69c Rolls Royce Silver Shadow

[ChFalkensteiner]

Thanks for the explanations!

Unlike Mick, I am interested in collecting different castings that were produced concurrently from two or more moulds, but only if I can see the differences clearly - that is from a close distance, but preferably without the use of a magnifying glass.

Presently it seems to me that the casting differences mentioned for the 69c are all too small for me to be able to distinguish them clearly, and therefore I tend to ignore them, as I do for many other models.

Besides, if it is true that all of those differences are the result of the concurrent use of two or more moulds (about which I am not 100% sure yet), distinguishing them does not help at all in establishing the place of a variation in the model's production timeline.

[GHOSTHUNTER]

Thanks for the explanations!

Unlike Mick, I am interested in collecting different castings that were produced concurrently from two or more moulds, but only if I can see the differences clearly - that is from a close distance, but preferably without the use of a magnifying glass.

Presently it seems to me that the casting differences mentioned for the 69c are all too small for me to be able to distinguish them clearly, and therefore I tend to ignore them, as I do for many other models.

Besides, if it is true that all of those differences are the result of the concurrent use of two or more moulds (about which I am not 100% sure yet), distinguishing them does not help at all in establishing the place of a variation in the model's production timeline.

Hi guys, appreciate all the feedback, that's why we all come here with our models and views on those models.

None of my earlier detail notes on the 69c, were found with the use of a magnifying glass, nor do I need one to see them, and as soon as I post the new pictures, I am sure an agreement will be forthcoming about them.

I have been sitting on these models for years, quietly thinking that one day I will show them to other collectors and they can be integrated into what reference material exists at the time, 'John Ramsay' type books, magazine articles or, what we now have, the internet.

Either my philosophy on collecting is wrong, or I have chosen the wrong time to bring my models forward, (or even the wrong models), whatever, I am waiting for the weather to brake, so I can get on with those pictures, I like to use natural daylight which at the moment, in fact all over the weekend, has been wet and horrible

Regards,
GHOSTHUNTER.

[SMS88]

None of my earlier detail notes on the 69c, were found with the use of a magnifying glass, nor do I need one to see them, and as soon as I post the new pictures, I am sure an agreement will be forthcoming about them.

I have been sitting on these models for years, quietly thinking that one day I will show them to other collectors and they can be integrated into what reference material exists at the time, 'John Ramsay' type books, magazine articles or, what we now have, the internet.

Either my philosophy on collecting is wrong, or I have chosen the wrong time to bring my models forward, (or even the wrong models), whatever, I am waiting for the weather to brake, so I can get on with those pictures, I like to use natural daylight which at the moment, in fact all over the weekend, has been wet and horrible

Regards,
GHOSTHUNTER.

This is actually a very good time for a discussion like this because we have moved to a new forum and nothing beats a meaty topic on these wet and windy days.It does indeed appear that there are overlooked pre-pro seats used on a small volume of blue SF69c so we have learned something and may hope to learn more about what is one of my most favourite half dozen SF castings.There is no right or wrong collecting philosophy provided whatever you collect makes you happy to do it.Some folks collect what they can afford,some folks are completists,others take a more narrow focus and then some simply collect only things they like, plenty of space for all sorts to learn more about their Lesneys here.

[GHOSTHUNTER]

Back at last.

I do consider myself a 'completist' collector, I will chase anything with a Rolls-Royce grille and after buying so many models, I decided to try and sort them into an order as if they were displayed on a shelf. I started doing this seriously in the early eighties and it becomes clear with most of the 'Brands', that you can put them in a production order starting with the earliest to the last, (depending of coarse how many examples of the same model you have, if you only have three, a little pointless, but 20+ works well) and as we all know, the products from Lesney lend themselves easily to this type of collecting.

Back to the topic in hand, I have now got some more pictures for you to study and hope you find them as interesting as any others posted earlier.

For clarity, I have left some of the images in a large file size, so just left click on them to display all the image.

Regards,
GHOSTHUNTER.

[GHOSTHUNTER]

COMMENTS ON PICTURE A, the three boots.

I have three models with the first type of boot design, the sharp join at the point where the boot's backwall joins the boot floor and fairly rounded corners as arrowed in Orange.

Then I have several models with the curved join at the bottom of the backwall, still with rounded top corners as arrowed in Orange, then the last blue models have the sharp bottom join, but sharper top corners as arrowed in Green, and this also has wider hinge openings as arrowed in Lilac.

The second body casting definately comes from a different set of tools/moulds for 69c, as there are so many diffences all over the model, some of which are very suttle, but it still only has the normal sized wheel arches, not the opend-up ones for the wider wheels.

GHOSTHUNTER.

[GHOSTHUNTER]

COMMENTS ON PICTURE B, the front valance.

This area looks as if they were trying to make a towing hole of some sort, because there clearly is a section in the mould, that was designed to slide out, allowing a smaller part to be put in that may have a ridge on it, much the same as they did with #24, the Silver Shadow saloon.

I have three models without these casing lines, all what I consider to be early examples, then several examples with the two casting lines as shown in picture B, but the second body casting, shown in picture A, is smooth again on the valance.

GHOSTHUNTER.

[GHOSTHUNTER]

COMMENTS ON PICTURES C and D, front valances.

I have done two versions of the same picture, the normal exposure selected by the camera and a slightly underexposed version, just for clarity of the two vertical casting lines on the valance.

GHOSTHUNTER.

[GHOSTHUNTER]

COMMENTS ON PICTURE E, the door locks.

The top model is body casting 1, with the large door locks against the smaller locks on body casting 2, the lower model.

Note the gap immediately below the lock on the lower model, the area between the lock itself and the natural door panel 'crease' top edge. There simply is not a gap of any significance on the top model, body casting 1.

GHOSTHUNTER.

[motorman]

Ghosty,

I find your analysis of this model very facinating, I have a long way to go to collect all these casting variations!

[GHOSTHUNTER]

COMMENTS ON PICTURE G, the rear bumper 'cut-out'.

The tow hook arm was laid in a 'cut-out' section of the underside of the rear bumper, on all examples upto body casting 2, the ends of the bumper that faced the tow hook arm, are designed with a flat edge, on the second body casting, these have a rounded finish to the edges, (the right hand side model).

GHOSTHUNTER.