28a Delivery Van 'Hornby Trains' (1934)

A fellow collector owns the no. 28a Delivery Van 'Hornby Trains' shown here in some detailed pictures. He has doubts about the full authenticity of this little model, and I share his opinion. I offered him to submit the matter on this forum, hoping some of you can comment, as I am no expert on pre-war Dinky Toys like this one. Some obvious characteristics: It is very heavy, 90 gr. The rear axle and hubs must have been replaced looking at one rounded end and the ridged wheels there. What has been erased on the inside roof, above the 'Dinky Toys made in England' statement? The edges of the transfers are clearly visible. There is some scattered scratching (like deliberately done with a file) on the surface and edges. Also a lot of touching in (i.a. over the scratches mentioned) with a slightly lighter shade of yellow paint. Well, I hope for some comments, kind regards, Jan

Hello Jan, Despite it looks nice there are to many things wrong with this model. 1) the rear axle is rounded one side and this is never done on this models, also it seems to me that the rear hubs are post war. 2) axles seems to be the thick postwar types if I compare this with mine. 3) inside is painted also and this is not common, often done by repaint models. 4) inside the words Meccano and Made in England are scratches away, a clear sign for a copy. 5) But last the weight should be around 60 grams. For me clear a white metal model as the weight of these models is around 95 grams. Company the Beijenkorf re-issued a model many years ago as a promotional model for the Model-auto days. Also now these white metal models can be bought in every livery. Maybe this is one of these. Sorry for your friend, hope he did not spend a lot of money. Regards John.

It kind of looks like someone took a white model copy, and intentionally tried to 'antique' it.....make it look like an old model that has seen some wear, and pass it off as a rare model. Another clue would be that it appears totally free of fatigue, yet many, if not most, of these pre-war 28 vans are riddled with cracks and missing pieces.Best regards, Terry

Jan I am sure you have considered this, but if you look at the couple of examples on the Vectis website, the 'Hornby Trains' transfers are a bolder font and fill more of the panel van side. Regards Mark

Thanks for your addition, Mark! Kind regards, Jan