Vehicles

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
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I’m having a hard time finding era proper vehicles in HO or 1/87 scale. I’m late 70’s to mid 80’s. I looked through Walthers and everything seems to be either European or pre-80’s.

I looked through the topics but could not find a good place to look…

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Don’t know how many of these are still available, but Fresh Cherries by Motormax, Model Power Minis and Atlas offered mid to late 60s, 70s and 80s American vehicles.

regards, Peter

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This guy 3d prints hundreds of different 1/87 scale vehicles from the 60’s through present day …

http://www.jahn3d.de/Home

Mark.

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I’m set in 1975 and have the same problem. You can only have so many Corvettes and Trans Am’s in rural southwestern VA.

Every now and then I get motivated and scour the web for vehicles for an hour or so. Most of the time I come up empty. Based on my success rate so far I’ll have less than half of what I need 10 years from now when the scenery is ready. [:$]

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Seems like most vehicles are geared to the steam and F unit era.

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[quote user=“Mark R.”]

This guy 3d prints hundreds of different 1/87 scale vehicles from the 60’s through present day …

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I checked this site out and seems to be what I was looking for. I e-mailed them so we’ll see.

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Trident has a lot of pickups and vans

http://www.walthers.com/exec/search?category=Vehicles&scale=H&manu=trident&item=&keywords=&words=restrict&instock=Q&split=270&Submit=Search

Walthers also still has Motormax, they seem to me phasing out some of this line

http://www.walthers.com/exec/search?category=Vehicles&scale=H&manu=467&item=&keywords=&words=restrict&instock=Q&split=270&Submit=Search

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You can find Fresh Cherries models on eBay.

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Don’t forget to have trucks and buses on your roads as well!

Go to ebay and type in “Athearn Ford C”. They’re 1970s era and plenty of them going for decent prices. Being durable, a number of businesses in the U.S were still using the prototypes in the early 90s.

The classic GMC fishbowl buses produced by Busch are also appropriate for the 1970s-80s era. You can get them from Walthers or on ebay.

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Neo Scale Models has some nice representations of typical vehicles. They offer things like a 1974 Buick LeSabre, 1968 Ford F-100, 1986 Chevy Caprice, and 1976 Chrysler Town and Country wagon. Try https://www.american-excellence.com/v2/index.php?p=list&q=neo&MASSSTAB=87&uscars=1 to see what they currently have in stock. Keep checking there and other places that sell Neo as availability varies.

Here’s Neo’s 1986 Jeep Grand Wagoneer. Yes that’s HO scale.

I’m not much of a fan of any of the 3-D printed cars sold on ebay. Quality of the finish is VERY rough on the ones I’ve seen, including those from http://www.jahn3d.de/ . It takes some effort to make them presentable even at a distance.

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I like Model Power Mini’s, Motor Max Fresh Cherries, Malibu International LTD and similar branded cars made in China for US companies. I guess they are considered toys however they are better than many of the model railroad company models. Originally they were available at Walmart for about the same price as Hot Wheels. Now you can find them on eBay. They do need to come out with more pickup trucks.

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I ordered some pick-ups from .jahn3d. and will see how it turns out. I look over vehicles in Walther’s and I must have missed the pick-ups.

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I am currently working on a 3D printed boxcab, and have a thread going about this. You shoud read over the sections on Wax Removal, Adhesives, Adding Detail Parts and painting. This is based on my research on Shapeways forums and my experience with working on the model. It will save you some time and grief when you get to finishing your trucks. I am presently doing the finish painting on it.

http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/244840.aspx

You probably will have to copy and paste the link; somethign to do with the ‘improved’ forum software.

What plastic did you select? I got Frosted Ultra Detail (FUD)

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For background vehicles I ordered some HOW scale vehicles from China on ebay.

I started buying Model Power and Ricko vehicles for closer in and as time and money permit I buy more. These vehicles are replacing the oversized hot wheels over time. I then give the bot wheels to the 5 year old that my sister in law baby sits.

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Got my order today from Shapeways. Happy with the look and details. Cleaning and prepping them today for painting.

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Finished painting them and I must say, I think they look good. Not as good as the Die-cast cars u can get but good enough for me.

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I’m curious as to quality.

Wondering if you could post some pics of your finished product.

Thanks in advance

Derek