This issue of the Tomytec Car Collections has an interesting mix of 1:150 scale vehicles. While Toyota Prius and Nissan AD are quite modern, and possibly suitable for use as parking lot fillers on a 21st Century North American themed layout, the third car in the collection is a 1979-83 Toyota Crown that appears to be a bit too bulky to use with 1:160 scale vehicles. Tomytec Toyota Prius, Wiking VW Passat and Tomytec Nissan AD Wiking Mercedes E Class, Tomytec Toyota Crown and Tomix Toyota Crown Moving on the Nissan ambulance in this collection, it has the dimensions of a 1:160 scale full size van, so it appears that all one would need to do is remove the Japanese characters and add the appropriate Microscale decals from emergency vehicle set 60-4150. Busch Mercedes Sprinter, Tomytec Nissan Ambulance and Atlas Ford F-150 Or, you could possibly repaint the ambulance and turn it into a small motor home. Carter
Nice post Carter! Thanks! I've often found that many of the Tomytec cars are usually 'pretty close' for most folks. But, as you point out, there are the odd ones that just appear a bit too large (at least for a Toyota...if you had told me that was an older Buick I might not have noticed!).
Look like nice vehicles. Where can one buy these? I did find one e-tailer that carried this line but only had collections 1-8.
Glenn, Plaza Japan has an eBay store that generally has most of the recent Tomytec vehicle collections available. Some of the vehicle models work fine with 1:160 scale vehicles, while others really look out of place. Here is a link to Plaza Japan's Tomytec Car Collections. However, it looks like Car Collection No. 12 is not currently available, and the assortment on a whole is not all that great, but that might change in a few days. http://stores.ebay.com/Plaza-Japan/...tomytec+car+collection&_sasi=1&_sid=169030440 Generally, I have found the 1:150 scale models of the vehicles from the 1950s and 1960s work best with the 1:160 scale vehicles. I believe this might be because the prototypes of the older Japanese cars were significantly smaller than U.S. cars of that time period, or maybe it is just my memory fading with time. A couple of exceptions to that trend are the Tomytec Honda Odyssey minivan and the Mitsubishi Fuso Canter. These are 1:150 scale models, but the 1:150 scale dimensions of the first generation Odyssey match the 1:160 scale dimensions of the second generation Odyssey, and the two are somewhat similar in appearance. Here is the Tomytec 1:150 scale Odyssey parked between an Atlas F-150 and Taurus. And, here is the Canter parked between an Athearn Ford C and an Atlas F-150. If the Canter (imported as the FE series in North America) did not have the Japanese lettering, few are likely to notice that it is 1:150 scale. And, after the initial release of the "collection" of 36 or 24 models, Tomytec has been releasing 4 vehicle sets that tend to be a bit more affordable if you are not in need of a fleet. And I appreciate the compliments on posting this. All of the Tomytec vehicle models are very well done, but until I see them next to 1:160 scale models, I never know if they will be usable or not. Carter
i think that the Crown could be modified easily enough and would make a great PrezLimo for a motorcade those old armored limos were pretty beefy
