O Gaugers I model exclusively in HO, however, a friend of mine has asked that I build an O gauge diorama for him. It seems to me that modeling techniques translate easily from one scale to another. But one of my concerns thus far are o gauge automobiles. Since the diorama will be viewed at close range, is there a noticeable difference between 1:50, 1:48 or 1:43 scale? In researching o scale vehicles, it seems that all 3 of these scales are referred to as o scale. Would appreciate your input. Thx. Carl
If they are ALL the same scale vehicles, the illusion will be maintained. However, you can use "forced perspective" with physically smaller vehicles to the rear of the diorama. Are we talking scale or gauge here? 3-rail, unless the newer "scale" offerings, are smaller models. Back in the late 40's, some wag got his hands on as many Lionel type items he could, measured and compared, and published Lionel is about 1:52 or 1:53. In scale 2-rail 0, whilst the scale is 1:48, the 1.25" gauge works out to about five foot gauge..so that's off. If you are doing a diorama and need to be that precise on automobiles, you probably need to go to Proto:48 track (about 1.125" or so) to be "better".
I use all 1:43 scale vehicles on my layout and they look fine to me even though I run mostly semi scale 3 rail O gauge. Here area few pictures of vehicles and trains in the same picture. Hopefully they will help. This is a scale RS-1 with 1:43 vehicles. This is a semi scale reefer and a 1:43 pickup. This is a 1:43 box truck and an even slightly smaller Lionel semi scale boxcar.
The truck is large next to a Lionel 6464 type boxcar. These cars are 40 scale feet long but narrow and short so the truck looks too large while it's actually the boxcar that's the problem. A scale boxcar would look much better. A 1/50 truck would also look a lot better next to the 6464 type boxcar but I don't have any that size. All my vehicles are 1/43 scale.
Thx for taking the time to reply to my post. All your comments were helpful. The images that Country Joe sent settled the deal. I order and received an American Heritage & a Rail King 1:43 vehicle. They will work just fine. What I would like to find is a horse and wagon or maybe an early 1900's model T. Regards, Carl
