I made my KMart/WallyWorld run today and found some great new diecast. KMart has CAT construction equipment - bulldozer, backhoe, excavator & ?. The boxes do not have a scale, but they look very close to N, and at $1.97 ea, a real bargain!! At WallyWorld, they have military stuff thats new from Corgi. They’re from the Corgi Wheelz Fighting Machines series, and include an M1 Abrams tank, Sherman & Stuart WWII tanks, a WWII half track, a Hummv, a Black Hawk Helo, an A10 Warthog, and other aircraft (don’t remember which). All I got was the Abrams & Stuart tanks, the others were out of stock already. The tanks are very close to HO, not sure about the others. $3.88 each is pretty good for the detail - should make a good flatcar load - just pop the toy wheels off from underneath![:D]
If these are the Norscot Minis, they are not N scale. In fact, Norscot said they were scaled to the size of the package. One is very close to HO. Compared to factory specs for each prototype, the D5G XL Dozer is 1/90, the 906 Wheel Loader is 1/101, the 420E Backhoe Loader is 1/130, and the 315C L Excavator is 1/142.
The excavator is probably the best candidate for use with N scale, as it’s pretty easy to say it’s a model of a larger machine.
Thanks for the scale info bcawthon, I’ll have to get back to KMart for the dozer!! They are the Norscot’s by the way.[8D]
If you want a better N Dozer, check out the 1:128 scale Bruder Mini.
Go to www.bruder.de Bruder is a German company that makes a nice line of die-cast tractors, trucks & other equipment. The Cat tractors can be easily converted into a nfty keychain. Prices run $6.00-$15.00 depending on the accessories. The Cat dozer makes a nice model of a big Cat, most likely a D8.
bcawthon, I went to KMart today and got the D5G Dozer and the 905 Wheel loader. The dozer is very close to small dozers for HO, and the wheel loaderwill look OK in the background. Wdlgln005, KMart geets $1.99 for the Minis - a little more in my budget for scenery items - thanks for the lead though.[:)]
I have some of the Buder keychain models courtesy of a friend in Germany. They’re pretty nice, but a little big for N. You could call the dozer a D8, but then the proportions are wrong. Perhaps Norscot will make some of Cat’s larger equipment in the same “sized-to-package” scale.
I really wish Bruder’s Macks were smaller! They would be wonderful in N scale.