00 scale road vehicles from non-railway sources

[ianmacc]

55 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

Here is the Chevy pick up, there is one for £9.99 with free postage but its a later one with whizziwheels.

https://www.ebay.com/b/Tomica-Chevrolet-Diecast-Trucks/180273/bn_11908360

Gone already !

[ianmacc]

The matchbox Mercedes Benz 207D television van is 1/73. You can do the full box van number on it or, shock horror, use it as a TV van! Lots of esoteric liveries but this one with new wheels, painted lights, number plates etc and the gubbins toned down on top would look the part as a prototypical sky news van reporting on the inevitable train derailment!! 

[PhilJ W]

1 hour ago, otherplanet said:

A slight correction, the correct spelling is Roden, They also have a FWD truck with a choice of load beds. Which although American built were refurbished in reasonable quantities and sold ex WD after the war.

Another similar company is RPM models.

They do a Model T ambulance and a a less useful model T machine gun car, which provides a good chassis for kit bashing, but the body is of little use. Although it claims to be 1:72. The wheelbase is exactly right for 1:76.

They also do a Mack AC truck with various body styles, although I think they were less common as civilian vehicles.

Note, they don't have a website, but if you search "rpm plastic kits"  you will find plenty of distributors.

Post duly amended. The RPM model T's are of two different bonnet/radiator styles the machine gun carrier is of the pre 1916 style but the ambulance is of the post 1916 more rounded style. I have both kits and comparing the machine gun carrier with the Harbutt model T its an exact copy. I have some of the Harbutt models made up including a model T I converted to a truck about 40 years ago but sadly the plastic has become brittle with age and is now very fragile.

[BernardTPM]

One I remember from the early 1980s, the Majorette Mercedes T2 fire engine. The cab of this was 1:76, more or less. Note though that unlike the prototype photo on that page, the cab was the lower 'standard' height rather than the taller verson. I was going to use it as a service vehicle for 'Maroon' coaches, a ficticious coach/bus fleet I was making at the time.

[PhilJ W]

The Majorette light truck is also very near to 00 scale. 

[PhilJ W]

I have one of these in my stash.

https://majorette-model-cars.fandom.com/wiki/Construction_Cab

I wasn't quite sure what it was when I found it on a swap meet table. Apparently it is a mobile toilet for construction sites.

 

[PhilJ W]

17 hours ago, BernardTPM said:

One I remember from the early 1980s, the Majorette Mercedes T2 fire engine. The cab of this was 1:76, more or less. Note though that unlike the prototype photo on that page, the cab was the lower 'standard' height rather than the taller verson. I was going to use it as a service vehicle for 'Maroon' coaches, a ficticious coach/bus fleet I was making at the time.

They also do this version.

https://majorette-model-cars.fandom.com/wiki/Mercedes_TraX_Publics

[BernardTPM]

That would have been even better for the intended use, but they didn't have that in the shop I used to buy them from back around 1981-2. I assume that would be the same size and therefore also 4mm scale.

[PhilJ W]

It says they're 1/76 scale.

[ianmacc]

This thread is making me want to trawl junk shops! 

[PhilJ W]

11 minutes ago, ianmacc said:

This thread is making me want to trawl junk shops! 

Swap meets are opening up again, there's one scheduled locally for the 25th of July.

https://www.ukmodelshops.co.uk/events/swapmeets

[ianmacc]

48 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

Swap meets are opening up again, there's one scheduled locally for the 25th of July.

https://www.ukmodelshops.co.uk/events/swapmeets

God a swap meet! I remember those. I also seem to recall that once upon a time we used to go to rooms with lots of railway layouts in them! 
 

Edit - just looked and nothing within 100 miles 

Edited July 10, 2021 by ianmacc
A whinge

[PhilJ W]

21 minutes ago, ianmacc said:

God a swap meet! I remember those. I also seem to recall that once upon a time we used to go to rooms with lots of railway layouts in them! 
 

Edit - just looked and nothing within 100 miles 

You have to click on each month in turn.

[fodenway]

6 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

They also do this version.

https://majorette-model-cars.fandom.com/wiki/Mercedes_TraX_Publics

Here's one I started a few years ago, using one of the Majorette Mercs mated to the back half of the Matchbox Seriers Dodge breakdown truck. The jib has been left off, and I'm making a spec-lift to replace it. The light bar came from one of those Motormaxx MAN lorries, and the wheels from a cheap HO truck.

[locomad2]

Firm called "Kentoys"? made modern trucks 1:72 about 20 years ago sold for a £1,  loads of them about still at markets, seaside shops, arcades etc. Picked up some at markets still in boxes recently.

 

Don't know who makes them but locally north Wales loads of Ford transit Van's to 1:72 with advertised signs on sold as marketing promotions to local firms now ending up on car boots, "smelly"  (charity) shops. 

 

Seems this year lots of plastic London busses about about 1:75 with stick on labels in the independent £1 shops, some fitted with speed wheels others more realistic wheels.

 

Caught my eye but out of scale r/c cars about 1:64, sold in see though drink cans for £5, when I've got some cash as some shops don't do cards and cash machines in short supply I might buy a few and fit into airfix trucks and drive them round the layout

[locomad2]

If you don't think of it as a "Scammell" the matchbox scammell makes a good garage pick up truck and looks like 1:76 rather than 1:100

[fodenway]

9 hours ago, locomad2 said:

If you don't think of it as a "Scammell" the matchbox scammell makes a good garage pick up truck and looks like 1:76 rather than 1:100

A bit more than a "pickup" ! Scammell explorers were big vehicles - 20'7" long, 8'6" wide and 10'4" tall, less any nameboards or beacons. A more typical garage truck would be something like the Bedford being towed.

[PhilJ W]

Thats the problem with Matchbox with their 'Fit the box' scales.

[PhilJ W]

I have a couple of Lone Star models in my collection that are 1/76 scale or not far off. The first is a Foden eight wheeler that is apparently very close to 1/76 scale and the other is a Merryweather/AEC Ergo fire escape ladder which is slightly underscale but not by a great amount.

[BernardTPM]

Yes, both nice castings. The Ergo is slightly small at 29½mm wide, or around 1:82 scale.  I think I prefer Lone Star's interpretation of the Foden cab to the (still very good) EFE version, but the wheels and chassis aren't as good, of course.

[ianmacc]

1 hour ago, PhilJ W said:

I have a couple of Lone Star models in my collection that are 1/76 scale or not far off. The first is a Foden eight wheeler that is apparently very close to 1/76 scale and the other is a Merryweather/AEC Ergo fire escape ladder which is slightly underscale but not by a great amount.

The Merryweather is a decent model too and doesn’t need much to make layout ready. If you get the earlier one without the speed wheels or replace them with better ones. 
 

Is the type of Foden modelled by lone star available from a more modem  manufacturer? I’ve seen the model. If not it’s a good shout. 

[fodenway]

Yes, the Foden S24 cab is in the RTI range and is a very good moulding. The Lone Star cab was also copied by Marquis Models, and in a slightly improved form by Roadscale, both now obsolete and hard to find. Lone Star also did the Foden S50 half-cab, as fitted to tippers, mixers and a few general haulage vehicles. They also did a Leyland Gas Turbine truck which was a little cruder and not as well proportioned.

[BernardTPM]

That Foden half-cab was a weird one to do (as was the gas turbine!), but I did have them plus the S24 once (sadly lost when I moved along with too many other things). I think there was a 'normal' full-width version of the same basic cab which would have been a possible conversion from the Lone Star cab.

[PhilJ W]

One key ring model that we have overlooked is the Only fools and horses Reliant three wheel van. I checked this against the published dimensions and it is spot on 1/76 scale.

[ianmacc]

57 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

One key ring model that we have overlooked is the Only fools and horses Reliant three wheel van. I checked this against the published dimensions and it is spot on 1/76 scale.

It was made by Oxford diecast I think. Their current model in normal version may even be the same casting.

 

(Looking for a distraction in the middle of the football lol!)