About Me

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No Fixed Abode, Home Counties, United Kingdom
I’m a 60-year-old Aspergic gardening CAD-Monkey. Sardonic, cynical and with the political leanings of a social reformer, I’m also a toy and model figure collector, particularly interested in the history of plastics and plastic toys. Other interests are history, current affairs, modern art, and architecture, gardening and natural history. I love plain chocolate, fireworks and trees, but I don’t hug them, I do hug kittens. I hate ignorance, when it can be avoided, so I hate the 'educational' establishment and pity the millions they’ve failed with teaching-to-test and rote 'learning' and I hate the short-sighted stupidity of the entire ruling/industrial elite, with their planet destroying fascism and added “buy-one-get-one-free”. Likewise, I also have no time for fools and little time for the false crap we're all supposed to pretend we haven't noticed, or the games we're supposed to play. I will 'bite the hand that feeds', to remind it why it feeds.

Sunday, February 28, 2010

P is for Pyro (and Others)

So from Banner lets move across to Pyro (They share the same container so I could take all the photo's at once! Another of the dime store plastics producers from the 1940/50's, indulged in a fair amount of mould-sharing, and a bit of 'l'Homage'! The executives of Model Shipways called them 'Pirate Plastics'!

Very much compatible with the Banner trucks at around 1:48th scale is this - really quite sturdy - model of a generic 1950's tank. Sort of Centurion without toolboxes crossed with a T44!

This is also about 1:48, with hard styrene figures glued in. It's this arrangement which I'm sure Ive seen with the Banner trucks below, but with plug-in soft ethylene figures? There were several body types for this truck, which is similar to the Dinky or Lone Star takes on the post war British Humber 15kwt class utility truck (which - itself - became the basis for the 'Pig' which served-on in Northern Ireland with various engine up-grades/up-armours until the late 1980's) but without the cab-roof rings for convoy sentries.

These are much smaller and can be used with 20/25mm figures without looking out of place, especially if your doing 50's pulp or steam-punk roll-play. One trailer-bed gives three very different looking wagons and I've covered the jeep in depth before.

Top; I have the four non-articulated versions as Kleeware, so will cover them next, however to show that these are identical bar the stamp in the roof - the one behind is the Pyro...I think!

Below; The Wannatoys cab-unit and two trailers, these were separate designs, rather than the Pyro variant-glued-to-standard-flatbed. While the Wannatoys tractors were styrene, the trailers were cellulose-acetate and suffer from shrinkage and warping which pulls the tow-hitch off eventually!

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