Micromodels - Your workshop all in a cigar-box

[Terry]

With Christmas 2023 a mere five days away, lets have a look at the tv line-up on Christmas Day. Call the Midwife, Eastenders, Morcambe and Wise, Strictly Come Dancing, The Masked Singer, Pottery Throwdown, and numerous films which you have seen a dozen times before. Leave all of this drivel behind and escape with me to the land of MICROMODELS - YOUR WORKSHOP ALL IN A CIGAR-BOX.

Watch this space over the Christmas period.

Terry

 

[Mike Trice]

I have a few of these tucked away safely that I bought a few years ago, so will be watching with interest.

 

[Terry]

I have a few of these tucked away safely that I bought a few years ago, so will be watching with interest.

Any idea which models you have Mike?

Terry

 

[Mike Trice]

Offhand, no. I bought a job lot of railway kits from an Antique Centre some years back. I know it included PG8 (Drummond 4-6-0 LSWR, Greater Britain LNWR and Ivatt Atlantic GNR) as I scanned them (on the basis you should now never cut up originals).

Will try and remember where I put them for safe keeping and let you know.

 

[Mike Trice]

Managed to find some:
H1: Famous Historic Locos; Puffing Billy, Rocket, Locomotion
LS1: Lineside features; Station, Bridge, Signal Box, Signals
Booklet: Making Models in Card

Will keep looking as I am sure I have a few more.

 

[Terry]

Thanks Mike. Interesting kits. They will all be included in my presentation. I agree about not cutting up the originals.

Terry

 

[Mike Trice]

Looking forward to it.

 

[Neil]

Oooooh, Pottery Throwdown, I do like watching people make stuff.

 

[Terry]

I'll try to get this thread up and running this evening, it being Christmas Eve.

Terry

 

[Northroader]

Going back in time, I’m old enough to remember having a proper Christmas stocking, with stuff like an orange in it, but also a Miromodel card set to make up, which I really enjoyed. I haven’t looked for a while, but if you do search you can find the Card sets on the net, both original, and also spin-off copies for other items.

World of Micromodels •

On this website you can find everything about the World of Micromodels. Micromodels are very small paper models.

worldofmicromodels.nl

 

[Terry]

Just to brighten-up the forthcoming festive season and to give you somewhere to escape to when 'The Sound of Music' is being shown on the box for the umpteenth time , I would like to share with you a fascination of mine. I have a collection of miniature card model kits, dating from the 1940s to the 1960s, which were once popular in the U.K. before the arrival of plastic model kits. Modellers of a 'certain age' may well remember buying these kits in their younger days and I hope that you will enjoy this ride through 'reminiscence land'. To our younger modellers I hope that you will be interested to learn just what was available to modellers in a Britain where the term 'hi-tec' didn't exist. Many of us didn't have cars, telephones, or even fridges. Central heating was for public buildings or the rich, and, in London, the smog was a common winter hazard,

In order to tell the Micromodel story, I have widely consulted the excellent publication 'Micromodels' by L.J.Harrison, and I give credit to him here. A small amount of 'history' is necessary to understand how Micromodels came into being, and I hope you will bear with me.

The Micromodel range included railways, historic buildings, ships, aeroplanes, cars, and items of a miscellaneous nature, such as a threshing machine and a beam engine. I will start the story with the railway models and, if there is sufficient interest, I will go on to describe the other models in the range.

So, having set the scene...welcome to the world of...

MICROMODELS

Your Workshop all in a Cigar Box

​

Terry

 

[Terry]

The Micromodels story...

Our story starts back in about 1941 with a company called Modelcraft Ltd. of 77 Grosvenor Road, London, SW1, who published plans for model makers. About this time, Geoffrey Heighway became their chief designer of card models. A number of miniature card kits were produced, mostly with a military theme, under the name of 'Micromodels', In 1947, Heighway left Modelcraft Ltd. and formed his own company, Micromodels Ltd. of 6 Racquet Court, Fleet Street, London EC4.

Micromodels Ltd. produced its first railway models which cost 1s.3d (just over 6p) each. Like the Modelcraft Micromodels, each model consisted of an attractive coloured wrapper with six cards slipped inside. Many of the kits consisted of two or three models. All of the railway models were to a constant scale. I don't know the exact scale but I think that it would equate to something like 2mm=1ft or slightly smaller (just smaller than 'N Gauge'). Each Micromodel wrapper and cards measured approximately five inches long by three and six-eights inches wide.


The first five sets were issued in 1947 and included Set A1 which contained parts to make two locomotives, a giant streamlined 4-4-4-4 with a 16-wheeled tender, of the Pennsylvania Railroad and a 4-4-4, with 8-wheeled tender, of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Today, this is one of the rarest Micromodels. If you have one, I would be pleased to receive it as a Christmas present!


Terry

 

[Terry]

Set C1 featured a 3ft 6ins Beyer-Garratt of African Railways. The wrapper was unusual in that it had a photographic style, unlike most of the other Micromodels which had coloured artwork, as on Set A1 previously discussed. The other model in this set was a 4-8-4 K Class of New Zealand Railways.

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Set F1 consisted of two locomotives, a black German State Railways 4-6-4 streamliner with a 10-wheeled tender and a brown Paris-Lyons-Mediterranean Railway 4-6-2 streamliner with an 8-wheeled tender. This is now another very rare set.

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Also released as one of the first five sets was Set H1. This was a rather interesting set of 'Famous Historic Locos', namely 'Puffing Billy', 'Rocket' and 'Locomotion'. Two cards were devoted to 'Rocket' which included an early passenger coach. Two cards produced 'Locomotion' and two open wagons. The other two cards would produce 'Puffing Billy' and an early carriage. A very common model these days.

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For comparison purposes I have also included here the Modelcraft Ltd. Set J1 featuring Stephenson's Rocket. This was released in 1947 but was probably designed by Geoffrey Heighway a few years earlier when he still worked for Modelcraft Ltd.

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The remaining set of the first five railway Micromodels issued in 1947 was Set M1, which consisted of 'Famous British Locos'. Your 1/3d of 'old money' would have bought you three locomotives. Two cards were devoted to an LMS 'Duchess' class 4-6-2 in maroon livery. Another two cards would produce a green Southern Railway 4-6-0 'Lord Collingwood' and the final two cards would provide you with an LNER 4-6-2 'Super Pacific'. This kit is scarce these days.

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More soon.

Terry

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[Terry]

Into 1948 and the railway models continued to be released, although at the higher price of 1/6d (7.5 New Pence). Set AC featured a black New York Central 4-8-4 with a 14-wheeled tender. The other loco in this set was a Victorian Railways (Australia) 4-6-2 'Edward Henty'. Very rare set.

This year also saw the release of Set C2. This featured the South African Railways Royal Train, as used by HM King George VI, on his visit to South Africa. The set comprised a 3ft 6ins gauge 4-8-2 of class 15F, and three coaches. Another vary rare model.

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Set HM was also released, comprising a GNR Stirling Single 4-2-2 in lime green and a LNER Pacific class A4 4-6-2 in blue. Rare.

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Set HM2 was also produced in 1948. In this set we were presented with two locomotives, GWR 4-6-0 'King George V' and GWR 4-2-2 Broad Gauge loco of 1851. Apparently, a mistake was made on the original artwork and the boiler of 'King George V' could not be formed properly.
This was corrected in a 1954 reprint. The reprints are commonly available.

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This year also saw the production of Set M2, comprising an LMS 'Coronation' class' streamliner and SR West Country class 4-6-2 'Salisbury'. Earlier prints are rare but later reprints are available.

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More to follow...

Terry

 

[Terry]

Into 1949 with the introduction of more models. As a change from locomotives, Set X was produced. This consisted of six carriages, printed one per card. For your 1/8d you became the proud owner of one GWR chocolate and cream corridor coach, one LMS maroon Vestibule Car, one LMS blue Coronation Coach, one LNER corridor coach in teak, one brown and cream third class Pullman coach and a SR green corridor coach.

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And now we come to one of my favourites, Set M3, '8 Tank Engines & Wagons'. This was an interesting mix consisting of a GWR 2-6-2 tank loco, a LNER J50 0-6-0, an LMS 0-4-0 saddle tank, a 14ton tank wagon, an LNER box van, a SR insulated meat van, an LMS brake van and a NER open wagon. First published in 1949 at 1/8d. and again in 1950 at 1/9d. The early wrapper was white but contained some mistakes, making it very collectable. Firstly, the set number was missing. Secondly, there was a mistake in the wording. here it is, see if you can spot it..

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The banner at the top o the wrapper declared 'Six Micromodels' and halfway down also declared 'eight complete models'. Eight is the correct number of models.

Here is a 1954 reprint, the price having gone up to 3s 0d. The wrapper is now red and the wording has been altered.

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I reproduce them here together for comparison purposes..

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And here's one I made earlier...the LMS 0-4-0 saddle tank with the 14ton tank wagon. These are made from scans of the originals and herein lies the problem for the collector/modeller. You don't want to destroy the original kits because you collect them and a scan allows you to build the models without harming the original, Unfortunately the richness of the original printed models is not apparent on these examples..

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The loco measures 34 millimetres over the headstocks!

More soon..

Terry

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[Terry]

The Micromodels story..

Another kit released in 1949 was Set M4. Here we had an LMS 4-6-2 Experimental Turbine Locomotive and a SR Schools class 4-4-0. The kit is fairly scarce today.

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Set PG1 was also released consisting of an LBSCR 4-4-2 Atlantic class in brown, an LBSCR 0-4-2 'Gladstone' and an LNWR 2-2-2 Single 'Princess Royal' in black. The original kit sold for 1/8d. The example shown here is a reprint from 1952 costing 2/6d (12.5 new pence). Three locos for Half-a-Crown. Can't grumble at that! Fairly common kit today.

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Here is Card One of this set showing the general arrangement for 'Gladstone' with parts for the underframe and cab. The drawing shows how some of the finer details were arrived at. The remaining parts are on Card Two.

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1949 also saw the release of Set PG2. Here we had a Midland Railway 4-2-2 Single 'Princess of Wales', a GWR Atlantic class 4-4-2 of 1905 and the famous GWR 4-4-0 'City of Truro'. Another fairly common kit today.

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1949 -Set BD. This set made up into a breakdown crane and support wagons, together with a well-wagon and crew coach. Price 1/8d.

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More to follow.. Terry​

​

 

[Terry]

The Micromodels story..

1949 was a busy year for Geoffrey Heighway at Micromodels Ltd. The kits continued to roll out of 6 Racquet Court. Set PG3 also emerged, containing another three locomotives. This time for your 1/8d you received an LNWR 4-6-0 'Sir Gilbert Claughton' in black, a GER 4-4-0 'Claud Hamilton' in blue livery and a GER 2-4-0 of 1888 in blue livery. Here is a 1952 reprint..

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The GER 2-4-0 of 1888 was another model that I manage to build. This is built from a scan of the original kit so its finish is not as rich as that in the kit . I remember using the tip of a small paintbrush for the dome. Here she is in all her glory...

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1949 saw another departure from locomotive models in that Geoffrey Heighway produced some railway buildings. The first, Set LS1, featured eight cards depicting a country station, a bridge, signal-box, signals and platforms. This is a 1954 reprint and is the most common surviving micromodel.

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Set LS2 contained a locomotive shed, a water tower and a goods shed and is a very attractive kit.

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Set LS3 was actually issued in 1950, but I'll deal with it here. This set featured a terminal station building and was the largest railway model in the Micromodel series at 14 cards. It depicted the façade only and sold for 3/4d. A very rare model.

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To be continued.

It's now 10.32pm on Christmas Eve and I'm off to bed to awake refreshed for the big day. Hopefully I can continue this thread tomorrow once the relatives have all left.

Merry Christmas to you all.

Terry

 

[Terry]

The Micromodels story..

Into 1950 and a lean year for Micromodels with a railway theme. Geoffrey Heighway began to release his architectural themed Micromodels, of which more later. Set LS3, the Terminal Station was released, as mentioned above.

Set PG4 appears to be the only other railway themed Micromodel released in this year. Once again 1/8d secured you three locomotives. These were a Caledonian Railway 4-4-0 'Dunalastair', an LNWR 4-4-0 'Precursor' in black and a GER 4-4-2 single No.10 in blue. This is a very rare set and so far I have only been able to obtain one with some damage to the front cover.

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1951 saw more railway themed Micromodels appearing. Set PG5 differed from the previous PG sets in that it was printed in black and white for 'hand painting'. Instead of full colour drawings of the locomotives on the front of the wrapper, a more ulitarian design was adopted with a black loco drawn against a yellow background with the enclosed locomotives listed in a white box, Not an attractive design. The locomotives contained in this set were GWR 2-2-2 single 'Queen', GWR 4-2-2 single 'Behemoth' and LNWR 2-4-0 'Hardwicke'.

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1951 would also appear to be the year in which the range of sets numbered NS1 to NS4 were issued. All of the outer sleeves resembled that of PG5 above. However, the locos in sets NS1 to NS3 are printed in colour, whist those in set NS4 are in black and white.
Here are the contents:


NS1 - LNER 'Flying Scotsman' in green livery, LMS 0-10-0 Lickey Banking Engine, and old-time engine 2-2-2 'Budicom' in green and brown livery.

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NS2 - LMS 4-6-0 'Royal Scot', LMS 2-6-0 'Horwich', an LMS 2-8-0 freight engine No.8342.


NS3 - LMS 4P 2-6-4 tank, GWR 0-6-2 tank and GWR 4-4-0 'Earl' class.

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NS4 - LBSCR 0-4-2 Stroudley tank, LSWR 4-8-0 tank, BR Standard Pacific. This last loco is notable in that the tender cannot be built without modification.

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Here is the Stroudley tank built from a poor scan..

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1951 - Set F2. This set seeks to compare an early example of an American wood-burner locomotive with a modern (being 1951) streamlined diesel locomotive. The set contains 'Wm Crooks' 4-4-0 of 1861 and a passenger coach, plus a Santa Fe Freight Locomotive and car. First issued at 2s 0d for 'hand-colouring'. Here is the reprint from 1953 at 2/6d, which had pre-coloured cards.

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Terry

 

[sagaguy]

A few years ago i bought the complete set of railway micromodels on cd so if any one wants a particular model,i probably heve it to put on here for you to download and print as many copies as you want.

Ray

 

[oldravendale]

Thank you for taking us through these, Terry. They bring back happy memories!

I always had a problem with domes, which were not included as far as I remember - and possibly chimneys as well. How did you deal with these when building?

Brian