fodenway

Not sure of the exact scale (not having one), but certainly noticeably larger than 1/76.

Many vans and commercials were supplied in primer at this period, or in a limited range of basic colours. Buyers would have them painted to their own requirements either by the supplying dealer, a commercial coachpainting firm or their own paint shop. Liveries were usually far more ornate and informative than the logos of today, being hand-painted by skilled signwriters or by the application of custom-printed transfers by companies such as Kaylee of Nottingham.

It would have to be someone else's display cabinet at that price !

The Transit was marketed as Best Box, here's one. This one is currently on Ebay and would cost you a total of £103 from a Dutch seller! Yes, I'm aware of the Efsi Walk-Thru, I have several of them.

Here's an alternative Mercedes-Benz, the 220SE coupe 1959-65 by Best Box of Holland. Also known as EFSI, there was a fair-sized range of these 1960s toys. This one scales up exactly to 1/76 scale in length, width and wheelbase, although I do not know how many of the range also measured up - the Model T Fords and the Formula One cars were certainly larger. The range also had a Ford Transit which was 1/76, and an Opel Rekord, VW 1600, Ford Taunus, Jaguar E Type and others which may have conformed. With prices on Ebay ranging from £35 upwards, I'm not about to buy any to find out - this one cost me £1 on a second-hand market, and is just missing its bonnet mascot.

So much better than the usual out-of-the-box-but-out-of-scale 1/50 models often found on 'O' gauge layouts. Appropriate vehicles ARE out there, you just have to look for them. A bit of basic chopping and repainting produces a useful variety of vehicles and makes a layout so much more authentic. Well done.

Just to point out, the red, blue and white Regent colour scheme had changed to all-over bright red a few years before the Foden Haulmaster was introduced. Regent filling stations gradually became Texaco in the United Kingdom, and the Regent brand was phased out

Update - he no longer has the Jetta. After clipping a lamp post he hit a dry-stone wall head on and demolished it, spun round and flattened another section of the same wall with the back of the car forty feet further along the road and came to rest on a grass verge facing back the way he'd just come. Fortunately he wasn't injured, but the car has gone to the scrapyard. At least it will be obvious why it's in there, unlike most of the others, neither crashed, rusty or old - just uneconomical to diagnose and repair faulty electronic componentry.

I often get that feeling. Back in the early seventies when I bought my first car (a 1958 Borgward Isabella Combi), most cars of ten years old or more were probably one MOT away from the breakers yard, and certainly looked very different from the new models of that era. My friends' son has a twelve year old VW Jetta, and it looks little different to every other car on the road. Is it just me?!

Apparently the kits don't include road wheels......

Thanks to all - mystery solved! I've since re-read the book and found most of what I needed, but confirmation is always welcome.

Thanks very much for those useful pieces of information, I will try those preservation societies, thanks again.

Thanks anyway, maybe someone has the answer......

Thanks Phil, if it's "Liverpool Transport" vol 4 1939-57, I have that book but it doesn't give the definitive answer (if it does, I've missed it), but evidence points to it being service number 3. I'd still like clarification of the actual route taken, both inbound and outbound if anyone can help.

I'm contemplating a number of small Liverpool transport dioramas,one of which includes the Liverpool Overhead Railway's Dingle Station buildings on Park Road, set around 1953/4 after the tram service had been abandoned in that part of the city. Does anyone know the number of the replacement bus service (from the city centre). and what route would the service have taken? Would it have followed the former tram route from the Pierhead, or were there changes?

There are also versions of the wartime Bedford OW G.S. lorry, and a Bedford J5 coal lorry in French and English liveries. They are easy to convert to RHD if needed, and make ideal conversion candidates.

I remember back in the mid-70s, a 'cheap and cheerful' car rental company near me bought a few ex-DER Escort Mk1 estates. I hired one for a weekend, and wished I'd not bothered. The thing was so underpowered despite having only 62,000-odd miles on the clock. When I took it back off rental, I commented and was told that the reason was that they had the 900cc engine - which I wasn't aware of at the time. Was he pulling my leg, or were they really specified with this engine?

Very impressive, I particularly like the slow steering action. All too often this is very quick and jerky, even in expensive large-scale models. Well done.

Matchbox Toys did a Commer BF van in Radio Rentals and Rentaset liveries back in the 1960s, although it was slightly underscale for 1/76. However, RTI do a 1/76 resin kit of the BF van, and transfers are available from Steve Flowers Model Supplies and from Black Square decals. The transfers could be applied to other vehicles, of course.

A now-defunct commercial vehicle breaker near me used a very similar machine in his yard until it closed about eight years ago. His wasn't nearly as intact or clean and tidy as yours - the cab had virtually collapsed, but everything still worked. Unfortunately, it was cut up on site when the yard closed.

The 'Italian Job' looks like the result of a mad mating session involving an Anglia, HA Viva and a Fiat 850, with a touch of early sixties Oriental influence thrown in. Having said that, it's quite an attractive thing, and more modern=looking than the Anglia.

I remember seeing one of those Friary conversions near Huntingdon in the mid-1970s, I didn't get a chance to have a good look at it, but assumed that it was a home-made job. This is the first time I've seen any reference to them, so thank you for that. Strange that Friary did the conversion - I always associate them with Vauxhall, and Fords with Farnham for their conversions.

Slightly later than the "T" plate came the reflective triangle - red with a white outline for drawbar trailers, plain red for articulated trailers.

I've been checking Viper dimensions, and the results aren't consistent, but yours appears to be a mid-nineties model for which most sources give the following data: wheelbase 96.2 inches width 75.7 inches length 175.1 inches How does it compare?

A technique I have used on model road vehicles is to prepare a bowl of water with a couple of drops of washing-up liquid added. To this, I mix in poster paint, powder paint or tube acrylics of the desired colours (in my case usually greys, with a touch of brown). Then i dunk the model in, remove and stand it on some absorbent tissues or an old towel. Then, using more tissues and cotton buds I wipe away as much or as little of the 'crud' as necessary, then let it dry. If I'm not happy with the effect, I simply rinse the weathering off and start again. The washing-up liquid allows the colour to cover more evenly and creep into crevices and details. Effects like rust or oil streaks can be added later.