Mirrors for '00' road vehicles?

[Nick G]

I am looking to detail a couple of 'oo' scale road vehicles the Bedford HA in british Rail yellow is one example. The glaring omission from this is the door mirrors, does any company make any after market mirrors?

 

Thanks. 

[Arthur]

 

Langley Models do a vehicle detailing etch which contains wing and cab mirrors.

 

Scroll down this page to ref; X20

 

http://www.langleymodels.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_OO_Vehicle_Accesories__cabs__numberplates___X3_on_30.html

 

I’ve used these but also make up my own from wire and scrap etch.

 

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[autocoach]

I just noticed the other day an article by Trevor Pott in the Model Railway Journal #257 on page 219 where he describes scratch building a wing mirror for a 4 mm Oxford Austin 7 along with other details to model the Churston midwife's automobile.

 

On the other hand it would be wonderful if someone makes an etch of mirrors for pre-1950 vehicles. 

 

Trevor indicates he sourced the replacement fine spoked Austin 7 wheels from DG Models whose site is autocraft.plus.com.  However I did not see any separate 4 mm vehicle mirrors on their site.

Edited December 17, 2017 by autocoach

[RANGERS]

TPM used to do a very nice etched mirror, it would be worth contacting him by PM on here to see if he has any still kicking around.

[Merfyn Jones]

Another source of etched mirrors is from the bus manufacturers. Examples I can think of are Paragon Models and Mark Hughes

[ThePipersSon]

 

I just noticed the other day an article by Trevor Pott in the Model Railway Journal #257 on page 219 where he describes scratch building a wing mirror for a 4 mm Oxford Austin 7 along with other details to model the Churston midwife's automobile.

 

On the other hand it would be wonderful if someone makes an etch of mirrors for pre-1950 vehicles. 

 

Trevor indicates he sourced the replacement fine spoked Austin 7 wheels from DG Models whose site is autocraft.plus.com.  However I did not see any separate 4 mm vehicle mirrors on their site.

 

I'm not sure pre-1950 vehicles would have wing-mirrors.  I have checked a few photographs and they are not common.  Thinking about my first four cars (Ford Popular 103E, Morris Minor Traveller, Wolsley 1500, MG Midget mk1) the wing mirrors were very much an optional extra.  The accessory shops did  a nice line in replacements/original fitting.

[PhilJ W]

External mirrors on ordinary cars were not compulsory until the 1970's, the one exception was estate cars were a load could obscure the view through the interior mirror. At least one external mirror was compulsory on all commercials. This was often only a small single mirror that would be pretty useless in todays traffic conditions. A German company called Automobilia produce an etch in HO scale of mirrors, wipers and other fittings that can be ordered direct as there are no dealers in the UK.

http://automobilia.de

Edited December 17, 2017 by PhilJ W

[Mike Storey]

External mirrors on ordinary cars were not compulsory until the 1970's, the one exception was estate cars were a load could obscure the view through the interior mirror. At least one external mirror was compulsory on all commercials. This was often only a small single mirror that would be pretty useless in todays traffic conditions. A German company called Automobilia produce an etch in HO scale of mirrors, wipers and other fittings that can be ordered direct as there are no dealers in the UK.

http://automobilia.de

 

Interesting, thanks. Are the German versions better than the Langley etches in your opinion? (genuine question, as I only have the Langley version and the pic on the site link does not show any wing mirrors, but the wipers example looks superb).

 

I would also add that the German aerial etch looks very useful - better than anything I could make with a bit of wire!

Edited December 17, 2017 by Mike Storey

[fodenway]

I make mirrors from tinfoil (take-away trays are the ideal thickness). Oblong ones can be cut with scissors, and round ones punched out using a  piece of brass tube of the required diameter sharpened internally with a drill bit. The resulting heads are epoxied to a length of fishing line, which has the advantage of flexibility to resist handling damage. For windscreen wipers I use the etched ones for various classes of diesel loco by several different makers.

[PhilJ W]

Interesting, thanks. Are the German versions better than the Langley etches in your opinion? (genuine question, as I only have the Langley version and the pic on the site link does not show any wing mirrors, but the wipers example looks superb).

 

I would also add that the German aerial etch looks very useful - better than anything I could make with a bit of wire!

They are very good, extreamly fine etchings far better than Langley, would even give TPM a run for his money. The only problem is that they are very delicate and a bit fiddley. The wheels are brilliant but being HO scale are only suitable for smaller cars such as Triumph Heralds, Hillman Imps and other cars with 12 or 13 inch wheels. The wing mirrors are very similar to those fitted to the 105E Anglia and the early Cortina.

[BernardTPM]

Here's a composite of details from a photo taken outside Charing Cross station on 30th January 1965. Most of the mirrors are small round ones, though the blue A60 has fancy rectangular ones. I think I have got some some 4-X2 etches left (the etches include wipers and steering wheels too).

Edited December 17, 2017 by BernardTPM

[birch1]

Mark Hughes models produce a wide range of mirrors for a wide range of 1:76 buses. They could easily be adapted for cars too in my opinion.

[bamford]

have a look at military modelling - dan taylor modelworks and milicast do  etches for mirrors wipers etc mainly aimed at military trucks which are of course 1930's -50's era , as well as many truck types which went on to civvl life postwar , often with no change other than tyres

[cliff park]

I note that the OP refers to 'door' mirrors. Notice that the photo from 1965 shows all 'wing' mirrors. Pre about 1970 most mirrors were on the wings, pre 1950s plenty of vehicles had no mirrors at all. Lorries, vans had them, but with cars you used the internal mirror. or looked over your shoulder.

[Goochie]

Scale Link does an etched brass fret of assorted internal and external mirrors, SLF137 in their listing.