Lesser Known BAYKO Variants

This is a section which I will build up, gradually, over time...
...and will feature some of the lesser known variants of standard BAYKO parts...
...if I get it right, most of the items here will be new to you.
 
White Windows and Large Windows
Here [below right] we have two BAYKO parts, all of which exist, both officially and actually.
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 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 two parts, and the white Curved Window found a few sections 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, which can be seen below.
Rare BAYKO part - white Window and Large Window
 
'Oak' Curved Bricks, Long Bricks and End Bricks
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.
Rare BAYKO Curved, Long and End Bricks
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.
 
Brown Curved Window
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 come close, and, indeed, there were several which came alongside 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!"
Who cares, as far as I'm concerned it's just great to own such a BAYKO rarity.
A very rare BAYKO part - a Brown Curved Window
Don't you just love handling something that doesn't exist!
 
'Oak' Curved Window
This BAYKO part, 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.
A very rare BAYKO part - an Oak Curved Window
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 - as far as I'm concerned it's just great to own such a BAYKO rarity.
Click anywhere on he image [left] to see a larger image where the 'Oak' is even clearer.
Don't you just love handling something that doesn't exist!
 
'Oak' Bay Window Cover
This is simply a BAYKO part that doesn't exist...
...probably!!!
I strongly suspect that that statement could do with, if not actual full-blooded clarification, certainly a little more light to be thrown 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.
A very rare BAYKO part - an Oak Bay Window Cover
I've no grounds for assuming they would have been 'Oak', any more than I have for assuming they would have been white...
...but at least white is mentioned as being available.
Don't you just love handling something that doesn't exist - probably!
 
White Right Side Steps
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.
A very rare BAYKO part - White Right Steps
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.
For completeness, the speckling you can see on the Steps is red colouring, presumably a contamination either of the mould or the supply dosing equipment and can be seen regularly, though not frequently, both before and after the war on a range of BAYKO pieces.
 
White Curved Window
It's nice when the rarity is your own, and that's the case with this particular example. It's worth pointing out that what I refer to [below] as the usual moulding is still pretty rare when it comes to white BAYKO Curved Windows.
The usual mould.
The figure "25", the BAYKO part number, is clearly visible on the central upright.
Note also the shape of the two projections housing the rod holes.
White Curved Window with the Part Number 25
White Curved Window without the Part Number 25
The unusual mould.
There is no part number on the inside of the central upright.
Note also the narrow profile of the two projections housing the rod holes.
Click on the images above to view a larger version where the details are easier to see.
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...
 
Gable Roof
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 later moulding - left.
.
The later moulding has an extra reinforcement to the central ridge.
 2 moulding variations of Gable Roofs with the earlier image is on the right
The earlier moulding - right.
.
The earlier moulding has no such reinforcement to the central ridge.
Click on the image [above] to see the changed details more clearly.
 
Green Medium Roof
Green Medium Roof
Green Medium Roof underside
Detached House model using Green Medium Roof
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.
 
'Oak' Turret
This is a beauty, and is the only 'Oak' Turret, in this case actually a Long Turret, that I have seen, to date.
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.
Rare BAYKO part - an 'Oak' Turret Front View
Rare BAYKO part - an 'Oak' Turret, Rear View
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!
 
Pre-War Bricks - with Brick Courses on the Reverse
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 and horizontal directions - which, perhaps, gives us our first clue...
...it suggests that this was a temporary lash-up 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, this change wouldn't have affected the amount of raw materials used for each brick, so it was a logical thing to have looked at.
Four pre-war bricks with brick coursing on the reverse.
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], 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. 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.
Once again it's nice to have something that doesn't exist!
 
Ramp
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 : -
Earlier verion of the Ramp, without the reinforcement
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.
Later verion of the Ramp, with the reinforcement
Ramp without the reinforcement
Ramp with the reinforcement
Click on either of the images [above] to see the reinforcement details more clearly.
 
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Latest update - November 24, 2010