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ready to use models, 1987 ish era, help please


ess1uk

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mk1 fiesta, mk1 / 2 escort, cortinas (think you can get away with any cortina,

 

you need some mini's and morris minors due to them being popular, mk1 golfs would have been ageing, but perhaps still about.

 

from my limited memory of the late 80's (I used to watch cars pass the school playground trying to be the first to identify the vehicle) many were brittish (and ford) with the frequent european

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Basically they were updated versions of the old 88 and 109, the big difference being the suspension, adopting coil springs (like the Range Rover set-up) in place of leaf springs. There were various other minor changes over the years too, including rounded corners to the windows and revised door handles; the interior got another make-over quite a bit later.

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On a military modelling website the Oxford military Defender has been roundly criticised for being a 'civvy' vehicle in army colours

i don't know that many civies who drive round with TUAMs and whip antennas on the front wings though

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  • 8 months later...

mk1 golfs would have been ageing, but perhaps still about.

 

Modellers of 1987 are spoilt for choice compared to those of us modelling the more recent past. The VW Golf GTI produced by Oxford Diecast could definitely be considered ‘in period’ for a layout set in 1987. Department for Transport vehicle licensing statistics indicate that over the last 18 years the average car is between six and seven years old. I have no reason to believe that 1987 would be any different and therefore there would be a significant number of 1970s vehicles still on the road.

 

Assuming that the age profile of cars in 1987 was similar to 2007 (my chosen period), then around three quarters of vehicles would have been first registered in or after 1978 (S/T suffix), with a further 20 per cent registered from about 1972 (K/L suffix). Vehicles older than this would make up the remaining five percent, meaning they would be relatively rare, but could give some justification for a single late 1960s vehicle somewhere on the layout (if it has lots of cars).

 

Looking at vehicles available from Oxford Diecast, this means that the following may be suitable:

  • Green Jaguar XJS, British Rail and BT Land Rover Defenders all carry E prefix plates, meaning they would be brand new in the Autumn of 1987.
  • Ford Capri Mk 3 (W suffix, C and D prefix); Ford Escort (A and C prefix) and VW Golf GTI (V, X and Y suffix) would all fit into the common age range. I think that the forthcoming Ford Fiesta also fits into this category.
  • Earlier vehicles available from Oxford Diecast worth considering to make up the 'older' element of the vehicle fleet would include the Ford Cortina Mk 3, Citron 2CV, Leyland Princess, Ford Consul, Morris Marina, Mini and several others which may have been becoming less common, but could still be justified providing they were in the minority.

As I said at the start you're spoilt for choice. I want 95 per cent of my fleet to carry registration plates from a K reg through to an 07 plate. How many cars with suitable licence plates do Oxford produce: as far as I can tell, the answer is currently zero! There are taxis, vans and heavy goods vehicles, but suitable cars are a problem.

 

Regards

 

David

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A lot of the Hongwell Cararama and Yatming vehicles are very suitable for 1990s - late 2000s period layouts, though some of the Cararama deviate from their noiminal !:72 scale (both ways, though more are too big than smaller). Not as easy to get as say 5-10 years ago.

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Thanks Bernard,

 

I am aware of the Cararama models and have some of them purchased a few years ago. You also supplied me with your analysis of the scale of some of these models in relation to another thread. However, apart from the scale issue, there is also the problem that some of the most common vehicles are missing. In relation to 2007, Department for Transport statistics indicate that the 12 most common vehicles on the road in 2007 were: Ford Fiesta; Vauxhall Astra; Ford Focus; Vauxhall Corsa; Volkswagen Golf; Ford Mondeo; Renault Clio; BMW 3 Series; Vauxhall Vectra; Peugeot 206; Renault Megane; and Nissan Micra. As far as I am aware, few of these are in the Cararama range. However, beggers can't be choosers as they say.

 

Regards

 

David

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Just five of those for 2007 without going into heavy mods: Fiesta, Golf, BMW 3 series, (Opel) Vectra and Peugeot 206. The 'Astra' could be derived from the Opel GTC (Yatming) at least in 3-door form and the 3-door Mk.1 Focus, admittedly with a lot more effort, from the Focus WRC. Such a shame they didn't do a normal one! Luckily most of those are near enough 1:72 or better. I did occur to me that there might be a 1/80 Nissan March/Micra for the Japanese H0 market, but I can't find one, just a 1/24 Mk.2.

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Guest jim s-w

I must say though - regardless of the type of vehicle being depicted none of the 4mm scale cars can be considered 'ready to use' all require at the very least a coat of matt varnish to tone them down a bit.

 

If your layout is full of railway vehicles tipped straight from box to layout then OK but if not you really should treat road vehicles as proper models in their own right. Nothing spoils a great layout more than out of the box cars.

 

Cheers

 

Jim

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I was driving a Mk5 Cortina in 1987, remember many Mk 4's, but Mk3's were very rare even then

 

I suspect you are right, although I'm a bit young to remember. My father had a Mark 3 Cortina (and the Mark 1 and 2 before that), but by 1987 he was also driving a Mark 5 (purchased second hand around 1983). For some reason he never owned a Mark 4.

 

Regards

 

David

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