What Scale Is This, Anyway?


Lady_Railfan

Lady_Railfan

House Mother, Cheerleader
My rant for today:

Larry's thread about 1:87 items now available at WalMart reminded me of how frustrating it can be to find items for my layout in places other than large scale model railroad vendors. I like to look for decorations and accessories at places like crafts stores, toy departments, garden centers, etc.

What's frustrating about this is trying to determine an item's scale. One notable exception is the Breyer catalog for toy horses. They show scale for all but their "Mini-Whinnies," the smallest ones that are probably closest to 1:87.

Yes, I carry a tape measure and a standing G-scale figure with me when I shop. It just bugs me that most manufacturers aren't more accommodating to us modelers.

Any recommendations?
 
Claudia, I have the same problem w/H.O. scale. I measure my standard buildings including doors & windows before I go into a large craft store. Many times I have bought a building & it was to big or to small. I have buildings right now that I bought from a hobby shop about 10 years ago that were marked 1/87th scale & they are not.
The windows & doors were way to big for my scale.
There is a card that a company makes for all scales that you can carry w/you when you go to train shows, etc. I see them advertised in some of the magazines every once in a while (train mags). I have a card that I made w/all the heighths. I used a 3x5 index card. I drew a few drawings of pertenent stuff & it has really helped me.
In your case you would have to have a poster board(funny--LOL) or an 8x10 piece of
poster board (serious). I drew pictures of doors & windows & wrote down some measurements on some of my buildings floor plans. Then I drew around 1 of my figures.
I carry it w/me to all train shows(flea mkts.) I also carry a track gauge. Sometimes U will find H.O. scale track & loco's that are not gauged correctly. Even some cars too.

You ought to try to find a boat or a ship in a catalog that doesn't give the scale.

Larry
 
Thanks for the excellent suggestions, Larry! Maybe I won't need a poster board after all. How about if I make little cards to represent doors (showing where the knob should be) and windows, with information on the back about stair tread height and depth, chimney sizes, etc. Hey! Maybe we should publish something like that.

[Don't anybody else steal this idea! Larry and I are gonna make a bundle!!!] :D
 
Claudia, The company is called The Scale Card Company. I have one of their HO cards - also carry a 1:87 scale rule (6") with a printout of a figure, from an old Letraset catalogue, printed at 1:87, taped to it. Works fine for me
Shortliner(Jack)away up here in the Highlands
 
Thanks so very much, Jack! Looks like the Scale Card people have a great product. I'm going to place an order tomorrow. By the way, for others who may be interested, the site is at http://www.thescalecard.com/

They don't have a secure site for ordering online, but you can download an order form.
 
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