Unusual 42B Studebaker Wagonaire

[matchbox_n_molars]

I don't think the body color has anything to do with exposure to light or chemical vapors. The color is consistent top and bottom. The light blue slide on the roof would have been exposed to the same conditons for the same duration and it shows no variation from a typical light blue slide.
And if these rivets are fakes someone did a great job. I can see your point Ghosty, with reference to the fringe of paint on the blue example but I'm not convinced that this model has been apart and repainted.
Furthermore, why would someone disassemble a model, change the paint to a random and if anything less satisfying color, and meticulously reassemble the model? It isn't as if a well known rarity was created here.
I'm guessing it represents either something like what Idris has proposed or, since it was auctioned within an "ex-Lesney employee" auction, it represents something an ex-employee created on his or her own during a slow day at work.

[matchbox_n_molars]

I've got a 42B with a multitude of paint chips. I did as Hugh suggested and got some photos around some of these defects. Clearly there is evidence that something lighter in color exists beneath that surface blue. As to whether or not this deeper shade matches this model I've got I'll leave to you guys with better color perception than I bring to the forum.

[nearlymint]

Hi Greg,
What a great model, colour is very interesting. My first thought would be fading due to the interior colour change, do the wheel arches show a darker colour or is that the picture?
Apart from that the rivets look pretty good to me from the pictures, have you had a chance to compare the interiors to notes we made a while back in another thread.
Would be interesting to see where the interior fits in the timeline, as you have said it could be an ex-employee created model who had a bit of spare time on there hands.
Anyway i would love it in my collection especially against other models as it looks superb.
J

[Tinman]

I agree with those who say the rivets look good. As for the absence of any paint knocked off during the peening of the rivets .. please note that Greg mentioned he scrubbed down the model and indeed it looks like the baseplate has been scrubbed down too. I know when the models are really dirty, he uses soft scrub cleanser (which has a mild abrasive agent).

I don't think the model is faded as Greg would have noticed that right away. There is another issue, the slider can be changed out (I've replaced a few missing sliders in my day). It's possible the blue slider was placed on the model later in life ... or it may be original. Either way, it's not possible to tell if it's the original factory installed slider or not.

Thank's Greg for the additional pictures.

I agree with Hugh on the colour issue, that could be quite revealing but now I have seen both cars rivets, I am convinced the model does not have factory finish rivets. The front rivet shows indentations around the flare more than the rear rivet does, but more revealing is there are no paint shavings squashed between the underside of the flare and the baseplate immediately under the flare highlighted on the picture below.

Front rivets.jpg

What is highlighted in Red is perfectly normal factory finish and the result of the rivet's shaft being a close fit into the baseplate's hole causing the scraping of paint and then bunching up of this paint to become trapped under the rivet's flare when the rivet is pressed or spun down to the baseplate. This is very difficult to fake and this is what I don't see on the mystery Studebaker for both rivets.

Ghosthunter.