ABSTRACT
Matchbox vehicles modeled after real-life cars and trucks have been a staple toy for young children for two generations. Odell set up a die-casting shop in a bombed-out London pub. They began producing die-cast toys as a sideline, really making an impression in 1953 with a finely detailed one-inch model of Queen Elizabeth's coronation coach which sold about one million units. Meanwhile, a wooden pattern was made, about five times bigger than the planned model. From this, resin molds were made, and sealed back down to final size on a pantograph die-making machine, which turned out dies in chrome-vanadium steel. It is during the pantograph process that the details are added. All of Lesney's die-casting machinery, plastic injection machines, and other specialized tools were designed by its engineers. In one machine, the tiny auto bodies are spun rapidly on spindles in front of a spray gun, and then pass into an oven.
