Phil Winslade

Phil Winslade’s interest in building came from an unlikely source, assembling the Aurora kits of dinosaurs and other horror creatures! This was whilst at school, and armed with this very relevant background interest, he secured a job with RAE Models at the tender age of 17, fresh from school, building some of their models and assisting with exhibitions display work, the other side to RAE.

At that time the firm was still run by Bob Edney, Keith’s father, and Phil was taught his trade by the other two builders Mike Broadbent, who subsequently moved to Australia, and Neville Smith. They were working mostly on the Piccolino and Bellini ranges of cars, and Phil remembers the Weybridge workshop as a true working assembly atmosphere. Building and painting were the key trades to be learnt, and Phil spent 3 years with RAE until he found that the wages were not sufficient to support his needs.

The building sites beckoned, and it wasn’t until 1991 that his interest in the skills of model building awoke again, and he landed a full time post with the team at Scale Model Technical Services. Here he was working for Keith Williams and John Allen, and the initial demand was for 1:24 scale Cobras and E-Types.

For Phil, the work at SMTS has always been a mixture of in house lines and commissioned work from other suppliers, and he finds that the market always seems to produce work, even if the subject matter changes. Currently he is working on American sought products, such as the models that used to be in the Henk van Asten Conquest range, and the old Western models. These are all being re-launched by Route 66 Models.

Subject ID: 82865