642 Pressure Refueller (195760)

With the number of posts in other threads, I have decided to start a new thread dealing with this great model of a Leyland Hippo tanker. The model was announced in the May 1957 Meccano Magazine with production having commenced two months previously to enable Meccano agents to have sufficient stock on hand when the magazine arrived in their shops. (A boxed 642 was sold through eBay in April 2002. The inspection stamp on the inside of the box lid read GC 3 57, March 1957. Another sold also through eBay later that year with an inspection stamp of CX 357. Production continued throughout March, April, May and June, with sufficient stock on hand until production re-commenced in September. The Toyman at Meccano Magazine had this to say about the model: The model has one unique quality. Although it depicts a model in the service of the Royal Air Force, for some inexplicable reason, Meccano chose the French roundel instead of the British roundel on the front, and even displayed this in their drawing in the Meccano Magazine

The following post was copied from the 'Cross Hatching' thread: Dinkinius wrote: 'Gentlemen Since starting this Thread, I have been looking carefully at the Dinky Toys and Supertoys in my collection. Having five 642 Pressure Refueller's in my collection, each in their individual blue-striped box, I examine each, and all did not have any cross-hatching. Then in a dusty box, I discovered a long-lost example, but unfortunately, without its box. Looking at it, I was very surprised to see that this one had cross-hatching on the interior of the cab. Shining a flashlight into the rest of the casting, no other cross-hatching was visible. Obviously this model was a late issue as all the other boxes were dated April, May and June 1957. Bruce ' At the time I posted the above, I did not mention that this was my Pressure Refueller from my younger days, as it contained an unusual feature not seen on any other 642 Pressure Refueller. The 'unusual feature' is the correct Royal Air Force roundel on the front. I could not vouch for the roundel's authenticity so I did not mention this at the time as I could not recall performing any change to my model. Besides in the late 1950s I had no means to carry this out, as there were no sellers of transfers for restoration of Dinky Toys in those days. Even the transfers from Airfix or Revell model kits did not fit as these were of the wrong size. Besides, the 642 was one of my favourite models, and spent most of its life in its box, the latter disappearing after I left home in 1964. I was also a nutter on things relating to the RAF and the RAAF. Had the French roundel adorned my model, I would have known of this error, but I have no recollection of this, just a memory of it being one of my favourite Dinky Toys. A month or so ago I won another 642 Pressure Refueller having the RAF roundel on the front, and on receiving it, the model has the cross-hatching in the cab roof (the same as mine), and its box had a UK price for 1959-1960, of 7/6. The size of the roundel matched mine. The box carried one of those unusual quality stamp, 684/025/567. Has anyone been able to make any sense of these style of numbers? The only conclusion I can reach with my model (which I received for my birthday in late December 1959) and the boxed model recently received is that more than two years after the model's release, Meccano had finally got around to providing the correct roundel on the front by which time a problem had arisen in effectively ejecting the model from the die, and a temporary solution was reached by incorporating cross-hatching under the roof of the cabin. Based on that, it can be reasonably assumed that every model with cross-hatching 'should' have the correct RAF roundel on the front, with the exceptions being during the change-over period.

The following have been copied and transferred to this Thread from the Interior Cross Hatching thr ead to enable those who have an interest in the 642 Pressure Refueller to be able to read all the comments pertaining to this great little model. dinkycollect wrote: 'Bruce, Good find. The cross hatched models are always later issues than the smooth ceilings. Have you noticed that Meccano failed to reproduce the headlights which should be below the bumper ? Jacques.' Dinkinius wrote: 'Jacques Yes indeed, as well as a number of other features, although I guess they were aiming for a simple, uncomplicated casting. I wonder if other members can check their 642 Pressure Refuellers to see if we can find more with cabin roof interior cross-hatching still in their original box together with an inspection stamp on the inside of the box's lid. Certainly would aid in learning the approximate date when the cross-hatching took place. Kind regards Bruce' Richard wrote: 'The interior ceiling of the cabin of my Pressure refuellers is smooth ! Richard' STARNI999 wrote: 'Hi all, Both my early (no windows, grey decal) and my late (windows, red decal) Euclids are smooth,as expected, the RAF fueller is too, no X hatching here! Chris Warr.' Dinkinius wrote: 'dinkycollect wrote: ' Jacques - what a splendid job you have done with this photographic comparison! To Chris and Richard, many thanks for your input. It is starting to appear that the 642 Pressure Refueller with cross-hatching on the ceiling of the cabin is not very common - at least until more can check their models. It also may have revealed the possible reason why this model had a relatively short production life - a problem may have arisen with the die/mould and the cross-hatching, a temporary solution did not really solve the problem. Of course this is purely conjecture, but considering that Meccano would have needed to recoup its development costs, a long production life for each model has always been the rule rather than the exception. The 642 has always been one of my favourite models and it is nice to start learning a little more about it. Bruce'[/i] janwerner wrote: 'If I can be of help, here is my contribution. I have no 'circumstantial evidence', like a box or other related information of the exact dating of this very example. Kind regards, Jan'

Al Some time last year I created a Thread dealing with the 642 PRESSURE REFUELLER, (Not as this Thread is known today) The discussion centred on the name of the Refueller in that the model, for some unknown reason, is referred today as 642 RAF Pressure Refueller a title that Meccano never used. From the day it was released with the announcement in the Meccano Magazine, Meccano gave Model 642 the name 'Pressure Refueller', without the abbreviation of RAF for Royal Air Force. Somehow, or somewhere, this Post is currently in limbo within the old website, and to bring about some continuity, I hope you will be able to complete the Thread on this model by bringing these discussions under a single Thread, 642 PRESSURE REFUELLER (1957-1959. (Please note the time-frame in which this model existed within Meccano's documentation.) Many thanks. Bruce (150) #710

Bruce, I have got the message, checked and changed the name and date on the CD.

The original posting dates and the dates of the comments are time stamped. This thread is stamped 10/27/2014, so I'm going to assume that it's the same one that you created, Bruce. In this new forum, some of the topic titles were edited to conform with an indexing policy where everything begins with a number. One of the administrators would have changed the title and also added RAF... and Leyland Hippo... which may have been proper for the real life vehicle, if not necessarily that of the actual toy. But, no problem, I can update the title again.

Al, Many thanks for the work you have done with this Thread. It is great seeing its correct title and dates. Kind regards Bruce (150) 19 December 2015

Jacques There are also several other models whose dates do not conform with research I have done, that in many instances conflict with previously accepted dates that had its origins with Richardson, Gibson and others, as I have used material that I feel was not previously considered. I will have references to any corrections and where appropriate or necessary, images of the referenced item will be provided. Bruce (150) 20 December 2015

On Jacques Dujardin's Dinky Toys CD it shows that there are only 3 versions of the Pressure Refueller.I believe that I have found a fourth - one with the RAF roundel and a smooth inside cab roof. I would be interested to know if others have one the same. Regards, Chris

Hi all, As an example of how I can be fooled, I bought a 642 Pressure Refuller from the USA that appeared to have no driver nor roundel on the front. As a result of following this post, I decided to have a good look at it and the 'French' roundel had been removed with the slightest showing of the red left. The driver is 'missing in action' with no signs of it being removed (as with another one I examined where there were scratches around the mounting point.). This version has the cross hatching under the roof. With reference to the panel from Jacque's CD: like Bruce I don't think it was ever issued with windows. Nor was it issued without a driver despite the foregoing which I consider a 'factory error'. Ron F

Many thanks Chris for your very valued contribution, especially for including the copy from Jacques Dinky Toys CD (of which I do not have a copy) on the 642 Pressure Refueller which has prompted me to re-visit my records. I am not sure where Jacques obtained the information that clearly shows the 642 either in production or in a sales leaflet or order form as late as 1962, and for that matter, I am not certain if the model ever achieved the status of being issued with window glazing. Like most things Meccano, I stand corrected if evidence does in fact exist! With the documentary evidence available to me, the last occasion when the 642 was included in any retail price list was in a four page pictorial leaflet having a print code of 16/660/100 4th P, the date translating to June 1960. It is interesting that the final time when the 642 was available to be ordered by agents in the UK was in the Dinky Toys Order Form also for June 1960 with the print code of 16/1004/5/60/7.250. Even with the slow shipping time between the UK and Australia, the 642 does not appear in the Australian Meccano Toys of Quality leaflet Printed in England, print code 16/760/12.5 with the model also not being included in the price leaflet for August 1960. Subsequent Dealer Order Forms available to me after June 1960 do not show the 642 as being available after that date. I do not have any Dealer Order Forms for July to November 1960, but the 642 is not included in the Dealer Order Forms for December 1960, February, May, or September 1961, March, April, and July through to December 1962. Stock would have still been on the shelves of countless agents months and months after June 1960, but certainly officially, the 642 was no longer in production and available in sufficient quantities to be ordered at least by June 1960. Assuming the model had been deleted by June 1960; this date would no doubt preclude any models being manufactured with window glazing, as such would have been an added cost that would require cost recuperation. This is not reflected with the retail price for the model in the UK that shows the complete opposite commencing with 7/9 in May 1957 remaining constant until May 1959 when the price dropped to 7/6 with this price remaining constant up to and including June 1960. On examining the Quality Inspection Stamps of which I do not have all that many, the 642 Pressure Refueller was in production during the following months: April, May, June, September, October, November 1957, April 1958 and August 1959. Hopefully others can add to these by providing this Topic with a photograph or details of the inspection stamps in their models box. The 642 has four variations, providing an assurance that 3) is an authentic RAF roundel and has not been applied post-factory over the top of a French roundel, and that the diameter of the roundel matches those roundels Meccano would have been using for contemporary RAF aircraft between 1957 and 1960, the Javelin and Hunter.. 1) French roundel with smooth ceiling 2) French roundel with cross-hatch cab ceiling 3) RAF roundel with smooth interior cab interior, with the latter only being included if this can be assured that the RAF roundel has not been applied over the top of a French roundel, and that the diameter of the roundel matches those roundels Meccano would have been using for contemporary RAF aircraft during this time frame, 1957 to 1960, the Javelin and Hunter and 4) RAF roundel with cross-hatch cab ceiling Has anyone else found a 642 identical to that found by Chris? If so, this Topic is in need of photographs of it! Finally, Dave Kaun, can you please amend the time frame from 1957-59 to 1957-60. Again, many thanks Chris for bringing this to our attention. Kind regards Bruce (150) 20160927/990/0315

Bruce--I will address this to you as you have taken the lead on this interesting model. I just recently purchased an example, from a dealer in England, and it arrived yesterday. It is my first one of this model, so it was fun to carefully look at it and admire another great example of a Golden Era Dinky Toy. Today, I decided to take some photos of it, and then list it in my catalog. Part of that process is looking at the website to see what has already been said and discovered. I do remember reading your earlier posts, so it was nice to refresh myself on the topic. I have attached several photos, including some good closeups of the front of the cab, showing the incorrect French roundel. This model appears to be totally mint, and in a very crisp box, with little signs of wear or handling. I have also attached a photo of the quality date stamp on the box lid. It appears to show 507 to me, with a few other numbers nearby that do not seem to make sense. I do not know what to make of that date code....my guess it is May 1957, but why the 0? As usual, I will be anxious to hear your comments.....and let me know if there is anything else to observe on the model. Best regards, Terry