I have been trying to find an HO scale LIfe-Like McDonalds kit for some time:
Our layout is modeled after Southern California during the late 1950s. So the Life-Like kit is almost perfect for our era and locale.
Of course this kit is an obviously hard one to find. I missed out on two mint conditions kits that were recently listed on eBay (bidding war at the end).
But I don’t really need a mint in box/sealed kit. What I’m looking for is a kit that is preferably unbuilt. If built, I need all of the pieces except the large street sign and trash cans. I also don’t really need any of the decals/lettering.
Does anyone here have one of these kits, or know of a place that might have one of these?
McDonald’s refused to remove the trans-fats and high fructose corn syrup from their Life-Like menus so Walthers (the new owners of Life-Like) had them shut down. [swg]
Set up a Saved Search on ebay and they will notify you each time one comes up for bidding. I have done this with some success. You will find at times the prices are through the roof and other times you will say why didn’t I bid, because they go for next to nothing. Determine what you want to pay, be a little flexible, if it fits your needs exactly, raise your bid a little, if it will take a little more work than you wanted to put in, lower it. Put your best offer in and leave it. If there are snipers after it, it’s hard to beat them, unless you pay for the service.
Fries cooked in beef tallow (basically lard) and real cane sugar in the coke was even better
My greatest find at Timonium was a nicely built Life-Like McDonalds. It was in a box of O scale Plasticville kits on the white elepahnt table. Got the whole box was $50. Later sold the Plasticville kits for $40.
After LifeLike pulled the McDonald’s kit from production (due to licensing issues), they retooled it slightly and re-released it as “Freezee Ice Cream Drive In.” It is essentially the same building, it just lacks all of the McDonald’s signature icons (the name, the golden arches).
Perhaps the Freezee version might be slightly easier to find.
You could even re-convert it back into a McDonald’s by making your own signage and scratchbuilding some new arches.
Given it a lot of thought, as they (Freezee) are easier to find. But how to make the arches has always confounded me. I’m good with styrene, but not that good. And the roof is slightly different as well…no yellow round roof edges.
I figured that I might be luckier finding the McDonalds kit, but so far my luck hasn’t worked. Freezee may be the way to go.
Yep, and the bidding at the end was intense even at that price.
Makes one wonder if any of these are actually used on a layout (never seen a photo of one on a layout), or just more of a collecting item to keep and never use.
Yep, and the bidding at the end was intense even at that price.
Makes one wonder if any of these are actually used on a layout (never seen a photo of one on a layout), or just more of a collecting item to keep and never use.
Supposedly Life Like brought out their version of McDonald’s about the same time that McDonald’s brought out its new building design (the mansard roof), which is why McD’s took away their permission.
Imex makes a cast resin drive-in in HO scale that could be converted into a 50s era McD’s with some paint and a pair of golden arches.
I always wanted to get one (sometime), but it never looked like any of those I frequented. So, someday I plan to scratch my own. The arches are not a problem, I’m an RC Aircraft modeler & know how to ‘bend’ & laminate thin wood or styrene, just pin down a pattern & go with it! You will impress yourself how easy it was to make those parts. Draw it, pin it, form it… It’s just that easy!
I found one and got to work on it this weekend. I’m not using all the parts of the kit as I’m going for a mid to late 1950s appearance while the Life-Like kit is more of a 1960s style.
Here are two photos of a test on the layout. I didn’t glue many of the parts yet as I actually may paint some things.
Been waiting for one of these for a long time. Now I can finally finish up this section of the layout (roads, scenery, etc…)
I have the Life-Like McDonald’s on my 1960s layout; I got it at a model railroad swap meet in Pomona 20+ years ago; at the time the seller wanted $50 for it. I inquired why it cost so much, and he told me the story behind the model, so I snatched it up for $40. I need to take some better pictures of it and will post it here when I get home.
