470 - 472 Austin Van casting variation

I was putting my collection of Austin vans on display today when I noticed a small casting difference on one of the six that I own. All except one have a small 'web' cast across the cutout in the rear wheel cover, presumably to help keep the axle in place. However, one of them, the Shell-BP one (original except for the transfers), has not got this feature, as can be seen in the photograph. The Nestles van shown has no number stamped on the base, the Shell one has '470'. I also have the Raleigh version which has the web, but no number. Do any other members have similar variants? Kevin.

Hi Kevin, this variation was discussed on the talkmodeltoys site as long ago as in 2005 already(!). Apparently Meccano thought it would be necessary to apply an extra measure to prevent the rear axle from escaping and/or have a nicer finish by covering the axle ends. So the early first Shell/BP vans are still lacking that feature. The same goes for the Bedford 10cwt Van, which also started (the earliest is the Kodak) without that extra cover. The Kodak can be found without and with cover. Does the Shell/BP as well? The drawings statements in the GBofDT say only: 'none' under the significant changes. Still, I presume these changes must have been recorded on the respective large design drawings. For illustrating this topic I found the pictures of my Austin Vans that I used in 2005 already. And for the Bedford illustration I used the picture taken by Dave Busfield in that discussion. Links: dead links Kind regards, Jan AND OF COURSE A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR 2017 TO YOU ALL!