Early Small Scale Crescent

[Miller]

Nice job on that display!

[GHOSTHUNTER]

I like that and can see myself playing with it with my own cars... You better make sure the construction is simple because you know that when it's finished, you'll be getting orders from forum members asking you to make one for them...

Ghosthunter.

[robertnewson]

Crescent-Garage.jpg (134.21 KiB) Viewed 1709 times

Here's a photo of my example of the garage. All the pieces in the photo are by Crescent, except for the petrol pump, which is by Slater's (a 1950s model railway accessory).

The bonneted light van is the one pictured in the 1940 catalogue and numbered A10. The MG-like roadster is a pretty little model, this is one of the items catalogued as A223 Motor Cars (assorted). The Shell-BP tanker was in an earlier catalogue (undated but probably 1938 or 1939), listed as no.481 Petrol Lorry. The "Mechanised Transport" set (no.701) was another version of this lorry.

Crescent-Tanker-1.jpg (106.06 KiB) Viewed 1709 times

Crescent-701-MechanisedArmySet-sm.jpg (185.5 KiB) Viewed 1709 times

As usual with pre-war toys, the few surviving catalogues make it quite difficult to know what exactly was made and when.

Ewan, I think your diecast shrubs are Master Models railway accessories.

[Ewan]

Thanks very much for your input on this, I've learnt more in the last 5 minutes than the previous 5 months!
That tanker is really nice, I have seen vans like the one in your set around which makes me wonder who made the van that I have.
I did think that my shrubs looked a bit out of place, they matched some listed as Crescent in one of the Norman Joplin books...

[Idris]

Thanks very much for your input on this, I've learnt more in the last 5 minutes than the previous 5 months!

Now that we have Mr. Newson on board, the knowledge available on the Forum has taken a quantum leap forward.

[GHOSTHUNTER]

I spoke with Robert recently at Sandown Park and he apologised to me for not being on the forum much, but I assured him he won't be thrown off...

Ghosthunter.

[robertnewson]

Ewan's boxy little van is also Crescent (it has the same wheels as the other pieces), and, as he says, it comes in Carter Paterson, Royal Mail and Ambulance versions.

[Ewan]

Could I ask another couple of questions?
Firstly, is my petrol pump Crescent, or is it Slater's? I had it down as Crescent because it was the same as those in the Crescent sets I saw on Vectis and in Norman Joplin's book, neither of which sources I would consider 100% reliable....
Secondly, do you think the hubs on my record car are original and if so would that be rarer than the disc type wheels? I'm in two minds about restoring it as it is in quite a state, if it has any rarity value I would leave as is but if not I would probably attempt a restoration. I'm not interested in monetary value so restorations don't upset me but I would steer clear of having a go at something rare.

[robertnewson]

Yes your pump is certainly Crescent. The Slater's pump is smaller (OO scale) but more in scale with the garage. I don't think I have seen the record car with rubber tyres before, but it is quite likely original, since others in the series come that way. For replacement tyres, Steve Flowers lists some tyres for the Minic 000 series plastic trucks which also have small hubs - would they be small enough?

[Malibu]

Hi,

yeterday I received this little racer.
It looks a bit like the one Ewan has shown but it is slightly different.
The Body is hollow and there is no factory sign.
The length is 45 mm.
Could it be that this is made by crescent as well?

Stephan

(c) Malibu

Racer_1.JPG (41.68 KiB) Viewed 1638 times

(c) Malibu

Racer_2.JPG (42.52 KiB) Viewed 1638 times