Kinsmart brand?


Raincoat2

Well-Known Member
I need more cars and trucks for my layout - HO scale, mid-to-late 1950's era. On Amazon I notice a lot of vehicles from a brand called Kinsmart. Never heard of it myself. Just wondering if you're familiar with that brand and what kind of quality they are and if they have a realistic look?
 
Jeff - you're right, they don't seem to make 1:87 scale vehicles. But I have a couple of slightly larger vehicles (1:60, I think) in certain places on the layout where you won't notice their size so much. So I was thinking of doing the same with a couple of the Kinsmart trucks. Don't really like to do that, but their price was attractive, compared to HO scale trucks, even when they're on sale at MJKlein. Always looking for a bargain, you know:rolleyes:
 
The only place you would really be able to use bigger models (i.e. lower numbers, 1:60 being larger than 1:87 would be in front of your trains, and a fair distance in front of, too. N scale at 1:150 (Japan) or 1:160 (US/Euro/Australia) is often used at the back to force the distance perspective, because it's smaller in size. What you have to consider is where your vision is concentrated, which is usually on the trains, so anything bigger in front of them is going to stand out like the proverbials.
 
The only place you would really be able to use bigger models (i.e. lower numbers, 1:60 being larger than 1:87 would be in front of your trains, and a fair distance in front of, too. N scale at 1:150 (Japan) or 1:160 (US/Euro/Australia) is often used at the back to force the distance perspective, because it's smaller in size. What you have to consider is where your vision is concentrated, which is usually on the trains, so anything bigger in front of them is going to stand out like the proverbials.

Toot - Thanks for that "perspective perspective" :D I have a couple of the 1:60 vehicles coming out of a tunnel, making a turn behind a building, parked behind trees, etc., so their size doesn't draw the eye from the rest of the vehicles, all of which are true HO scale at 1:87. My layout is rather narrow, so there aren't many places I could put a 1:60 vehicle in front of the trains, so I place them in out-of-the-way places.
 
1/60th scale would be huge for HO scale. Consider an automobile that is HO scale or 1/87 scale and measures about 2" long. The same car in S scale or 1/64 scale (typical Hot Wheels size) would be closer to 3" long. 1/60 scale would be even larger than that. You're almost getting into O scale territory. I think about the largest scale you can get away with using on an HO layout would be about OO scale 1/76 scale and then only if the vehicles are well separated from anything that would give the scale away.
 
Dennis - yeah, you can do a search with an "HO scale" filter and it will still bring up everything under the sun. Obviously 1:40 would be way too obvious an outsize for an HO scale layout. So I've limited myself to a handful of 1:60 vehicles like the Kinsmart stuff, but I don't want too man of them on the layout.
 



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