Re: 00 model cars

Although most of the Cararama range are modern, some are suitable for the

Ian J.

Springside and TPM both do ranges of whitemetal car kits featuring types made in the 1950s-1960s period (e.g. Morris Minor, Mini, Hillman Minx, etc.), but obviously suitable for layouts set in later times.

David E. Belcher

Also kits ( and I believe ready made at extra cost) from John Day

also see RM advert.

or for a few 30's cars that might have survived into the 50's

In the 1950s and 60s there were lots of 1930s design cars and ex military cars around; Ford

I'd settle for a flipping taxi!

The boss of Corgi Classics was questioned recently on this very subject. It seems it costs as much to produce the dies for a small vehicle like a car or a taxi as it does for for a much larger bus or lorry but it would sell for only a fraction of the price. That is why Lesney went out of business. There is also the problem that the market for historic models is highly cyclical and they are not selling well just now.

(kim)

Try Langley Models for a FX4 Black Cab.

Cheers, Mick

I've just a pack of six Cararama minis in assorted colours (old style) for just 2.00UKP in a cheap shop called HyperValue (number of locations in South Wales). I think I paid about four or five quid for a set of four at a railway exhibition a year or so ago!

Good money-making opportunity for you there, Mike.

That's true John! :-)

(Quickly gets in car and starts touring various town centres looking for model minis!)

But seriously, there must be an opening for a firm to make cheap plastic

One other opening is for cheap 1/76 boat and ship models. I know Langley and some other firms make various boats, but they're a bit pricey for your average modeller I would guess, and when a harbour needs half a dozen vessels, it's not affordable.

Mike K.wrote:-

Oh dear god not plastic. They're invariably flourescent white, red or yellow. Triang's car transporter is a particularly bad example.

I want die-cast metal at least to the standard of the buses and lorries which are currently available. The Austin FX-3 is ideally suited to die-cast due to its open side.

A bit off-topic the Co-Op sells ultra-cheap packs of realistic die-cast modern image vehicles under the name 'Action CIty'.

(kim)

"kim" wrote

Nothing wrong with plastic. Many of the European manufacturers of HO-scale model cars use this medium, but they produce good quality tooling and use realistic colours.

Hornby have/had a reasonable range of 4mm scale cars from the old Tri-ang Minix range. With little more than a spray paint can and a little judicious detailing they can be made into excellent models. I understand the tooling is now shot, which is why Hornby had not re-released them - shame!

John.

As an example of site showing some Cararama offerings, have a look at;

I see they do quite a few different bulk packs of Minis, including one with red, white and blue examples. Hang on a minute lads, I've got a great idea....now, do any bus kit manufacturers offer a Bedford Harrington Legionnaire coach? ;-) I also see that Cararama usefully offer a Mini in police car form, something you don't often see on layouts. The Beetle, VW campervan and MGB ought to be useful, too - pity they don't do a Morris Minor, which would be a popular car for layouts of that era.

David E. Belcher

Perhaps the outfit that makes kits for mil. vehicles (JB models), got a few land-rovers from them, cut the wheel base down for SWB, they do hard and soft top versions, 101s and bedfords too...

Niel.

Isn't a ship going to be /huge/ in 1/76? Even fishing boats or barges are pretty large. There is the Flower class warship kit in 1:72, and that is massive on a layout, but not a particularly big ship as ships go.

Lots of layouts with harbours have struck me as seeming not quite right, till I realised the ships were to a smaller scale than the trains. There are some excellent layouts with scale ships - like big radius curves, it seems to make a difference, if there is space.

Who is going to be first with a tug-powered pipeline railway in 009?

The message from Arthur Figgis contains these words:

An 8km long train would need a BIG layout even in Z-gauge - and the tugs are a fair distance in front of the "train"!

For those who don't subscribe to uk.r, pipelines for the N.Sea oilfields are pre-fabricated near Wick on a railway track which then acts as a slipway down which a pair of sea-going tugs tow the rather long length of pipe...

You're right, I was tempted by that Flower class boat, but it would look huge on an average sized layout, so gave it a miss. But there are a number of smaller type vessels that would look fine. Two or three vessels in a small harbour looks right.

Ah, that thing space, comes up all the time ;-)

But you can paint them.

I have picked up one or two useable items from one pound shops, sometimes a farm set will have a tanker type trailer, or the body on an overscale chassis can be grafted onto something more suitable. A 009 modeller I know made up an entire train from body parts taken from a cheap farm set.

Do what I did, and use the largest room in your property: the garden.

That sounds just a little macabre!