Carter - You've done some great work there - those Eldorados look great! And even the Corvettes look good! You've inspired me to do some surgery to my old Bachmann fleet - great tips, thanks!
... and more An E-One 75' Quint in progress. This will match the blueprints of a prototype in Florida that is published on E-One's website. E-One 95' Quint, Ford/ALF rural pumper. Custom early "stepped" Ford heavy rescue. E-One pumpers in progress.
... more fire IH 4300 series comercial chassis pumpers and a pumper/rescue. I really wish Lineside made the doors on the quad cab closer together. Chevy C65 pumper with a 50's Ford. Japan has some neat pumpers. I always thought Euro engines were a bit boring.
David Keese Seagrave, Athearn rural pumper ALF 1000 series with Ford C Euro ladders You guys were walking about before-and-after Bachmann rebuilds. These are both Bachmann ALF 900 open top pumpers. The one in the rear features mirrors, Athearn wheels, new ladders and details.
Tomytec Platform. These models are great. The ladders are almost perfect for 1/160 sized American equipment. This platform measures 95' scale. Tomytec Hino Ladder. Man, why can't Athearn do something like this? More Athearn trucks... I am excluding my trailers/containers though. Some GHQ Fords
Custom painted MTL trailer S&R models exterior post kit made into a 28' exterior post pup trailer. One of my favorites! Old 40' B&M trailer. I have not included several custom painted vehicles and some new construction equipment from Maruka and F-Toys. I will add more as time permits.
The Kato 1990s Toyota set is a great starting point for building a fleet of modern vehicle models. I am also a “recent era” modeler and in need of more automobiles from the 1990s to the present. However, since I have been modeling in N scale for more than 40 years, I still have a lot of the old stuff. I have also compiled a list of most of the injection molded plastic, die cast and cast pewter N scale automobile, van, SUV and light truck models that have been produced during the last 40 + years. It is available as a handout at the N Scale Vehicle Association table during the National N Scale Conventions. The list is also posted in the file section of the N Scale Vehicle Association’s Yahoo group. It usually gets updated when a new N scale automobile, van, SUV or light truck model is released. Dave and others, Thank you for the compliments. And, I should clarify that the chassis donors are models that I generally cannot use because the prototypes were never imported into North America, or in the case of the Tomix cars, the models were just too big for use with 1:160 scale models. Another source for cheap chassis and wheels are the Chinese architectural models that until recently could be purchased in bulk on eBay, with a unit cost of less then $0.20 each! I needed to restore the Wiking chassis that had been modified to fit under the blue Cougar to its original owner for an upcoming article in The N Scale Collector. So, I replaced the Wiking chassis with a chassis from a Chinese architectural model as shown in this “before and after shot” of a stock Cougar with the modified one. The wheels might be a bit too large for a stock 1967, but the model does work for one that has had the originals replaced with aftermarket tires and wheels. The cars in Bachmann’s Auto Set No. 2 are more of a challenge as I have found that only the Mercury Marauder and the Volkswagen T1 Samba are worth modifying. The proportions of the Camaro really missed the mark, and the Plymouth GTX scales out at seven feet wide, which makes it appear too bulky for the car it is suppose to represent. With all that said, I am somewhat hesitant to even post the following photo in the same thread that has photos of Randy’s Scenicruisers. My bus represents a 20 + years work in progress that was inspired by a retired prototype Scenicruiser stored in a farm shed that I would regularly drive past. Well, the farm was sold to a developer, and the bus disappeared shortly thereafter without me ever getting any photos of it, so the unfinished project got put back in the box. But since this is the only photo I had on my computer that included the Bachmann Marauder and Samba, here are the details. The chassis under the bus came from a Wiking Magirus semi-tractor and was lengthened accordingly. The chassis under the grain truck (formerly Bachmann wrecker) came from a Wiking Bussing semi-tractor. The bed and chassis for the GMC pickup (formerly Bachman GMC 1-ton) came from a Tomix Isuzu Elf. (This conversion was inspired by Jake Schultz’s article that appeared in the September/October 1991 issue of N-Scale) The chassis under the Mercury Marauder came from a Tomix Mercedes. And finally, the VW T-1 Samba kept its original wheels but has a new chassis fabricated from Evergreen styrene. It now has sufficient ground clearance so it no longer looks like it will high center if it goes over a speed bump. Oh, and Dave’s Porsche 356 looks like an IMU model. Carter
Patience Daniel, two Athearn employees looked at a Tomytec ladder truck I had in Portland. They even had ideas as to what material they could use for molding the ladders. Carter
Carter, I always admire the work you put into these models: I have the Bachman wrecker and never thought that you could make it looking so good! Thanks for sharing! Here are two busses I picked up at a toy-store in Tokyo: The doors are on the wrong side, but I love the paintjob. The cost was (if I recall correctly) about 2 dollar per bus :tb-biggrin: I have already put Tacoma destinations on the signboard, but I guess I need to get rid of the Japanese symbol on the nose.... Cheers Dirk
Carter - More outstanding work! Is that VW Combi an old Bachmann? If so, can you show some more views of it? Daniel - Some very cool fire trucks - I agree, it would be great to have more US stuff. If Atlas keeps doing Ford vehicles, I would think that an old Mustang and/or Econoline van would be a slam dunk.
Dirk, Thank you, and I am amazed at what the Japanese companies can offer at such a reasonable price. Dave, Thank you, and yes the VW Samba is a reworked Bachmann model. I will try to get some additional photos of it this weekend. Carter
Dave, Since I was taking pictures of Bachmann VW bus, I thought I would throw in a couple that show the new chassis that was fabricated with Evergreen styrene. I made it removable because someday I might just get around to adding an interior. And here it is with a Rietze T1 and a Wiking T2. The Bachmann model is still a bit on the crude side, but I have had it for nearly 40 years, and it was just taking up space in my junk box. Carter
Carter - Great work. The Bachmann looks great on it's own, but the other 2 are so much nicer when all 3 are together. But considering what you started with w/ the Bachmann, you did a fantastic job of 'turning a sow's ear into a silk purse'! Don't you wish Wiking would do more models? I really like their stuff. I've got a couple Marks metal models coming to me - they're here now but my wife took them and is giving them to me for my birthday, so we'll have to wait until November for pictures of them . Thanks for the additional pictures. You've got a great collection of vehicles, lot's of one-of-a-kind stuff.
I know! I am thinking about just dumping the Bachmann since I have had so many others given to me from a friend who is getting out of modeling. It is good to know that this type of improvement can be made, but it is just an individual's trade of of time and/or money. Carter F. certainly did a good job. :thumbs_up:
Here is a bunch of vehicles going about their business on Railroad Ave. in Red Bluff Ca. Take note of the fact they all have license plates. Some of the first benefactors of a recent ongoing project. The billboard is currently blank as I want to get something that fits the location and time. If anybody has an offering please PM.
Dave, Thank you again. I figured I had nothing to lose when I started sanding on the Bachmann VW bus. I am uncertain as to why Wiking has backed off introducing any new vehicle sets. Around 8 to 10 years ago, Busch and Herpa introduced new N scale automobile models, and both were disappointed with their sales figures. That was also about the same time as Wiking's last newly tooled automobile set, so maybe Wiking's sales were also short of expectations. And, I have heard that the European manufacturers really don't even take U.S. sales into consideration since we are such a small portion of their market. I think you will like the Marks models. Their T1 buses represent 1964-67 models, which puts them right between the Rietze T1 (1950-63) and the Wiking T2 (1968-79 for the U.S. market). But the Marks models I really like are a couple of their Beetles. Both the convertible and the one with the open sun roof are just plain cute. (I apologize for using that expression, but they really are.) And, if you can make it to the National N Scale Convention in Houston next summer, I am planning on having at least 200 different N scale vehicle models on display at the N Scale Vehicle Association's table! Carter
