Tri-ang and Tri-ang Hornby Military rolling stock, etc...NATO and Battlespace.

[kevinlms]

16 minutes ago, Phil Parker said:

 

Dr X - http://www.airfixrailways.co.uk/ARSdr.Xset.htm

 

Love how 'Breakdown Truck stalls on level crossing, forcing train to stop'. Oh dear, perhaps BR complained about that thinking?

[russ p]

28 minutes ago, Phil Parker said:

 

Dr X - http://www.airfixrailways.co.uk/ARSdr.Xset.htm

 

 

 Cheers Phil. That was the one , I was trying to remember it's name. Wonder what BR and NCL thought about supporting a James Bond baddie which from the artwork appears to be Dominic Cummings!

[GoingUnderground]

22 hours ago, andyman7 said:

It's fascinating to see (and be reminded) that military themes for toys were such a staple back then - no doubt enhanced by the proximity of WW2. Dinky, Corgi, Airfix etc had significant military themes and no doubt Tri-ang considered that this theme would extend the reach of Triang Railways to boys (yes very gender specific targeting in those days) who might not otherwise be engaged. 

I've only got a few of the items, the Searchlight wagon is my favourite I think. Repurposing the Giraffe Car as a Sniper vehicle is mind boggling!

My aircraft kits were the Lines Bros FROG range, and they were all military ones. I remember having a De Havilland Venom, a Hawker Hunter, Gloucester Meteor, all in silver grey plastic, and a Westland Whirlwind helicopter moulded in yellow. I also had diecast or lead soldiers and the Dinky Toy army models, tank, field gun, scout car, lorry, etc. as well as match firing field guns from Brittains field guns. My Airfix kits were all railway based for the layout, footbridge, signal gantry, dockyard crane, L&Y Pug, Schools Harrow, etc..

 

There was also a diecast cap-firing 6 shooter from Lone Star for playing Cowboys'n'Indians, and a short barrelled US style police handgun than came with a Highway Patrol badge, (Highway Patrol was a US TV cops'n'robbers import starring Broderick Crawford).  TV was still a novelty and the kids programmes included Wyatt Earp and the Lone Ranger, all good shootin', fightin' and killin' stuff in a sanitised, stylised version.

 

This exposure to militaria was all seen as quite normal, not too surprising when you realise that our parents had been through 6 years of WW2, and our grandparents through 4 years of WW1. Us baby boomer kids, on reaching 17 in the UK would have been called up for National Service had it not been abolished in 1957 for those born after September 1939.

 

But is it really that different today with the shoot'em'up computer games and so many films trumpeting the courage, strength and determination of the US armed forces in fighting everything from the folks next door, to zombies, viruses, and alien invaders from other planets, not to mention the Marvel and DC Comics trash mag films? 

Edited May 28, 2021 by GoingUnderground

[Il Grifone]

Please don't put Marvel together with DC Comics.

 

(Granted they're both American rubbish, but at least DC aren't quite so blatant with their propaganda.)

 

(I've detested Captain America since forever.... Sorry enough politics!)

 

Italian national service was only abolished relatively recently, but you could do it on the railways!

[sandwich station]

On 29/05/2021 at 06:40, GoingUnderground said:

This exposure to militaria was all seen as quite normal, not too surprising when you realise that our parents had been through 6 years of WW2, and our grandparents through 4 years of WW1. Us baby boomer kids, on reaching 17 in the UK would have been called up for National Service had it not been abolished in 1957 for those born after September 1939.

 

I remember my brothers and I had toy plastic Thompson submachine guns with plastic bullets that you put in the magazine and fired at each other. We had toy plastic  British, German and American helmets. We were always playing war games.

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

 

I have no doubt you wouldn't get away with this sort of thing nowadays, the do-gooders know better, although reading them didn't turn me into warmonger!

 

Mike.

[Ben B]

7 hours ago, sandwich station said:

 

I remember my brothers and I had toy plastic Thompson submachine guns with plastic bullets that you put in the magazine and fired at each other. We had toy plastic  British, German and American helmets. We were always playing war games.

 

I think there probably are as many toy guns and things around now as there were in the 60's, but the difference is they're more 'sci-fi' and deliberately brightly coloured. I'm happy with this to be honest, as it is done deliberately by toy companies to avert the risk of some poor kid being accidentally shot by police/security forces, who can't risk the realistic-looking black-coloured revolver cap gun being mistaken for the real thing in the heat of the moment.

 

A cursory glance at the toy section of places like B&M shows plenty of toy tanks, helicopters etc. I'd guess the difference is they're probably worse quality, and almost all US prototypes compared to the 60's where UK toy companies turned out more of the native designs. But given the UK still had a reasonably-sized armed force at the time, with distinctive vehicles, probably justifiable. That modern war toys are mainly American I'd guess just reflects the main market (America) but also that most Western countries use US designed machines, particularly aircraft (Apaches, Hercs, F35's, Chinooks etc).

 

Sorry, drifting off topic there. Another modern-day Battlespace idea, anyone managed to make the Oxford railway gun operational, with a very big spring?

[GoingUnderground]

2 hours ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

 

I have no doubt you wouldn't get away with this sort of thing nowadays, ......

 

Mike.

You think so? I beg to differ.

 

All that has happened is that the medium has changed from print to screen: film, television and online/computer, and the images have become violent, graphic, and explicit because of the transition and the move towards less censorship and the "need" to make the next production even more attention grabbing than the last. It is also much more accessible and available in greater quantities as smartphones are so common, even with very young children.

 

I also think that we've become more acclimatised to it and take it for granted. So I wouldn't say that it has left any of us unscathed, as evidenced by the way we all seem to be far more protective of our children and grandchildren than our parents and grandparents generations.

 

But let's not debate societal changes, life's too short and the subject to divisive, but get back on topic debating Triang models.

[cypherman]

4 hours ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

 

I have no doubt you wouldn't get away with this sort of thing nowadays, the do-gooders know better, although reading them didn't turn me into warmonger!

 

Mike.

Hi all,

As a kid i used to have hundreds of these comics/magazines from this range plus the Commando and Battle Picture library. Unfortunately my father one day decided that they were no longer needed and threw them away with out asking. I managed to save my complete set of Starblazer scifi mags from the same publishers as they were stored somewhere else. As you can imagine there were somewhat heated words said after that. To make up for this he bought me a Duchess of Sutherland and 5 LMS coaches. That some what placated my heated teenage blood.

Edited May 30, 2021 by cypherman

[Johann Marsbar]

1 hour ago, cypherman said:

Hi all,

As a kid i used to have hundreds of these comics/magazines from this range plus the Commando and Battle Picture library. Unfortunately my father one day decided that they were no longer needed and threw them away with out asking. I managed to save my complete set of Starblazer scifi mags from the same publishers as they were stored somewhere else. As you can imagine there were somewhat heated words said after that. To make up for this he bought me a Duchess of Sutherland and 5 LMS coaches. That some what placated my heated teenage blood.

 

I discovered quite a few of the Commando/Battle Picture Library "booklets" when indulging in a clearout of the loft last year. Also found I'd got 300+ comics dating from the 1966-1975 stored in a wooden box in one of the sheds in the garden.  I knew I had kept some, but not quite that many!

Ones like "Victor" used to have quite a considerable proportion of their stories dealing with WW2 (and WW1 in some cases) and actually make interesting reading nowadays. The artwork accompanying the stories was generally of quite a high quality as well (as were the ones in the Commando style publications).

The annoying thing is that my set of "Countdown" comics must have been slung out years ago, as I seem to only have a couple of those left...

[Il Grifone]

9 hours ago, cypherman said:

Hi all,

As a kid i used to have hundreds of these comics/magazines from this range plus the Commando and Battle Picture library. Unfortunately my father one day decided that they were no longer needed and threw them away with out asking. I managed to save my complete set of Starblazer scifi mags from the same publishers as they were stored somewhere else. As you can imagine there were somewhat heated words said after that. To make up for this he bought me a Duchess of Sutherland and 5 LMS coaches. That some what placated my heated teenage blood.

 

Sounds like a good deal to me!  

 

Lots of my stuff just disappeared....

[roythebus1]

On 28/05/2021 at 09:24, Phil Parker said:

Quality models. I don't really do military stuff, but I lover the play value, because I am a big kid.

 

 

The Battlespace Turbo car is brilliant. It runs on a split-frame chassis and is just completely mad, and great fun,

 

 

In G scale, LGB make a couple of versions which work in the same way. Should you need more speed, Swift Sixteen produce a kit designed around a brushless motor.

 

Despite regular requests, Simon refuses to put the Turbocar back into the Hornby range...

I had one of the Battlespace turbo machine and tested it on The Model Railway Club's test track which had 3' radius curves. the antique controllers were capable of delivering 24v. The turbo on that voltage literally took of on the very high speed entry to th first curve. It ended up at the far end of the Lower Hall, much to the consternation of the serious modellers.

[roythebus1]

On 30/05/2021 at 07:25, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

 

I have no doubt you wouldn't get away with this sort of thing nowadays, the do-gooders know better, although reading them didn't turn me into warmonger!

 

Mike.

But I learnt fluent if not limited German from such magazines; "Achtung Spitfeuer Aarghhh!" and "hande hoch".

 

[CKPR]

This is an excellent and on-topic read 

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00CLRG5B8/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

[Johann Marsbar]

10 hours ago, CKPR said:

This is an excellent and on-topic read 

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00CLRG5B8/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

Interesting to see that the "Escape from Colditz" game gets a mention in the synopsis of the book.

I've got one of those in my loft as well........

 

EDIT: Thinking about it there is also a "Waterloo" board game up there as well which must date from the early 1970's too.

Edited June 2, 2021 by Johann Marsbar

[andyman7]

It would appear that the Triang Battle Space range has inspired the next stage of North Korea's missile development programme...

[BernardTPM]

Ah, the G-10 'Q' car for real.

[Mark Saunders]

On 28/05/2021 at 15:08, GoingUnderground said:

Oh, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that some improvements weren't needed. No one should be sent to do a job of work in unsafe conditions or using dangerous or inadequately guarded equipment, or be able to buy a product which when used in accordance with the manufacturers' instructions will kill or severely maim the user or those round them. But, in my humble opinion, the pendulum has swung too far towards H&S and too far away from personal responsibility for one's own actions and their consequences. I could say more, but I won't.

Logically you shouldn’t be able to buy shoes with laces as they don’t come with any instructions on how to tie them and at work you get boots but no certificate of competency to operate them!

[locomad2]

I was one of those children who's parents were too serious or "middle class" to consider "Battle space" and  buy us new stuff when it came out, it was considered as a toy not a model, so as a result I ended up with a model railway.

 

However did discover it a 2nd hand in early Adult life before the prices got silly so got a fair but tatty collection.

 

However still missing things so having in lockdown plenty of spare time repainted a tatty R1 which looks quite good 

 

 

Also decided to collect some 21st century stuff its towing a "Drone"

 

 

Which really flies via r/c and fitted with a camera, fits nice on a 60 year old Airfix lowmac.

 

I've plans of a "exploding car" , compressed air rocket, r/c jeep, r/c armour car, r/c tank all about 1:72. Next year a 1:64 r/c helicopter comes out. Call the whole project "Battle space 21st century" 

[halfwit]

A question if I may.

I have a Turbo Car with a broken motor. It looks like that motor is from a non-railway range, possibly slot car, can anyone identify it so I can search for a replacement?

 

As for Battlespace, I have a complete satellite wagon and a couple minus their satellites, to replace my childhood one that went the way of things. Great fun!

[Ruffnut Thorston]

All I know is that it is a can motor.

 

It pre dates the use of can motors in Hornby Railways locos.

 

I think that Scalextric cars around this time were fitted with open frame motors.

 

A good question…. 

[sandwich station]

Here is some pics of the Turbo Car motor and a 70's come 80's can motor from a scalextrics car, which is the same as in some of the Hornby locos, ie 0-4-0 tank. It is of the same design as the Turbo Car one but smaller in size. It could quite possible be made to fit (pack out etc) as there are no gears to mesh with.

[sandwich station]

Also not sure if you are aware but these early can motors have brushes that are retained by springs, so can be changed or renewed if you have the right size brush.

[Dava]

24 minutes ago, sandwich station said:

Here is some pics of the Turbo Car motor and a 70's come 80's can motor from a scalextrics car, which is the same as in some of the Hornby locos, ie 0-4-0 tank. It is of the same design as the Turbo Car one but smaller in size. It could quite possible be made to fit (pack out etc) as there are no gears to mesh with.

Mabuchi motors, as sold by Proops of Totts Court Rd.

 

Dava

[halfwit]

Thanks for the replies. I did look at early slot car motors on eBay hoping to find one that would fit, but to no avail. It seems odd that a can was used just for this model. A mystery!