Feature
Lima produced accurate models for the time which can be acquired very cheaply today. TIM SHACKLETON shows how upgrades to detail and chassis can transform their appearance and operation at a fraction of the cost of a brand-new model.
IT IS EASY to overlook the level of innovation that Vicenza-based manufacturer Lima brought to the party. Thirty-odd years ago, the quality of its pattern-making and moulding work was in a league of its own – with the occasional exception such as the ‘OO’ gauge Class 55 ‘Deltic’ and Class 08 shunter. Access to state-of-the-art printing technology allowed the Italian firm to offer short runs and limited editions in numbers never previously considered economic. Only the mechanisms let them down.
Built
