David Payne

David Payne was one of the first model makers of Thomas & Friends at Shepperton Studios who built the engines for the first and second series.

Bio
David started out in model making at school making and modifying kits. When he left school in 1972 he went to "Thorpe Model Makers" who were one of the leading companies specialising in architectural and engineering models.

In 1981 he moved to DBP Models and Effects based at Shepperton Studios. After the test pilot of Thomas was filmed he was given the job to sort things out and build more reliable models for a whole series.

David, John Pennicott and David Lillie made many characters for the first series. In 1984, after the production of the first series, they founded Pennicott Payne & Lillie Ltd. and made many more characters for the second series.

Trivia

 * David and Jamie Jackson-Moore guided Clearwater Features to Chris Leigh, who visited for coverage and filming of the Model Railway Constructor magazine.
 * David and Jamie used to call themselves "special effects modelers."