Car Models by Ronald Mayes
Does anyone else collect model vehicles, particularly those of their own cars? Browsing in the Taupo model and hobbies shop in Gascoigne St recently I spotted some models which may be of interest to members: a BMW 2002Tii (sorry, not red), 1/43 scale, was $64 and now $35, 1/24 scale MGBs Mark II and III $71, and a large Solido Citroen DS23 for $115. I started collecting the odd Dinky Toy (made by Meccano Limited of Hornby train fame) back in the 1950s. They were then generally unavailable in NZ to protect the local toy industry but occasional models crept in. They, like Matchbox models, were not made to specific scales, but some were suitable for 0 (1/43) or 00 (1/76) model railways. Eventually standardised scales meant models came to range from tiny 1/86 scale for N gauge model railways, to 1/76, 1/64, 1/48 for commercial vehicles, 1/43, 1/36, 1/24 and even 1/18 and 1/12, the last two giving you very large and detailed models indeed. My collection grew in the 1980s and 1990s, a period of great interest in model collecting and many swapmeets to attend to grab that elusive bargain. Many are Dinky Toys but other makes meant I was able to obtain models of most of the cars I have owned, even a Vanden Plas Princess 1100, but no-one seems to make a model of the 1935-1938 Series I or II Morris Eight! I also have a cabinet full of a wide range of Rolls-Royces and Bentleys, but draw the line at models of examples from after the end of the 20th century - current R-Rs do not have the styling appeal for me of “real” R-Rs! Some of the Editor’s models... 8
Side Curtains May 2022
