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I was wondering about the paint too, it looks very thick. It looks like there is ridging in the load bed and possibly the signs of planking directly below the letter P in Numi's photo? (or perhaps the thickness of the paint has caused it to run).

I wondered that as well but the planking inside the bed is visible too (just!)

The Greens between these 2x specimens certainly seem to differ.The Vectis specimen leans towards the Oily Green similar to the 11a Green Tanker and one of the #1c Oily Green Road Rollers.On the other hand,my saved pic shows very close,almost an accurate Green from the #21a bus as depicted.I also tried tweaking this pic but no Oily Green shows up similar to the Vectis pic.

Could the "No Planking" specimen certainly be a pre-production model and the other the initial short run? The "No Planking" version does show a thicker application of paint but not so thick as to hide/fully level-off or cover the side planking & ridging.This should never be the case cos paint usually dries to a concave as opposed to convex or am i wrong.If im correct then the specimen should clearly show the planking outlines incl possible drips irrespective of the thickness,whether dunked or hand sprayed.The rear bed ridging is clearly apparent.Minimum picture pixelation is evident.
Could our senior & more experienced members take over please...
numi

Well I'm not sure about the rest of the 'seniors' but the no planking model is totally new to me so I can't help. I think if it were a known variation it would have come to light long ago, Where did the pic come from Numi, Is there any possibility we can contact the owner.

Hi Mr Jones,i seriously cannot remember from which site i saved this pic when i first started collecting in Feb 2011 I will try and find that site somehow but might take some time.
numi

Idris wrote:As I said, my recollection of Philip Bowdidge's example is that it was a much paler green than either of the models shown above.

In the Matchbox Diecast Toys The First Forty Years on page 61 this light green 20a is shown.
Could this one in the book belong to Phillip.
Given the photos on each page would have been taken under the same conditions a handy tip is to carefully roll/bend (do not fold) page 61 around a card tube or dowel and you can line it up against all the other green models on page 63 for colour comparison or number 27 on page 75.
It is also pretty close to the green number 17 models.

The angle of the photo is good too, showing no brace behind cab.

Footnote. Allow also for the fact that the 20a is a play worn model shown in the book.

Idris wrote:As I said, my recollection of Philip Bowdidge's example is that it was a much paler green than either of the models shown above.

Idris

Yes: I agree with you. I was with Philip when he found the 20a in green at a Crawley swapmeet. (I picked it up first but thought it must be a repaint, so I left Philip to pay £1 for it!!!)

I am sure it is a far lighter green colour - perhaps similar to the lightest Road Roller shade.

Nigel

is the pale green 20a in Stannard Philip's example?

Idris wrote:is the pale green 20a in Stannard Philip's example?

Yes: many of the models were photographed from Philip's collection.

I don't have my Stannard to hand (I'm at work ), but how do the colours compare?