Absurd is a term MickSMS used to describe the possibility of an original green 2 line decal Pickfords promotional model in a post 2 days ago Joe. Antonin liked the word I am sure because it is more powerful than 'Unknown', or 'uncataloged'.
Just to clarify, you did have an 11A in this lighter 'orange' color also Joe? It is a new one on me, but knowing other odd Lesney colors have been shown here, it is not a complete shock to see this one after 50 years. I do find the fact that it has a coat of red under the chip very interesting Antonin, the second factory paint coat must have had some yellow added by mistake. Very Nice.....
Does anyone else have one of these orange Tankers in their collection? kwakers
SMS88 wrote:Kids of the 1960s were often very talented with paint,this could be a home made repaint particularly because of the frilly edges of the Esso decal suggesting it has been removed and refitted
Lesney sent all these through the paint line twice, they obviously added the wrong paint into the mix. Decal edges look quite normal.
I had one just like it.
Perhaps this is in fact the one tinman sold!
Decal carrier film often frays beyond the painted limits of the decal when it has been refitted or transplanted.Some castings certainly had what appears to be 2-3 coats of paint,others just one coat.
I want to show some different colors by 11a Esso Tanker. Occasionally, it may lead to confusion, the Tanker in the middle could be believed to be the orange one.
Antonin
My monitor will not show these color differences on your three Tankers very well Antonin. The only one to look a bit lighter on mine is the one on the left, and that may be because of the light being reflected off of it differently than the other two.
I have bought a useless 28 Jaguar advertised as 'copper', and also a particular odd color 23C lately that both turned out to be 'stock' colors. In both cases I believe the Sellers had spotlights on their models for inside pictures, which brought out an un-natural brightness which totally changed the colors. In the case of these Tankers, I just think it may be my monitor and reds/oranges.
The decal chipped edges are, and were pretty common on the first series Lesneys even out of the Bronner cardboard displays in the 60s Mick, when the models and decals were just 10 years old. I think exactly the opposite as you on these decal chips. These Tankers even Mint usually have some flea bites around the edges of their rear Esso decals. I am more suspicious of a perfect decal than the ones on Antonin's orange model. The decals on the 37A Coke Trucks we removed from store displays showed this same edge chipping, they were never perfect as one might expect on an un-played with toy. As time went on towards the end of the regular wheel era, the Bus and Pickfords type decals seemed much tougher than those used in the 1950s.
There are exceptions even on some later Lesneys because of model design. The chipping we see on #15 Tippax decals now is common right out of their boxes mint. Even though they are protected by heavy casting lines both top and bottom, those possibly interfered with decal installation, and right or left side decal chipping is the norm rather than the exception on this Tippax model. The later labels eliminated those frayed edges completely at the factory.
In the case of the 35 Sno Tracs with early decals, the long first type were always perfect, but Lesney shortened them because of installation times I am sure. Even the shorter decals were perfect out of the factory, but they must have been very time consuming to install also, so sides were left blank for quite a long period, then replaced with the last series cast on letters. Both the blank sides and cast sides never looked as realistic as the early decals, but they were cheap toys that Lesney tried to mass produce to keep costs down. These Sno Trac decals were much tougher than the early Tanker oval decals, so watch out for aftermarket decal use if you find a 55 year old model with a 'Perfect' Esso decal on the rear. If those same brittle early Esso decals are perfect over the sides of the 11A Tanker ribs after so many years, creating an ultra rare version, I am a skeptic. kwakers
I would think it could be plausible that a small lot may have come through in the orange color, as the 11a was painted in yellow and then red. As yellow and red make orange...perhaps the painting apparatus mixed the two colors together during the changeover ??
kwakers wrote:Just to clarify, you did have an 11A in this lighter 'orange' color also Joe?
Yes! I sold mine in 2005 to a collector (along with some other rare models). That person has since sold off his entire Matchbox collection and I have no idea where it is today.
This model and the #5 bus in the same orange color were discussed at length on the mcch about eleven or twelve years ago. Christian has had pictures of the orange 11 tanker and the orange 5 bus on his site for as long as I can remember (well over ten years). Both should be considered as known variations (for at least two decades now).
My photos of my model are long lost in a hard drive crash. Here are copies of the photos on Christian's site (borrowed with permission):
Thanks Joe! 10-12 years ago I was not online, and still suffering from the loss of those 350+ variations from a theft in the mid 90s. The colors on these images of Christian's are a bit clearer on my monitor in comparing red to orange, so I must take a look at my original #5 Buses again. Even though Mike Stannard was such a detailist in documenting Lesney's minor casting variations, his 1985 guide was that of a 'colorblind man'. I like Nick's notation on the #5A color variances from red to orangy-red, it makes his Guide much more concise.
I had never realized the green 5A was a promotional model for an Australian Bus company until reading Nick's listings today. I knew the green ones had only been shipped there, but believed they may have been a pre-production or color trial for that particular market that ran double deckers in that color. I also thought I had read where someone had passed up 4 original green Buses as repaints years ago, but Nick now says only 2 may have survived? Vectis sold a Mint/boxed one, and another very used one's picture had been sent me by Numi when it was being sold 3? years ago, so surely others are hiding in world-wide collections? I am very surprised these were not known to exist in Australia to be documented in Stannard's 1985 Guide. Surely there were Terry Gunner, Ray Bush and Phillip Bowdidge type Veteran Lesney collectors in Australia to own that rare variation and keep more of them safe. Cheers! kwakers
I can't remember clearly but we discussed the green buses on the old forum and I think 3 were identified, but for some reason 4 rings a bell (pardon the pun!) We did look at one which came up in an Oz auction house. Nick or Mick might recall the numbers.
kwakers
