New arrivals

Bruce, These are not different colours but different shades. The cab may have been painted an other day from the chassis and trailer. There are many factors involved in different shades : thickness of the paint, curing time and temperature, dampness, has the painting machine been properly flushed from the previous colour used, etc... Richard is the expert for this problem. The sand coloured spare wheels are the early ones, they were painted separately before assembly. It was obvious that assembling them unpainted and painting the sub assembly in a single operation was easyer and a tiny bit cheaper although incorrect as the truck's hubs are not white.

Bruce, Jacques is completely right ! I will add that, the paint supplier (HADFIELDS) could have not obtained the right shade when it manufactured the last order from Meccano but as Meccano needed this paint urgently, they accepted the lot with this difference. Kind regards Richard

Jacques Many thanks for your explanation - makes perfect sense. Richard Not quite certain with your comments: ' . . . . the paint supplier (HADFIELDS) could have not obtained the right shade when it manufactured the last order from Meccano but as Meccano needed this paint urgently, they accepted the lot with this difference', as Jacques wrote: 'The sand coloured spare wheels are the early ones, they were painted separately before assembly.' You will note that my example has the sand-coloured (early issue) spare wheels, so that would make my example an early issue rather than a part of 'the last order'. No doubt the same could have been true throughout the entire production run of the 893. One can also see that even the spare had a different shade of paint! This also shows with the photo provided by Jacques. Kind regards Bruce

Bruce, Richard has gone away for a few days. His English is what it is but at least he trys and that is much more than many people do. In his post above he means that the paint manufacturer Hadfields could not provide readily for Meccano the exact shade of paint to match a previous order. As Meccano needed that paint urgently they accepted the nearest tone of paint to complete a batch of trucks most part of which were already painted : trailer, chassis, hubs and spare wheel washers. This explains why the cab is of a different shade. This colour combination may or may not be very rare. Jacques.

Just received this today and was very happy to open the box and see it for the first time. It is a 29C AEC bus, the early post war version, without the stairs. It is in wonderful condition, with just a few minor scratches, etc., but the paint is very shiny and it looks to have been kept in a box as it has not faded at all, and the tires are still somewhat pliable. I had bought another version of this last year, in the green and cream finish, but this one is much nicer.The books say this was made from 1946 through 1948, so am sure these all came with the standard black wheels of that time. The other very good news was I bought this on eBay, from a U.S. dealer and I got it for a very modest amount, considering it is not very common in this condition.I am also posting a few pictures of its close sibling...the Leyland bus, produced right after this was discontinued. You can clearly see the many differences to the front...the radiator grill, the window sizes, etc. Terry

Hi Terry, congratulations! I was within an acre of bidding on it, but I hesitated when I saw the scratches on the rear right mudguard. I must admit it is a beauty! Kind regards, Jan

Jan--Thanks.....I have been looking pretty hard for nice examples of these early buses, and just do not see many. Most are quite scratched up, as they must have been popular play toys. This is the nicest 1st post war version that I have seen, so it was good enough to add to my collection. Terry

Following my post on page 20, the red forward control lorry ref. 420 arrived today ! Waiting for the next one ! Kind regards Richard

By the way, thanks Jacques for your help ! I did not know that my english was so poor ! Kind regards Richard

Today a long awaited and probably final addition to my Guy Vans arrived. It is a 918 Guy Ever Ready with a first type cab. Most likely made in early 1955. It is shown alongside my second cab version which has a date stamp of 12 55 on its box. (I am now only missing a 514 Weetabix with ridged hubs. My Weetabix has Supertoy hubs, but I am more than happy with one!) Kind regards, Rob

And a close up of the front of the cab.

Following my post on page 20, the red forward control lorry ref. 420 arrived today ! Hi Richard, Nice addition your 420, there are quite a number of colour and wheel variations on this model. So, good hunting! Kind regards, Rob