Die-cast models are made with hugely expensive metal tools or dies. Our moulds are rubber. It means we can afford to produce an item in much smaller numbers.

A White Metal replica will look very similar to one that is die-cast in metal, or indeed produced in resin.

This having been said, a White Metal model will usually have a weightier feel than a die-cast or resin piece.

The basic difference between a die-cast replica and one produced in White Metal is that, in the case of the former, the pieces that make up the model are created using metal ‘tools’ or ‘dies’.

These tools are hugely expensive, which explains why die-cast manufacturers are normally only interested in subjects that are going to sell in their thousands.

By contrast, the pieces for a White Metal model are created from rubber moulds. These are somewhat cheaper to produce and it means that the manufacturer is in a position to produce a model even if it thinks it can only sell a few hundred examples.

Working in white metal means that we can produce a replica of an obscure subject ike this Stirling Moss Lotus that the Far Eastern manufacturers simply wouldn’t find viable.

This a subject that an established die-cast manufacturer like, say, Minichamps could not even consider.

There is probably very little difference in quality between a die-cast model and one produced in white metal, but it is often the case that a smaller White Metal model maker can pay more attention to detail than an international die-cast brand which releases hundreds of new replicas every year.

At SMTS, for example, the engineers and model-makers have an enormous personal archive of original reference material that enables even the most obscure details of a car to be researched.

Our knowledge and archives on historic racing cars of the fifties, sixties and seventies helps us produce models are are totally covered in lots of detail.

Working closely with the original factory, or an owner, and by referring to our own photographic library, we are able, for example, to identify the difference between a particular Ferrari 250 GTO which ran at Goodwood and its configuration at Spa later the same year.

Of course, this level of attention to detail does come at a price and, these days, it would be rare to find a White Metal replica from any company selling for less than £100.

Put one of our 1:43s next to a mass produced model and it may look expensive, but white metal models are, by nature, much rarer and more collectible.

Put next to a similar looking 1:43 die-cast model made by AUTOart, Kyosho or Minichamps, this might appear expensive.

But the reality is that White Metal models are put together by hand, by highly skilled and experienced model-makers here in the UK.

Die-cast models are made on an automated production line in China. Our models are hand-built by highly skilled and experienced model-makers here in the UK.

Whereas, a die-cast replica is produced on a semi-automated production line in the Far East where factory, labour and raw material prices are far less than they are in high cost Britain.

The comparison between a die-cast model and one made in White Metal is rather akin to the difference between a Savile Row bespoke suit, and an off the shelf suit that can be found on the High Street.

A white metal replica is like a bespoke suit. Not everybody will see the difference, but the discerning customer happily pays for the craftsmanship that goes into creating it.

Outwardly, they might appear, to the casual observer, to be one and the same thing.

But the owner of a White Metal model, or a bespoke suit, will take some satisfaction from knowing and understanding the process by which his purchase has been created.

So, in conclusion, it has to be accepted that a White Metal replica is not for everybody.

White Metal models are sought and collected by the cognoscenti of the model world; by people who understand what it is they are acquiring and who often appreciate the fact that they are able to obtain a subject that has been produced by hand in only the lowest of quantities, and which, in many cases, is not available from any other model company.