Lesser Known BAYKO Variants

Here [below right] we have two BAYKO parts, all of which exist, both officially and actually. They are White Windows and White Large Windows.

They are both from 1939 or 1940 and, while not extremely rare, they are certainly far from common. Earlier white Windows, much sought after in their own right, are at least ten times as common as these.

The 'New Series' BAYKO manuals - 1939 until around 1941 - stated that BAYKO sets could be “supplied to order” with 'Oak' bricks and white doors and windows “at the same prices”…

…and it's from such sets [or spare parts sales, of course, that these two parts, and the white Curved Window [further down] actually come.

As the script above says, they were intended for use alongside the 'New Series' 'Oak' Long, Curved and End Bricks, among others. [also below]

There was also a model of the Speke Airport Building built for the 1951 British Industries Fair which used these parts, some of which may subsequently have escaped into the wild…

Here [below left] we have three BAYKO parts, again all of which exist, both officially and actually.

They are all three from 1939 or 1940 and, while not exactly lights flashing, bells ringing rare, they are certainly far from common. I've been collecting for years, and I've just about got enough to build with - modestly. Oddly, the Curved Bricks and Long Bricks seem to turn up disproportionately more frequently than you would expect, compared with Bricks, Half Bricks and End Bricks. [the last two not shown]

The 'New Series' BAYKO manuals - 1939 until shortly before the war stopped production - stated that BAYKO sets could be “supplied to order” with 'Oak' bricks and white doors and windows “at the same prices”…

…and it's from just such sets, or spare parts sales, of course, that these parts come.

Occasionally the plastic for these parts, particularly the End Bricks includes a little white as well, but the normal mix is well represented by these samples.

As the script above says, they were intended for use with the 'New Series' white windows, two of which can be seen in the section above, and the Curved Windows a few sections below here.

This BAYKO part, like the one immediately below, probably dates from between 1938 and 1940…

…and it doesn't exist…

…at least as far as BAYKO literature is concerned.

The suggested dating is because those are the dates when the mould had first become available. Apart from the tenuous link to brown at least being available pre-war as a colour for Bases, I can't justify it any further.

There is no true precedent for any brown parts - apart from pre-war Bases - though some 8-pane pre-war Windows and Doors come close, and, indeed, several came along with this brown Curved Window.

The generally accepted explanation for such anomalies is based on the admission by former Plimpton employees that, occasionally, when they got somewhat demob happy on Friday afternoons, “sometimes we threw any old **** into the moulds!”

Perhaps I hope, rather than believe, but this may have been a trial sample produced by Plimpton - there was a known link between the source and the Plimpton family.

Who cares, the bottom line is it's just great to own such a BAYKO rarity!

This BAYKO part, [below, left] like the one immediately above, probably dates from between 1938 and 1940…

…and it doesn't exist…

…at least as far as BAYKO literature is concerned.

The suggested dating is because those are the dates when the mould had first become available and when creating parts in 'Oak' was still practiced, apart from that, I can't justify it any further.

Just to confuse the situation, as I am wont to do, there was a known connection between the [late] source of this part and the Plimpton family - so was it another failed trial, in this case, with the 'Oak' effect somewhat 'out of scale' with the part‽

There is no precedent in BAYKO literature for mottled windows of any style or colour, though they exist - and yet something tells me that I did once see such a reference to 'Oak' windows, but I'm not sure it exists…

The generally accepted explanation for such anomalies is based on the admission by former Plimpton employees that, occasionally, when they got somewhat demob happy on Friday afternoons, “sometimes we threw any old **** into the moulds!”

Who cares - again - it's just great to own such a BAYKO rarity.

Click on the image for a larger version where the 'Oak' is even clearer.

This [late] source of this part had known connections with the Plimpton family, so the 'failed trial' scenario may have been played out again…

…but this BAYKO part doesn't exist…

…probably!!!

I suspect that that statement could do with, if not actual full-blooded clarification, certainly a bit more light to be shone on the subject : -

Bay Window Covers, part #19, were initially called the “Pinnacle ½ Platform” in the Ornamental sets #20 to #23 in which they were introduced, in orange, in 1938. Then, at least in the earlier 'New Series' manuals “Prices of Separate Parts” listings, but not the set contents listings, as the “Bay Window Roof”, which was also available in red and white.

These 'New Series' manuals also stated that BAYKO sets could be “supplied to order” with 'Oak' Bricks and White Doors and Windows “at the same prices”…

…lots of quotes there, but no mention of the colour of the Bay Window Cover.

I've no grounds for assuming that these Bay Window Covers would have been 'Oak', any more than I have for assuming that they would have been white, but this is the nearest I can get to a loophole…

…but at least white is mentioned as being available.

This [unique ?] BAYKO part probably dates from either 1937 or 1938…

…and it doesn't exist…

…at least as far as BAYKO literature is concerned.

The above dating is simply based on the fact of that being when the true white plastic and this moulding were both in use at the same time, and so available to make this part.

There can't be a certain explanation as to why a relatively common BAYKO part should turn up in an unusual, 'unpublished' colour, however…

…the generally accepted explanation for such anomalies is based on the admission by former Plimpton employees that, occasionally, when they got somewhat demob happy on Friday afternoons, “sometimes we threw any old **** into the moulds!”

Who cares - as far as I'm concerned it's just great to own such a BAYKO rarity - unknown until I bought it at auction in June, 2008.

Pinning this one down is tricky!

I don't have an exact date, but all standard green BAYKO Curved Windows carried the embossed part number “25” until the early 1950s…

…this one doesn't have it!

I've also never seen the unusual shape of the two projections housing the rod holes on any other Curved Window of any era.

White windows are generally regarded as being pre-war, including the 'New Series' versions…

…however, the excellent BAYKO model of the Liverpool Speke Airport Building was made around 1951, for the British Industries Fair, and it had a full range of windows, all of them white.

So, without linking this piece to the specific model, which I can't justify…

…it is possible that work on updating the Curved Window mould, including an attempt to save material on the smaller profile projections housing the rod holes, was progressing around this date…

…if that is the case, perhaps the rod housing projections looked too fragile, and all that ultimately changed was that the part number was dropped.

If you can shed any light on this issue, then I'd love to hear from you…

Until Bob Burgess pointed this out to me, I'd never noticed this Gable Roof variation at all - I always was a dozy *******.

The image [below] shows both the moulding variants and is, I hope, fairly self explanatory : -

The exact origins of this style of Medium Roof are a mystery - to me at least!

As you can see from the central image, this is the earliest moulding type, so it must date from before the war or shortly after, and the cause must have been short lived as so few of these have survived, despite the proven robustness of this moulding.

The cock-up theorists might suggest that this was a later version of mottled green roof that they forgot to put the mottling ingredients into…

…it could equally have been a small trial batch which never progressed…

…or another 'Friday Afternoon Special'…

…I suspect we'll never know.

The images are shown courtesy of Neil Baldry.

This is a beauty, and is the only 'Oak' Turret, in this case actually a Long Turret, that I have seen, to date…

…and it doesn't exist…

…they are certainly not mentioned anywhere in the literature!

Dating it loosely is not too problematic as Turrets did not appear until 1938, and, as far as we know, nothing was ever produced after the war in 'Oak'. Further more, the 'Oak' mixture used here was introduced with the 'New Series' sets in 1939.

This basically brackets this 'Oak' Turret between 1939 and 1941.

I think the flow lines of the plastic, now long since frozen and so effectively highlighted by the two-colour material, to be extremely interesting. It's a feature that you can never see with monochrome parts.

My apologies for the colour discrepancies of the photos, it won't surprise you to know that the Turret is actually the same colour on both sides!

This is a strange one indeed - and I'm struggling to provide a full explanation…

…if you have any information, or just a theory, then I'd love to hear from you.

The image [right] shows the reverse side of four pre-war BAYKO Bricks. I know they are pre-war both from the material and from the brick course markings on the front.

Each of the mouldings is slightly different - in both the vertical [which may have been related to raw material batch size variations] and horizontal directions - which, perhaps, gives us our first clue…

…it suggests that this was a temporary lash-up [or brief series of same] to see what Bricks would look like if you added brick coursing to the reverse - for the “reverse brick” usage.

At the time, given that the reverse side still didn't have the later cutaways either side of the centre slot, this change wouldn't have significantly affected the amount of raw materials used for each brick, so it was a logical thing to have looked at.

As to the timing of this experiment, all I can suggest is that the use of the “reverse brick” increased significantly after the introduction of Curved Bricks and Windows [1938], and Long Bricks and Large Windows [1939], so 1937 is my best guess.

So why wasn't it taken up? The answer has to be that I don't know. The change would have made the mould slightly more expensive and would have made alignment of this part of the mould much more critical. It may also have created an occasional issue with getting the Brick out of the mould. However, I believe Plimpton missed a trick. Even if they'd only made a limited proportion, in the same way that MECCANO did with Bricks with rod-grooves to the rear, it would definitely have improved the appearance of some models, which has to be the acid test.

Until Chris Boutal pointed this out to me, I'd never really taken Ramps all that seriously, let alone noticed this Ramp moulding variation - as I said above, I always was a dozy *******.

The images [below] show both the moulding variants and are, I hope, fairly self explanatory : -

The unreinforced corner [left] is, logically, the earlier moulding, and the later form, [right] with the reinforcement, was subsequently kept, including throughout the MECCANO era.

The parallel with the Gable Roof reinforcement [above] is surprising in that you might have expected Plimpton to have learned from their earlier experience…

…however, to be fair, the Ramp's overall shape would initially at least, suggest that it would be less vulnerable to distortion or other damage.

Almost one for Nerds Corner…