Hello Everyone,
I am looking for HO Scale WWII American aircraft. I am only able to fine 1/72 or 1/100 scale. Does anyone know a manufacturer that makes 1/87 scale WWII aircraft? I prefer plastic, I want to put a couple aircraft on flat cars.
If I have to use a different scale, which would be better 1/72 or 1/100?
Thank you,
Jeff
Idaho Trains Hello Everyone, I am looking for HO Scale WWII American aircraft. I am only able to fine 1/72 or 1/100 scale. Does anyone know a manufacturer that makes 1/87 scale WWII aircraft? I prefer plastic, I want to put a couple aircraft on flat cars. If I have to use a different scale, which would be better 1/72 or 1/100? Thank you, Jeff
Here is a source, albeit, a little expensive:
http://www.diecastairplane.com/store/c/2138-1-87-HO-Scale.html
Alton Junction
Walthers offers C-47's:http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/326-741897
They used to have P-51 Mustangs, as well. You might find them on eBay.
I think it was Monogram that offered both HO-sclae P-38 Lightnings and Ju-87 Stuka dive bombers many years ago. All I know is that I actually have them and I've never seen them anywhere else.
While not American, Busch offers Bf-109's (not cheap at $30+):http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/189-25000
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/189-25051
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/189-25004
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/189-25050
Herpa has an FW-190:http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/326-741415Maybe you can consider these captured aircraft? They did have them...Good luck!
Paul A. Cutler III
Boy I wishes I could find some B-17's and P-38's in HO scale. One time I wanted to do a WW II air field.
Cuda Ken
I hate Rust
Walthers also offered the P38, Mustang and at least one German fighter, but they were all part of the Roco Minitank line. While 1/72 is the most common scale for airplane kits today, back in the 50's and 60's many kits were made to "box scale" which meant the model was created to fit a specific box, resulting in a wide variety of scales. For your purposes, it's good to know that Aurora made a 1/88 P47, Monogram made a 1/90 DC3 and C47 and Revell made a 1/92 B24 Liberator bomber.
Check out this site for old kits: www.oldmodelkits.com
I've never used them but browse the site frequently and they maintain an excellent selection of old kits.
Michael
I will start looking and see if I can locate what I want. I am looking for a army helicopter, P-51, and maybe a AT-6 or something like that. I will look at the sites that were posted and also consider 1/100 scale.
Thanks,
You're not going to find too many helicopters in WWII in the first place, let alone a model of one. The only one that really saw any service before V-J Day was the Sikorsky R-4 ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikorsky_R-4 ), and they only made 131 of them. Their first combat rescue wasn't performed until April 1944. The R-4's replacement, the H-5 ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikorsky_H-5 ), wasn't introduced until February 1945, just 6 months before the war ended.
There were over 16,000 P-51's made, and over 15,000 T-6's also rolled off the assembly lines. Compare that to around 400+ R-4 and H-5 helicopters combined, and you'll see what kind of rare birds you're trying to find.
Keep your eye on eBay, and maybe some Walthers Mustangs will show up. But I wouldn't bet on finding too many HO WWII whirlybirds around.
Now I'm really kicking myself, I had I guess one of the first run Walthers C-47's in my hands a few weeks ago at a local train show and didn't buy it. The seller was asking $20.00
I have a Hallmark P-51 Legends in Flight collectible series that is a static display with a working prop. that isn't 1:87 scale but close enough to pull it off 1:72 scale but after searching for pics and seeing they sell for $98.00 thats kinda steep
Due to its design, the Mustang is a poor choice for a railroad car load - unless it's a crash victim being hauled off to recycling (Yes, they did recycle crashed planes during WWII.)
A Hellcat or Avenger would be a better choice, since the wings folded/rotated to lie alongside the fuselage.
During WWII, complete aircraft were flown from the factory to the Port of Embarcation. Naval aircraft were routinely loaded aboard escort carriers, some of which served as plane ferries. Mustangs had enough legs to fly across most ocean crossings.
Also, looking at wartime security, IF an aircraft was being moved by land transport it would almost certainly have been wrapped in tarps to hide it from inquisitive people with Germanic names...
I always get a laugh out of the Walthers catalog photo of the Bf-109 standing on its extended landing gear on a flat car, wingless and devoid of horizontal stabilizer. The Bf-109 had a notoriously fragile landing gear and would have been carried in some kind of wooden cradle. It would also have been tarped over, to keep it from attracting attention from Thunderbolts, Typhoons or Shturmoviks (choose one, depending on date and front.)
Chuck (Retired USAF QC inspector modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
tomikawaTT A Hellcat or Avenger would be a better choice, since the wings folded/rotated to lie alongside the fuselage.
Hellcat, or is this a Corsair? (wings folded up):
Avenger (wings turned sideways and folded back):
Mark
markpierceHellcat, or is this a Corsair? (wings folded up):
Corsair. Canopy is a total giveaway. And that narrow cigar looking nose. Hellcats were downright beefy. Like that Avenger.
While I was considering doing an East Coast layout, I had contemplating adding Lakehurst NAS to my layout, until I started figuring out how large I would need to build one airship hanger.
In moments of insanity I still contemplate building the Akron or Macon in 1:87.
I see this is going to be more diificult and expensive than I thought. Maybe I will just do a flat car with a cover over it and it will just have suttle signs of an aircraft under it.
There was a thread in one of these forums a couple weeks back where someone was asking about WW2 airplanes on flatcars. As I recall, even though there was some discussion on the topic, no one was able to produce a link to a photograph showing such a load. I believe that the concensus opinion was that if an airplane had to get from point A to point B it was flown, not loaded on a flatcar.