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Many thanks guys, much appreciated, especially the photos of your Hatras' rivets! I feel much more confident about my orange/yellow Hatra now. It was in an eBay lot of 11 fairly well-played-with mid-'60s models, looking like the remains of some kid's long-ago construction company — four tractors (no...

I recently got this orange/yellow Hatra. What do all you experts think, is it the real thing? I think the details are correct, and the wear and dirt are consistent with the other mid-'60s construction models in the lot. In hand, the rivet looks good (maybe not as much so in the photos), looks to to ...

Interesting ideas. I agree that however the lettering on these vans was done, it doesn't particularly make sense, except perhaps as some sort of experiment or trial run. Obviously Lesney used decals successfully on the blue and maroon versions of the 17a van, as well as the later green ones, so why ...

The NAMC’s “Catalog of all Series Matchbox Models” (second edition) lists a model as variation code 17-1C which is green with stencilled lettering. Unfortunately, no further details are provided. Has any Member anything similar? I have two examples of this Bedford van that may be what was described...

I think that the 8d Caterpillar crawler and the 18d Cat bulldozer actually had different baseplates as, if i recall correctly, the dozer blade on 18d is part of the baseplate casting — solidly attached on one side, but with a gap between dozer arm and base on the other side (so the treads could be i...

To return to the original question: The transparent orange overlay on the photo actually has nothing to do with the quality of the printed picture, it is simply a mask used to eliminate the unwanted background. It's a material called "Amberlith" which is a thin peelable layer on a transpar...

Very interesting! Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the baseplate "tab" wider on the later rivet-base models than on the earlier tab-in-slot models? So either Lesney had to modify the base mold twice (first to add the hole, second to widen the tab); or they had to file or machine the tab ...

I have to wonder if the hole in the early-style baseplate could be an aftermarket dad-added "tow slot"?

While I think Mick is exaggerating a bit with his "fair few mm" of rear suspension travel, he's perfectly correct that there is much more travel on the Zodiac's rear suspension than the front (which is so slight it may seem nonexistent), and I'm pretty sure the Zodiac suspension is, like M...

I think this model has a suspension strip, meaning that if the baseplate is removed, the wheel-sets can be changed over as complete units. Any chance of a baseplate photograph, especially the rivets? Could you also please confirm the engine blocks casting as per Nick's variation table? With all due...