Farming in Miniature is an essential guide for collectors of British toy models interested in farm tractors, farm horses and associated agricultural equipment. The manufacturers / brands are arranged alphabetically. Each manufacturer has its own chapter introduced by an account of its history. These introductions cross-refer to the captioned photographs that follow and which make up the bulk of the chapters. In their general introduction the authors say that they have attempted to illustrate all significant variations of colour and packaging, particularly of rare or unusual models, so as to make the book as comprehensive as possible. The three authors, all leading authorities, have drawn on their extensive past experience coupled with another five years to research, write and prepare photographs.
For fifty years, Britain made the best toy cars in the world, expertly shrinking every kind of reallife vehicle and producing them in their countless, die-cast millions. Dinky Toys were the 1930s pioneers, then in the 1950s came the pocket-money Matchbox series, followed by Corgi Toys bristling with ingenious features and movie stardust. But who were the driving forces behind this phenomenon? And how did they keep putting the latest, most exciting cars into the palm of your hand year after year? In this illustrated and expanded edition of Britain's Toy Car Wars, Giles Chapman reveals the extraordinary battle to dominate Britain's toy car industry, and the dramas and disasters that finally saw the tiny wheels come off ...
In July 1939, the humble beginnings of what was originally Toys and Houseware, were based in a pair of below street-level lock-up garages one capable of garaging two single-decker buses side by side, beneath the forecourt of "The Bridge Garage" in Green Lanes, Palmers Green, north London. Within a year the original company, registered a change of name to Die Casting Machine Tools Ltd. The founder of what was often referred to as DCMT was Aubrey Robert "Bob" Mills who, with a partner, Sidney James "Sid" Ambridge designed, built and sold uncomplicated die-casting machines which used molten zinc alloy to produced castings from a die. The die comprised two mild-steel squared halves set up above a cast iron base at about waist level and was operated by the application of manual pressure. Two levers - one of which closed and opened the two halves of a die; one half being movable on stout rods and the other half securely fixed to the machine and the molten metal receptacle. A second lever was used to push down a supply of molten zinc-alloy (Mazak), through the feeder channel (or sprue) to completely fill the cavities of the casting within the two parts of the die, after which the first lever would be drawn back towards the die-caster thus opening the die and the casting would then be ejected into a bin. During WW2 DCMT produced castings for hand grenades and, its believed, aircraft components. The use of mazak for anything other than the War effort, was forbidden - so the manufacture of metal toys was a non-starter at that time but, nonetheless, some tentative experiments produced a few models in coloured plastic. In 1945, the ban on making metal toys was lifted and DCMT built dies to the order of "The Crescent Toy Co. Ltd.", a potential rival company, then, also in north London. Two different Car and two different Lorry moulds were somehow acquired, or built, by DCMT based upon "Tootsietoy" (U.S.A.) originals to quickly get some wheeled models out and on the shelves of toy/model stores in order to meet the demand for such objects that hadnt been obtainable for six years. In 1949, DCMT parted company with "Crescent Toy" and began to market toys and a range of tools under the uninspiring initials "D.C.M.T." and later "Slikka Toys" and "Slikka Tools". Regrettably, these brand-names didnt catch the public imagination, and so a more suitable name needed to be found. In 1949, they produced their first Western-type cowboy cap pistol called the "Lone Star" which bore "Slikka Toy" markings. The name "Lone Star" had a Western flavour about it with connotations of Texas. In 1951, the first written evidence of the use of the name "Lone Star" was discovered in a DCMT advert which offered a range of juvenile Western-style clothes, hat and accessories, i.e. Sheriff Badge, "Range Rider" Mk.1. cap-pistol (with dummy bullets) and holster set, a sheath knife, "Range Rider" Spurs and a Woggle for a Neckerchief.
Expertly rendered illustrations of fast, flashy, and powerful sports cars, among them the 1962 Ford Thunderbird, 1964 Corvette Stingray, 1968 Chevy Impala SS427, 1969 Camaro Z-28, 1970 Ford Torino Fastback, 1971 Mustang Boss 351, 1974 Firebird Trans-Am, and 37 others. For coloring book enthusiasts and "muscle car" fans.
On any model railroad, you'll want your freight cars to look as realistic as possible. To help you improve your freight car fleet, this book features 25 projects written by Cody Grivno, Tony Koester, Keith Kohlmann, James McNab, Mont Switzer, Jeff Wilson. While most projects focus on a specific prototype, the modeling techniques can be used on a variety of cars. Projects include HO and N scales and cover boxcars, flatcars, gondolas, hoppers, reefers, and other cars--
