Another question on vehicles: how do these look?

[Keith Addenbrooke]

We’re having a clear out, and among the things being sorted are some toy cars and other vehicles the kids long ago grew out of.  These four cars seem a bit smaller than the others, and while I believe they are still over-scale for HO, I’m wondering if it’s not too much to make them useful for a more modern setting?  As usual, I’d welcome any thoughts - I don’t have a layout to try them out on, sorry:

 

 

 

I also came across this VW camper - again, I think it’s a bit too big for 1:87 based on the dimensions when scaled, but how bad does it look to others with more experience?  Just wondered.  Hope that’s OK.  Thanks, Keith.

 

 

 

 

Edited January 13 by Keith Addenbrooke

[Claude_Dreyfus]

They are on the large side for H0; probably nearer 00. The cast metal bodies of the cars are probably a little crude against the Brekina's of this world, but are still reasonable. If you are not too fussy, they will do. If the scale difference is unpalatable but you wish to use them, then have them on a part of the layout away from your H0 vehicles and structures (if you have a layout, or it is of sufficient size to have such an area).

[298]

I would agree that they are nearer to OO scale. Which might be useful if you model 4mm US but there is rarely a need for larger than scale vehicles on a layout (smaller is less of a problem). The wheels don't look too brilliant either, are they Cararama or the same but rebranded?

 

I recently found a box of a couple of dozen, probably brought from Poundland 20 -odd years ago. I took them to a show where my old club had a sales stand to put in the £1 odds and ends box and they were snalled up quite quickly, so someone must have found a use for them.

[Keith Addenbrooke]

Thank you @Claude_Dreyfus and @298 for the feedback - useful to have other input at this stage (I’m not great at matching scales, so it is helpful).  To complete the story, I borrowed my wife’s red Porsche after lunch, and while it is a bit bigger than OO or H0 at 1:58, the size difference to the silver / grey 997* shows why it was worth checking:

 

 

 

 

I also dug out Sam’s Van (Gaugemaster H0) to compare with the VW Camper, which again confirms the view that these cars, incidentally all made by a company called Realtoy, are too big - even if with weathering (especially the wheels) I think they could still look quite nice.

 

 

Thanks again - question answered, Keith.

 

*I’m not an expert on cars - the model numbers/ types are all moulded on the bottom

Edited January 14 by Keith Addenbrooke

[Johann Marsbar]

The VW Camper van looks suspiciously like a model that appeared in various "Poundland" stores about 20 years ago and is OO scale. They did camper, flatbed truck and van variants and went by several different trade names on the packaging. I've got several repainted ones in the service of the Brewery on my layout!

[Keith Addenbrooke]

23 hours ago, Johann Marsbar said:

The VW Camper van looks suspiciously like a model that appeared in various "Poundland" stores about 20 years ago and is OO scale. They did camper, flatbed truck and van variants and went by several different trade names on the packaging. I've got several repainted ones in the service of the Brewery on my layout!

 

Good to know you’ve found a use on the layout for yours.  I think mine may be from different tooling.  No scale is quoted, although the proportions look OK to me, so I’ve checked them against what I can find in terms of prototype dimensions.

 

If I take the wheelbase length (axle to axle) I believe this is 2.4m (or 7’ 10.5”).  In H0 1:87 that would only be 27.6mm, and in OO 1:76 it would be 31.6mm.  Mine is 40mm exactly, conveniently giving a scale of 1:60, but confirms it as too big.

 

I’m keeping the Camper van anyway, but not for model railway use.  I’ve decided not to keep the cars.  If they were a bit undersized it might work, as buildings also tend to be quite compressed (even when door/windows are kept to scale), but not with them being a bit too big.  Shame they didn’t all have the scales on the underneath like the red Porsche, Keith.

[BR60103]

1:60 is bigger than S scale (1:64) but less than any of the O scales. (43, 48, 50)

 

[Keith Addenbrooke]

5 hours ago, BR60103 said:

1:60 is bigger than S scale (1:64) but less than any of the O scales. (43, 48, 50)

 

Some Narrow Gauge modellers also use 1:55 or 5.5mm scale to model 3’ gauge lines on standard 16.5mm gauge HO / OO track but that’s as close as I could get, Keith.

[Keith Addenbrooke]

I saw an H0 scale VW Microbus on sale, so bought it to satisfy my curiosity:

 

Left to right - the 1:60 toy bus, my new H0 version, and TT (1:120) for comparison:

 

 

 

The H0 bus looks a bit small, but the dimensions seem to scale to 1:87 OK:

 

Sam (in blue) is quite tall - a good 6’ plus hat:

 

Not sure what’s with all the yellow and white!  Keith.

 

Edited January 22 by Keith Addenbrooke