BLASTS FROM THE PAST - BOOST YOUR SAVINGS WITH COLLECTIBLE DIECASTS

SMN report
There’s little doubt that in these difficult financial times, it pays to have some form of savings scheme beyond a bank account and a pension company. And for model fans that can be a pleasure, combining financial commonsense with a hobby, for unbuilt kits and diecasts represent pretty decent items to have in your portfolio.

Rare Dinky Toys
Of the two, diecasts show the most spectacular prices, with auctions regularly achieving astonishing levels - even in a recession, or perhaps especially in a recession, prices hold firm and there have been bidding wars between individuals and fund managers at some salerooms. Dinky Toys in particular are a high achiever where values are concerned, with models from small production runs being very highly prized. Examples include the Avro Vulcan jet V-bomber, of which only 500 or so were released, or virtually anything from the mid-1930s to 1943, when Dinky production stopped for three years until after the end of World War II.

Dinky prices at auction
There’s no real price peak in sight, as ‘they aren’t making them any more’, and in March 2008 a Type 22 Delivery Van fetched £19,975GBP ($31,080USD) which was a record for a single Dinky Toy, though boxed sets achieve much more. For many present-day collectors, the 1950s and 1960s are a happy hunting ground, for there are more Dinkys available in this period and generally in fair to good condition, too. The brochure cover we show above represents a nostalgic boyhood piece for many collectors, and is reckoned as the company’s golden age, before the onslaught of competition from Corgi Toys, a range that was launched with the catchy phrase: ‘The Ones with Windows’.

Dinky Toys - our take
However, collectible as Dinky Toys are, it’s still best to buy them because you like them. Prices can go down as well as up, so if you enjoy them just as items of miniature model art, then you get pleasure whatever the current value - but if prices are on the up, and your collection also boosts your savings, so much the better!

Have a look at a nice book on Dinky Toy collectibles here.

The pictures show, top to bottom:
1  Dinky brochure from 1954.
2  Lineup of Dinkys from the same period.
3  Record breaking van in the markings of W.E. Boyce.

A FEAST OF MODELS AT THE 2010 FARNBOROUGH INTERNATIONAL AIRSHOW

David Jefferis reports from the show
The SMN crew spent yesterday at the UK’s premier business-orientated aerospace show. The weather was fantastic (which just goes to show how useless the predictions of some iPhone weather apps are...) and it was a real pleasure to watch high-power aerobatics and more genteel flypasts in bright blue skies, with puffy clouds to set them off.

Stealthy delta
Highlights of the day included new aircraft like the Airbus A400M military airlifter, and old-stagers such as the delta-wing Avro Vulcan, currently maintained in flying order by an enthusiast group, and good for them. The Vulcan’s shape gave it stealth-like abilities long before stealth became a design essential for survival in aerial combat...

A380 airliner
For model fans, shows like this are fantastic. Wandering round the real machines parked by the flightline reveals so much detail you just never see in photos. And as for weathering, one look at the A380 demo airliner should give you airbrush modellers perfect guidance for a careful bit of subtly realistic dirtying down.

Models on display
Being an industry trade event, there were fewer enthusiast shops than at many other shows; even so, there were plenty of models on display, both in the trade halls, and for sale in exhibition tents out in the sunshine. Trade models came large and small, and were fascinating for their variety, from rockets to rotorcraft. Models for sale showed just how popular readybuilts have become - it was a near clean-sweep for them, with only a few construction kits on display.

Fine levels of detail
Among our observations were the incredible levels of detail now being incorporated into metal kits. In particular, a Sukhoi Su-27 impressed us with its ultra-fine panel detail, while a Douglas Skyraider had a jewel-like sliding canopy, and a complete range of ordnance slotted neatly into a shiny plastic case - rockets, bombs, tanks, you name it - all ready and waiting to be hung under those straight wings. Just beautiful.

Air Show dates
Enjoy the pictures above, and we’ll hope to post some video clips in a short while. The Farnborough Air Show alternates annually with Paris, so in 2011 we aim to be reporting from the land of vin rouge, escargots, garlic - and home to Airbus Industrie and Heller model kits.

The pictures show, top to bottom:
1  Chinese rocket models were popular with video crews.
2  JF-17 Thunder combat jet, co-produced by Pakistan and China.
3  Northrop Grumman hybrid air vehicle, looking more like a Dan Dare-era spaceship than a surveillance airship.
4  1:1 scale mockup of the planned 1000 mph (1609 km/h) Bloodhound, being developed to break the Land Speed Record (LSR) in the near future, perhaps as soon as 2011.
5  Temporary model shop for showgoers.
6  Lineup of large-scale display models. These are wood-based, nicely finished, and suitable for desktop display, but lack the intricate detail of plastic kits or metal ready-builts.

Visit the 2010 Farnborough International Airshow here.

The A400M is available as a 1:200 scale model direct from Airbus here.

A variety of Sukhoi aircraft is available here.

HEADS UP - VULCAN OVERHEAD!

I looked up from the screen the other day to see (and hear) a VERY LARGE delta wing shape flying majestically over SMN Towers.

WOW the Avro Vulcan (top picture) is one mighty flying machine, and congratulations to the Vulcan to the Sky Trust (VTTS), for making this single flying example, number XH588, of a British V-bomber possible.

One thing I immediately noted was how clean the exhausts were, with almost no visible fumes from those four powerful Bristol Olympus engines.

Corgi makes a tidy 1:144 scale diecast of XH558 (middle picture), which is available from most stockists. There's also a handmade Delta Bravo model, available directly from the VTTS website, available in wheels up or wheels down versions (bottom). You can visit the VTTS here.