From My Collection... '41 Plymouth

Nice set of Plymouths.

Thanks for posting some of your Plymouths. I really like the cream top-up convertible and the woody-wagon.  When was thw wagon released - I have never seen it before?

Those Durham Plymouths are right up there with Brooklin models.  Too bad they are no longer in production.

 Very nice selection, David. Durham and Brooklin have joint ancestry so it in not surprising the quality and design style are much the same.

@david-green Hello David, in the UK we never got a huge range of Durham models nor very much information, (as with Motor City / Design Studio, also). And so I've always been intrigued by Durham: who they are and what they did exactly. So perhaps you would explain this link with Brooklin that you mention? Certainly the Durham Classics look like early Brooklins, as you say.

Just a caution with the Durham Classics convertibles such as the 1941 Plymouth.   I needed the red one to replicate a car my parents had in WW II before I was around.  This Ebay purchase a while back came with a folded down windscreen,  poor packing and a very fragile white metal windscreen frame since no vent window pillars to add strength.  Seller gave me a substantial refund and I was able to fix it to an acceptable level for me.

Damaged:

Fixed:

I think this caution could apply to other Durham convertibles, 1938 Lincoln Zephyr?

@charles-rockett  I think we documented every Durham here (plus some history):  https://www.hobbydb.com/marketplaces/hobbydb/subjects/durham-classics-brand

Do you have this Brooklin?  Check out the baseplate: https://www.hobbydb.com/marketplaces/hobbydb/catalog_items/1932-packard-light-8-coupe

@charles-rockett 

Hi Charles,

John Hall, the founder of Brooklin was an Englishman living in the village of Brooklin, just north of Oshawa in Ontario, Canada. This was in the Durham County, now Durham Region. John Hall started building 1/43 model by hand in 1974, in his garage next to the house. The first was a 1933 Pearce Arrow, mostly resin and fairly crude. Following models used white metal. I was in the Canadian Toy Collectors Society that met monthly in Toronto. John was a member and brought models to meetings. I and other members bought most of initial builds. John was most interested in American cars of the 1940s and 1950.

Julian Stewart, another English immigrant, lived in nearby Oshawa and was a trained die maker, I think working for General Motors. Julian was hired by John part time to make dies, then just the two of them. Julian took over creating the actual model dies, I think with the Model A Ford.

In 1979, John Hall returned to England and moved Brooklin production to Bath where he enlarged the company with UK government support. Julian remained in Oshawa. The last Brooklin that Julian Stewart worked on was the Chrysler Airflow. Julian continued, I think with his GM job before getting the urge to get back into model building. In 1986, the first Durham Classic made by Julian was a two door version of the Brooklin die that he had created for Brooklin. Both men had shared the early Canadian model creations and both continued with a shared idea of what white metal Diecast model cars should look like.

John Hall returned regularly to Canada, usually at the time of our CTCS toy shows in October. Julian and John were often seen together at these times.

Sorry to be a little long winded here, but hopefully I’ve provided a little insite into why the two companies, Brooklin and Durham are interconnected.

Posted by: @karl

@charles-rockett  I think we documented every Durham here (plus some history):  https://www.hobbydb.com/marketplaces/hobbydb/subjects/durham-classics-brand

Do you have this Brooklin?  Check out the baseplate: https://www.hobbydb.com/marketplaces/hobbydb/catalog_items/1932-packard-light-8-coupe

Yes,  I have the 1932 Packard Light coupe but in a different color.  Shown here with my conversion of one into a sedan,

@david-green This has been an enjoyable read and not long-winded at all. It is fascinating to hear this story, particularly as I saw my first Brooklin model in Bristol, ten or so miles from Bath where they were being made, as a student in 1982: The silver Pierce Arrow. Thank you for taking the time to detail this early part of the story.

@karl Thank you Karl. I shall go through your article with care. I have a 1938 Oldsmobile and the 1941 Chevrolet convertible of theirs and whilst the majority of the Durham Classics I see are utility vehicles, I do see cars - like the aforementioned Plymouth, that I would like. Many thanks for helping me out with this listing.

@john-quilter  Yes you are right; I bought the 1941 Chevrolet convertible from a dealer that arrived with a bent windscreen and fortunately I was able to return it.  Generally such convertibles have extra padding - foam or better still polystyrene fore and aft of the windscreen. I once received a Camaro Z28 with extremely shallow windscreen that was packed within the folding foam 'bedding' at a right-angle, so pressure was not on the windscreen. Which I thought to be an intelligent solution, too. 

Your conversion of the Packard light eight is very impressive.

I discovered my 1st Durham Classics model with the green '34 LaSalle and a very short time later, the blue one. I got them mainly because they were LaSalle models. It wasn't until after I learned more about the company and what else they offered. I've added a few more (which I just updated to hobbyDB). 

Thanks, David, for the history. That was a great read. A little I knew, but much more I didn't. I loved it.

@david-green 

Thanks for the history lesson.The origins and history of these companies was interesting.

David Green,

Much appreciated the Durham/Brooklin relationship. Knew a bit of it, a very little bit. Thank you.

Steve

@jcarnutz 

And John, forgot that the LaSalle in my collection was also a Durham. Both were early forays into my white metal collecting, Durham before Brooklin in fact. They also led me into trying BMF (Bare Metal Foil) because the models seemed to need a bit of realistic pizzazz, at least to me. And it worked. Have "fixed" most of my Brooklins and Durhams forever more.  

Here they are:

The Plymouth had the 1st interior that I detailed. Really appreciated the dash detail provided by both companies that makes "fixing" the interior so alluring. Durham got me started detailing and Brooklin Models finished the show.

The LaSalle is a real stunner with a bit of chrome IMHO. A homage to my Aunt Martha and my first use of BMF.