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SMEC & Scamold Rail cars

7K views 21 replies 10 participants last post by  dgersh 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Hi,

Heres a group of rail cars in my museum made from SMEC wood & 1 plastic body kits. Also 1 ERA made from a metal Scamold car. I wish i had more.

1- Mercedes Benz W163 GP,
2-Bugatti 2.3 LTR,
3-Bugatti 2.3 LTR,
4-Bugatti 3.3 LTR,
5-Maserati A6GS,
6-Jaguar XK 120,Plastic body,
7-Alfa Romeo 158GP,
8-ERA 2.3 LTR.

Thanks,
Bernard

 
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#3 ·
Hi Bernard
Strange selection of cars ,are you sure that merc is a smec one ,the reason i ask is that the smec merc i have is the body shape that would normally be referred to as the 1938 W154
The one oyu show is quite clearly the 1939 W163 .Now SMEC often did more than one version of the cars they made
Certainly at least 2 E type ERAs were available and I think the alta came in two different evolutions but I,never heard of a W 163 having been made. I suppose someone could have carved it and used the fittings from the W154
What on earth is that green No5 car looks like a poorly made E type ERA but it is fitted with the Alta grill ,very strange

Cheers tony
 
#4 ·
Beautiful cars Phillipe !.
Hi,Tony.
I think Smec did a Mercedes 163,its listed in Roger Greenslades book. The poorly carved green car is a ERA E Type or a R8BC. They had both a split grill & a non split grill. Its not the Alta which is totally different. Thanks,Bernard
 
#6 ·
Those are absolutely wonderful cars Bernard! And not so easy to find...

I just redid the layout on your post a bit to make it easier to read, but noticed you have 8 cars listed and only 6 photos - is something missing?

And, as you may suspect we were going to ask: can we see the naughty bits under the skirts? All Tri-Ang motors and/or K's?

Don
 
#9 ·
Hi Bernard
I,m not convinced
The list in the roger greenslades book certainly mentions a W 163 but it doesnt mention the w154 .The Smec model i have is definately a W154
There are those that will tell you that the W163 as a car never actually existed ,,that M163 was the engine code ,and that the 1939 was actually a W154 as well but fitted with the W163 engine
Now in terms of modelling the car is a different animal from the W154 a totally differnt shape
The other Smec cars that came in different forms ,which were modifications of the standard shape ,not an entirely differnet shape ,so you will see why i am sceptical about the W163
I also wrote to the guy that manufactured the cars ,a few years ago (he has passed away now ) to chat about his modle range and at no time was the W163 mentioned .
Re that ERA it is definately fitted with the Alta grill !

Cheers tony
 
#10 ·
Hi Guys
another point that is worth considering about SMEC is that as a result ,back in the dark ages of being virtually the only source of wheels ,body kits and fittings ,(MRRC were doing much larger rail cars at this time ) in 1/32 scale .that is probably a major contributory factor in the choice of 1/32 scale as the chosen scale which we are still using today

Cheers tony
 
#11 ·
Hi guys the body on the 'W163' looks to me like a Mac Pinches body, looks to have used the same method for louvres that Mac used and just looks like the one I had, Bernard I think you have it now,could you compare? Agree with Tony, correct naming would be W154 with 39' body.
 
#12 ·
Hi guys,i talked to Roger Greenslade,he thinks the info came from a model magazine or collector. I have a Mercedes 163 made by Marlon who used to own TRRC using the Mac Pinches body. Ive included it here for comparison. Its resin,mine is wood. There are minor differences in the body as well. The louvres are also like the ones SMEC made. Ive also include a photo of a Mercedes 154 tether car using the SMEC body. The motor in it says Lectrotor type 240 & has a logo that looks like AED.Oh & its belt driven. Well so who knows ?
I guess the mystery will be answered because no other forum in the world has such a large number of experts.
Bernard
 
#14 ·
Hi Guys
This is quite fascinating ,and the thread is posing more questions than it is answering
Obviously marlon is wrong although i can see how he came to that conclusion as the shells are very similar
If al is right and the motor dates the car at 66/67 ,i dont believe that Smec were marketed after about 1963 .however it would certainly have been possible to buy unsold stock well into the 60s ,as thats where a lot of my smec cars came from .
However was anyone still building rail cars in 66/67 they certainly wern,t in britain
another reason why i think its not a smec is that all the smec cars had pressed plate 4 spoke steering wheels,Except the plastic XK120 )the wooden one has not
additionally the W154 with the electrotor is definately a SMEC and it is fitted with the nicely made de dion rear end with those lovely perforated radius arms ,the wooden 163 has not got those which i am sure it would have if its a SMEC kit

Cheers tony
 
#15 ·
The wheels and tyres on that #1 car have a very modern look to them.

The wheels in particular look very much made up for the job, rather than something commercial, they are definitely not SMEC items. The front tyres in particular, being somewhat wide and low profile looking in the modern fashion. They just don't have a 60s feel to them.

Any chance we are looking at something made more recently, possibly for one of the invitational rail car meets run some years back?????

It would certainly explain the Atlas motor.

Anyway, that's what my money would say. Anybody got change for Fluppence H'appny
 
#17 ·
Hi Al
Bazinga ,we,ve cracked it
you were dead right about it being a car built for a rail car retro race
In jeff davies book on rail racing therre is a picture of the self same car w163 merc number one with the atlas motor and brass chassi s that was entered in jeffs brooklands rail race built and presumably driven by a mr Ralph cooper a name i wasn,t familiar with ,and although i was at that meet can't remember the car or driver.
ralph cooper are you out there if so speak to us !
The text certainly does not mention SMEC or not but then the captions in this book are not usually all that accurate .

Cheers tony

Cheers tony
 
#18 ·
Hi guys, i may be able to cast a little light on these cars.
The number "1" W154 was the car i built for the abergaveny rail race run by jeff davis.
You could say it was a pre, pre-Add car if that makes sence!
The body is of balsa wood, it sports a brass chassis and the motor is an Atlas.
the story behind the motor is that on a visit to Dereck cooper to get hold of a few bits
he gave me abox containing a couple of rather sad atlas motors , both non-runners.
i stripped and cleaned them, then using the good bits built one good motor, thats the
motor in the car.
After the meeting Dereck purchased the car from me, later i found out it had been resold
to a colector in the USA, that i think must have been you Bernard.
BWA, the wheel inserts where of a very fine photo-eched type, i had a few of these but
cant for the life of me remember where they came from.
the car differs from the Pre-add kit in that the exhaust pipes are a seperate item, the
grill has a more "heavy " look and the mirrors and screen frame are "one offs "
The other number " 16 " car is a Pre-Add shell having the exhausts cast into the bodywork
The grill has a lighter look about it, the method i used on this and other kits was to use .020"
plasticard with again " .020 " spacers giving a more scale look, again this was reproduced in
the kit casting, the mirrors, screen frame and steering wheel where standard kit fittings.
The decals on the "16 " car are not a kit item.
the luovers of both cars where made from plasticard sheet, on the " 1 " car they where
glued on, as you see starting to part company with the body, on the "16 " car the same
method was used but they where cast into the bodyin prodution.
To clear up the name thing, " Ralph Cooper ", in the book by Jeff Davis there where many
errors, the wrong names on the wrong pictures etc, etc etc , the names should read =
Ralph parker and Dereck Cooper but there you go !!!!
Hope that is of some help, now back to the boat building !!!!!
Cheers
Mac P
 
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