New member and very much a novice collector

Apart from a usual childhood collection more years ago than I care to mention, I have only just started collecting - commercials and military are my preferences. I have an early query for members more knowledgeable than me - I have recently acquired a very nice model 661 Scammell army recovery tractor. Every example I have seen so far has been a one-colour drab military olive green, but mine also has some mid-brown camouflage paint areas. These appear to be original, not a home-done job. Does anybody know any background to this ? Was it a one-off issue perhaps ?Thanks David

Hi David, welcome to the forum! There have been several sales in the 1980s and 1990s of models like this, which Mike and Sue Richardson have stated to be not authentic Binns Road factory products. I have a catalogue of such an auction, done by Vectis on 15th September 1993, which sums up 15 examples of the 661, only one of which is regular and some of the others have camouflage painting. Your example may not have belonged to this specific batch, but it demonstrates that such models are around. They were all very professionally, factory like, done (made in the factory as the previous owner and Vectis stated), but Sue was very firm in denying their authenticity. That's all I can tell about it ... My scanner doesn't work properly, otherwise I would have added a scan of a picture of two of the lots included. Kind regards, Jan Werner

Hi David Welcome to the site and I hope you have much fun putting together your collection. As far as I know there were no camouflaged items made in the Dinky factory in the post war period and I must agree with Jan's reply above. There were some pre-war items made specifically for one of the large London toy stores (I think this was Gamages) but as far as is known these were the only ones. Dave

Hi David(s), the big London toy shop was Hamleys. The advertisement in which these camouflaged army sets were shown is from the Hamleys Christmas catalogue of 1940. These models are very scarce, and indeed they are the only and very limited made regular Dinky military road vehicles with camouflage paint patterns. A good reproduction of this advertisement is to be found in the Great Book of Dinky Toys, page 234. Kind regards, Jan Werner

Hello Jan Many thanks to you and Dave for your prompt and informative replies. Naturally, I am disappointed to learn that my model is in all probability not authentic. I believe it was sold to me in good faith (and was inexpensive), and as the model and box are both in excellent condition and display well, I do not regret the purchase, but I guess I have a lot to learn. Do you happen to know the likely manufacturer of the model ? I know that the original owner acquired the model in the late 1950's. Were there any other military unauthentic models made so that I can exercise caution in future ? Regards David

If the previous owner was the first one (as this model was introduced in 1957 he probably is) this might be a remarkable special issue the 'official' sources do not make mention of? May be our military model expert Dave Busfield knows if there were special army code3 issues around, perhaps for military personnel in those days? I haven't read, seen or heard of it anyway. If box and model belong to each other and both are in excellent condition, I would certainly not regret this curious purchase either! Kind regards, Jan Werner

A photograph would be useful.

Sorry for brief delay. As requested, here is a photo of the model.

where is the photo?

Sorry. I think the image size was too large. I will try again.

Thanks, that is fine

Neither colour, nor pattern, in fact the feature itself, do seem authentic to me. Other views? Kind regards, Jan Werner