It was a slightly different day. I usually set off at the crack of dawn, or earlier, in order to get to my first pick-up by 9 o clock. That way I tend to have some day left when I get back from my trip. Today I had arranged to meet Verity at lunch time so it was a later start. I was able to go to the warehouse and do some admin before I set off.
Another change was my first call, which was purely social. Ricky is a good friend of Little Wheels and buys from us very regularly. He spotted from last week’s ‘What’s in the Van’ that I was in his area this week, so I was invited for a cup of tea.
My last call was to Richard who had asked me to swing by and look at his collection with a view to his selling it to me.
The first classic of the day. I don’t normally do MGBs as there are just so many around Abingdon that they don’t score on my classic-o-meter. Today as I was leaving the Warehouse I spotted a nice MGB GT in racing trim driving through the village, which is less common, and worth a mention. The picture is of is a kit from Pinko in 1:43 Scale built by Tony Smith of Bournemouth.
It is a very familiar route to Bedford as all my trips east tend to go this way. I went north on the A34, one junction north on the M40 bypassing Bicester and then south towards Brackley. This route takes you past the construction work on the new HS2 railway. The amount of devastation to the countryside is huge, this is a massive project. Not only that but all the roads around are smashed up by the heavy construction vehicles.
The weather is still cool and dull so after a sunny and warm spring we are getting a cold and wet summer. I saw in the paper the other day that the Jet Stream looks like it is reverting to its normal path so we may get some warmer weather later. I didn’t get to see much happening in the fields either as my route did not take me through much arable land. The grain harvest continues, but that is very hard in this sort of weather.
However on the M40 I had a rare treat
On the opposite carriageway, coming towards me, there was a Ferrari F40 on a flatbed trailer, a very uncommon sight. The model in the photo is in 1:18 scale by GT Spirit. It was my first Ferrari of two on this trip.
Today the A421 was closed between Buckingham and Milton Keynes by one of the water companies so good old Google had to thread me through the little villages. By the state of the churned up grass verges a lot of other people had done the same and struggled to pass each other on the very narrow lanes. The fed-up looks I got from dog walkers as I passed through told the same story.
The A421 was closed again in Milton Keynes, but the grid system of streets in this city made it very easy to find my way around. I was heading for Ricky’s place, just south of Bedford, so I turned the van towards Ampthill and Flitwick. The good people of Ampthill seem to drive some very swanky cars. Waiting for me at a roundabout was a Rolls-Royce Phantom.
This model is by XLG in 1:43 scale. The Rolls pulled in behind me and followed me far a good few miles. While I was checking it out in my mirrors I spotted #2 Ferrari of the day coming towards me.
I did not recognise the model and had to Google it later. It is a brand new Ferrari 296 GTB, only released in the last couple of years. It is far too new for second hand models of it to come on to the market so we will have to make do with a photo of the real car. It was very imposing on the road.
Ricky made me extremely welcome at his lovely home and gave me a guided tour of his model collection. He has a number of themes. There are a lot of 1:50 scale trucks with a concentration on bulk tippers and vehicles in drinks company liveries. He also collects ice cream vans, his father having been in the trade. It’s a very good collection and well displayed. I don’t often get to see where our models go to so it was really interesting to see them.
I also had a look round his extensive garden and was sent away with some vegetables freshly dug from his veg patch. Ricky has a couple of Austin Seven’s in his garage which sadly we didn’t have time to see, there is a Ruby and an open tourer.
This Austin Ruby is by Oxford Diecast in 1:43 scale. These cars are so tiny, I would never fit in one of them. It’s interesting that BMW first began making cars by building these from kits supplied by Austin. It was called the BMW Dixie and one can be seen at the Gaydon museum.
I left Ricky and headed towards Bedford to meet Verity.
On the way I saw a car which is much less common these days and is on the way to becoming a classic, the Fiat X1/9. The model above is by Corgi Toys in 1:36 scale.
It is a nice little mid-engined sports car based on components from the contemporary Fiat 128, developed from a Bertone concept car the Autobianchi A112 Runabout which was first shown in 1969 at the Turin Autoshow. It was produced as a toy by Corgi as the ‘Bertone Runabout Barchetta’, barchetta being Italian for little boat.
Verity’s father left behind a massive collection of all sorts of things, not just model cars, tanks and planes but cigarette cards and many other collectables. I was picking up my third van load of model vehicles and there are still more to come as Verity and her brothers continue to sort his flat.
Today it was more large scale cars, many of the 1:18 Scale Sun Star and Franklin and Danbury mint items we have been selling recently are from this collection and there are more in this batch.
I picked up a good quantity of part-work aeroplanes by Amercom and Atlas Editions, where would I be without Atlas Editions!
Also in this load are a very few Forces of Valor military models, these are extremely detailed models often presented in a diorama with figures. Thankfully these do not appear to have been opened as many of the small components are in plastic bubbles glued to the inner packaging. Once they are removed they will not go back and the look of the box is spoiled.
I left Verity, her husband and daughter with a promise to return when they have sorted out the next batch for me.
I headed off next to see Richard, who is thinking about selling some or all of his collection. My normal practice when buying is to get a list and some photos from the seller and usually have a deal done from those before I even get in the van. Richard was going to struggle to provide me with either so as I was in town I popped round for a look.
Richard has a large collection of exactly the sort of models sold by Little Wheels, so it looks like a deal can be done. However more than half of them are out on display and will need to be boxed up before we can move on.
Seeing Rick’s carefully curated collection earlier in the day and Richard’s later on prompted a number of thoughts about how best to look after your model vehicles.
Of course from my point of view I would like any collection I buy to have been left in unopened boxes and stored away in a light-proof crate in a warm, dry room since the day the models were first purchased. That has been known to happen, but not very often. people buy models to enjoy them which usually means displaying them.
So, if you are going to display them what should you do?
Firstly displaying them on open shelves will get them dusty and if the shelves are anywhere near the kitchen they will also get greasy. Smoking in the same room as the models is also a no-no.I remember the very first collection I bought back in 2011, there was a Models of Yesteryear Opel Coupe in white. At least one side of the car was white, the side displayed next to the wall, the side facing the room was brown with cigarette tar and it also smelled pretty bad. A collection of Hachette James Bond cars I bought from a bloke in a bedsitter in Southampton had their plastic cases so badly coated with tar I had to put them all through the dishwasher. The cases that is. These days I just walk away from collections contaminated in this way.
If the shelves are in direct sunlight your models will suffer, the paint may fade, the decals go yellow and windows will tend to get opaque and milky.
Rule 1 is ‘display your collection in closed cases out of the sunlight, well away from where you cook and don’t smoke in the house’.
What do you do to clean them when they get dusty or greasy? If they are greasy, there is not much you can do but warm water with washing up liquid in it helps. It is also very important never to use a cloth to wipe your models, if you do you will also wipe away the mirrors and windscreen wipers. You should use brushes to clean them, a dry half inch paint brush is ideal for cleaning away dust (very carefully).
We also have a little battery-powered blower which is very good, especially for interiors. Phil and I started this business in our garage, where I have a compressor, that had the unfortunate effect of blowing the paint off with the dust. We live and learn.
Whilst on the subject of mirrors, you will better preserve the value of your models if you leave the mirrors in the box. Push-fit them if you must so that they can be removed again before boxing up but never, ever glue them in, it nearly always leaves a residue which gets more and more yellow over time. If a model is re-boxed with mirrors attached the mirrors always get damaged.
Another thing you should never do is to open a card box with your finger. about 50% of the time you will rip the end flap and this really spoils the look of the box. Use a table knife for the purpose. Each workstation at Little Wheels has its own table knife and lesson one on day one for new staff is ‘do not use your finger to open that box’.
You should also think about how you are going to store the empty boxes while you models are on display. Cardboard office filing boxes are ideal as they are light, relatively inexpensive and have lids, if sunlight can get to the model boxes they will fade, very quickly. Filing boxes are also square, many of the plastic storage boxes you get are tapered and this can squash the model boxes. Filing boxes are not too deep either, if you store your model boxes in a deep box you will find the ones at the bottom get crushed over time. Don’t store them in the shed as they will get damp and mouldy and chewed by mice.
Lastly think about tools. You will already have a table knife and a dry paint brush by now but you also need a good screwdriver, trying to use one that is poor quality or is not the right fit is miserable and you can do damage.
Most models are screwed down using crosshead Philips type screws, not Posidrive. If you use a Posi screwdriver you are liable to chew up the screw head. You should have both #1 and #2 size Philips bits. Some models have torx screws with a star shaped slot and some others, mainly IXO have a triangular slot. You can get the bits for these easily on Ebay and I would also recommend getting a battery powered driver so you don’t have to worry about holding the screw and turning it at the same time.
Sorry for my rant but all of us at Little Wheels see the results of not following these rules every day and potentially perfectly good models have been spoilt as a result.
As I was leaving Bedford I spotted an old Vauxhall, the picture above is of a Dinky Toys Victor 101. The car I very briefly saw could have been one of these or the larger PC Cresta. In either case it is a real rarity as every Vauxhall from the mid 60s rusted into a powdery heap in no time at all. I really did not know there were any left.
Me and the van turned for home. On the way back through Milton Keynes Google Maps did us a favour for once and sent us north up the A5 to Stony Stratford (Where Richard III got his hands on Prince Edward and did for poor old Earl Rivers before declaring himself King). From Stony Stratford we went to Buckingham and missed all the road closures altogether.
I got back to the warehouse in time to complete the daily admin and then get my weary body home, it was too dull outside though to sit under my vines and sip a glass of red, so I had to do it watching Wheeler Dealers instead.
Next week I’m debating whether to postpone my trip as we have loads of new stock waiting to go on sale and Melissa the packer-up is on holiday so I might be needed back at the Warehouse.
Thank-you for reading and if you have enjoyed this week’s tale please scroll to the bottom and click the ‘Like’ button.
What’s in the Van? – Home
27th July – Worthing
13th July – Chatteris, Hinckley & Nuneaton
6/7th July – Magor & Westbury
15/16th June – Newcastle upon Tyne
8th June – Bournemouth, Ringwood & Bracknell
1st June – Diss, Stewartby & Brackley
25th May – Rickmansworth
12th May – Kingston & Fleet
4th May – Witham
21st April – Staines
12th April – Dereham
6th April – Warminster
30th March – Doncaster, Gainsborough & Peterborough
18/22nd March – Bedford & Epsom
15/16th March 2023 – London, Hemel Hempstead & Stafford
8th March 2023 – Warwick & Solihull
5th March 2023 – Huntingdon & Bedford
23rd February 2023 – Little Wheels Museum
16th February 2023 – Devon & Dorset
9th February 2023 – Nottinghamshire & Lincolnshire
2nd February 2023 – Gloucester & Hereford
What's in the Van? 
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