New arrivals

A couple of recent arrivals. Firstly the Vickers Viscount Airliner 706. This is the English version of the Air France plane with registration no. F-BGNL. It was the first version and only produced for one year from 1956 to 1957. It differs from the French version in not having landing gear doors and other minor details. Secondly the French Dinky Supertoys Super G Constellation no. 60C with Air France livery and the registration no.F-BHBX. This was made between 1956 to 1963. There were, according to Jacques Dujardins CD, Catalogue of Dinky Toys, two versions, one painted grey and one painted silver. Mine appears to be the grey version. Both planes are in extremely good condition with good boxes. Chris.

Chris. I like specially the super G. Richard

Good to see that on your example of the British no. 706 the annoying deficiency of the 'blind' cockpit has been tackled! A very nice Constellation too. I never understood why its roof wasn't finished in white, as in reality. Kind regards, Jan

Three variant additions to models already present this week. I have been looking out for a nice no. 40h Austin Taxi in yellow for a very long time. It is pre-1954 with the cast-in number 40h below and without box. They are so hard to find without obvious chipping. The early no. 25x Breakdown Van with dark brown cab and packed in the orange lid box was another old desideratum. As a bonus this one with a H. Hubson Dobson sticker on the box lid's side with the early address: P.O. Box 254 - 906 Westfield Avenue, Elizabeth N.J. The third one is an early red companion to my much later all light blue export edition of no. 38f/105 Jaguar Sports Car. The export edition has the later flimsy pair of windscreens and this one, on the contrary, has the firmer windscreens, moreover, nicely silver framed. Happy as ever with these wonderful items! Kind regards, Jan

Indeed, wonderful additions and often difficult to find in this condition. Very special the Jaguar 38f with silver edges on the windshield. Congratulations. Kind regards, Jan O.

Some recent arrivals ...

Lovely items, Jonathan, all four of them, and each in their own right. The spot on Bedford with perfect box, the early smooth hubs post war Bentley, the iconic, historical Pool tanker and such an equally early Frazer Nash. I hope you won't blame me for trying to improve one of your photos, as an experiment - with just some simple image-processing actions. Kind regards, Jan

Jan, I'm always glad to get tips from our resident master of photography and displays -- speaking of which, I know this is the wrong thread, but I'm amazed at those new signs you made for your displays. I'm amazed that you got the fonts and lettering so perfect, as if they came from Meccano Ltd. itself!

This came a few days ago - a Dinky Supertoys Air France Caravelle SE 210 Airliner. This is the English version which was made between 1962 & 1965. It has the retractable stairs under the tail and also note the words Super Toys under the wing rather than Supertoys.There are quite a few variations with different airlines featured on the fuselage - Air Algerie, Swiss Air, Scandinavian Airlines System and SAS and with different registration numbers. The die apparently went between England & France several times. Rather strangely the windows are slightly triangular rather than round. Chris.

Chris, Nice buy of this jet in good condition.The triangular windows are of the right shape, this was a caracteristic of the actual CaravelleThe white wheels are peculiar, are they Dinky Dublo smooth plastic wheels or are they overpainted ?

Chris, Jacques, comparing mine with yours I think it's rather the blackish front wheel on starboard than the whitish main landing wheels that makes the difference/exception. But it could be some kind of wear by corrosion. Kind regards, Jan

Jacques, Jan, Regarding the wheels, the 8 metal main wheels and one of the front wheels are painted white, though the paint is very worn. The other front wheel is painted black. However I am absolutely sure that they are genuine and have not been tampered with. Attached are a couple of photos of the plane in its box with the original packing piece, which I forgot to put in my original post.