02 September 2011
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Britains launches new range of collectable construction models
With new 1/32 scale JCB TM310S and 3CX models hitting the shops, David Pullen looks at model manfacturer Britains' long association with JCB telehandlers, wheeled loaders and backhoe loaders. ...
Britains launches new JCBs
JCB did not produce the first telescopic handler but it was the JCB Loadall 520, launched in 1977, which made telehandlers popular on farms and construction sites. Earlier 520s were only two-wheel drive but JCB added four-wheel drive in 1980 to improve its off-road performance.
It was a model of this machine that Britains launched in 1984. Nicely proportioned – even today it looks good – Britains’ metal and plastic model had working telescopic boom, driver and drawbar which also steered the rear axle. When released, the tyres were branded Goodyear and it also had jewelled headlights.
Britains marketed the model in both its farm range and in the new Autoway series it had also launched in 1984. For the farm range, Britains released the Loadall with three attachments: a pallet fork, a muck fork and flat eight-bale grab. The attachments were not new and had been issued with a front-loader that Britains had released in 1979. For the Autoway series, and the later Road series, the flat eight-bale grab was dropped and a construction worker supplied instead...
The Union Jack JCB 3CX Eco
JCB produced the unique Union Jack JCB 3CX Eco backhoe loader for the 2010 launch of the company’s new range of ‘Eco’ machines and auctioned it to raise funds for Help for Heroes – a charity that supports servicemen and servicewomen wounded in conflicts around the world.
Held between 8th and 21st December 2010, the online auction was launched in London on a 200ft barge moored opposite London’s South Bank on the Thames. The Union Jack backhoe loader was the centrepiece of the event, which was attended by a group of wounded soldiers, teams from JCB and Help for Heroes, and over 100 representatives from the British construction industry.
Fork Rent, a leading Ipswich-based plant hire firm, won the digger with a bid of £70,250 and plan to use the Union Jack JCB 3CX Eco to raise further funds for charity.
Pictured top right: Britains’ newly tooled JCB TM310S.
Pictured above: The unique Union Jack JCB 3CX Eco.
*This is an excerpt of the article 'Britains launches new JCBs' first published in Diecast Collector's October issue. To see which issues of Diecast Collector are available to buy online, click here
*Diecast Collector is a monthly magazine which focuses on all types of diecast models from Dinky Toys to Oxford Diecast