Hello Richard,
if you don ' t mind I ' ll
add
the following provisional text
and pictures below.Any more additions welcome,
of course: This levelling machine (
' profileur '
or ' niveleuse '
) is again one of those exceptional,
fantastic French Dinky (Super) toys.It is very large because it has the scale of 1 / 43 (
length actual vehicle: 7720 mm,
length model: 176 mm
).This scale is customary for French passenger cars
and the like,
while the French commercial vehicles are usually designed at the 1 / 55 scale.The scale is definitely not larger than 1 / 43,
as is suggested in the book ' Utilitaires Dinky Toys
and Dinky Supertoys ' by Redempt
and Touillez.This generous scale has most probably been chosen in order to allow the model to function properly as a toy.With the three handles,
provided with red plastic grips,
the blade can be operated
and adjusted,
both horizontally
and vertically (although not very smoothly).According to Roulet this Supertoy was not a very successful model.But even though the operating handles are very long
and have a rather unrealistic looks,
the two vertical ones are still more
or less similar to the hydraulic arms of the real one.They have been made a little longer simply to increase the operability for a child.For the visible,
bare engine unit in the rear,
the colour finish is a contrasting dark green.In reality,
we mostly see the yellow main colour maintained there.For the rest the model is very true to the original,
as the comparative photo may show.That the model of this ' profileur ' cannot have been a great success can be deduced
from
the relatively short life span of a French model of this kind (1960 -1965)
and the price seems to have been reduced in the end,
according to Roulet.The likewise yellow
and red coloured counterpart,
the Rouleau compressseur Richier (no.90a / 830) lasted much longer,
ten years,
from
1959 to 1969.The model is unique in that it is not based on a previous model
and there are no variations as far as Im aware of.We can see some characteristic parts for other French models that have been borrowed for this model.The wheels are the same as the front wheels of the contemporary Camion ptrolier saharien ' GBO ' Berliet,
nr.888,
as are the corresponding large 27 mm tyres.Later,
in 1963,
the large - scale Unic trucks with trailer,
Nos.803
and 887 (Unic MZ 125T Esterel) were also equipped with them.We encountered an identical dark blue driver before,
at the Grue ' Salev ',
no.50 / 595.Little noticeable,
but still remarkable is the washer that holds the axle around which the rotatable blade rotates.That is in fact the half rim that normally holds a spare tyre for commercials etc.The blue striped box has always remained unchanged.Three corrugated packing pieces keep the model immobile in its box,
so that only two wheels on one side remain visible through two round recesses.On top of the lid,
on the left of the models image is written in French: ' La lame peut prendre toutes les positions de travail de l ' engin rel ' (
= The blade can take all the working positions of the real model
).This French text is repeated twice in five foreign languages on both one short side
and one long side of the lid.The picture shows a different artistic style than that of the familiar Jean Mass.It is signed ' M.W.' Two oblong instruction sheets should be present as additions to the contents of the box.One for possibly lubricating the plastic gaskets around the rods,
the other to explain the operation of the sliding blade mechanism.In the ' Actualits Meccano ' of April 1961 the details of the actual Profileur 100 Richier are listed,
followed by more details of the model itself.The real one is as long as 7.72 meters
and 4 meters high,
with a total weight of 11 tons ! The official publication date of the model reads: November 1960.The company Richier had plants in Charlesville,
Lyon - Vaise
and Courbevoie
and produced all kinds of tools for the construction of roads,
etc.,
such as graders,
rollers,
asphalt pavers
and concrete mixers.Kind regards,
Jan [img] / images / sites / default / files / forum - images / 1.dtf886IMG_3108.jpg [/img] [img] / images / sites / default / files / forum - images / 2.dtf886IMG_3099.jpg [/img] [img] / images / sites / default / files / forum - images / 3.IMG_3101.JPG [/img] [img] / images / sites / default / files / forum - images / 3a.Catalogus1961Fp12.jpg [/img] [img] / images / sites / default / files / forum - images / 3b.Catalogus1961Fp13.jpg [/img] [img] / images / sites / default / files / forum - images / 4.IMG_3112.JPG [/img] [img] / images / sites / default / files / forum - images / 5.IMG_3116.JPG [/img] [img] / images / sites / default / files / forum - images / 6.IMG_3104.JPG [/img] [img] / images / sites / default / files / forum - images / 7.IMG_3118.JPG [/img] [img] / images / sites / default / files / forum - images / 8.dtf886instructie2.jpg [/img] [img] / images / sites / default / files / forum - images / 9.dtf886instructie1.jpg [/img] [img] / images / sites / default / files / forum - images / 10.dte886IMG_0002klein.jpg [/img] [img] / images / sites / default / files / forum - images / 11.dtf886actualitesmeccanommf461.jpg [/img]
Kind regardsRichard 
