HO Scale Autos and Trucks


N

Nightwing

Member
My layout is to the point that additional details like HO scale vehicles would be a big plus. The down side is I have seen some that cost more than some rolling stock. I can see a lot of money could be spent to add some realism to a layout.
 
Keep an eye on Train World . They seem to regularly run sales on Classic Metal Works vehicles at a substantial savings . Sign up for their email alerts . It may take you a while to get all you would like . You are correct though , those little details can really add up.
 
I check out my local Hobby Lobby every so often. They don't really have a clue and sometimes reduce HO scale vehicles to near-nothing if they have been on the shelves too long. Not a lot of variety though.

Willie
 
I have been collecting HO scale vehicles for over 30 years. Vehicles are one of the easiest ways to set the time period you're modeling.

I like the transition era, 1957 to be exact. I live steam locomotives and the first generation diesels plus this is when I grew up. I wanted to try to get the most accurate looking vehicles also. Years ago, there wasn't a lot available. Alloy form had quite a few and I think I have at least one of everything that fit into the era. As the years passed, more manufacturers came onto the market and if I saw anything that would fit into the time period, I got it. I am fortunate in that there are quite a few vehicles that work for that era. More modern vehicles aren't as numerous. As Jim mentioned, Classic Metal Works does have some excellent offerings. You might want to look at what MB Klien has and they do sell at prices below retail. http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/HO-Scale-Vehicles-s/1455.htm

Here are some photos showing some of them.

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Oxford just released three new vehicles. A '55 Buick, a '57 and a '38 Buick convertable. As some may know, I am an avid collector of any vehicles that date up to 1957 and if I don't have it, I will order it.

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The '55 Buick and the '57 Chevy Nomad are very nice. Details and paint is very crisp, probably some of the best offerings I have seen from Oxford. The '38 Buick is nice but noy quite a detailed as the other 2. Being that I do have a Chevy Dealership on the layout, selling '57 Chevys, I will be getting mor Nomads as the different colors become available. Probably will also get a few more '55 Buicks also when the new colors are available. In the first photo, that is a Nash Rambler to the right of the '55 Buick.
 
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What era are you modeling? If you are modeling modern day and need a lot of cars one alternative is to use architectural models. These are closer to 1:100 scale than 1:87 but if you place them in background areas and put the more expensive models in the foreground they allow you to fill up your layout at an economical price.

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I am modeling the transition era, late summer of 1957 to be exact. I am fortunate that there are so many more vehicles available for that time period. Other eras are a bit more difficult to find a good variety of vehicles for.
 
Years ago there were very few "accurate" vehicles for HO scale. As I mentioned, Alloy Forms offered some excellent white metal cars and trucks for the transition era. I have at least one of each, if not more. Moving to more recent years, other manufacturers such as Busch, Motor Max, Woodland Scenics, Jordan, Schuco, and other have offered some good looking vehicles. Classic Metal Works has probably offered the widest variety of vehicles for the transition era recently. Neo makes some really good looking cars, but they are a bit pricey. All are an improvement over using out of scale Match Box cars.
 
Another dumb question: How much out of scale are the Matchbox vehicles?

Also - I am looking for a 60-62 International ... both Cab-over and Long-nose as pictured .. anyone?

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From what I have read, Matchbox cars were never intended to be a particular scale. They were made to fit the matchbox they came in. I have a few Matchbox cars and putting them next to true HO scale vehicles, there is a world of difference.
 
There's quite a difference in size between Matchbox vehicles and true HO scale vehicles. Once in a while you may run across one that might be close.
 
Maybe they'll do the 1955 President Hardtop, with the full chrome grille/bumper and hooded headlights.
 
So long as I find different vehicles prior to 1957, I'll get it if it has good details.

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk
 
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