3b Bedford Tipper Truck

[Idris]

Houghton lists a curious “angled” exhaust as variation code 2b-5, but close inspection of the photograph supplied indicates that it is almost certainly the product of damage during the tumbling process.

Observation has shown that the angled exhaust occurs on at least three otherwise-normal codes. The inevitable conclusion is that it must be the product either of defective casting (perhaps one or more of the exhaust brackets failing to form completely) or, as suggested above, the result of damage during the tumbling process. Such models should therefore be regarded as error pieces rather than as variations in their own right.

[jsherwood]

After looking through previous topics on 3B Bedford Tipper variations, and discussions on the validity of tipper bed ridges and exhaust braces, I thought I'd examine my own collection. I have 5 Tippers, all different variations as shown from my own 'Stannard' Style catalogue sheet below. (All photos on the sheet are from my stock except the ridge and block)

(My cataloguing system consists of Lesney model number / my stock number per model in the order I bought them )
Sheet updated 6th May

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Raised Ridge on Tipper Bed : None of my 5 variants have a raised ridge, but my 03B02 has a painted ridge similar to those shown in previous 3B threads. (see photo) I can see how this can easily be mistaken for a metal ridge, but the bottom of the tailgate shows wear on its leading edge that matches the ridge on the tipper bed. I wonder if Lesney painted the tailgate separately before assembly to the tipper? probably not.

Exhaust Brace: I have one model lacking the rear brace with photos shown on my catalogue sheet. I've examined it very closely and note that the surface of the chassis where the brace would be is perfectly flat with no signs of shearing from tumbling or a dimple due to malformation, also the exhaust pipe outlet has no evidence of a partly formed casting where it would meet the brace.

I've also searched through the web and found around 20 similar examples and they all appear to be early castings: BPW 11x24 tippers mostly that are similar to mine. Nick's site also lists a gpw 11x24 tipper with no extra brace. Unless anybody out there has later / red tippers without the brace then it would be very unlikely that this is a conincidence. Therefore, even if Lesney didn't design the tipper without the extra brace initially, they must have improved their processes to prevent it happening in later years.

That said, as Tinman's examples have shown previously, there are models with malformed / damaged braces, and I believe these coexist with the missing brace variations. Overall, I'll accept it as a true variation.

Finally, I wonder why Lesney didn't design a fuel tank rather than the battery and exhaust, as it would have been much easier!

Any thoughts most welcome - am always happy to be proved wrong (with evidence!)

Cheers and hope you're well. Happy collecting.

John

[nearlymint]

Hi John,
I need to go through mine and check what I have, have you created that table/checklist yourself ?
All the best and be safe.
Jason

[jsherwood]

Hi Jason,

Yes, the catalogue sheet is based on my copy of Stannard as I like the uncluttered style, but updated with a little colour, some photos instead of diagrams and extra variations found on Nick's and Christian Falksteiners sites. This is the only sheet I've done so far, and I want to try this style with a few Superfast models. The JPEG version on here is a little blurry due to the low file size, Here's a link to the full-fat version. https://photos.app.goo.gl/EBfztwZYhxxTLbHX9


Hope you like it

Cheers
John

[nearlymint]

Hi John,
Thats a great layout, I am terrible with notes. Paper everywhere, gets lost and I never have stuff together at the moment. Although I am trying to rectify that I feel its not working very well.
Keep up the good work.
J

[DrJeep]

I'm not sure if this is an unlisted variation: diagonal casting lines in the cab roof. This one is Nick's code 13 - red tipper and no silver trim - so one of the last.

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I expect it's common on the final versions but hard to see (and really hard to photograph!).

[GHOSTHUNTER]

Designed to aid casting release from the dies. A lot of diecast models display similar if you know where to look.

Ghosthunter.

[DrJeep]

Designed to aid casting release from the dies. A lot of diecast models display similar if you know where to look.

Yes, of course. But in some models - like, say, the 44a Silver Cloud, to pick one at random (!) - cross-hatching in the roof is a well-recorded casting variation. In the 3b it seems to appear very late in the model run, but is so far undocumented, I think. Certainly not the most exciting variation... but worth noting.

[Idris]

I'm not sure if this is an unlisted variation: diagonal casting lines in the cab roof. This one is Nick's code 13 - red tipper and no silver trim - so one of the last.
I expect it's common on the final versions but hard to see (and really hard to photograph!).

Well spotted (and well photographed), Glenn!
As Ghosty has pointed out, it is a modification designed to facilitate release from the mould, this being a particular issue with larger, flatter surfaces (hence the rather odd and, to me when I was young, completely inexplicable modification to the roof of the 73c Mercury Commuter). Another example of the later addition of cross-hatching to the inside of a model's roof is the 56a trolley bus.
Going off at a slight tangent, I'm always surprised at how often Lesney found it worthwhile to modify castings that were essentially at the end of their lives. It does make me wonder just how far ahead they planned, and when in the process numbers were actually allocated to new models. (The number of baseplates with plinths under the numbers shows that they often changed their minds very late in the day!)

[jsherwood]

Well spotted by the good doctor. On checking my tippers, my later variations (BPW and GPW 45 tread tippers) have the hatching, but my 3 earlier 24 tread tippers do not. I've updated my sheet from my earlier post above.

Cheers
John