I've been wondering why N scale has a lack of military models, especially the WWII era stuff as well as modern combat equipment. Part of this wondering also stems from a USAF freight train I've managed to assemble from various MTL cars and a custom car.(I'll get a picture up in a bit as well as a picture of a 1/144 scale P-51D) That said I have found N scale P-51D models that I may buy and build depending upon what my paycheck says.... I've been considering the thought of representing a small USAF fighter station somewhere along the SP&S. I also have a couple questions about how military cars/trains were handled. DAFX #26475 would carry ammo, #26477 would carry parts for the aircraft engines, #26479 would handle rations and other stuff for the base, the troop sleeper would serve as a guard car, the flats would carry something or I could use them as idlers to seperate a loaded #26475 from the rest of the cars. would this be a realistic operation? side note: my layout is in the 1947 time period when the USAF came to be and those boxcars were brand new(that and I don't want to weather them). I've minimized my radius to 15R so if I have a bit of extra space on the edge I may be able to add some trackage to represent an interchange, as well as a couple industries, and could place the base near.
In military modeling circles, N scale is usually known as 10mm scale. Try going to TMP/ "the miniatures page" and look through the supplier listings. You may find something of use; vehicles, figs. etc.
I'm tempted to put the blame on Micro Machines. However, they have been out of production for a few years now.
There used to be a couple of kit manufacturers. One was in metal, the other was resin cast. I remember seeing these at a couple of model RR hobby shops, and at RR swap meets. But it has been a few years now.
There's a company by the name of Dragon Models that produces various 1/144 scale military models, which while not technically N scale, are close enough to the correct size. They even make railway guns, that with a little modification, are usable on N scale track. Mostly what they make is WWII era tanks and transports.
The cold cast resin armor models were manufactured by the now defunct, San Pedro California based firm, Garrick Gilham's Tires & Tracks. Although a number of different World War II models were once produced, presently, GHQ only sells a M1A2 Abrams Main Battle Tank in N Scale. http://www.ghqmodels.com/store/58003.html Herpa offers (these were once German manufactured Roco models) a US Army M113 Personnel Carrier and a M109 Self Propelled 155 mm Howitzer Tank in N Scale. http://www.promotex.ca/provisioner/catalogue/index.php?ProductLine=23&CategoryID=78 Njoy
I have a 50+ car train of WWII stuff I run at our NTRAK setups........it's all 1/144 stuff on MT army flatcars with about 10 boxcars, a couple of tankcars, a gondola,and an army caboose for the security detail. I normally pull it with an ABBA set of Milwaukee Road FTs. Walmart used to sell german and american tanks,trucks, halftracks, ect. for $2 each, but that went away with the chinese factory fiasco. You can still find the stuff on ebay, but at a higher price. The white metal stuff is nice too, but there is a definite difference in size.....either the N or 1/144 stuff looks good, but they don't mix well. If you decide to buy, pick one and stick with it. Here's another source http://nowear.se/pitheadphp/www/page.php?paeid=5
I tried GHQ, but most of their stuff was cleared out when I did check a while ago. thank you for the responses, on where to buy them. I was also wondering how they were handled by Railroads.
C in C sells small scale military models, but I believe they're smaller than N scale. He apparently makes a WWII tow-behind trailer as well, in N scale. http://www.pfc-cinc.com/
Those army trailers are the only n scale military items from CinC. Their military line is 1/285; so smaller than Z scale... Btw, they had to move recently and are badly backlogged- I've been waiting for a "tank" order for a month now.
I use the Dragon models 1:144 scale line of modern military stuff. Used to buy them at the BX/PX on various bases. Acquired a decent collection, just need some HMMWVs and HEMTTs and other wheeled trucks.
My experience (much more current than your modeled time frame, but...) is that a cut of flats is pushed to a loading ramp, bridge plates are placed between the cars and the equipment is simply driven on. At the destination, the train is switched so that the flats arrive at the ramp with the equipment positioned to drive straight off. And to caveat the above, "back in the day" in Germany, we would sometimes have a car-level platform running along one side of the cars, so the equipment could simply be driven on each car (carefully) without the need for bridge plates.
I use the Kenray stuff , the link is posted above ... What I'm looking for are sailors to populate my El platforms. Randy
While I'm not certain if the owner of this now defunct "cottage industry" had the means (or the need) to advertise in any of the N-Scale magazines, Tires & Tracks' products were distributed to hobby shops through a number of smaller, American distributors (e.g., Dimi Trains and Hobby Stores Distributing, who are both now defunct). Although they cannot be accessed at this time, I still have examples of the entire (and quite extensive, when the non-military products are factored in) Tires & Tracks product line stored deep in my archives. Examples of various Tires & Tracks models can be viewed in the following listing links: http://www.ebay.com/itm/t-t-resin-N...316527?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item20ce31b0ef http://www.ebay.com/itm/DTD-N-SCALE...D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557 http://www.ebay.com/itm/DTD-N-SCALE...D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557 http://www.ebay.com/itm/Garrick-Gil...D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557 http://www.ebay.com/itm/Garrick-Gil...D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557 Njoy
