ANTIQUE VINTAGE CAST IRON TOY MOTORBOAT, ORIGINAL PAINT

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ANTIQUE VINTAGE CAST IRON TOY MOTORBOAT, ORIGINAL PAINT:
$29.95

ANTIQUE - VERY RARE

VINTAGE CAST IRON

MOTORBOAT

ORIGINAL PAINT

APPROXIMATELY 4 1/4\" LONG x 1 1/4\" WIDE x 1 1/2\" HEIGHT

This is a rare cast iron toy that is not commonly available for purchase. It is in very nice condition, considering its age. It still has the original paint, which shows only some light wear & some small paint chips.

The finish has a semi-gloss appearance.

We are not experts on antiquities, and in spite of the item being similar to the guidelines below, it may be a reproduction. There are some rough casting spots inside.

Please review the photos carefully before purchasing.

New cast iron toys are made in the same general way as old originals. However, there are certain differences that let you tell new from old.

Several important differences between new and old cast iron toys are related to the casting sand. Casting sand used in original molds was generally finer than the casting sand used in modern reproductions. This means that old cast iron almost always has a much smoother surface than new castings made with coarser sand. The surface of old cast iron both looks smooth and feels smooth to the touch. New cast iron generally has small prickly bumps that rise above the surface and holes or pits that go below the surface (Figs. 5-6). The rough texture is the most obvious on unpainted surfaces so try to look on the inside or underside of toys. Better yet, depending on the type of toy, ask the seller to take it apart for a thorough examination.

A second major difference caused by the casting sand is the amount of detail in new and old cast iron. The finer the sand, the tighter it could be packed around the master pattern which transferred more and smaller details to the sand mold. Old castings, therefore, almost always have sharper lines and more detail; new castings are generally less sharp, blurred and lack the fine details found in old pieces cast with finer sand. (Figs. 7-8). The finer sand also meant the two halves of the mold fit together tightly. Most new molds don\'t fit together very well and molten metal runs out through gaps where mold halves meet. This is called finning (Fig. 8) and is seldom found on old pieces but is common among reproductions.

Another reason old cast iron toys generally have sharper details is that they were cast from a mold made from an original master pattern. Most cast iron reproductions on the other hand, use actual antique toys as master patterns or copies of other copies. Cast iron shrinks 3/32 to 1/8 of an inch per foot between mold and casting; this means each time a piece is copied, a certain amount of distortion occurs which results in loss of detail. Even if an old piece is taken apart and used as a pattern, normal shrinkage will mean the reproduction will be smaller than the original. Although the shrinkage seems small, the effect is multiplied by the total number of pieces used. If a toy is assembled from 10 different parts, for example, each of those parts will be smaller than the original. Having each piece off just a small amount can greatly affect how the entire toy looks when it\'s assembled.

In one way, normal shrinkage is an advantage to a knowledgeable buyer. If you know the measurement of an authenticated original, you can compare the measurements of the original to the test piece. Most reference books on specific types of cast iron toys, like banks for example, list this information in detail. Some books go so far as to include base tracings of the original pieces to make identification even more precise (Figs. 10-11). Although tracings aren\'t always practical, you should get in the habit of checking measurements. Keep in mind that most reproductions are smaller due to normal shrinkage that results from copying. Some reproductions, however, may deliberately cast in sizes never originally made to avoid direct comparisons with originals.

Another difference between old and new cast iron toys is the amount of hand finishing; most all old pieces had at least some hand finishing, most reproductions have none. You can see evidence of this in the way the separate pieces are joined. The matching halves of original cast iron toys were often fitted together by hand filing or at least had the edges tumbled smooth in a machine. This extra attention to fit produced a very tight seam in original cast iron toys (Figs.14-15). The seams in new cast iron are typically very loose and carelessly made—gaps in seams are frequently 1/8\" and more in width (Figs. 12-13). What little finishing work is done on reproductions is usually performed with modern high speed production tools which leave obvious grinding marks, (Fig. 6). Whenever you see these marks, especially if they are bright and shiny with no patina, it usually means the piece is a reproduction.

The way new and old iron is painted is another indication of age. Old iron usually was decorated with fairly heavy paint, most frequently some type of oil based enamel. New pieces are typically decorated with a much thinner paint which is usually a water based acrylic. Old and new paints were also applied differently. Many old pieces weredippedin paint, not painted with a brush (although small details may have been added by a brush). Many new pieces are painted with air powered spray guns to speed production. The use of thicker paint and the heavier coatings of paint produced by dipping produces a distinctive wear pattern in original painted cast iron toys.

This wear pattern is characterized by sharp edged paint chips (Figs. 16-17). New, thin paint on the reproductions does not chip even if you deliberately gouge it. If you look at the chips in Fig. 16 at the white arrows, you\'ll see a second color of paint show up as a light inner ring. This is another sign of the older, thicker paints—most chips will show one or more additional colors underneath the top layer of paint. The different layers of colors appear in the order they were applied.

Dipping also leaves paint on surfaces that are hard to reach with an spray gun or brush—like inside surfaces, hidden angles and along the edges where seams meet. Toy banks, for example, should usually show paint on both inner and outer edges of the coin slot. Likewise, old paint around a coin slot should show the typical ragged paint chips which would occur where normal wear would be expected.

Even unpainted, old cast iron appears a different color than new cast iron. Old iron usually looks dark brown or even black; new cast iron is typically gray or a dirty silver color. The color differences are difficult to show in black and white photographs, but are clearly seen by placing new and old side by side. But use caution when examining a piece that is uniformly colored. The paint and outside appearance of new cast iron is frequently altered to try and mislead you. High temperature can turn the surface of a new piece into a uniform dull brown or darker color. Burying a new piece or soaking it in various chemicals can also create a dark colored surface. Any piece that is a dull rusty brown, or overall dark and black, should be automatically considered a suspect piece. Check for repairs by going over the entire piece with a magnet. Many repairs and replacement parts are made with epoxies, brass and aluminum which have no magnetic attraction. A black light can help catch repaints.

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