M is for Micro, 'Mini' and MPC

MPC mini-planes which were mentioned the other day; Harbert is for MPC!

We've also looked at the Mini-tanks (still one of the most popular posts; or at least the - rather fuzzy - group image is one of the most downloaded!) here; Military Miniature Minis

And, this is a bit of a request post, as I've had a couple of eMails about both these and the ships in recent days! Also, once I'd posted the Harbert ones from Italy it was time to get these up, the shots were taken an age ago! I did cover them all on a forum a while back but they've long gone and generated little interest at the time. The ships will come too - one day!

So they come in four colours (the same colours as the ships and cars) and there is a little variation between batches. Size is odd, as they are clearly all different scales, but there's no attempt at 'box scale' uniformity, with some actual models being markedly larger or smaller, whatever their original real-life size relationship? Were I an aircraft geek I might recognise an attempt to keep them all to three or four 'scales' but I don't!

They have a fair bit of marking both on the undersides and upper-surfaces of the wings and tails in raised detail, which includes the MPC circular logo, the aircraft type depicted, the length and width of a full-sized original, and main nation of service with national markings.

The second lot are marked as per MPC, except the logo is replaced with IPA, presumably a Hong Kong outfit, and the same mark on my green version of the Mini AFV range's Stalin Tank.

I suspect these are made from the MPC moulds, and are always found in silver plastic, I sub-set them 'MPC+1'

I call these MPC+2, although they are poorer than the next lot down the page, these DO have the MPC logo, in the correct place, but all also have 'HONG KONG' somewhere, the low quality of these suggests that they are pantographed copies of the MPC ones, and are trying to be the MPC ones, hence the primary colours?

MPC+3; these would appear to be late issues of the originals, they are the commonest found of all the 'planes on this page, having been included in all sorts of bagged and carded HK stuff in the 1970's, but only ever these five aircraft.

I guess they were the best surviving moulds after the MPC years, transfer to IPA and years of 'careful' maintenance of the mould bank in the New Territories! They are marked only with a 'MADE IN HONG KONG' across the under wings and we looked at the Mosquito in greater detail here; M is for Miniature Mosquitoes

MPC+4 are almost certainly Christmas Cracker or Gum-ball machine types, going on the fact that only 3 have turned-up in 40 years! These are also copies of the originals and have all been given 'Allied' Stars, even the German and Italian bombers!

This lot (MPC+5) has a poorer quality than the others; copies-of-copies, heavy re-cutting of panel-lines and so forth makes them look like models of model aeroplanes! But the range seems to be larger than MPC+3 or +4, again always found in silver...so far?

Clockwise from top-left;

I have 3 F4-D Skyray's, two of them have miss-moulded tail-fins, the other has snapped along almost the same line suggesting a fault with the mould, it's also one of the 'chunkiest' models.

The re-tooling of the +5's can be clearly seen in this Messerschmitt 163 'Komet'

MPC+3's come in a shiny silver and a duller aluminium shade.

Comparison shot between IPA (+1) and MPC+2 versions of the B58 'Hustler' nuclear bomber.

Treatments for the Junkers J87 'Stuka' from three of the issuers of these little aircraft models, the real beauty of them was that they were sold like rack-toy soldiers, by the box, header-carded bag, a blister-card of all 58 or a mail-away of 116, and as they fit in the fingers, an air battle was instantaneous!

 This shot is for the guys at Moonbase Central who like their 'planes fast and wingless!

Listing - Alphabetical by maker. MPC announced 116, but only managed 58 different airframes, but 2x 58 IS 116, so maybe the mail-away was two of each, or ended-up being two of each?

Avro Lancaster 'Lanc'

Avro [Canada] CF-100 'Canuck'

Beechcraft M-35/F-33 'Bonanza'
Bell X-1 'Glamorous Glennis'
Boeing 337 Stratocruiser 'Clipper'
Boeing 707 Airliner
Boeing B-17 'Flying Fortress'
Boeing B-52 'Stratofortress'
Boeing P-26A 'Peashooter'
Convair B-36 'Peacemaker'
Convair B-58 'Hustler'
Convair F-102A 'Delta Dagger'
Curtiss P-40 'War Hawk'
Dassault MD-452/2-C Mystère (Mystery)
De Havilland DH-98 'Mosquito' (Wooden Wonder)
De Havilland DH-106 'Comet' Airliner
De Havilland DH-110 'Sea Vixen'
Douglas B-66 'Destroyer'
Douglas DC-3 'Dakota'
Douglas F-4D-1 'Skyray'
Fairchild C-119 'Flying Boxcar'
Fokker E-V/D-VIII 'Flying Razor'
Ford Tri-Motor 'The Tin Goose'
Grumman F9F-8 'Cougar'
Grumman S-2F 'Tracker'
Hindustan/HAL HT-2 Trainer
Junkers JU-87 'Stuka' (from Sturzkampfflugzeug - dive bomber) 'Aunty Ju'
Junkers JU-88 'schnellbomber' (Quick Bomber)
Lindbergh 'Spirit of St. Louis'
Lockheed F-80 'Shooting Star'
Lockheed F-104 'Starfighter'
Lockheed L-049/C-69 'Connie' Constellation
Lockheed P-38 'Lightning'
Lockheed U-2 Spy-plane
Lockheed-Vega 'Winnie May'
Martin B-10 'Air Powered Wonder'
Martin B-26 'Marauder'
McDonnell F-101 'Voodoo'
Messerschmitt Bf-109
Messerschmitt ME-163 Komet
Messerschmitt ME-262
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 'Faggot' (NATO reporting code)
Mitsubishi A-6M 'Zero'
North American B-25 'Mitchell'
North American F-100 'Super Sabre'
North American P-51 'Mustang'
North American X-15 Speed-test Aircraft
Piper J-3 'Cub'
Republic F-105 'Thunderchief'
Republic P-47 (F-47) 'Thunderbolt'
Saab J-29 'Flygande Tunnan' (Flying Barrel)
Savoia-Marchetti SM-79 'Sparviero' (Sparrow Hawk)
Sud Aviation SE-210 'Caravelle' (small light vessel) Airliner
Supermarine 'Spitfire'
Tupolev TU-110 'Cooker' (NATO reporting code)
Vickers 'Viscount'
Vought F7U-3 'Cutlass'
Yakovlev YAK-25 'Flashlight-A/Mandrake' (NATO reporting codes)

See the 'older post' (next post down the homepage) for more of this type of toy including a few more MPC derivatives.

M is for Magnificent Men in Their Micro Machines!

So, to other teeny tiny 'planes in the same vague size range as the above MPC (previous) post. A lot of them tend to be one-off's or small ranges of - often - MPC derivatives, used for lucky bags/sobres, Christmas cracker toys, cake decorations and such like, but others are from similar 'sets' to the MPC ones...

The first - definitely pre-dating MPC - seem to have been from the States; Irwin making a set in a phenolic resin or plastic sometime around the 1930/40's or very early 1950's, shown to the top-left in a dark salmon red.

Another set which I'm identifying as Airfix (subject to change!) may have only included four aircraft types (Lancaster, Mosquito, Spitfire, and US Lightning), but they turn-up quite often, so seem to have been numerous at some point, possibly included with a larger toy (as load or cargo), perhaps as a beach-toy?

As early as the Irwin 'planes, but of much higher quality is the blue Beeju 'EVB' Mosquito (top right) we've already looked at here, I don't know how many were in this set/range.

While a small set from China is currently doing the rounds as cake decorations. The DC-3 in blue (bottom-left) is smaller than the MPC version, but of high production values and may be one of a larger set, possibly an American maker, any ideas? [17-11-2014 - It's from the 1957 Air Fleet set from Nabisco's Shredded Wheat Cubs, smaller ranges with 5 or 6 of the same model aircraft were also issued by Empire/Caldwell in the States/Canada in hard styrene and Lido in both styrene and softer ethylene, so possibly supplied to Nabisco by Thomas Toys]

The Irwin types so far encountered by this author, marked 'IRWIN' on one wing and 'MADE IN U.S.A.' on the other, the push-prop (top-left) is an interesting addition (possibly meant to be a Bell YFM-1 Airacuda?) helping to date the set?

Bottom-left is the current cake decoration group, also used for Christmas crackers of the budget variety, there are three aircraft types so far found, in three colours, with the - provisional - Airfix group to the right, these can be seen in full over on the Airfix Blog.

Other examples in the 'Mini Aircraft - Odds and Sods' box! The entire top row are MPC derivatives with the red (and damaged blue) polypropylene and silver polystyrene ones all marked made in Hong Kong (MPC+6), the white and yellow delta-wings having different marks (+7 and +8!).

The large green one to the right is a Hong Kong ancestor of the China cake decorations, The yellow Concord may go with the DC-3 above, same level of detail/production values. The two little yellow ones (top centre-right) are from a Kinder toy.

The red one bottom-left; may be a rocket/missile from a Manzinger type robot or Transformer type toy? The four silver ones along the bottom are Blue Box and others. The dung-yellow one is a Montaplex - I think - and the red and yellow pair bottom right are phenolic and probably quite early, one being a simplified twin-engined fighter/bomber type, the other - possibly a helicopter's body?

The hard plastic gold and orange rocket-planes are similar but not the same as the yellow one to their left, also hard-plastic. The white jet-fighter is a plug-in probably from an aircraft-carrier toy, while the Spitfire in green seems to be a scaled-down copy of the one included in an Airfix board-game and in the same (ABS) material and colour, but with a mounting-hole in it.

The rest are unknown mongrels from Christmas crackers, sobres, lucky-bags or premiums, can anyone give us details on any of them? [17-11-2014 - except the large blue Navion  bottom-left; It's from the 1957 Air Fleet set from Nabisco's Shredded Wheat Cubs, smaller ranges with the same 'plane were also issued by Empire/Caldwell in the States/Canada in hard styrene and Lido in both styrene and softer ethylene, both can be found on Toy Soldier HQ, the unmarked blue MIG/Lightning next to it (far lower-left) is a copy from the Nabisco set]