I know I have all of the 1950’s pickups and commercial trucks that I will ever need for my layout.
What I am waiting for is the 1950 fords from Atlas and the 1950 Dodge and 1953 Ford station wagons from Classic Metal Works.
These will round out the passenger automobiles I do have from the Woodland Scenic auto sets and of course the Model Power 1955 chevy sets.
The Atlas cars are long overdue as are the others, but Model Railroader magazine has been running teaser ads for the Dodges for a while now. Hopefully the wait will be short.
When some friends came over to look at my layout a couple years ago, I learned a very good lesson:
Guys who aren’t “train people” are much more knowledgeable about cars than trains. They will key on a 67 T-Bird without noticing that steam engines don’t belong on the tracks next to it.
I, too, am waiting for some of those late Transition Era passenger cars that we’ve been teased with.
Have you ever tried any of the Greg’s Garage resin kits? I enjoy them and they have all kinds of less popular cars like Studebakers, Henry Js, etc. I don’t know if they are made anymore but there are a couple of websites that still appear to have a supply. They are more work but it is easier to make them look less “new” than Woodland Scenics, etc.
At the same time as Im cussing the HO auto makers for being slow, I appreciate there efforts. Alot has been said about the leaps forward in the quality and technology in loco’s, DCC, etc, but HO vehicles are doing a good job of keeping up. Just think of those blobs of plastic LifeLike called cars we all remember. I’m having almost as much fun collecting HO vehicles as trains. So thanks Classic Model Works, Athearn, Ricko, Model Power, Atlas, Jodan, etc,etc.
You may want to take a look at Sylvan Scale; they have a good selection of cars as well as trucks. They are from Canada, so some of the cars have Canadian model names. http://www.isp.ca/Sylvan/
The Classic Metal Works/MiniMetals website has a note and an appology that they have not had any production for 8 months, and have resumed production. The site says the Dodge Medowbrooks should ship this month. http://www.classicmetalworks.com/
I find the LifeLike cars make for cheap filler in places like parking lots, background traffic, etc. I have one in the bay of a service station and it looks just fine there. When you intersperse them with the better quality ones like CMW, WS, and Athearn, they don’t seem to stand out. You don’t want them to have a prominent place up front by themselves.
What surprised me the most was the line of 1950’s automobiles put out by Classic Metal Works.
These were only put out a few years ago but obviously in small numbers, the car that seems to collect the highest price when they appear for sale is the 1950 Chev Fleetline, followed by the 1951 Hudson and the 1953 Ford and the Ford Woody. These cars routinely sell around $30.00
I know when the Atlas 1950 Fords finally are released I shall certainly buy a few dozen as well as the 1950 Dodges when they are released.
I really like the older Classic Metal Works cars and trucks too. Im really not sure why they discontinued the early ones. I heard somewhere that they were made in a different factory. I’ve also noticed, like Don mentioned the prices for those early vehicles. Lucky me, I have a maroon 51 Hudson, two 53 fords,one a police car, and the woody. I still would like to get the cool flatbed Ford and a 50 Chevy Fleetline.
I can understand your problem. I have noticed a growing number of '50’s cars and most of them look to be pretty good proportion-wise . And, yes, I’m sure it would be nice to have a more choice. All indicators I have read recently point towards a wider selection in the months to come … patience. As a retired Industrial Designer I can tell you that developing a prototype with proper proportions and then translating that into tooling, and then into production all takes time to arrive at a truely representative miniature. (It’s real easy for those “gumdrop” shapes loose something in the translation to miniaturization.)
So, I know how you feel. I keep looking for “proper” automobiles for on my streets, but modeling the mid-thirties (c. 1936) in upstate Pennsylvania, I have more than enough cars from the early/mid-twenties, a fine complement of early thirties commercial vehicles, and the Chrysler dealer in town has two fine examples of the company’s new Airflow in the showroom (with a couple of interested buyers) but I need some early thirties cars for the street! The local gendarms are cruising in '34 Fords but I need a couple other marks to help carry the thing off. A Plymouth sedan, a Chevy, maybe a Packard … something - I wouldn’t be too picky.
But let’s all keep modeling and expressing our desires, needs and wants … that’s how manufacturers know what to produce next. Otherwise, they’re just taking a shot in the dark and companys hate guessing wrong and producing something no one wants to buy.
Just to be clear, in my above post I was calling the OLD LifeLike or Bachmann cars blobs of plastic. These where/are the brightly colored sedans and stationwagens I first remember in the 70’s The newer LifeLike cars are ALOT better. After I put some wide whites on them from Busch , they look pretty darn good. I believe the Lifelike police cars are the same car and I like them too.
Speaking of cars does anyone know if someone makes a Pierce Arrow? I have been keeping an eye for one, but just curious if someone used to manufacture it?
If you are looking for space fillers, these are what I use. They need to be finished, but that way you get the color you want. There is a good selection of 30’s, 40’s and 50’s that you don’t see often. Prices aren’t that bad either.
I’ll get one next month (gotta wait of social security check) and check it out. They do look promising, though. What has your experience been with them? They look (in those little postage stamp pics) to be fairly good representations of the cars of the era. I will do a “product review” if you guys think it would be helpful to others.
Thanks!
biL
** Not all those who wander are lost. --J.R.R. Tolkien
I just received my Model Railroader magazine and the advertisement by CMI states the Dodge cars are here. Have not seen any advertised by my favorite dealers as of yet. But at least they will be available soon.