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The quest for the Holy Grail, … well almost! The
following will be of interest to any serious model collector, and not just for
Magnette owners, so please do not pigeon hole and ignore it if you would like to
have a good quality model of your pride and joy.
As some of you may know, I have recently added an MG Magnette ZA to my collection of M.G.s (MGB GT, MGB, M.G. YA). Probably, like many of you, I like to have models of my toys (or should that be “toys of my models”?) and along with my full sized ones I have a collection of some 20+ scale models. I even have some in my collection of which I will never have the full sized version of ~ MGF, T Types, MGAs and an 1100. Therefore, it was only natural that I
pulled “MG Collectables”*
off my bookshelf to have a look to see what was available for Zs.
I was rather disappointed though to find that there were only four makers
listed (DG, Mikansue, Brooklin (spelled
Brooklyn in the book), and Abingdon Classics) for 1/43 scale.
I guess it would have been an impossible task for the author to list
whether any or all the models shown in the book could now be obtained.
However, … there is always the Internet. So it was that I set about searching the
search engines for MG Magnette, MG Magnette models, Mikansue, Brooklyn (and
Brooklin), Lansdowne, DG Models, etc. and got back some of what can best be
described as “interesting” results but sadly, nothing much on what I was
after. As anyone who has searched
the Internet knows, you either get loads of potential sites, or nothing.
After distilling all the leads thrown up, I was left with just 2 email
addresses out of the several thousand sites, and one of those turned out to be a
blind alley. Still, as the
optimists say, “you only have to catch one fish when fishing to make it
worthwhile” and indeed the last one did turn up trumps. I then began a correspondance with a
gentleman called Jack Welch at http://www.tiac.net/users/cartoys/
or email at cartoys@tiac.com.
Jack was extremely helpful (he is an American and thought I was Canadian)
and suggested that he would be able to get a model to me reasonably quickly, and
for a reasonable price. As emails
passed to and from he mentioned that his source was in the UK so I informed him
that I was in the UK. He kindly put
me in touch with a UK distributor of a Brooklin standard model.
They were St Martins Accessories, 95 St Martins Lane, WC2, London, and I
got the number via UK Directory Enquiries (http://www.bt.com/phonenetuk/
a site well worth book marking!).
When I explained that I was after a custom version they gave me the
factory address of Brooklin in Bath, just up the road (60 miles or so). The net was getting smaller now!
UK Directory Enquiries on the World Wide Wait was able to supply the
telephone number so I called Brooklin. Again,
after an explanation of who I was and what I wanted, I was politely told that
they do not sell to the public, but only through distributors.
When I then further explained about the fact that I was interested in
customised versions (I now required 2, one for me and one for a friend) when …
suddenly … the heavens opened, a great light shone and a trumpet fanfare
played and I was told “Oh well that’s OK.
You need to get in touch with John Roberts” and I was given his
address. This was even better; John was my side of Devizes, only 30
miles away! UK Directory Enquires
again, and after a short phone call and a visit to his web site the price was
agreed and the commissions were placed. John
does a variety of models and makes http://www.jrcustombuilt.com/
in amazing detail even down to custom number plates. His terrestrial address is The Old Malt House, Church Mill,
Chirton, Devizes Wiltshire SN10 3QX. His
email address is available on his website as a hyperlink.
In particular you should check out his British page (click on British
catalogue). I am very pleased with the way the
models have turned out, (and when Santa has been, so will Malcolm).
For those of you who would like John to do you one of your personal car,
all I can say is get in touch with him. He
is very obliging and helpful and his prices are very reasonable, the quality is
fantastic.
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