Gerry Pettit
Designer
When it comes to high quality 21st century resin and white metal kits of amazing detail, Gerry Pettit is up there in the top drawer. Gerry was a motor mechanic in the mid 1980s, previously having worked on Aston Martins for 15 years, and then going self employed repairing Astons.
He began attending classic car auctions, and saw models and toys there too. He also had a shop selling automobilia, which included diecasts which he was buying and selling. Reading a copy of Collectors Gazette, Gerry saw toy fairs, attended the Sandown Park fair and bought a Corgi Aston Martin from Martin Uden, a collector and trader who emigrated to Australia.
Subject ID: 82854
MoreWhen it comes to high quality 21st century resin and white metal kits of amazing detail, Gerry Pettit is up there in the top drawer. Gerry was a motor mechanic in the mid 1980s, previously having worked on Aston Martins for 15 years, and then going self employed repairing Astons.
He began attending classic car auctions, and saw models and toys there too. He also had a shop selling automobilia, which included diecasts which he was buying and selling. Reading a copy of Collectors Gazette, Gerry saw toy fairs, attended the Sandown Park fair and bought a Corgi Aston Martin from Martin Uden, a collector and trader who emigrated to Australia.
At Kempton Park he met a dealer who specialised in handbuilt models. He then began trading himself, travelling to shows all over England. It was hard work, and the competition became sharp, with market traders bringing in cheap diecasts in bulk. He then began trading at classic car shows, over a full weekend which provided a more leisurely approach. These were in Belgium, France and Holland, and the best one being Essen at in Germany.
As his interest was specialist cars of the 1950s and 60s, and his shop was not reaching collectors, he decided to rent it out, and decided to go into manufacture. His materials of choice were both resin and white metal, with photo-etching for the finest detail. Gerry’s ‘raison d’etre’ was that English collectors liked the weight they associated with white metal, but resin gave a better definition for the body.
He now has a range of 6 Aston Martin kits, which he sells on eBay, or passes to Pat Land of Model Assemblies for completion and sale as handbuilts. Some masters have been done for him by Keith Edney of RAE Models, but others by David Hamilton. Gerry sells a total of 60 – 75 of each model, and CMA produces the moulds for him. He has done other scales – a 1:8 Ferrari SP196 Dino mastered by David Hamilton, in wood, of which about 30 sold.
Subject ID: 82854
Subject ID: 82854
