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Had a few of the more unusual AEC tipper models together today while I was sorting out, so I took a picture for the casting show. J

I love the white pre pro with the back base Jason, never seen the likes before.

I picked up the grey base a couple of week back

motorman wrote:I love the white pre pro with the back base Jason, never seen the likes before.

Hi Alex, you do not see many of the white ones I must admit. I love the grey base model, really like this casting a lot. I know I have a mint one in a bubble pack but I thought I had another one somewhere with labels, but I cannot find that one.
J

I don't know why, but the grey colouring with fine streaks of what looks like black but may be more intense grey is such a common colour throughout the history of plastic toy production from Hong Kong. In those Hong Kong toys it is used to keep the toys cheap to buy and the finished items still look and perform as cheap Hong Kong toys are meant to.

I wonder if this grey plastic is a mixture of recycled plastics which must be seen as the cheapest method of producing large quantites of perfectly servicable plastic for injection moulding.

Regards Lesney using it, there is a reason, but so far I do not know why unless it is a similar situation to those Hong Kong toys and Lesney have had reason to use it once again to complete production runs and if it is recyled plastics it may now be a slightly inferior plastic that does not take to well to the vac plating process.

Nice model Alex, you have been after one of those for a while, well done.

Ghosthunter.

GHOSTHUNTER wrote:I...if it is recyled plastics it may now be a slightly inferior plastic that does not take to well to the vac plating process..

Interesting idea.
All I can think of is that the pthalates (the chemicals in the plastic which prevent it from being brittle, so-called plasticisers) might at least partially bleed out of the recycled plastic during the melting/injection process, and affect the surface properties of the moulding, meaning that the plating is unable to attach itself firmly enough.

I've always thought these bases are deliberately silvery-grey to avoid the need for plating. I have a SF number 7 refuse truck with the plastic box in silvery-grey rather than the normal grey (picture here) - very obvious in the hand, though less clear in the picture!