I saw last night that woo woo woo woo woo woo was advertising a D7 modern bulldozer. Has there been a new release of Norscot Die Cast Vehicles? (N Scale)
That indeed looks like a new adition. They also have the old line back in stock too. I understand that Norscot had several requests to model larger equipment in their Minis line to bring the scale as close to N as posible.
I ordered one of these from woo woo woo woo woo woo just for grins. Don't! It's way too big for N even though it advertises it as "1:160". It's size is similar to the old line bulldozer but this one seems even larger. Putting it in the backgroun may not even do it.
WHO advertised it as being N scale, or "1:160 scale"? Certainly not woo woo woo woo woo woo's website, nor the Norscot website.
Tis does appear to b e a new line of construction minis different from the 2007 WalMart models. I have seen some lately at HobbyLobby. surprised to see woo woo woo Klien as the only retailer. They may be sold at Cat dealership, rental store etc. The minis were built to a fit the box scale that may not be Nscale. woo woo woo Klien also lists a mining truck for Z scale that may be larger than the old Bachmann truck.
WHO? Either woo woo woo woo woo woo or Norscot. Read the description before you start screaming. https://www.some train store.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=NRS-55429-55427 "Norscot Models are fully assembled and painted die-cast and plastic with movable parts and plastic display case. Ideal for 1:160 N scale."
Norscot Minis are not N scale This does NOT claim they are N scale. Tired of receiving telephone and email complaints about the "minis" not being to scale, Norscot even put a special announcement page on their website, saying that these were not N scale.
anyone have a photo of the bulldozer next to other "N" stuff? I can't gauge it by the photo at woo woo woo woo woo woo.
Sorry, I don’t have a photo of the new Norscot Cat D7E next to a known N scale model, but even with a photo it would still be difficult to ascertain the scale of a model. I also don’t have an example to measure; however, the flat area of the Construction Minis display case where the models are mounted is approximately 15 feet by 33 feet in 1:160 scale dimensions. Therefore, we know the blade is a little less than 15 scale feet wide, and the overall length of the model is several scale feet less than 33. With those numbers in mind, the width of the blade on a prototype D7E ranges from 12.81 feet to 14.91 feet. The length of the basic tractor is 181 inches, and a fully raised ripper adds 48 inches to the length. The various blades add anywhere from 38 inches to 56 inches to the length. Therefore, the longest a “stock” D7E could be is 285 inches or 23.75 feet. So from the photos on the woo woo woo woo woo woo web site, it appears the model is somewhat larger than 1:160, and probably will scale out in the 1:140 to 1:150 range, which would make it comparable to the Norscot Cat 315C L excavator. Also for comparison purposes, when I placed a Tomytec 1:150 scale Komatsu D155AX on the Norscot display case, its width and length dimensions appeared to be similar to the Norscot D7E. And, when the GHQ Cat D8 was placed on the display case, that model appeared to be significantly smaller than the Norscot D7E. (The prototype for the Tomytec D155AX is 27 feet long with a blade width of 13 feet, 4 inches.) This could be another case where if Norscot had chosen a larger Cat machine to model, we would have had a model that was quite compatible with 1:160 scale equipment. (In this case, a D8 or possibly a D9, and in the initial release of the Minis, a 320C L excavator instead of the 315C L excavator.) Carter
I have one on the way and will take pics of it compaired to the Komatsu dozer. If it is as large as you say, I'm pretty dissapointed with Norscot. They know of the need for N scale construction equipment and they seem so close, but never quite there. It certainly woulden't cost them anything to choose a larger model, or reduce the size 7%. Here is to hoping Athearn will make good on their Deere license and make their constructionequipment line (backhoe, front end loader, etc).
Daniel, I am looking forward to the pics. It is unlikely that Athearn will be making any more John Deere equipment, I heard they had lost/canceled/given up their license. And, they don't even list the John Deere as a "pick" on their web site. You can find what they did make if you do a search for it, but everything appears to be sold out. Very disappointing! Carter
Some of these Norscott machines can be made into something that could be N scale with a little futzing. To me, the new D7 could easily be passed off as a larger dozer like a D8 or D9. Either way, I took some shots of the Norscott stuff next to "Mr. N scale Businessman" for comparison. This is the new D7. One out of the box and one with a bit of weathering but not yet sprayed with dullcoat. I judge how big the machine is by how big the cab is. You can see that Mr. N scale Businessman would fit nicely in the cab albeit this would be a huge earth moving machine in N scale. Here is a shot of the previous Norscott dozer. You can see that I altered the cab on one to bring the machine more into what Mr. N scale Businessman would look better sitting in. Again, a huge machine but not really out of the realm of realistic size for a huge earth mover.
Here we have the bucket loader. Again, not that far out of scale. Not for what it actually is, but for what it could be as a bigger bucket loader. You can again see that lowering the roof of the cab on this machine brings it more into scale with Mr. N scale Businessman. Finally there is the excavator which can be fudged into being a larger version of itself without any alterations. In N scale, it's just a bigger digger. You can see that I altered one of my excavators into a log loader with some scrap plastic. The only one of the Norscott machines which seems way too big to scale down is the backhoe. It's just to huge too even try to immagine as close to N scale IMHO. For me, my need for good heavy equipment on my layout supercedes the urge to care about whether the decals on the side match the actual prototype. But that's just me...
Whether they are scale or not they look very toy-like. I did get some of the excavators when they were $1.97 at Walmart but passed on the others. However, even they won't make it to the layout until they undergo a reworking.
Hmmm . . . Does anyone have the Maruka Komatsu dozer with the rubber tracks and a Norscot dozer? The reason I ask is because it looks like it might be possible to use the Norscot tracks to replace the Maruka tracks. Carter
I have both, but its kind of a waste as the Tomytec Komatsu has better detailing and costs less. On the same idea, the Norscot loader's wheels look usable for other projects.
Daniel, What I was thinking was that it might be possible to "gut" the Norscot Cat under carriage leaving only the continuous track. And if it were the right size, then one could replace the Maruka rubber track with the Norscot plastic track. You could salvage the rest of the Norscot model by cutting it into parts to place around a construction yard or equipment dealership. I really believe the Maruka Komatsu dozers have possibilities, if it were not for the toy-like rubber tracks. Carter
