Does anyone make 1:160 airplanes? Airports take up a lot of real estate, even in N. Maybe a terminal portion of a general aviation airport might be feasible.
I've been collecting old posters and signs (jpegs from tin sign sites) to use on an airport. What I will do is model a wood fence with a flat of a hanger and control tower just behind the fence line with the tails of a couple of aircraft sticking up behind it. The runway will be perpendicular to the fence line and layout so it won't take up any real estate to speak of, and I don't have to really worry about the scale of the few aircraft hinted at.... Charlie Vlk
There is a company/Online Hobby that makes led's,light controls and they make runway light kit, and if I'm not mistaken you can get the runway from them as well. I'll have to run my Favs and see if I can find it. Also minifigs has pewter Military Aircrews and helocopters in 1/160. You have to paint them and put the copters together but I think it's cool looking. I have one of them but can't find a picture right now, and their Humvees, jeeps, M1A1 Tank all in 1/160. Besides woo woo woo for 1/144 scale planes and copters. Or last but not least Civilian Aircraft from Herpa but you either have to go with 1/200; or 1/300 scales. I purchased a few of them also but I found that it depends on the type of aricraft it is as to which aircraft fits what part of your scene. Larger scale going closer and smaller further back. I'll look for site this evening
Thx! What other buildings should my city have to "make it a city"? So far, it will have a -Corner Restaurant -Cafe -Fast Food Restaurant -Auto Parts Store -Bank -Large Hotel -Distribution Facility -Post Office -Drug Store -Movie Theater -Small Grocery Store as well as other Public Buildings
Both of your questions need clarification. How much space do you want these to take up? One mile is 33 feet in N scale. Thing to consider about airports— Midway Airport is one square mile in size and used to have a track running through the middle of cross of the two main runways. There are rail lines or yards within one mile of each side. Mieg's Field was a half by a quarter single runway. The IC electrics paralleled the runway a quarter mile west of it. O'Hare is three miles on each side and has a rail line along one edge. Or are you thinking just a quarter mile long and 50 feet wide of grass landing strip. Thing to consider about cities— Now to be a real city you need homes and businesses for at least 100,000 people. So you need a lot of buildings. Lots and lots of houses, apartment buildings, hotels, office buildings, stores, buildings under construction, factories, houses, warehouses, entertainment facilities, fuel facilities, houses, retail outlets, distribution facilities, apartment buildings, transportation facilities, some empty lots, office buildings, recycling facilities, more houses, stores, government facilities, more offices, abandoned buildings, refineries, junkyards and of course more houses. Basically enough buildings to fill ten square miles. Or just the buildings that represent the areas along the tracks, which are a sample of the above. Trains go through all parts of the city. Your best bet, look at the real world. Are you planning a railroad that is all switching and operations or someplace to watch trains run by?
ah airplanes. thats what ive been collecting airplanes before i found TB haha. there is nothing substantial in the 1:160 range. yes the closest youll get is the 1:144 (most of these are model kits, few prebuilt display models if we are talking about commercial planes) or the 1:200 (TONS of prebuilt models out in this scale but very few kits). there are 1:150 model planes too but those are few and far between. like subwayaz says, a 1:200 may be close but if you put it right next to a 1:160 train it makes the plane look small or the train too big, must play with perspective there. check out these airplane manufacturers if you want to see more herpa (mix of plastic and diecast models in 1:200 range with ground support vehicles and equipment) hogan (no website, plastic models) risesoon (located in taiwan, my friends and are great people. these guys make plastic models that are marketed here in the USA under the brand Skymarks and they do have some 1:150 models but mostly in the 1:200 or 1:100 range, some 1:130 too) a couple of other diecast metal manufacturers of 1:200 models are list below. most of these guys do mould sharing so in terms of mould accuracy and detail, its roughly the same across the board: gemini jets (lots of very detailed models, well done. rumored to be releasing ground support equipment, a majority of their moulds are in house and not shared) jc wings (pirated models but TONS of releases and liveries, i try to not support him) jet-x inflight200 AV200 (their 737s are lame)
N Scale magazine published an article about an N Track module that was about 8x3 and featured the airport terminal area with a DC3.
This was an O-scale layout, but the concept is an option, I suppose... The entire airport is painted in perspective on the backdrop. The owner/artist said he still had to add most of the runway markings and additional details. Note the scale model airplane lined up on approach suspended from the ceiling.
Given the amount of real estate that would be required to effectively simulate a commercial airfield, a general (civil) aviation airport would definately be more practical. In the early 1990s, Arnold Rapido offered an injection molded plastic general aviation airport kit (product number 6780), which consisted of a pair of civilian aircraft and a combination tower, hanger, and office building. Lineside Models (formerly Road Apples) currently manufactures resin Single Seat Glider (product number 3001) and Piper Cub (product number 3004) aircraft kits. Imex (Perma-Scene product numbers 6300 and 6301) and Rix Products (product number 710) manufacture Quonset Huts that could be incorporated into an airport scene. A small single or double tank fuel farm facility, along with an aviation fuel tank truck and/or aviation fuel bearing railroad tank cars could also be incorporated into the diorama. Expanding the theme a bit further, advertising banner towing aircraft, corporate jets, crop dusters, sightseeing aircraft, and/or medevac, news, and police helicopters are also frequently found on general aviation airfields. One could even model a selectively compressed aviation day event, where balloons, blimps, old war-birds, present-day military aircraft, and stunt aircraft are placed on public display.
Here is the link for the Runway light kit and it is for N scale I hope it helps and can't wait to see your progress http://www.bakatronics.com/shop/category.aspx?catid=117
Here are pictures of the more common scales of Airplanes I have or I should have said most I have a few more that I will find and post back with them for your comparison. But presently from right to left. 1/200 C130; 1/300 B52; 1/400 Air Bus; 1/500 Air Bus Hope this helps give you an idea on where you might want to start.
Aero-Base makes agroup of photo-etched 1-160 airplanes. You end up with the skeleton of the plane but since they are all very old one could use a thin paper to cover them if you wanted a finished look. I left them as built because I did not have room for a airport. Instead I made a airplane museum to house them where they look natural with just framework. To find a place that carries these planes just type in Aero-Base 1/160 in your search.
Wow! I want to visit that museum!! I'd suggest 1/200 scale aircraft pushed back just a bit. This would force the perspective but would never be over scale. Terry
I wonder how much railroad interface there would be at an airport. I know some major metropolitan airports have light rail and commuter train access. Here in Corpus Christi, Texas, the Tex Mex Rwy goes an expressways width from the edge of the airport but all the buildings, terminals, hangers etc are a half mile away. More or less the same for the San Antonio International Airport. I have a layout of the railroad supply trackage "aboard" a Naval Air Station for blimps. The hanger and a blimp and a landing mast are painted on the background. Entire layout is 2 by 3 feet. Your other question about "what would it take to model a city" merits an entire separate thread. I may come back and comment on that...
How about using a mirror to make a runway look longer than it actually is? Maybe a small half-runway with the mirror making the rest of it look complete? I'm sure someone can take that idea and run with it. Works for roads,why not runways?
