General Discussion (Model Railroader)

ronmcc wrote:

They used to make micro-machines, a little out of scale but you could actually tell what they were(57 chevy, 65 mustang, big foot, etc.)

There's a Wiki entry on them too!
For some reason I had the jeep and a bulldozer in 'Army' colors, tried to figure out what scale they were but seemed a bit bigger than N, must have been Micro-Machines (or a knock-off). Decent enough molding & detail at least...

I've had pretty good luck on eBay.

I just did a search on N-scale Pick-up and got maybe 20 different year and models.

LD357 wrote:

I looked at N scale Supply, DTO, Tower Hobbies and Walthers websites, and the thing that turned me off was the prices...there were very few appropriately priced offerings, if a certain P\U or sedan costs $5 in HO scale, then the same type by the same manuf. should not be more than $2.50 in N scale, half the material for three times the price seems to be the going rate at some of those websites...  I suppose the reason for the outrageous pricing of N scale is the relative smallness of the community that models it, I was amazed at the prices for N scale rolling stock and locos, some were more expensive than a bells-and-whistles Spectrum or a Proto series offering...

The tooling for that N scale item probably costs as much as, or more than, the tooling for the same item in HO.  And the cost of that tooling has to be spread over a smaller number of potential units sold.  And with miniaturization comes added difficulty in assembling the finished product.

LD357 wrote:

My LHS has a few Atlas offerings but I WILL NOT pay that much for a P\U or sedan....Atlas has lost their N scale car making minds!!  LOL

Better to lose their minds than lose their shirts. If you're not prepared to pay the price, don't complain about the lack of product. I know that sounds harsh, but it's unfortunately true.

Like the price or not, it really does cost so much to make a 2-pack of the Atlas Fairmonts that the $13.95 price is justified. Compared to the vast majority of N scale automobiles, the Atlas models are superior in terms of detail and finish.

Even the generic vehicles in the Woodland Scenics AutoScenes cost about as much as the Atlas Fairmonts (those figures aren't all that expensive).

While it is possible to make a less-expensive model, there aren't a lot of savings to be had unless you really strip it down to a product like the old six-pack of Toyota Crowns from Kato. Plus, in order to recover your development investment, you've either got to sell even more of a budget-priced model or add in a higher recovery factor, which jacks up the price again. On top of everything else, you have to worry about losing sales to those N scalers who do want the extra detail and are willing to pay what it costs to get it.

Atlas is now the only ready-to-run model vehicle maker that releases all of its HO models in N as well. The rate of new N releases from Athearn has declined significantly and even CMW isn't releasing all of its new models in N (no 1936 Ford, for example). Busch is no longer making any new models in N scale and Herpa mostly reissues existing tooling with a new item every few years. Wiking has not released a new N scale car in years; their new offerings are farm equipment and an occasional German truck.

Some years ago, all of these companies were developing a number of new projects in N scale. Busch planned to release some of its new tooling in both HO and N (and did, for a short time), Herpa sprang a line of new cars, Wiking popped out six new cars in eighteen months, and Athearn planned to mimic Atlas in offering most, if not all, of its new vehicles in both scales.

What happened? To put it mildly, sales were disappointing.

Whether it's diecast or plastic, it costs almost as much to develop a model in N scale as it does in HO. You save some on the tooling and, since you can get away with fewer parts, a bit on assembly and packaging. But you still need to sell a lot of models to make your money back and the market just hasn't shown it's capable of absorbing the needed volume. This isn't hearsay; it's the truth.

In fairness to all N scalers, HO has a big advantage that has nothing to do with model railroading: a sizable collector community that buys the majority of 1/87 scale models sold worldwide. Some companies get 85-90% of their HO vehicle model sales from these people. And they are willing to pay a higher price for a more detailed model. But, even though the advantage may be unfair, it's still real and it makes investment in 1/87 more attractive than investment in 1/160. That's why American HO fans have enjoyed a boom of historic proportions in recent years while N scale has seen only a relative handful of new vehicles.

I have some of the Lineside Models and they can be very nice. Lots of variety, too. They do take a steady hand and (in my case) lots of magnification.

Of course, most N scale vehicles require painting to look good, even the "ready-to-run" Wikings and Kato 1990s Toyotas need it to look their best.

By the way, my comments above were meant to apply to ready-to-use models. There are many nice resin and white metal kits for N scale. The only thing of which you need to be careful are some of the Japanese and British models, which are made to "local" N scale. Japanese N is 1:150 and British "N" or "treble-O" is 1:144 or thereabouts.