Dave Ellis

Dave Ellis lived in the Crawley/ Three Bridges area in the early 50s and had friends who were involved with railways. It was not surprising, perhaps, that like many youngsters of his time, he took up railway modelling. Along with this, he remembers saving up to buy a train set.

He started work as a trainee wireman at a factory in Crawley and then moved to Gatwick as a maintenance electrician. Later, seeking more reward he spent ‘time on the road’ for Ever Ready batteries and in the same capacity he became a representative for a cable company including two wire manufacturing companies.

Subject ID: 82844

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Dave Ellis lived in the Crawley/ Three Bridges area in the early 50s and had friends who were involved with railways. It was not surprising, perhaps, that like many youngsters of his time, he took up railway modelling. Along with this, he remembers saving up to buy a train set.

He started work as a trainee wireman at a factory in Crawley and then moved to Gatwick as a maintenance electrician. Later, seeking more reward he spent ‘time on the road’ for Ever Ready batteries and in the same capacity he became a representative for a cable company including two wire manufacturing companies.

His first involvement with toys was as a rep. for Tonka Toys, then Burbank, a subsidiary of Pedigree, with dolls and soft toys. A year with Eisenmann & Co, importers of Bburago and Lima model railways led David to take retail premises in Felbridge, East Grinstead in 1977 – the premise being that ‘every town should have a model/toy shop.’ During the period 1977-1988, South Eastern Models as it was called, had some very successful years selling a large cross section of toys and models and specialising in model railway. To a certain extent his business thrived as a result of many other similar shops in a 25 mile radius closing down.

Over the years, Dave had formed a good working relationship with Bob Wills / Wills Finecast in nearby Forest Row. So, in 1988, when Bob decided to retire, South Eastern Models was a natural successor. The decision was taken to close the shop, and Dave worked in Forest Row for a year or so, with Bob on hand to ensure a smooth transition.  So, for Dave, it was a move from retailing to manufacturing.

Ian Playfoot, who had made patterns for Bob Wills carried on doing the same for Dave and continued Bob’s established line with a 1:24 MGBGT and Tourer, followed by a same scale MGA, hard top and soft top. Austin, Morris and Cooper Minis were produced but were potentially unsaleable, because Tamiya had produced a many version plastic Mini. During this time, Mike Stephens of Western Models was involved with various projects, including producing vac. form windows for trains.

Subject ID: 82844

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