Simon Elford

Whilst the general trend has been one of reducing production runs, some ranges ceasing, and less overall choice, it’s very pleasing to find that a new range has been born!

Simon Elford is the brains behind the Selfords range, and his story is a familiar one.

Subject ID: 81543

More

Whilst the general trend has been one of reducing production runs, some ranges ceasing, and less overall choice, it’s very pleasing to find that a new range has been born!

Simon Elford is the brains behind the Selfords range, and his story is a familiar one.

Simon lived in London as a child, but moved to the Hastings and Bexhill area when he was 14. As a teenager in the early 1980s, he recalls building many Tamiya plastic kits, enjoying the precision and detail provided by plastic injection moulding.

His first employment was as a chef in Hastings, which he did for a couple of years until 1992. At the restaurant he met many interesting people, amongst them an Aston Martin Owners Club member who invited him to join him at AMOC club meetings. There he met Keith Williams, of Scale Model Technical Services (SMTS), who also owns an Aston Martin DB 2/4, which happens to be in pieces in a barn.

Simon had begun collecting basic models from the mass diecast manufacturers, but also continued building plastic kits, and it was this latter skill that interested Keith. He asked Simon if he would be interested in building white metal models for him, and in 1995, Simon began working full time at the SMTS works.

At SMTS, all the employees had to be able to fettle the castings, spray paint, and assemble, and the amount of work the castings required, together with the quantity of fine pieces to each small 1:43 scale model, presented Simon with quite an initial challenge.

To maximise his income, Simon also worked in a local model shop, Model Supplies, on Sunday mornings. This shop specialised in radio control and wooden assembly kits, but over time, Simon developed the plastic kits and diecast ranges to spread the customer interest. However, after 3 years of working at SMTS, the owner of the model shop wished to sell up, and in 1998 when his buyer dropped out, Simon stepped in and bought it. He had reduced his hours at SMTS in order to learn the shop business thoroughly, but then had to leave SMTS, keeping in touch with Keith, and selling some of the SMTS ranges.

Regrettably, the market for radio control models became heavily influenced by eBay, with traders encouraging younger people to buy complete models, but these traders were less able to repair them when they went wrong. The shop found itself reduced to repairs only, with sales plummeting, and eventually Simon had to close the shop and commence bankruptcy proceedings.

Through his links with Keith, he was able to return to work for SMTS full time, and found a changed workforce, reduced due to the overall decline in the market. However, whilst the team had diminished, the quality of the work done had risen significantly. This was partly in response to customer demand, higher competition from Chinese quality diecasts, and improvements to staff experience, materials and overall precision.

By 2002 Simon was back on his feet, and met Colin Fraser of Formula Models, based with John Simons of Marsh Models. To supplement his income, Simon rented space with Colin, and finally became self employed. This enabled him to undertake building and finishing work for a number of people, including continuing with SMTS, but also taking on work from Formula Models, Illustra, Marsh Models, and Model Assemblies.  

This wider world opened his eyes to the great diversity of cars being modelled, but some that had never been made to modern quality standards, such as a Maserati Mistrale. The answer was obvious, he should launch his own range!

Christian Sargant was doing pattern work for John Simons, Keith Williams and Pat Land, so was an obvious choice for a pattern maker, and Keith at SMTS, equally for the castings. After scouring his books, for both pictures and technical data, he selected the Mistrale coupe as his first model, followed by a Mistrale Spyder, and then the De Tomaso Mangusta. So far his production has been approximately 50 of each, and he is testing the likely interest with both owners clubs and the international market. A Lister Jaguar XJS Le Mans was the next planned model

In 2020, the ownership of Brooklin Model acquired SMTS, and Simon became Director at both Scale Model Technical Services and Brooklin Models.

Subject ID: 81543

Less