The Merit Scarab Scammel Kit

I sometimes get out to a model shop which carries second-hand items. The last time I was in, they had a kit-built plastic model of a Scammell Scarab sitting in a cabinet - but it was not the Airfix/Dapol model.

I wondered what it might be, so getting home I started to look. It turns out the model is by another British company, called Merit.

The Scammell Scarab three-wheeled truck was an articulated vehicle, specifically designed to operate in confined spaces, such as a railway goods (freight) yard. A whole series of similar vehicles were used by British railway companies from the 1920s up to the 1970s, in several generations.

Airfix produced a plastic kit in the 1960s, that was re-issued by Dapol in the 1980s, and is still available. Less well known is this kit, also in OO (1/76th scale), by Merit.

https://projectswordtoys.blogspot.com/2023/12/the-airfix-scammell-scarab.html#comment-form

J & L Randall Ltd., of Potters Bar (just to the north of London), was a British company making all manner of toys, games, and items such as microscopes. Many of these carried the Merit name.

In the 1950s there was a range of plastic kits; and also model railway accessories, although these might have been a bit later ? Among these was a Scammell & Trailer Assembly Kit.

This included a Scammell Scarab tractor, and flat-bed trailer, with separate tyres. The interior comprised a couple of seats, but there were no figures, or clear parts.

There was also a railway container available separately, which could serve as the load. At one point, the Scammell Lorry and Container were sold together as a single kit.

Although the model was sold as a kit, it was also available at one time pre-assembled as the Scammell, Trailer & Container. This came in a very nice cardboard box.

The model railway accessory sets later went to yet another British company, called Peco, and were included in the Model Scene range. The Model Scene Scammell Lorry version seems to have gone back to the basic tractor and trailer unit, without the container.

Peco are still listing both the Scammell Mechanical Horse and Trailer, and the Railway Container, on their web-site, under Model Scene. So it seems the models are still available.

https://peco-uk.com/collections/modelscene?page=6

Merit Catalogue Numbers:

5010 Railway Container (on its own)

5011 Scammell, Trailer & Container (assembled, ready for use)

5015 Scammell & Trailer (kit)

5016 Scammell Lorry and Container (kit)

Peco Model Scene

5015 Scammell Lorry (kit - retained original number)

As the Scammell has been mentioned a few times before on Moonbase Central, I thought this might be of interest. Plus, there have been some metal kits.

Six photographs from Worthpoint or Ebay.

Paul Adams from New Zealand