VINYL OR RUBBER TYRES? MAT IRVINE PROVIDES THE DEFINITIVE ANSWER

SMN report
We inspected the two-piece solid wheels sported by Revell’s Lincoln Futura, and mentioned that the tyre elements were not made of rubber, like most kits these days. Well, that's not quite right and here’s a correction from the acknowledged expert of scale auto models, Mat Irvine, who reminded us that almost all model tyres are not rubber at all, they’re usually made of vinyl, a soft plastic compound.

The styrene killer strikes
Apparently, the composition of some early vinyls could attack styrene and literally melt it, and Mat has a few examples of this. In Mat’s words: “I recall AMT for one went to styrene for many of its tyres in the 1970s for this very reason and only returned to vinyl in later years, when the formula had been changed. Airfix had the same trouble with the tyres in its James Bond DB5 kit, and with the tracks for many of its tank kits.”

Austin-Healey model kit
Mat continued: “This could have applied to the most recent reissue of the Revell Germany Austin-Healey 100-Six, though thankfully this reverts to the original styrene wheel-tyres combo for the latest release. Incidentally, I supplied an original box for Revell to photograph as artwork for the update.”

“Apart from the fact that this was the original format, the replacement vinyl tyres and chromed wheels used on later issues (as of course they were the 'in thing') were awful (and I don't mean 'full of awe...'). The originals were far, far better, having very finely moulded wire wheels, which with appropriate paint, look absolutely the part.”

“So... all-styrene isn't all bad!”

More on the Lincoln Futura
Back to the Lincoln Futura, the pix above are a couple of nice finds we thought you’d like to see. The 280 mm (11 in) long tin toy was made by Yonezawa of Japan, and dates back to the mid-late 1950s. Present value is around $800.00 USD (£500.00 GBP) for a tip-top example, and worth every note we’d say. Somewhat cheaper is the neat Johnny Lightning 1:64 scale model, which was issued as a Limited Edition. Even so, with careful shopping around, you can pick one up for just $15.00 USD (£9.40 GBP).

Visit Fast Autos with the tinplate Futura here.

Here’s a range of tasty tinplate items, though we suggest you ignore the cake tins, unless you like baking of course here.

MAT'S US DIARY: THE SPOILS OF KANE COUNTY

Mr J thought you’d like to know what I’d bought at the Kane County Toy Fair, so here’s what’s going to be filling my travel bag. In the picture, from top left to bottom right:

The 1971 AMT Corvette that was issued as the ‘yearly’ or ‘annual’ kit, for that year. At Kane County, this benefited from ‘do a deal’, as it came down from $65 to $45.

The kit in bags marked ‘The 20 Mule Team Rolls’ comes from the TV series Death Valley Days, sponsored by the Borax Corporation. This ‘generic western’ was introduced by the ‘Old Ranger’ - picture on the plans - one of whom was Ronald Reagan, and featured different stories each time. This kit is 1:48 scale and includes 20 mules and three wagons.

The Mako Shark was one of General Motors’ major show cars, elements of which were utilised in later Corvettes, such as the one on the left. This kit is built, but may be restorable - and anyway, the box is nice!

The box for the Jo-Han 1961 Rambler is just that - a box - but there is a growing market in mint boxes. Anyway, I have an old kit of this in a tatty box...

The Johnny Lightning ‘Classic Plastics’ are 1:64 scale cars, versions of which were made as AMT kits, and you get a miniature version of the kit box. These aren’t exactly old, but there weren’t exactly expensive either - two for just $5.

I’m not really an aircraft collector, but these 1:28 scale Revell WW1 aircraft have interesting boxes. I already have the Fokker Triplane, so with this one, there’s only one still to get. There was a fourth kit made in later years, but the box is far less interesting.

Mat Irvine