Factory Errors

Hi Jacques and Bruce, I was told by that the removal of the front numberplate extension on the base was done for safety reasons. The Morris 1100 (140) had a casting change to protect the projecting baseplate. Ron F

Hello Ron Many thanks for reminding me of this change - I had completely forgotten about it, so I checked, and there they were! The thought comes to mind as to when during the six year production run the change was incorporated. Kind regards Bruce (150) #696 5 July 2015

The reason why (have a look on the'New arrival' thread) : My old one below, has the same wheels on the 4 axles but the new, above, has 2 types of wheels : 2 pairs on the left side : the first and the rear ones (identical to the front Wayne Bus wheels) and the two others are similar to my old Leyland. On the right side, only one wheel is different. Friendly yours Richard

Greetings all! I saw that this Topic has been rather quiet lately with the last entry having been made on 6 July 2015 by Richard. In answer to Richard's Post, I too have noticed the occasional differences with large hubs, not forgetting a mix of plastic and grooved metal hubs. My effort this time is a 134 Triumph Vitesse, originally part of the collection of the well-known Dinky Toys collector and writer for Model Collector magazine, John Kinchen. The person responsible in the factory for spraying the side flash forgot to turn the model around and do the left side! I guess someone was too busy catching up on the latest goss! Here is the driver's side, all correct, and the passenger's side, The price on the box is 3/11, a price that was current from the date it was released in February 1964 to June 1966. If I were to have a guess as to when this particular model was still in the factory and still under preparation, I would put the time as sometime from January to February 1964, when the model was new and many workers on the assembly and painting line were not familiar with it. Bruce H. (150) 20161102/1029/1403

Sorry, not great pics, but at some stage in the production process, I'm assuming, this Jaguar has been sat on sufficiently heavily to distort the roof. Embarrassingly, I hadn't noticed until I viewed the photographs. Regards Mark

Bruce--I wonder if yours was made during that era when they had lots of labor unrest? Some of what I read indicated there were lots of problems with much of the workforce, although it also could have been the occasional lapse in QC. And Mark, that is amazing it got through the process without being discovered. Must have been dropped from some height to do that. It also makes you wonder just what Meccano QC was really like during those difficult times; in earlier years it seemed very important. Best regards, Terry

Another factory error? Help please, after reading the two part Foden article from Rob I was in heaven. The number of colours of both early and late Fodens was amazing. I did like the 901 wagon with the yellow wheels which got me looking at my collection of models to refurbish. One such was an early 1947/8. build with no tow hook I obtained for 5. at a boot fair last year. These sort of models are stripped and placed in tubs for later work when a number can be worked on together. The top model on page 13 of April 2017 copy of the journal reminded me that I also had this rare example uncovered under various coats of house paint. The original paint was the same red cab and body with a black chassis. The difference with my model was it was fitted with black wheels and not red as depicted. These hubs were fitted with very good 'herringbone tyres' which appeared original and have all been used again. No photos were taken of this model as I had no reason to think it was unusual in any way. I have now restrored it to origonal codition including the black hubs. From memory I can not think of any Foden ever being fitted with black hubs. However, I think I can remember having at least one of the 39 series American cars 1949/50. which had black hubs. If so is it possible that these got fitted when the red ones had run out? Are there any more examples out there? All my original Dinky Toys got taken to the hospital when I was away at boarding school at the age of ten. I now have a collection of 40 refurbished Fodens all with reproduction boxes and a further 80 original with about 50 their boxes and new boxes for the rest. No.578.

A late Austin Champ,
without driver
and no trace at all of its possible former presence.A factory flaw
or a true variant,
a final desparate attempt to reduce costs ? Kind regards,
Jan W [img] / images / sites / default / files / forum - images / dte674IMG_3126.JPG [/img] [img] / images / sites / default / files / forum - images / dte674IMG_3128.JPG [/img]

Here is one for the ' errors ' thread showing what Binns Road quality control could be like in the mid - 70s.I purchased the van in the centre in 1976 in a British toyshop;it came in a box for the 417 Motorway Services Transit,
but as can be seen,
they missed out on the stickers,
the roof light,
and painting the grille
and bumpers silver.(
The model also has one jewelled headlamp awry
and scratches above it.It must have been late on a Friday
or early on a Monday !
) On the left is the normal 417 showing what it should have looked like.The only other Transit painted that colour
and without a roof light is the ' 1,
000,
000 Transit ' version,
which was released in 1976 though I was unaware of it at the time.[img] / images / sites / default / files / forum - images / P1380502_DxO.jpg [/img] [img] / images / sites / default / files / forum - images / P1380504_DxO.jpg [/img]

Here is a #168 Humber Hawk without windows. It is a bit hard to photograph, but the spiggot at the centre of the roof to hold the windows has not been spun over. The toy itself is in reasonable condition and there are no signs that the glazing has been 'ripped' out. PS I have since seen at least two other Hawks on eBay without glazing but in otherwise good condition, so there must have been a whole batch of them? Ron F

Sometimes different kinds of tyres can be found on one model. This may be due to incorrect replacement of tyres. In the case below, the rear wheels and tyres of a Frazer Nash, this is not possible, because the tyres cannot be replaced without visible traces of the replacement. This is an obvious factory error, in the years that both types of tyres were in use in the factory, in this case ca. 1946-1947.

That's a nice tyre error. I don't have many Dinky Toys this old, and I only have a couple with these treaded tyres. What was the policy for fitting those treaded tyres? They seem to appear quite randomly on a range of vehciles in the very early post-war period. Were these tyres were originally produced for the military range? The previous post about the Ford Transits is quite old, but I didn't see it previously. That plain yellow model is intriguing. As stated, the only Transit of this type produced with no roof light (and therefore no hole in the roof) is the Millionth Transit promotional. However, that had cast headlights, not jewels. I like the way that the trouble was taken to fit number plates, despite the complete lack of painted trim. What is the story behind the VAB logos? What colour is the interior on these Transits?