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GHOSTHUNTER wrote:The rivet is clearly showing signs of tampering by a previous owner.

Agreed.

If the ladder racks were ground off wouldn't the metal have marks? Some paint covering those area's but you would think you would see the grind marks on a fairly large area. If customized it was done a long time ago. All the toys there were pre 1973. That was the latest date on matchbox/lesney cars. They also had Vintage GI Joe and lots of Marx army men from the 1960's.

Speaking as an accomplished modeller myself, grinding away such parts as those ladder supports and making the surface really smooth is very easy.

Ghosthunter.

Worst looking rivet I have seen for a long time. I would be extremely suspicious about this models history.

To me it seems as the rivet is painted with the same enamel silver like the bumper...

if your phone is an android phone there is an app simply called "photo resizer" it's what a few of us use on here and is quite good

GHOSTHUNTER wrote:The rivet is clearly showing signs of tampering by a previous owner.

It might be a little deceptive in the photo, but it looks awful flat to me.

Hi all,
Pretty certain to be home made. Methinks it's a TV Detector van though, especially in blue.
CW.

As a model railroader in the late 50's, 60's and early 70's, I and many of my model rail companions often modified these models brand new and straight out of the box.

Several things are certain here:

The rivet is drilled (so, for sure home made).

It has a rivet and not a snap base. A pre-production model would have the earlier snap base. Even if it was a later experiment, the rivet would not be drilled.

For something as large as the dish, the tiny hole for the antenna is far to small and would snap off straight away in play. It would have had a more secure mounting and location.

The dish is pretty crude considering how nice most things were from the prototype shop, it's very unlikely to be Lesney made.

As far as the ladder mounts being gone, like Ghosty said, it's simple and easy. I make stuff disappear all the time. In the last couple of months alone, I've "disappeared" the following:
Infill behind the cab and decal guide lines on a 38a.
Dash board and pips on a 45a Vauxhall Victor.
Roof holes and ridges on top the cab of a 44c Fridge truck.
"Snow Trac" cast into the sides of two 35b Snow Trac's.
Caution light beacons from the roof of a 30c crane truck.

Polish the area where the casting was removed with a little 600 grit sand paper or a wire brush and it's impossible to tell where it was. As much as I would like for you to have found something rare ... you have NOT.

Tinman what is the point in doing these things to models, unless one intends making fake models and repaints.

George T.