newbie question

The (Airfix) military scale was always 1:72. OO 1:76.2 HO 1:87

I remember buying the 'Landrover and missile on trailer' kit as a youngster to go with my HO trains - even then I could see that the Landrover was completely the wrong scale!

Regards, Greg.P.

Reply to
Greg Procter
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That's no problem, OO is 4mm/foot or 1:76.2 scale - the gauge is 1:87 or HO.

Regards, Greg.P.

Reply to
Greg Procter

You're a beginner in this hobby, aren't you John?

;-)

OO is two consistant scales - two for the price of one - that's got to be good!

Regards, Greg.P.

Reply to
Greg Procter

That's really helpful, thanks.

Locos and rolling stock, mostly.

Mark

Reply to
Mark Goodge

Yers very droll I'm sure but as this appears a little pointless I'm going to switch threads now to something more on topic and hope that things turn-out for the better; once I've made my crossing to a more interesting topic I hope that I will not allow myself to slip further.

Reply to
Chris Wilson

Yes, I think I remember now, the lever had a little red end to it (no jokes please) and yes I did have one ... in the end though it just got plugged in to the end of my Series 4 track to make extended sidings.

.. and yes always set up on the floor ... even when a large amount of it (series 4) got pinned to a piece of chip board. Used to have a mimic car system to go with it ... very top bananas!

Reply to
Chris Wilson

As commented-on by the editor in this month's Model Rail there isn't any major supplier of kits for the mainstream 00 market these dyas. As ready to run models of high quality become more and more available, easy to assemble plastic and white-metal kits went out of fashion. All that is left is etched brass models for the specialist market which take considerable skill to assemble. DJH (locos) and Comet (coaches) are the most prevailent among these. Wagons are split between a plethora of suppliers too numerous to mention some of whom make only one or two examples each. DC Kits make some excellent DMU's based on common plastic components and their partners Silver Fox do some hard-to-find diesel and electric locos in cast resin.

(kim)

Reply to
kim

DJH locos have major parts in cast whitemetal, Wills cast kits are still readily available, and Alan Gibson has a large range of etched locos.

Parkside Dundas have a huge range of plastic wagon kits and would certainly count as a main kit manufacturer, also most of the former Airfix wagons are still available from Dapol.

Just splash out on a Railway Modeller and study the ads. or visit and look through the websites.

Keith

Make friends in the hobby. Visit Garratt photos for the big steam lovers.

Reply to
Keith Norgrove

"Pat Hammond" wrote

The actual ownership of the company has also changed several times since

1950.

John.

Reply to
John Turner

They made the stuff - it was their choice. Many "00" buildings are, or were, undersized otherwise they would take up too much room.

[The houses on the Coronation Street set are undersized, but are much larger on the inside than the outside - like the TARDIS.]
Reply to
MartinS

"kim" wrote

A bit unfair, I'd say. Do Parkside Dundas and Ratio not count as "major suppliers" of mainstream kits? Seen 'em in just about every model shop I've ever visited! (Conceded that their mainstream is substantially pre-1950, which nevertheless stilll defines much of modelling, even if only to model ratty life-expired pre-BR wagons still banging around in the 70s).

It could be argued that the glory of British railway modelling actually resides in its kit and detail suppliers - lest we forget, virtually all British based and providing rather more home employment than Hornby and Bachmann do now. The quality is on the whole good, the prices not excessive for the often-eyewatering amount of design and etching work that's gone into them, and the range of prototypes staggering. RTR isn't going to dream of competing with them, and indeed relies on the likes of Chris Leigh to funnel "most wanted" suggestions to them to match public demand, as they have to sell a lot of units to justify particularly the plastic tooling. The aftermarket gang can then pile in for every variant and finescale option.

Kit design arose from the enormous dissatisfaction of 1970s and 80s modellers with RTR choice and accuracy (that and watching with interest the cutting-edge work of military modellers, hence the quality of brass and resin work now available) , but it's now flowered into an ecosystem of its own. The only hassle is keeping up with it! Stall-gazing at ExpoEM and the like makes my eyes swim by the end of the day, plus having to go round with an "I could really do with one of..." list two pages long just to target shopping on current upgrade projects, let alone buy new kits.

My only concern is that our newbie successfully makes the transition from casual "trainset" interest into seeing what an absorbing hobby modelling can be. Buying stuff is one thing, but once some good show layouts or even Pendon are studied, the rest will follow readily. That and joining an interest group (not necessarily a local club, unless it's unfeasible to operate even a portable baseboard regularly at home) and picking a good magazine. Model Rail is just about the best all-round of the latter for the general modeller IMO. If John Redman's youngster is keen on the current rail scene, for instance, then I've been mighily impressed by the keenness (and youth - important to keep continuity) of DEMU (Diesel and Electric Modellers United) even though I model something older and coal-powered. They appear at shows and do great work in recruiting and enthusing the youngsters. The kitbuilding urge will follow soon enough!

Tony Clarke (with a boxful of shabby Airfix Prestwins to renovate, among much else)

Reply to
Tony Clarke

"Richard" wrote

That's a woefully inadequate range of available scales. Us ship modellers, see, we need 1/96, 1/192, and preferably 1/200 at minimum. None of them is there. What *is* wrong with you railway types that you can't accommodate this?? What do you do when you're building a dockside layout and you need a ship at the quayside?

Reply to
John Redman

"Richard" wrote

It's not a train, but this little gem (in 1/700th scale, no less, so it's about a foot long) cannot be too far off:-

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Reply to
John Redman

"Tony Clarke" wrote

It sounds a bit like what has happened to specialist wargame figurines since the 1970s. The major players have almost all gone or changed hands several times but the range of what is available, and its quality, has actually improved for its having become a cottage industry.

Reply to
John Redman

"John Redman" wrote in message news:de0750$3a5$ snipped-for-privacy@news6.svr.pol.co.uk...

Its great isn't it! Whoever put that beauty together is an artist. For my self, as well as American standard gauge, I'm in the process of modelling a narrow gauge railroad based around Pearl Harbor. How do you think a 1/87th scale American carrier would look tied up to a dock?

2.663.5 metres of scenery ;-)
Reply to
Les Pickstock

"John Redman" wrote

Absolutely. It would seem that wargaming can currently hold a high-street shop presence (branches of Games Workshop, including staff that will run out-of-hours teaching sessions) that railway modelling can't, and hasn't done in 20 years. It's certainly got the youth interest, and modelling standards are high - modern acrylic paints help - though I personally have less than zero interest in Warhammer 40000 or variants on Lord Of The Rings. Still, when they want an in-depth hobby with a huge spread of evocative prototypes and narratives to satisfy the adult mind, we'll be there waiting...

A lot of it comes down to harnessing effort and imagination. If your eight year old hasn't been to a decent major railway modelling exhibition, it's a good age to start - I see a lot of kids at shows now, probably more than was the case 8-10 years ago, which has to be good. To get out of Thomas The Tank Engine syndrome where possible, a good preserved railway or even just a mainline station is a good option too. Go to Didcot, watch the 125s roar through the mainline station and the 66s chunter in the sidings, then visit the steam depot there, then drive up the road to the Pendon Museum at Long Wittenham. If that doesn't enthuse him, nothing will!

Tony Clarke

Reply to
Tony Clarke

The interesting thing is that GW is just the visible bit of the iceberg. There are loads of historical figure manufacturers who are one-man bands but whose ranges are vast, accurate, and extraordinarily well done. Go back to the 1970s, OTOH, and if you wanted - for example - the Prussian army that Napoleon defeated at Jena, it didn't exist. Nobody made Prussian figures with accurate uniforms for that date. There were gaps in every manufacturer's range and gaps that nobody filled at all. Today, no matter what army you want, someone somewhere makes it.

My other nerdy preoccupation is steel ships, and it's the same story there. The major plastic manufacturers have more or less abandoned designing new modern warship kits, and when one does, it's a *really* big deal. Meanwhile, all sorts of tiny firms have evolved which make everything from photo-etch gun crews in 1/700 scale up to 1/350 scale resin battleships which cost anything up to £1000 and which sell in numbers of a few hundred, tops. There is a company which does 1/700 scale British WW1 cruisers in resin with accurate in-scale moulded deck planking. Those planks are five inches wide yet these guys have found a way of casting them in resin even though they are under a millimetre wide.

There is even a guy knocking out 6" brass gun barrels on a CNC lathe in

1/700 scale, with the muzzles drilled out and a bit of the internal rifling visible.

All this has happened since the big boys went away, and you have to wonder if it's happened precisely *because* they went away.

Maybe your hobby needs Hornby to go bust again :-)

Good advice. It's time to start the soft sell...

Reply to
John Redman

It's been done - in 1/72 scale...

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Reply to
John Redman

On the other hand you could buy the entire Airfix zoo set just to get the elephant and use it in wargames and it was still cheaper than any cast figure at the time. Or if you needed a Dennis fire engine for a railway layout you could buy the Matchbox model for 2/6d (12.5p) as opposed to the recently released resin kit at £53.

(kim)

Reply to
kim

In message , John Redman writes

That seems odd as in the RC GRP Hulled hobby, Deans Marine have arguably become the biggest model boat kit maker in Europe and bring out at least half a dozen new models of ships every year - in Time for the Dortmund Exhibition. They have just gone into selling battlefield tanks too. I was over there yesterday and discussing the fact the tanks are being imported [these are Chinese manufactured] during which the proprietor was bewailing the fact that they would have to set up a small manufacturing facility of their own due to poor delivery etc for which he clearly blamed UK agents and importers.

Companies like Dean's that have very comprehensive resin moulding and die making facilities have a very broad choice of manufacturing arena. I Guess it's the demand that rules the day. I noticed a number of OO gauge resin moulded tank wagon kits over there yesterday. Deck cargo for a carrier of some kind no doubt.

Cheers.

Reply to
Roy

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