david_scrivener Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 The two gigs are from different eras - the one in front is post-war but the one behind is pre-war and is not only finer but has more detail. . I love both of them and one has a picnic basket which I have never seen in any book on Britains except for listing of a smaller version in the Lilliput range (I have that one too) When you have the time and inclination to do so, I'd like to see photos of both baskets. The Britains liliput basket is quite big for Liliput, would represent something like an old fashioned industrial laundry basket, and would indeed look about right as a picnic basket if used with 1/32 figures. JoHillCo, Timpo, Bassett-Lowke, and other companies all made various items of luggage for various scales of model/toy trains, including O guage (about 1/45), 1 guage (1/32) and US 'Standard Guage' (about 1/25, equiv to 70mm figures such as US Dimestore figures). Very few luggage items were marked with a company name, and so all difficult to identify. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leakeyvale Posted February 19, 2012 Author Share Posted February 19, 2012 Some model railways have a background of hills or mountains which are built up in steps , As the height increases the landscape items get smaller giving an impression of distance. It works best when it is viewed from the front but the difficulty comes in keeping the entire thing flat enough in profile while allowing enough space on the steps for the accessory items to stand and without making the steps too obvious. Some clever paintwork is also needed to create light and shade in places where there are none (if that makes sense). The mill hill was my first attempt and I am planning to rebuild it. The problem is that the mill is 1:200 scale (if not smaller still) so the difference between that and the 1:32 figures on the rest of the board is huge. The mill base needs to be on a corner so I have to have a triangular "hill". I have a backdrop that increases the perspective and It works beautifully if it is on its own but with another board alongside it doesn't. I need to reduce the profile somewhat and I have to build it to find out that if it works or not! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leakeyvale Posted February 19, 2012 Author Share Posted February 19, 2012 (edited) When you have the time and inclination to do so, I'd like to see photos of both baskets. The Britains liliput basket is quite big for Liliput, would represent something like an old fashioned industrial laundry basket, and would indeed look about right as a picnic basket if used with 1/32 figures. JoHillCo, Timpo, Bassett-Lowke, and other companies all made various items of luggage for various scales of model/toy trains, including O guage (about 1/45), 1 guage (1/32) and US 'Standard Guage' (about 1/25, equiv to 70mm figures such as US Dimestore figures). Very few luggage items were marked with a company name, and so all difficult to identify. Identifying a lot of models can be a challenge! You can get away with wrong scale with things like luggage and crates because in reality they come in a multitude of sizes, I use 1:43 scale children to augment my visitor population and they fit because children come in all sizes. But also many of the standard 1:32 items are off-scale. Cats, for example, are as big as dogs, foxes and hares tend to be over-large too and I have some yellow chicks that are likely to grow into ostriches. I will look for the Lilliput basket which is, I agree, rather large for a picnic basket in 1:76 scale (unless it is a really big family). They are all packed away at the moment because I have dismantled Lilliput Vale for the time being. Being so small it is going to be a case of hunt the basket. I have another 5 or 6 baseboards which I have not photographed because they are either dismantled/not in use, just a collection of models being displayed or are currently in a stack. As I am supposed to be taking a display down to Bursledon Brickworks Victoriana day I need to get cracking on a couple of them otherwise it will be a single cabinet. Edited February 19, 2012 by Leakeyvale Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leakeyvale Posted February 19, 2012 Author Share Posted February 19, 2012 (edited) These images are out of my database so are not brilliant This is the 1:32 hamper that came with the gig and I discover I have TWO Lilliput ones I will try to find them and put them together in one photo to get an idea of size Edited February 19, 2012 by Leakeyvale Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leakeyvale Posted February 19, 2012 Author Share Posted February 19, 2012 Well I foundone hamper in the Lilliput box and it is the same size! There I am shot down in flames! (but I never claim to be an expert) The one that came with the Farmer's Gig was given to me around 2007 and the other arrived in a collection of Lilliput bits. I obviously updated the Lilliput database and forgot to remove the entry in the other database AND forgot they were the same! Thanks David for putting me right! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Palmer Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 the blacksmiths scene is fantastic sue,nice to see older scenes,love it all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leakeyvale Posted February 19, 2012 Author Share Posted February 19, 2012 the blacksmiths scene is fantastic sue,nice to see older scenes,love it all All the items in the Forge are from the Vintage Home Farm series Forge/Blacksmith/Farrier sets and so are relatively new models produced in the 1990s. Most of my collection is the old hollowcast toys that were produced until the mid-1950s before the plastics started to appear. The forge has been on display at Toytrac. The Ford Transit van is there because my displays represented a Heritage Park - Blists Hill type of scenario - which allows me to display various eras in one area and accommodate modern pieces. In this case the farriers turning up with all their equipment to tend the Park's horses and of course farriers tend to dress more or less the same whatever the era Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_scrivener Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 Identifying a lot of models can be a challenge! You can get away with wrong scale with things like luggage and crates because in reality they come in a multitude of sizes, I use 1:43 scale children to augment my visitor population and they fit because children come in all sizes. But also many of the standard 1:32 items are off-scale. Cats, for example, are as big as dogs, foxes and hares tend to be over-large too and I have some yellow chicks that are likely to grow into ostriches. 'off-scale' items are perceived as a problem by present day adult collectors, but we should remember a few things: 1) They were TOYS for KIDS! 2) They had to keep items to a reasonably uniform range of prices. Very tiny items, although accurate to scale, probably wouldn't have sold well because they would have been perceived as poor value for money, likewise very large items (elephants!) would have been too expensive for many families if made to proper scale. Only Britains, well known for being 'upmarket' and more expensive than their competitors, made a proper 1/32 scale elephant, although the Timpo lead elephant with Howdah tiger hunting set (it really was a different world back then!) wasn't far behind size-wise. 3) Many manufacturers, especially JoHillCo, were manufacturing for several markets. Undersized (for 1/32) items might have been at least partly aimed at the toy train (O guage) and Dinky Car market (about 1/45). Over scaled items may well have been intended for the US market, where 70mm (about 1/25) 'Dimestore' figures became their norm by 1930. Some of JoHillCo's oversized zoo animals and the rare running paper boy from the railway set spring to mind. I've recently bought some of their 70mm WW1 soldiers, known to have been aimed at the US Dimestore market, and the paper boy looks just right with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leakeyvale Posted February 21, 2012 Author Share Posted February 21, 2012 Exactly - they were toys and I have no problems with that but possibly the main reason for them being overs cale is that they would be far too small. Chicks were often grouped on a base to get around the problem for 1:32 but can you imagine chicks in 1:76? The bigger items generally get put in the front of my diorama displays where they are "foreground) or kept together in a standard display cabinet. I really only collect things I like and size does not matter too much. As for size/price that is exactly where Matchbox first started from when all the toys fitted into the same size box and were the first "pocket money" toys (Dinky were expensive). But I remember as a child (about 5) not wanting a Matchbox London bus because it was so tiny compared with the other cars despite the fact that many of those were out of scale too but less obvious. This is still happening as I have read several articles about Corgi models not always being the correct scale but we will not go there.... I keep away from soldiers and zoo and stick with the farm stuff! Although I have been tempted by the wild west... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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