Innehållsförteckning för March 2023 från Diecast Collector

PREPARE FOR AN IMPRESSIVE LANDING FROM CORGI THROUGH Michael Clegg’s excellent Diecast Diaries blog on Corgi’s website, development images of the stunning new 1/48 scale tooling of the second generation Hawker Siddeley/British Aerospace Harrier have now been released into the public domain. And what an absolute stunner this is going to be. Marking a significant development in the history of this magnificent aircraft, the Harrier II may have shared many operational and visual similarities with its famous VSTOL predecessor, however, this was a very different aeroplane altogether and owed much to America’s McDonnell Douglas Corporation. Essentially, this new generation of Harrier was a completely different aircraft, a much more capable aeroplane in every respect and a space age development on this now familiar VSTOL theme. The programme was intended to unlock…

LEADING the latest batch of releases from Oxford Diecast is the newly-tooled Duple Britannia in 1/76 scale. The model makes its first appearance in the range in the well-known cream livery of Wallace Arnold, whose coach tours were particularly successful in the era before package holidays became affordable to the nation. The model features orange masked roof skylights. The flat-fronted coach has the two-windowed passenger door on the nearside, with the driver’s door placed higher on the offside. The interior features a beige floor and red seating. Registered 4324 UA, the coach has a wealth of external silver sprayed detail, including bumpers and window surrounds. The destination plate above the chrome radiator grille shows the coach on its way to Blackpool. To the rear, the Wallace Arnold name and key…

In addition to its roll out of new tooling representing classic and popular subjects, Solido has certainly boosted its ever strengthening position in the diecast market with some focused themes. These include its new range of consistently well-detailed and international, eclectic range of 1/43 model cars, and a continuation of the concerted effort to release authentically-detailed and liveried 1/18 models in its ‘Compétition’ range. CLASSIC CITROËNS When thinking about quintessentially French automobiles, the classic Citroën Type HY van is invariably one of the images that springs to mind. Not surprisingly, Solido has already released no less than sixteen versions of its 1/18 diecast take on the theme. In addition to the obvious changes of liveries, the toolings have been regularly changed to incorporate several variations of opening features, including front…

It has become something of an early year tradition for Corgi fans that the start of the new year is accompanied by the reveal of the latest model range. This year, that date was again 10th January. As of last year, Corgi had changed its new range launch format to be three announcements/range launches each year, with the models unveiled in each covering four monthly release blocks. With this new catalogue covering January to April, we think we can safely assume that this will be the case until further notice, as it worked very well last year. Corgi’s intention with this strategy is that, barring unforeseen production or shipping difficulties, all the models announced in each respective range have a realistic chance of being released during the period covered by…

Admit it, you’re singing it in your head already! But, can you believe it’s the 60th anniversary of Summer Holiday this year? The film premiered in London on 10th January 1963 (60 years to the day as I am typing this!), before going on general release on 18th February. It was the norm back then for it to then take a while to go overseas, and this film was no exception, finally premiering in the USA over a year later, on 12th March 1964. The plot was a simple one – Don (Cliff Richard) and friends Cyril, Steve and Edwin are bus mechanics at the London Transport bus works in Aldenham, Hertfordshire. During a miserably wet British summer lunch break, Don arrives, having persuaded London Transport to lend him and…

I’ve been playing around with restoring old diecasts since my early teens. When I started a huge partwork project build from Ixo Collections (see opposite page for the latest update), it gave me this idea for this section to bring you tips as I focus on some other projects along the way too. ■ CORGI FIRST PRODUCTION ROUTEMASTER CODE 3 Whilst my other bus project is currently on hold until I’ve had a meeting about it at Nuremberg, by way of a sort of update, I’m revisiting a project from 2016 as the techniques and method are pretty much identical. Corgi had shown its 1/50 scale pre-production model of the first production Routemaster early in 2014, but by the end of the year it was cancelled. Given the nomenclature RM8,…

GOT A STORY? Contact rick.wilson@warnersgroup.co.uk CORGI GIFT SETS CAUSE QUITE A STIR AT VECTIS AUCTIONS DURING the Specialist Diecast Sale, held at Vectis Auctions on 11th January, there were quite a few very desirable Corgi Toys gift sets up for bidding. Whilst they weren’t completely mint, they are still incredibly sought after items, so it was very interesting watching the battle that went on during their moment in the spotlight. Three in particular that caught the eye were GS16 Ecurie Ecosse Racing Car Transporter and Three Racing Cars, GS37 Lotus Racing Team and GS41 Car Transporter and 6 Cars. The Ecurie Ecosse set included the Ecurie Ecosse Racing Car Transporter, of course, in blue with yellow lettering and spun hubs, plus the three racing cars – red No 150S Vanwall,…

In the good old days, when I was young, a local friend had a father who worked for the council driving what we knew as a gulley emptier. We were fascinated when we saw these vehicles emptying the street drains and flushing them with water. Luckily, some toy makers produced models of these vehicles and, of course, so did Dinky Toys. The Dinky Toys model arrived in October 1971 as the Johnston Road Sweeper (No 451) finished with an orange cab and metallic green tank. The model uses the Dinky Toys Ford D800 chassis and cab, which has a white plastic interior, opening doors, full glazing and jewelled headlights. Behind the cab is the tank body, which has a plastic swivel suction pipe. There is also a short extension pipe…

NZG has confirmed the release of a trio of superb new Mercedes-Benz road vehicles - the Citan, T-Class and EQS with lighting, all in 1/18 scale. Mercedes-EQ EQS (No 1021/55) comes complete with working lights in Hi-Tech Silver Metallic, priced at € 179. It features a highly-detailed interior, adjustable exterior lighting (either daytime running lighting or driving lights) and, by opening the doors, the interior lighting switches on, with footwell lighting and overhead/reading lights. Seats are slidable, there is a functioning steering system and all four doors open. Mercedes-Benz T-Class (No 1048/51) is painted Metallic Grey and is priced at € 79. The model features a highly-detailed interior, functioning steering system, opening front doors and suspension. Also available, but not shown here, is the van version of the T-Class, the…

7 BUMPER PAGES! CORGI’S NEWLY-TOOLED COMMEMORATIVE TYPHOON IS REALLY BIG AND BEAUTIFUL 1/48 scale CORGI Eurofighter Typhoon FGR.4 - Battle of Britain 75th Anniversary PRICE: £179.99 REF NO: AA29001 www.corgi.co.uk AS Britain prepared to mark the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain in the early summer of 2015, the RAF was determined that any tribute would be a particularly impressive one. Under a cloak of relative secrecy, but soon to delight aviation enthusiasts everywhere, Eurofighter Typhoon FGR.4 ZK349 emerged from the paint shops at RAF Coningsby, in Lincolnshire, wearing very different markings to the standard grey scheme worn by the rest of the squadron. This commemorative tribute aircraft was finished in a representation of a 1940 Fighter Command Battle of Britain scheme and RAF officials proudly announced that it would…

Make no mistake, in comparison with most of GT Spirit’s car-based 1/18 models, this pair is both heavy to hold and big. FORD F-150 ‘RAPTOR’(GT377) This latest‘Raptor’ Edition supplements GT Spirit’s previously-released F-150 line-up of versions in white (GT195) & black (GT781), and Shelby ‘Super Snake’ versions in blue (GT262) and white (GT824). With itsV6 450hp engine, and substantial suspension set-up, the Ford F-150 Raptor is, in all respects, an all-terrain SUV, and is a variant of the series that has been one of the biggest selling automotive ranges in the United States for decades. As I have already mentioned, for a 1/18 model it really is heavy. With its abundance of very finely-detailed satin black trim over orange-red paintwork, it makes a striking display piece. FORD BRONCO ‘BADLANDS’ (GT858)…

Lancia’s Rally 037 was the first car engineered and built for the famous (and infamous) Group B era, in theWorld Rally Championship. However, it did not follow the lines of Audi’s quattro, as it had neither four-wheel-drive nor a turbocharged engine. The Lancia team, and it’s racing arm, Abarth, chose to follow another path, in the early eighties. A small and light mid-engined, two-seater sportscar was the quickest solution Abarth could take to break Audi’s domination. Based on Lancia’s Beta Montecarlo mid-engined sportscar, Abarth developed the SE037 especially for rallying. The only thing traditional about this car was the fact it had rear-wheel drive. From a 2.0-litre supercharged engine, which used a Roots-type compressor instead of a turbo to avoid turbo-lag, to double dampers per wheel in the rear axle,…

Late in 2019, Alfa Romeo quietly ceased production of its exquisite 4C Coupé and Spider duo, leaving unsold stock around the world to trickle out over the following months and, after recent cancellations of mid-range GTV and exotic 8C successor projects, bring a sad end to the tradition of almost a century of glamorous sports cars. Another indication of Fiat’s corporate intentions occurred earlier in the decade when Alfa’s collaboration with Mazda to develop a budget MX5-based roadster was hijacked to become the revived Fiat and Abarth 124 Spiders, apparently under the pretext that no Alfa could ever be made in Japan. This iconic brand’s prospects are now dependent on family saloons (Giulia and the recently retired Giulietta), incongruous SUVs (Stelvio and the repeatedly delayed Tonale) and the tokenistic rebranding…

1965 PART 2 Picking up from where we left off last month, we now focus on the releases during the second half of 1965, from July to December. There were so many superb models made in this period, but one stands out in particular – the most famous Corgi of all time was about to make its appearance. There were two new releases in July, well, technically, one newbie and one that was created by separating out part of a previously-released gift set. Released in December 1964, Gift Set 31 comprised the Buick Riviera towing a boat on a trailer. But now, that previously unnamed water transport now had an identity – it was issued on its own as No 104 Dolphin 20 Cabin Cruiser on Wincheon Trailer. Identical to…

No. 32 Number 32 in the Lesney-era 1-75 Superfast range began with a Regular Wheels upgrade for a petrol tanker, moving onto a supercar, a piece of military equipment and then a construction vehicle. With some interesting variation thrown into the mix along the way, variety is indeed the spice of life this month! LEYLAND PETROL TANKER Catalogue: 1970-72 Box Styles: G Keeping its basic BP livery for the change to Superfast, the popular Leyland Petrol Tanker managed to survive for a few more years until finally making way for a new model in the 1973 catalogue. The colours were always thus for the mainstream UK 1-75 releases but this casting has been used for the occasional event promotional over the years, plus the blue cab/chassis "ARAL" version is a…

Back in November 2021, as regular readers may remember, we examined a recently established range in the model car field from Italy, called Officina 942. The brainchild of Alessandro Sannia, the idea behind the range is to model Italian vehicles of the past, not only familiar ones like the FiatTopolino or 500, but the more obscure products of specialist coachbuilders, such as Carrozzeria Moretti and Carozzeria Riva. In the mid-1950s there were around twenty such companies active in Italy. Made to a scale of 1/76, the Officina models are deliberately simple in style, with solid bodies and no window cut-outs. Some are in diecast metal and other in resin. The range has certainly found a niche in the market and has expanded rapidly over the last couple of years. It…

Nuremberg Toy Fair The new releases for the coming year photographed and detailed as we return to the industry’s big European event for the first time in three years. Please note: These planned editorial contents may be subject to change where necessary. PLUS… Racing Colours - Marlboro part 3 Tyrone Malone Super Boss truck Chipperfields Circus part 3 Desert Island Diecasts Auction results Extensive selection of new model releases, reviewed by our team of experts April issue on sale 1st March or download the digital edition 7 DAYS EARLIER on 22nd February at www.pocketmags.com/diecast-collector…

Mike Coupe of Spa Croft Models (www.spacroftmodels.co.uk) has passed on the news that Matrix will be releasing a tribute to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth in the form of her beloved Rover P5B, in 1/43 scale. Specially packaged with a figurine accompanied by two of her ever-present-four-legged companion Corgis, this wonderful limited edition release (numbers to be confirmed) will be priced at £140.99. This model will surely prove very popular indeed – so don’t delay, contact your preferred retailer today! For wholesale enquiries, contact John Ayrey Die-casts (www.ayrey.co.uk).…

1/64 scale TARMAC WORKS Toyota Supra GT Le Mans 24 Hours 1995 #27 PRICE: £22.99 REF NO: T64-051-95LM27 www.modelmatic.uk LEMANS was going through an interesting phase in the mid-'90s. In a bid to attract big automotive manufacturers back to the race, the organisers were trying to move away from the era of expensive prototype racers and usher in a raft of GTs that were more akin to road-going cars. One such manufacturer, which had already heavily invested in the prototype era, and had come so close to winning the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1994, was Toyota. Its new Supra GT had made its debut in the All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC), the forerunner to the present-day Super GT series, at the beginning of the 1995 season. For Le…

Corgi’s new Vanguards-branded Cortina Mk5 range marks the 60th anniversary of the original Consul Cortina Mk1 in September 1962, with the debut livery (No VA15001, curiously repeating the catalogue number of a Trumans Beer Thames Trader from Lledo’s pre-Corgi era) depicting the last ever UK-made Cortina, a run-out edition 1.6 Crusader. Now released, the model can be assessed to see whether it lives up to the hype. This is the first ever Cortina Mk5 in mainstream diecast, although Ixo/Altaya offer an identical twin Taunus TC3 in both retail or partwork editions. My sporadic series of Cortina articles in this magazine has frequently highlighted the unfilled Mk5 gap, but strongly cautioned against trying to bodge a Mk5 from a Mk4 casting due to a myriad of differences, which are individually barely…

Shortly after World War II, two of the major French car manufacturers, Citroën and Renault, introduced new small cars. Citroën introduced the basic 2CV in 1948, which was particularly geared to meet the needs of French farmers and cope with rough roads, whereas the Renault introduced its 4CV in 1947, a rear-engined car that could be described as a four-door smaller version of the Volkswagen Beetle, it was a much more conventional car, more suited for ordinary roads than farm tracks. When Renault decided to replace the 4CV in 1961, it opted for a car more akin to the Citroën 2CV, with torsion-bar suspension suited for some off-road use plus it was, in some ways, of more basic design. The suspension on both the Renault 4 and the Citroën 2CV…

Starting in 1995, Hot Wheels began naming its new models as ‘First Editions’ and initially twelve original items were introduced every year – meaning that new castings were released at the rate of one a month. However, this didn’t last long, as to celebrate its 30th anniversary in 1998 there were 40 new models produced. In 1999, this was cut down to 26 First Editions, but in subsequent years the new items could range from 36 to 52, hitting a peak in 2004 when 100 vehicles were issued. The 26 new models for 1999 were a mixed lot, and an interesting cross-section of vehicle types. What was most notable about the 1999 models was how well-made and solid they were, particularly in comparison with more recent efforts – nearly all…

The whole subject of scales and gauges has been more than adequately covered in this magazine recently by Brian Salter, in his epic 31-part series. And just when we thought we might have things under control, one of the less well-known is brought back into the spotlight – but with good reason. THE HISTORY OF TT There is more than a little confusion surrounding this gauge/scale on its own, as there are two accepted ratios that have been used historically. The new‘TableTop’ scale (hence theTT moniker) originated in the USA, but is today widespread in Central Europe, and is the second-most popular scale in Central Europe and Russia, after HO, with several manufacturers based in countries such as Germany and the Czech Republic. TT uses a ratio of 1:120, butTri-ang…

I am a diecast car collector from Thailand, focusing on the models of classic international automobiles in mostly 1/64 and 1/43 scales. Having been in Brighton, East Sussex for just over a year for my Master's, I have gone to toy fairs, shops, museums and car meets and have built up a considerable collection that I will take back to my home country and integrate into my main collection. I quickly became a fan of Diecast Collector and was sure to pick it up monthly from a local bookstore. I was very inspired to share a story about part of my own collection, in fact, these are some of the very few select diecast cars, in roughly 1/64 scales, that I have brought along to the UK to remind me…

FABULOUS FIAT COVER MODEL AWESOME cover on the February issue, I’m glad you decided to invest in a Laudo 850 Coupe. I've got the Positano Yellow one and it looks superb, as does the red one. In my local Smiths, the trainee assistant had put Diecast Collector in with the classic car mags as he didn't realise it was a model until I pointed it out to him… a compliment to Laudo for realism and you for your photography! I was rearranging my models yesterday and decided to get all my 850 Coupe/Sport Coupe models out for a photo with my Laudo – I forgot there was so many and I’ve just realised that I haven't included the Norev, Ixo partworks and two more Abarth-based Coupes either… the red incomplete…

I'm not sure when people began to call their sitting room “the lounge”. Even “living room” is rarely used now, more generally useful though it remains. If you think about it for more than a few seconds, “sitting room” sounds slightly daft – a room designed for sitting as though sitting might be considered an activity in itself. From this we could believe that Sittingbourne, in Kent, is an entire town devoted to this pastime – the streets full of couches and armchairs, the pavements cosily heated. When I was growing up, we had a front room, rarely used except over Christmas or when my father was interviewing one of my sister’s boyfriends. We also had a back room, where sitting took place. There must have been times when these…