37B Karrier Bantam SPW

[tractorboy]

Recently received this model and would like some advice regarding the axle ends.

Code 10: 9 x 24 SPW, rounded ends, small 11.5mm rear decal

My immediate thought was that silver wheels had been added and the axles repeened.
Guess you can imagine some of the thoughts going through my head……….

A few cups of tea later, some thinking about it and examination with a lens I now have some other thoughts.
Interested in what those on the forum think before I share those ideas.

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This was what raised my initial thoughts about the repeening.

FRONT

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REAR

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[nickjones]

Hi Rodger.
The axle ends do not look like they were done by Lesney, I have never seen this variation and I wonder if it really exists.

[numi]

I too agree that the axle-ends look clearly suspect.Constant,inconsistent hammering of these axle-ends tends to create not only uneven burrs but leaves a swollen stem near/behind the axle-ends exactly as configured and noted on this specimen.This gives the wheels a tighter fit and causes intermittent jamming.The axles themselves seem to be donors.
numi

[Idris]

First of all, it's mint (which I always consider to be suspicious when something really unexpected turns up, e.g. a two-line green 46b).
Second, what is up with the (UK) offside rear wheel? Why is it at an angle in one of the photographs? Is there excessive play between the hub and the axle?

[SMS88]

Those axle ends look home made - I dont see the usual tell tale Lesney pip in the centre of the hub and on one the burring isnt symmetrical

[kwakers]

At first glance the straight on view of the rear axle looked right, while the same was not true of the bad looking front axle end. The more detailed later side shots really show peened axle ends rather than factory spun consistent axle ends on both front and rear.
These silver wheeled Coke Trucks did appear here in the U.S. Nick. Bob Brennen had one listed in his collection from 1973, and Harold Colpitts also listed it as a known variation in his Guide. Just like you Nick, I have never seen one myself, but there is no doubt they were factory produced in very limited numbers. These silver wheeled Coke Trucks would have to rank as one of the rarest wheel variations in the regular wheel Lesney collection. I would have to hold one of these in my hand to inspect before I could justify any price on it. Provenance means little if the model turns out to be a fake when closely examined. Thanks for having the courage to share this Coke Truck with us, I am sorry we can't be more positive about it's authenticity. I want to drool over the quality of your detailed pictures tonight, they are some of the best I have seen here on the Forum.
An old friend of mine could not justify paying big $$ for wheel variations that were rare, so he would try and make them himself to display with the original axle ends facing out. It ruined his whole collection in my mind, but I am sure those crude fakes are still being sold and passed within our U.S. Lesney collector community. kwakers

[yellowfoden]

Hello Rodger,

In addition to the above information I wonder if this model may have been stepped on at some point, hence the temptation for new wheels. The front of the cab appears to show fracture points on window pillars.

The base plate shape at the front is something I also have not seen before.
It appears that the base plate is not fitted properly and is missing a small section of base plate in front of the spread rivet. This is allowing the base plate to move towards the rear as seen by the off centre wheel in one photo. I am curious as to how the base plate is held on at the front given the apparent clearance.

Thank you for the really detailed quality images.

[GHOSTHUNTER]

I have to agree with "Yellowfoden", it looks like damage around the front screen pillars and the very front section of the baseplate appears to have a section missing as he describes and how does the baseplate stay connected to the body on this model?

The side view of this model also shows it to be sagging in the middle as if some pressure was applied to it such as somebody standing on it, causing the casting to bend slightly.

GHOSTHUNTER.

[motorman]

In addition to the comments above, looking at the axles they are clearly not parallel to each other suggesting the base plate is slightly warped maybe from the model being stood on as has been previously suggested.

[tractorboy]

Thank you everyone for the comments. Very much in line with my first thoughts when I inspected the model.

Before I come to the axle ends, I'll attempt to answer the queries regarding the baseplate, axles & wheels.

(yellowfoden, ghost hunter) Yes, I believe at some point it has been stood upon or compressed. The centre pillar of the windows is bent in and outside pillars bent out. As pointed out there is evidence of paint stress.
The cab rear is lower and not in line with the crate bed supporting the idea of being pushed down from around the top decal board. Though there does not appear to be much damage apart from a small chip.

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The baseplate is secured by the spread rivet and not glued. I've inspected the end of the baseplate that curves around the rivet and it does not appear to be broken off as the black paint extends over the edges, apart from a small area near the rivet. I've tried gently applying pressure to see if it would pop out in the case of someone removing and repainting but it will not go over the rivet. The paint and finish appears consistent with my other models.

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(motorman) I measured the axles and they are parallel, think it just the angle I photographed.

(Idris) The rear off-side wheel is OK, again it's my camera angle.

(sms88) Re the Lesney pip view IMG 5796 - appears to be pip there.

AXLES
In line with forum comments I immediately thought replacement wheels & hand peened axle ends.
I thought I would then check other models from around the same time period (circa 1960) to see if similar ends appeared.
When I started looking I found a whole range of different ends (Nick, could be a new discussion strand here ).
The ends ranged from well formed rounded ends to almost flat ends. So I tried to find out how the ends were formed.
Read throughout the 40 Year book and on page 53 it mentions wheeling machines being built from 1966 (not sure if it refers to axles or creation of wheels). It also mentions pressing or spinning rivets. I also viewed some old videos to get a clue as to how the ends were created. In one of the clips it appears to show a hand operated press http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2014 ... hbox-cars/.
Frank Carnahan http://www.fcarnahan.com/pg/wheels.html ... r%20wheelsmentions that change over to rounded ends occurred in 1958.

A common feature of the ends was centre dimple and what appears to be tooling marks that would support the ideas of a press.

A RANGE OF ENDS
I examined about 60 models (then exhaustion set in).
I was going to title each model but I'll leave it you to play guess the model. Haven't included all the photos but here are examples.

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Found many examples where the ends were not consistent e.g. one axle pressed the other pre-formed, perhaps supporting hand done rather than an automatic process.

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From all of this I would like to make some observations.

Axle end production was not a consistent, conformed process.
It was probably hand done in the initial period of change over from crimped to rounded.
If a press was used & hand operated is it likely that errors in alignment would occur in the process?
There are a significant percentage of models that exhibit unformed/irregular ends.
Does this alter how we look at similar examples that have appeared on the forum?
I've got a lot of modified models in my collection .

Thanks, if you're still reading/viewing this. If this is a home made model I've still got value from it from the research I have done and what I have found out. My next step is to contact the seller and ask about the provenance of the model to see if that sheds any light.

I look forward to any comments that anyone would like to offer.

Rodger