C is for Centurion

Bit of a box-ticker, this one; another Sandown September purchase, and I didn't really take enough shots for a whole post, but it's been off to storage for a while. Nevertheless a useful beast to add to the pile, not terribly rare, but interesting, and it will need comparison with the Dinky one I picked up in that Charity Shop plunder, a few years ago . . . and the various Hong Kong plackys!

Not the US Premier (Premier Products Co. / Premier Plastics), the  Palmer subsidiary, of Brooklyn, on the opposite bank from Pyro, it's actually manufactured in Japan. The box is a bit tatty, and I need to track down the correct ammunition, which I'm lead to believe was plastic, but the tank itself has been well looked after and is very clean, it will be even cleaner after a dusting!

Arguably the Centurion was the best tank ever made? While others were very good at specific times or for specific purposes, the Centurion brought together everything we'd learned about tank warfare in WWII, combining the best of both British concepts - Cruiser Tanks and Infantry Tanks - into one 'main battle tank'; fast, yet heavily armed and armoured.

It gave rise to the whole post-war Vickers family of  Centurion-Chieftain-Shir-Challenger, and it's ideas, design concepts and DNA are to be found in the M48/60, AMX30 and Leopard I, it performed well against T34, T54-55 and 62/72, and the aforementioned M48/60's in wars from Korea, through India-Pakistan and the various middle-east conflicts, and went into Angola with the South Africans, who still operate a heavily modified and upgraded version called the Oliphant, while Jordan (and possibly the genociders next door) still use the chassis for various specialised or second echelon vehicles.

Aiming at the US market with the number sign, or 'octothorpe' (Bell Labs), now known as a 'hash' (British Telecom) or 'hash tag' (Chris Messina), rather than the '№' which would have been the acceptable symbol in the UK at the time, and online it seems to be known as the Premier #144 Tank.

It has a novel firing mechanism, with breech-loading from the turret-end of the barrel, and cocking via  a leaver which leaves a rather unsightly slash through the top of the turret, while firing is achieved by pressing down on the commanders head!

Somewhere between 1:50th and 1:60th in scale, only a side-by-side with the Dinky will settle that for me, unless you know for sure? It's a mostly die-cast alloy model, with a tin-plate baseplate, and what I suspect are silicon rubber tracks of some recipe/compound, due to their lack of drying, brittleness or deformation over, what, 50-plus years?

R is for Recent Stuff - Follow-ups 1

A few shots I've been taking as I try to sort this years plunder into the ever diminishing space at the end of my storage unit!

 

These are the 60mm Crescent Mohicans (oooh, spellchecker really doesn't like that!) I bought a while ago, four of six and I need the standing firer replaced with a better one, so fast forward to the pair I bought at the Plastic Warrior show in June, and . . .

 

. . . and I'm still short one! The archer with bow, but funnily enough I think I may have one or two of them in with the standard Crescent 60mm Indian sample, as I'm pretty sure one or two have come in with cheapo' lots, and I just put them in the tub 'with the others'! Time will tell, but we're getting there!

 

The Cherilea swoppets who have come in over the last 36-odd months, these are not the master collection, but in terms of the 1st and interim versions, probably excede the 'deep-storage' sample, but in the case of the final version, only a part figure, against a much better sample, seen here, a fair few years ago!

 

I think we've seen all these now, so time for a comparison line-up, I thought the chap on the left might be Husky/Corgi Junior but he's not, so possibly Galoob or New Ray drive-though ice-cream kiosk operative? Then the Corgi standard ice cream seller, then the giant, might-be-Lucky piracy we saw the other day. Then the Corgi streetlamp repair man, then another 'styrene scale up, from Hong Kong! PVC-PVC-PS-PE-PS

 

Interim line -up of French Marine's Fear! Missing a couple of key-rings I think, from the always-been-in-some-sort-of-storage zone, and the composition one we saw here years ago, but not bad, and mostly from Chris Smith, I bet! Still, the absentees will allow for a more definitive Welsh Ladies shot, another day!

 

The sublime (Tudor Rose) and the ridiculous, a hideous pile of Hong Kong tat, which I ended-up with because someone gave it to me, I think? Hong Kong did churn out some fuggugly stuff! I think it's marked JC on the base, but I don't really care, it's naff, kitsch shite, but . . . figures!

 

Finally I said I though the Airfix 1:35th Quickbuild 'Lego' Sherman was closer to 1:32nd, and here I've shot it next to the CTS/BMC one I got at last years PW show, and you can see it's a lot smaller. The difference being OK for a garden war game, but is seriously going to piss-off a purist!

P is for Pépé's Perfect Portuguese Plastic Pick-Up

I got this back in August, it's a bit big, but it's got figures, and figures have always been the driving force here, so what's not to like about a Jeep with figures! And with Pépé (Plasticos Jato), the maker, being Portuguese, another add to one of the less active Tags!

"Look out!" From either side, I should have done them the other way, facing away from each other! It's a clockwork toy, the key is missing, as is the spare wheel, but neither detract from the whole, and I may have the key somewhere, there’s a whole bunch somewhere. I know what it looks like from others on t'web, with an offset hole, so track-down-able, if I'm minded to!

 

The bonnet sticker has become a little worn, suggesting a lot of play at some point, and I suppose the red paint on the jerry-can, is for 'petrol, not water'. The twin machine-gun is fanciful at best, but just adds to the toy charm, redolent of the time when just about everything military was given twin guns, a radar or a searchlight!
 

The figures have a plug-in, revolving head, to which has been glued a white (parade? MP?) helmet, which is more motorcycle than M1, but I'd imagine Pépé made some motorcycles too, and took an existing helmet, from stock?

BARC is for Big American Rolling Carrier!

No it's not! It's for Barge, Amphibious Resupply, Cargo, although it became the LARC, or Lighter, Amphibious Resupply, Cargo [60 ton], and this is something I'd always wanted to track down, not because it's of much use, Roskopf manufactured in a nominal scale of 1:100, and while some of their stuff actually stood up quite well next to Roco Minitank's 1:87th, a lot of it was too small for most wargamers, no, I wanted one, just to see it, it was such a weird choice for a model!

 

Although, define 'use'; that was when I fancied myself as a wargamer, 50-plus years ago, really I'm a collector, and as such, size isn't the main problem, although if it was die-cast and 1:32nd, you'd need a wheelbarrow to move it!

 

And at Sandown Park, last month, I found this!

It does exactly what it says on the tin!

 

It comes with a loose-leaf info' guide, which may or may not be the only one issued, punched for a folder which never existed? I have a reasonable sample of Roskopf models and haven't got any other such sheets, not that there's room in most of the boxes for one, even if they were folded very small?!

 

It also has a spare waterslide transfer (inset), whether that means the owner applied the other transfers, or they just included a spare, I don't know. And, as you can see the contents are ALL model!

 

19 feet high, 26 feet wide, 63 feet long.

 

Four engines, two propellers.

 

The Roskopf model is actually of the prototype, with the cab at the front, or the 'open end'! And (rather like all those British toy soldiers of the 1950's with demo' EM2 bullpup assault-rifles), depicts the demonstration vehicle, with the large fancy hull markings.

 

If you've read the Wikipedoa page (link above), and go and watch this video, you'll know as much about this bizarre vehicle as I do, but I've got one!

 

This was extracted from one of the two remaining Sandown posts, and I think I'll break it up, as I've taken quite a few shots of each of them, and it's just easier than trying to get them all in one post!

 

Unknown

 

1971

 

1975 / 2

Roskopf catalogue scans, note how the price rose through the late 1960's to the mid 1970's! Ohne panzer means 'without tank' When we look at the Roskopf sample, we'll see it again, with a tank!
 

A is for Autumn Assortment - Gift Fair

Peter Evans, roving reporter in London, roved to Birmingham for the Autumn Gift fair, which I had hoped to attend, but Space, Time and Nathaniel waits for no man, and it wasn't going to happen, still, we do have these from Peter;

 

Possibly a bit big for war gaming, but in the garden the rules can change, they're only counters, when all's said and done! No figures though!

Variation on a theme, I don't think we've seen the packaging before, but we have seen the figures now, the ones with 'vignette' bases.

 

Kawong is a new name, so a new Tag! The stuff looks similar to the New Ray stuff (next shot), so fans of modern farm equipemnt can have a field day . . . field? Geddit? I'll get me coat . . . 

 

Just mentioned.

 

Dinosaurs, it seems you get a window-visible realistic dinosaur, and a dig-for-it skeleton, to match whichever Dino' is in the specific bag?

 

I think we've seen these before, but you can't have too many images of things!

All the above look to be from Padgett Brothers (A-to-Z) 

 

Definitely seen these before, I think several times, Tobar, House of Marbles and others, but we like a bit of paratrooper action here at Small Scale World!

 

Gotta get me one of these, preferably a Hugh? You don't always find a Hugh in these pre-personalised sets, but any company which does Anna and Annabelle, Ben and Benjamin, must surely do a Hugh? Also, note one of each colour are supplied with a blank lable (top of display), so you can write what you like - "Kiss my shiny metal arse"!

 

A Japanese merchandise store had a full range of Gashapon, including those which can be presented as Christmas baubles for placing on a tree (lower shot), although Peter noted "unfortunately, no Samurai". And many thanks to Peter for sending these over to the Blog.

R is for Rack Toy Roadies

I tend to grab the odd die-cast from time to time, usually to ID a figure or animal, for future reference, but occasionally I'll buy a figureless one because . . . military or space! They, or their images, have been building in Picasa for a while now, so let's get them cleared out!

 

This actually dates back to 2015, and may have been seen, possibly in a green version in another post, but was grabbed, along with the more accidental find of the Chap Mai one, and in addition to others seen on Small Scale World, for an eventual follow-up to this post;

 

https://smallscaleworld.blogspot.com/2010/04/h-is-for-hummer-humvee-hmmwv-humbug.html

 

If I recall correctly, these High & Drive, were 99p, in the - now - long-defunct 99p Stores, which were still going that year.

 

The same year, this was added to the pile, and I didn't even get it out of the card, it's the Jackle AFV, I think, a hurried replacement for the Land Rover Wolf, WMIK and RWMIK's which were proving so vulnerable in Afghanistan, and excising the tabloids. The front's a bit wrong, but it was quite a new vehicle back then, and in real life, the type remains in service with Light Cavalry as a reconnaissance vehicle.

 

This bit of fun was bought in 2021, and I really only purchased it because, a quid! And it's military green, but all fictional, a bit surfer culture, a bit post-apocalyptic (and 'straight to video'!), with a hint of suitability for the Gaslands or Car Wars role-playing/war-gaming rule-sets? Corgi's 'Rod Squad'.

This was a funny one, the first of three purchases in 2024, it was bought for the bike, and purely as a future ID'er, for the chopped Harley/'US Custom', but what was weird, was that none of the other vehicles on the rack had the necessary or even 'a' tow-bar/hook to pull this trailer?

 

In the old days of the 1-75 Series (originally 1-50), several vehicles in each tranche, would have the hook necessary for whatever towed caravan, boat or motorcycle was in the range at the same time, but, despite looking at every rack, pile or box of Matchbox since this purchase, I have not yet found a towing vehicle?

 

 

Actual surfer, this was bought purely to ID the figure in future mixed lots, and I could have shelfied it, but again this stuff is always between 99p and a couple of quid, so, what the hell!

 

 

Siku, apart from a Leopard Tank in sub-scale a few years ago, there is very little from them either these days, military anyway, but I managed to find this in vague 1:72 scale (I think most of this stuff is closer to 1:60?), and again it's more about ID'ing in the future than anything else, but, a nice horse sculpt.

 

While this Pass N' Go from Mattel's line of Hot Wheels came in the other day, and I just thought it was fun that the old Monopoly car had been 'given life' as it were! Nothing to do with the collection, core or peripherals really, just a fun, impulse purchase!

Note - This is the first post using Grammarly for Firfox, instead of the old LT Spell Checker which decided it wanted money now! I had to re-start to get the Grammarly activated, but it seems to be working, however, apologies for any typos which get through.. 

V is for Various Venerable Vehicles

Not as many vehicles as some shows, but then Sandown has always been the show for vehicular stuff, while PW really is about figures, although there were enough in the end to split them into two posts, land stuff this time!!

 

I'd like to think this might be Tri-Ang Minic, but I can't find it described as such anywhere, among all the other Minic-branded tanks in at least three size groups, so it may well be a knock-off, or rival, trying to look like Minic?

 

The 'Centurion' turret in particular has a lot in common with several Minic efforts, but the whole machine is a soft polyethylene, against the early phenolic, or less stable 'styrene, which gives us the mostly - these days - warped, Minic originals?

 

Around 1:48th and almost impossible to decide which end is the front, I went with the end having more rivets as possibly being the back, with inspection hatches, and the motor under it! And the wheels reveal it got some serious play, probably over some time and was somebody's much-loved toy.

 

Seen before here at Small Scale World, many years ago, as I have a loose one, and put it on a transporter for a photo-shoot, this one is pristine, and generic-boxed, although the box has seen better days and will get a damp ironing at some point to restore its shape a tad!

 

Based reasonably accurately on a French Panhard EBR of the early Cold War, probably taken-off the Dinky die-cast, the barrel is a plug-in to allow for a smaller box, a common trope with these Hong Kong tanks, as we saw with the Blue Box one, the other day.

 

Hong Kong smallies and the remnants of a die-cast artillery piece, all grist to the mill, with the Humber truck being the version I called Type 1B, the Hong Kong marked second-generation copies of the Kleeware originals, with the solid windows and steel axles.

 

Navy or Air Force? There were civilian sets of these, and with signs of reinforcing of the tool, on the bed-underside, I'm suspecting, without checking, second generation copy of the Kamley (

Simon & Rivollet) 

thanking Adrian Little, Brian Carrick, Colin Penn, Isaac, Matt Murphy, Martin Fahie, Michael Mordant-Smith, Paul, Peter Evans and Trevor Rudkin, for everything they did at the show.