers to your design at a very good rate.

Fantastic work - but don't forget the locking handle on the fifth wheel coupling!

I've built their bulldozer version of the Drott, very clean castings, quite complex but went together very well. I believe it originated with Scalecast many years ago.

Have a word with your tyre fitter - the offside rear outer isn't seated on the rim !!!!

With a change of wheels (Classix Ford Zodiac Mk1), a colour change for the interior and a bit of detail painting, plus the addition of mirrors and a driver, the toy Cadillac becomes an acceptable scale model.

The trouble with this idea, noble as it is, is that those 'sub-committees' might tend to concentrate solely on doing their own thing, instead of actively liaising with their co-organisers for the benefit of the show as a whole. I had similar experiences, as one who initiated twice-yearly model shows at a certain heritage venue for several years - when I started, I dealt with one person, the Event Manager, and the shows were straightforward and successful for everyone. Then, a new team was brought in, and things started to go downhill - areas were double-booked (two people allocating the same space to different groups without checking with each other first). Having to chase tickets and passes, because someone thought "someone else was responsible for that", and so on. Things got so bad that I eventually gave up trying. Close co-operation has to be the watchword in such situations to avoid clashes and confusion.

Just had the email that the 2024 show won't be at the NEC - will there be another venue, or have we seen the last of "actual" Warley Shows, or will it become "Open Days" or "Virtual Exhibitions", as several other clubs are resorting to?

A couple of 4mm scale models you'd be hard pressed to find today - which is just what I did at the Newark Toy Fair last week. These two were made by someone in the early post-war days using "Modelcraft" plans and instructions. They are made from card and wood, with the little Morris 8 Series E being made from a series of thin card profiles, carefully cut to shape, glued together, shellac'd and sanded to shape. The Fordson 7V is simpler, construction-wise, but none the less detailed. To think in those days, kits as we know them today were non-existent, a kit in those days consisted of a set of drawings, instructions and the raw materials (pre-printed and possibly pre-cut wood and card), but you would probably have to mix and boil up your glue (Cascamite was my grandad's choice), and maybe even mix your own paint from linseed oil and pigments. It is incredible that these have survived so long, and show just what can be achieved using only very basic materials - and a whole lot of patience and skill.

Unfortunately, NONE of these Harbutts/Jet Petroleum model cars are 1/76, although the Ford T is the nearest, according to research done by Bernard TPM and posted on RM Web a while ago under "OO road vehicles from non-railway sources".

A fairly recent Matchbox introduction in the 'Retro Series' is this 1975 Cadillac Eldorado convertible, and it works out to exactly 1/76 scale. Full-size dimensions are:- Wheelbase 126.3 inches, width 80 inches, overall length 225 inches. The blue one seems to be quite common, I picked this up, still carded, at Newark Toy Fair a couple of days ago for £2, and the same dealer had four or five left. There is also a creamy-yellow version, and a metallic coppery-red (with red interior) that looks really good, but these last two seem to be fetching higher prices on ebay. With the addition of a driver figure, mirrors, some better wheels and some detail painting this will be a welcome addition to my collection.

Check out John Day Models, Scalelink, DG Models and KW Trams (ex-ABS Models kits) - they all have websites and all do a decent range of cars and commercials covering the period from pre-WW1 to well after WW2, you should find what you need in their ranges.

Glad you like it! Presumably it's a second edition, the first run was of 1500 copies, paid for in part by advance subscribers (myself included), of which there was a list at the back of the book.

If you can find a copy of the book "After the war was over" by Alan Earnshaw and David Hayward (ISBN 9781903016 28 2) published 2008 by Trans-Pennine Publishing, you will find a wealth of information on how US military materiel (Including half-tracks) arrived here in assembled or CKD form for final assembly and onward allocation during WW2. The book focuses on the activities of one company, Pearsons of Liverpool, but shows just how vehicles arrived crated and were dealt with. Unfortunately the book is out of print, and Trans-Pennine are no more. Only 1500 copies were printed, but try your library, specialist bookshop or ebay.

The Jowett CD project included a van, estate car and pickup. At least one of the vans survives in preservation in this country, and possibly a pickup. A small number also survive in New Zealand, where about a dozen were imported when new.

Good to see an 'O' gauger shunning the 1/50 models, and doing it 'right'. It's a great pity that so many take the easy option, but there are 1/43 British lorries out there, some not so obvious or needing a bit of work to bring up to scratch, but doable. It will be good to follow your progress with this one.

Mirrors can be cut from tinfoil using a small leather punch or scissors, and glued on to fishing line fixed into holes in the bodywork. Being flexible, they can stand handling without damage. It's very rare to see tax discs and operators licences represented on model vehicles - and so easy to do!

My order for the Fordson 7V tractor arrived the other day. First impressions were that the shape has been captured very well, but that it seemed rather small. At 1/76, it measures up at 6 feet wide across the front mudguards - Karrier Bantams were 6'6" at the same point, and were a considerably smaller vehicle, so I will have to find a real 7V and take some measurements. There are some quite noticeable 'strata' lines on the surface which will need to be filled or sanded, but my biggest disappointment was that the model is solid, so opening up the windows to fit an interior would be a big and risky undertaking. At least, that was my initial understanding, but a test drilling under the floor revealed that it actually is hollow, but the underside would need to be cut away in order to fit an interior, so still a big job either way. The 'plate' that the body is printed on is very close to the actual model, and was very difficult to remove. I managed to damage the axle ends and the back of the chassis during the process, despite taking extreme care. The tyres are overly knobbly, and the rears don't have the dished hub that would be expected on dual wheels. As a potential fine-scale model, I was somewhat disappointed, but the cost was very reasonable and the delivery time was fast, so I can't really complain too much.

Regardless of the scale, the Marzal was a one-off concept car that would have done vary little (if any) road mileage, instead being transported in a covered truck to auto shows. The chances of it being seen in regular traffic, even in Italy, would be almost zero.

I've just had confirmation that they can print at 1/76, so my first order has gone in. I will post again when the model arrives.

Thanks for the info, and your K6 project looks interesting. 3D-Scale haven't replied yet, so I assume they are probably not interested in doing a 1/76 print. Scratchbuild it is then!

I understand that, but many other companies will print at whatever scale the customer requires. I hoped that 3D Scale would, but I have had no reply so far.

It's a shame that they aren't 1/76, there are a few that would interest me, so I've asked 3D Scale whether they can be done at !/76 and will pass on the reply when I get it. By the way, would it be much of a job to open up the windows, or are the cabs printed as a solid block?

I have a Beacon Cortina Mk5 which I spray-painted (with Holts Ford Venetian Red) over twenty years ago. Despite washing thoroughly before spraying, the paint took about four years before it could be handled, but the unpainted resin parts are still a little tacky after all this time - as well as having turned very yellow. I also bought a pack of their drivers and passengers, who were having an intense physical get-together in the bag and would not separate without various limbs breaking off, having welded themselves to each other. They all ended up in the bin.

If anyone out there in the 3D print world is looking for an interesting prototype to model in 1/76 scale, (even just the cab) how about the International Loadstar truck? Built in America between 1962 and 1978, and at the I-H plant at Doncaster for a few years during the late sixties, as well as being produced in Latin America and Asia for many years. They were used by many armies around the world - simple, rugged and reliable vehicles. Anyone else have any suggestionss for the more unusual vehicles seen on our roads?

The Ford D series does appear to be slightly larger than the TK, so possibly 1/42 (the old Tri-Ang Spot On scale), but the Leyland is definitely too small at 1/50. How many otherwise marvellous 'O' gauge layouts are spoiled with shiny "out of the box" (usually Corgi) 1/50 buses and lorries?