I'm looking for information on where I can purchase late model American automobiles, tractor/trailers, pick-up trucks, etc in N Scale for my layout. All I've found so far are foreign vehicles or older American models. Thanks for any help. patriothonor (Jack)
Atlas has done a '97 Ford F150, a '96 Taurus, and a '93 Explorer. Kato has done a modern Volvo highway tractor. Busch has done a bunch of modern German cars that are common on North American roads (Mercedes ML and C-Class, Audi A4, Smart Car, Mercedes Sprinter van). Showcase Miniatures has done metal kits of some fairly modern trucks, as has GHQ Miniatures. Adrian
Athearn has done some trucks, which a few might be useful in a more modern theme. If they are still available?
Still a work in progress, but this web site is a resource to help you find what models are out there: http://nscalevehicles.org/resources/models_era.php One of the reason for so many foreign models is that it can be easier to get a license to produce the foreign models if your "company" is located in Europe or Asia. It generally is much more challenging for a U.S. company to get a license to produce a model of a "domestic brand" vehicle. But as Adrian noted, a lot of those "foreign" models are completely appropriate for North American roads. Carter
I model the steam era and search for automobiles and trucks that would have been on the road in the early 1940s; possible 1930 vintage. They exist in models of US prototypes in HO, not n-scale. The 1934 Ford is one example. I have begged for it to be done in n-scale. The ERTL Dick Tracy set of many years back were a start; however I learned of them too late. The wheels were wide, but on the layout, they looked fine for the era.
GHQ does a bunch of vehicles that would be appropriate. A lot just need minor assembly and paint, some only need paint. Some examples: '36 Buick 2-door, '30 Ford Model A, '41 Chevy Pickup, '41 Chevy Suburban, various '40 Fords etc. Adrian
If one is not adverse to a little glue and doing some painting these models cover a number of eras from early to at least the mid to late 1950s. I have quite a few purchased way back and they do have pick-ups and trailers including a horse trailer and some small pop up camper types. They may have some later eras covered but the 40s and 50s was my interest. So far they have been nice castings with a minimal of clean up if any at all needed. I even have a package of their school buses.
Roger, Neal Carnaby (Neal's N-Gauging Trains) has used the Ertl cars for casting masters, and the resulting cast metal cars are slightly smaller than the original Ertl cars, which is fine since the Dick Tracy cars were a little larger than 1:160. Neal showed me the initial "production" examples at the National N Scale Convention in Medford, OR in 2012, but they have not appeared in the Walthers catalog. You might be able to check with Neal to see if he has any available. Showcase Miniatures still has their 1934 Ford coupe available. http://www.showcaseminiatures.net/n-scale-vehicles.html You will need to scroll all of the way to the bottom of the page to see it. Once I get that model, and all of my GHQ 1930s and 1940s models painted I will have them added to the N Scale Vehicle Association's website under "N Scale Vehicles by Era". A lot of projects to work on, and not enough time to get them all finished. hboy: Carter
