Here are a couple of items I picked up at the winter Auckland model fair. First up is the Husky model of a Studebaker Wagonaire T.V. Car, with a rotating camera and cameraman in the rear.
Husky was a line of small, Matchbox-sized die-cast models made by Corgi, exclusively for sale in Woolworths shops. The line first appeared in 1964, and once the exclusive deal with Woolworths ended, Huskys became Corgi Juniors from 1970 onwards.
The Wagonaire TV Car first appeared in 1967, as number 15 in the Husky line. It later became a Corgi Junior. There was also an ambulance version, which was number 30.
The T.V. Car came in various shades of yellow, blue, metallic turquoise, and metallic lime green. The windows in the rear part of the body are tinted. The original plastic wheels were later replaced with low-friction Whizz Wheels, to compete with Hot Wheels, and Matchbox Superfast.
In the world of model railways, backscenes are used to add depth to a layout. Printed backscenes can be either paintings or photographs.
This one is by the German firm Busch, and it comes in two sections. It is double sided, with the same scene on each side, but one is daytime, and the other is night.
The box says Day & Night Hinterland. The scales given are HO/N/TT, so it is suitable for 1/87th, 1/160th, and 1/120th, but it will work with just about any scale.
The length is given as 198 cm, which is for both sheets combined, and the height is 34 cm. The copyright date is 2004, but I do not know if they are still available, since I bought mine at a fair.
Four different styles are shown on the side of the box: rural with fields, forests, and a river; or urban town/city scenes.
As I was photographing the models I got at the latest fair, I decided to try out the sheets. Having been rolled up for an unknown number of years, they wanted to roll back up again.
It may be necessary to glue them to a rigid backing sheet, but that would prevent them being switched from day to night. I did have problems with reflections on the night side, but the day shots seemed to come out well.
Hope you like them.
Paul Adams from New Zealand