Somerville Railway Passenger Figures. Made From Original Dinky Toys Pre-war Moulds

            Doug McHard joined Meccano in 1967 and by the early 1970s he had become the editor of the Meccano Magazine in the early 1970s. His final position was the Marketing Director of the Meccano and Dinky Toys ranges, a position which he held until 1978. By this time Meccano sadly was in very serious trouble and when he was made redundant he was allowed to take a number of moulds of the early, larger sized, 1930s Hornby/Dinky figures with him. 
In 1978 he set up Somerville Models in Lincolnshire and specialised in the design and production of low-volume, very high-quality, diecast model cars. He was an absolute perfectionist in everything he did and quickly built up a faithful following of dedicated collectors throughout the world who were willing to pay high prices for such superb models.  He generally chose to model vehicles that had not previously been made as Dinky Toys.
Utilising the Meccano dies he did some test casts of the figures with a view to possibly selling them but unfortunately these plans never materialised and they did not go further than a small series of trial castings. Five of the castings he acquired were of the pre-war Railway Passengers Gift Set and twelve examples of these which were recently sold at auction are shown here. 
Doug McHards demands for high quality show through in the painting of the Somerville figures which has a higher level of detail than the original Hornby/Dinky items. The Somerville figures are: The Woman and Child (four examples), the Business Man (one example), the Male Hiker (two examples), the Female Hiker (two examples), the Newsboy (one example)  and the Woman (two examples). 
Most of them are mounted on cream bases but some of the bases have been painted black, these were tests and, had they gone into production, the final colour schemes may have been different – we will never know. 
A comprehensive obituary for Doug McHard from The London Times is easy to find on the internet and is a fascinating read.

   

Taken on: November 26, 2020

Sets appears in: • Dinky Toys Accessories • Hornby more » • Model Railways « less

Groups appears in: • Nikon Digital • UK more » • UK Flickr users • Art of Photography - The Eye of the Beholder! • Magic Moments • Collections • + Toys ( 玩具,おもちゃ ) • Liverpool • Family Photography • Vintage Toys • #flickr • Miniatures • People Watching • Bright Colors • Railways in miniature • Toys Toys Toys • anything is ok • Photography Corner • Nikon Digital SLRs • This • Vivid colors • Family • Model Trains • Meccano • Nikon DSLR Users • ART / REAL • Great Britain • Photography Gallery (3 photos/day) • Family Vintage • *People All Over World* • Scale Model • Times Gone By • Cool Britannia - The Best of British on Flickr • The Flikr Group • Child Photography • Family pics and kid pics! • ! ART & PHOTOGRAPHY ! All artistic works welcome • People pictures • Scale Models • Pictures Of England • Nostalgias • Nikkor 60mm f2.8 • Macro Photography Unlimited • This Is England • Model Rail • Dinky Toys • Photography Magazine, I Heart • toy or toys • Flickr Number One !! • CHILDREN AND PEOPLE OF THE WORLD • Flickr: YOUR PHOTOS • Models of trains and railroads • People & Portrait Photography • Engineering as Art • Toys in Close-up • O-gauge model railroading • Meccano Models • MADE IN ENGLAND • diecastaholics.com • Scale Model Railroaders • Science, Technology, History • British Toy Making • [][][]splendid life[][][] • Vintage Collections • Nikon D800-D850 and Nikon Z7-Z9 Users Group • Diecast toys • 10 Million MORE Photos • Vintage Metal World • Flickr center • Meccano Magazine • Perfect Beauty II • A Personal Viewpoint • Group for all users of FLICKR - No 30/60 Groups Limit • !*Only Your Best*! • 70 Plus (For photographers aged 70 and above)... • Vintage Diecast • Gift Sets • The best photographs from around the world. « less

Camera: Nikon D800, f/36.0, 2.5 sec, 60mm, ISO 500 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon D800
Lens:	60.0 mm f/2.8
Aperture:	f/36.0
Exposure Time:	2.5
Focal Length:	60mm
ISO:	500
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Manual
Exposure Mode:	Manual
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Gain Control:	Low gain up
Sharpness:	Hard
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	Adobe Photoshop 22.0 (Macintosh)
Show full info

Stats: 3,606 views / 2 comments

Link to this photo view:
Link to this photo large view: