Models by Richard Marsden

Triumph Herald

A quick build and an attempt to model what was seen as quite an innovative car when it came out in May 1959. Dinky Toys released their model of it on the same day as the real car. The model had windows and spring suspension, only the second Dinky to have both, and I can remember buying mine from the local toyshop quickly before they sold out. However, my Meccano model was built from memory; I still have the Dinky somewhere but finding it would have taken longer than the construction.

Sentinel Steam Lorry (rebuild)

This is the model I took to my first ever SELMEC meeting, in January 2011. Well, it is, and it isn’t. I took it to the exhibition that autumn then put it on top of a wardrobe and dusted it once in a while. It was one of my first attempts at a realistic model and I was quite pleased with it. It was however built with blue and gold parts with not much of either colour paint remaining. Rather than take it apart I decided to rebuild it. What was gold is now BMW Sapphire Grey, since I no longer have that car, Meccano silver for the chassis, and the blue parts I swapped for red, mostly un-repainted but in good condition. I have left only the hot and oily bits in their tatty blue. I suspect on the original they would not have stayed pristine for long.

Incidentally the Sapphire Grey aerosol was bought from a car paint specialist, cost more than H******s, but gave an excellent finish over a coat of white primer. It is not a bad match to the dull dark grey parts you find in the 2001 Special Edition Crane kit.

4-8-4 Steam Locomotive and Tender

This 4–8–4 steam locomotive with a 12-wheel tender matches the two American railroad cars I built a few year ago, the shorter of which I’ve rebuilt to be the same length as its brother.

Coles Mobile Crane

This is a copy of the Dinky Supertoy No. 571. I have used black and yellow or gold parts where I have them, to follow the colour scheme of the original as much as I can. Also, the model is hand-operated by two crank handles protruding from the sides of the body, just like the toy. I have however made two changes. The hook has a pulley and a return cord, rather than dangling from a single thread, and the jib is raised and lowered by a heavy-duty threaded rod; the forces involved were much too high to do otherwise.