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I have 2 #46 in gold with opening doors
first has all solid wheels A21 34 20 12 second 7D 5D 4D 35D

I came across a much slimmer rim face design on the Maltese Cross rear wheels of the #36 Formula 5000 Racer.
I was wondering if this is caused by the heat foiling,the pressure,worn dies or is this the initial early design.
What do others think?
numi

Have you got bionic eyes Wonder Woman? The difference is easy to miss but on closer inspection i can see what you are talking about.however I am not sure what has caused the difference as it is so subtle to be honest. Whats with the model without racing numbers is it another one of your prepros Numi?

Thanks MM. This design is instantly noticed by eye without a loupe and quite distinct.
Prepro....not sure about this one cos it has all the production run traits except for these Maltese rear wheels,no decals and the orange is unusual and about 3x shades lighter that the production runs.Could be a Color-Trial but unsure.

Any views from other wheel specialists...Ghosty,Sms88,Reg and others.
numi

I would imagine this is the result of a Secondary set of tools (molds for some members), and Lesney would have taken the precaution to have more than the One set to mould their plastic wheels, this has pretty much been the conclusion from our findings in earlier pictures and comments about the thin wheels.

Within the specifications laid down for the production of these wheels, there will be a 'Plus' or 'Minus' tolerance, the amount of leeway allowed-for during production and any shrinkage during the cooling down period of the wheels. They will also take into consideration the amount of tool ware resulting from long production runs of wheels and those wheels should still be within the tolerance allowed, if they are outside the given tolerance, they could modify the tooling to bring the tolerance back-in to the laid down specification or make a new replacement set of tools.

You also have the different interpretation of the drawings by the tool makers.

GHOSTHUNTER.

Hello Ghosty and all,
as requested here are some shots of the wheel numbers from my 8 wheel crane.
Cheers.

Thank's slicc64 for the pictures.

'D', 'E' and 'H' all appear during 1970, this does not mean the actual model came out in 1970, but is a good guide that it did, as the hoppers holding the wheels ready for production would have 'left-over' wheels from earlier production (the 'D' and 'E' wheels) and by chance a model may be fitted with all older wheels giving a false date of issue, fortunately the models were proving very popular and Lesney had difficulties keeping up production, with overtime being done by most of the workforce to take care of extra production, this meant the hoppers were constantly being emptied of wheels and more stock had to be sourced.

GHOSTHUNTER.

I have just added the 1970 date to my wheel mould number dates on page 10 of this thread (see here...viewtopic.php?f=8&t=3477&p=41338#p41338), as thanks to Jason with his colour trial #24c Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow, it has 'J' numbers and the casting is the 1970 type with certain details that were removed before the end of 1970.

GHOSTHUNTER.

GHOSTHUNTER wrote:Thank's slicc64 for the pictures.

'D', 'E' and 'H' all appear during 1970, this does not mean the actual model came out in 1970, but is a good guide that it did, as the hoppers holding the wheels ready for production would have 'left-over' wheels from earlier production (the 'D' and 'E' wheels) and by chance a model may be fitted with all older wheels giving a false date of issue, fortunately the models were proving very popular and Lesney had difficulties keeping up production, with overtime being done by most of the workforce to take care of extra production, this meant the hoppers were constantly being emptied of wheels and more stock had to be sourced.

GHOSTHUNTER.

SF Wheels, in fact whole wheel sets for SF cars, were made in a separate factory away from the main assembly lines in Hackney so its also their stock levels to consider if the assembly plant ordered just in time or used leftovers from previous runs.Lesney parts stock useage seems to have been on a last in first out basis with earliest made items always being last removed from their pallet/box with wheel plant having stocks to respond to anticipated orders....

Ghosty, as requested here are the wheel mould numbers of my blue dome #55 Mercury Police Car front to rear: 28G, 29G, 46G, 7G.