Hello Folks,
Recently I settled on May of 1956 as the date/era for my layout. Without being too much of a rivet counter I wanted my vehicles to generally fit date wise, so I started searching both on the web and in these forums as to what prototypes the Woodland Scenics autos are based on. The only info I could find was a message on a Yahoo group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CAJON/message/4390
This information gave me a good start, but I was wondering what prototytpes some of the newer models are based upon. In particular I was wondering about the trucks. If there are any car/truck aficionados out there who could steer me in the right direction (pun intended) I would greatly appreciate it!
P.S. I settled on posting this here because the "Prototype Information" forum says in it's description that it is for railroad prototype information. If I have posted to the wrong forum I apologize.
Chris Ballinger
Modeling the Clementon Branch of the Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines in HO scale
They aren't really specific, because to make an exact model of a Ford, Chevy, Dodge, DeSoto, etc would require payment of a license fee. It looks to me like they incorporate styling features of most cars and trucks of the era without being a specific model of any of them.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
I see you are from my neck of the woods...Lindenwold. I suspect you have spent a few hours at "Triple A Hobbies". I do Pensy as well as CNJ. If you want accurate models go with Classic Metal Works. They have an excellent '53 Ford wagon & sedan delivery as well as a 50s Dodge, 40s Chevy pick up etc. for the same price as the Woodland cars. There are also some cast metal kits still floating around as well as some good resin models. Maybe I'll see you at triple A some day.....jerry
I use alot of the CMW cars, trucks, & buses. The best price I found is at Model Train Stuff.
http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/HO-Scale-s/2.htm?searching=Y&sort=3&cat=2&brand=Classic+Metal+Works&show=180&page=1
Hi,
Classic Metal Works put out a lot of vehicles that will fit your time period (also mine). They are not cheap, but they are quality items that you will enjoy for a long time.
On those "generic" cars, some touch up and detail paint and a coat of Dul-Cote will go a long way in making them more realistic. And of course remember that in the year 1956, only a very, very small percentage of vehicles were of that year. You still had a lot of late '40s but mostly early '50s cars out there.
1955 was a banner year for car sales. This was the year that Ford, Chevy, Pontiac and some other brands "got modern" in design and performance. 1956 vehicles were pretty much just 1955s with some minor sheet metal changes. Of course 1957 was a much better year for cars.
The early '50s vehicles thru 1954 were (for the most part) undistinguishable to the average person and looked "old", even when they were new.
Trucks were "old" as well, with big fenders and spindly round side mirrors.
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
There is talk of the 3 foot rule in modeling, i.e., stand back about 3 feet from the model, see how it looks, and if it works for you. I volunteer with the model railraod group at the Boothbay Railway Village in Maine. We have a number of Woodland Scenics Autoscenes vehicles on the layout. Museum guests often comment that someone they knew had a Chevy pickup just like "Hall n Duke", or a Nomad station wagon like "Family Vacation". This is a good example of the 3 foot rule, those folks were sure the models were scale models of Chevy products, not WS a close lookalike. It just depends on how protototype specific your feelings are as to using the WS vehicles or not.
If you want to do kits, there are a number of choices for vehicles in your timeframe:
Sylvan Scale: http://www.isp.ca/Sylvan/Resin kits with interiors and driver figures - cars and trucks
Stoney Mountain Classic Castings: http://www.shop.stoneymountaincc.com/600-Series-1-87-SCALE-CLASSIC-VEHICLES_c2.htmSolid resin kits, just paint and add the wheels
Alloy Forms http://www.scale-structures.com/Page/af_main.htmlCast metal cars and trucks with interiors
Sheepscott Scale Products http://www.sheepscotscale.com/site/Resin trucks
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
I'm trying to remember where (perhaps the Walther's Flyer?), but I recall in one publication the WS Auto-Scenes were actually labeled with real model names and years for the models (say '49 Mercury). Likely those were just educated guesses on the part of the Caption writer, but they seemed reasonable to me.
To All,
Thanks for the replies thus far. Randy, I knew from the Yahoo post that they were generic representations, which as you stated would probably negate the need to obtain licensing, but was kind of looking for a “what does this look most like to you” response from people in the know. Jerry and Tomkat-13, I really like the Mini Metals, and have quite a few, but have two problems. One, the older CMW vehicles are riveted, not screwed together, making it a challenge to insert figures. Two, I have a pretty hefty investment in the Auto Scenes, and certain members of RR management (i.e. the wife) would like to see a return on that investment. (By the way Tomkat-13, love your "Signs for your layout" thread. Thanks for sharing with us!). Mobileman44 and TA642, thanks for the info, that’s just the kind of stuff I’m looking for. George, HOLY CRAP! I did not know Stoney Mountain was still around. Have some of their stuff and like the quality (the castings I have are all pretty clean and crisp), but am focusing my efforts on structure kits at present. Thanks for the link though!
Like I said before, I’m no perfectionist so “it kinda looks like. . .” is more than good enough for me. But every once in a while a model will have or lack something that bugs me. In this case it’s the tail fins on some of the vehicles in the WS line that “scream” late 50s to me. Will it make or break the scene for almost everyone else? Nope. Will it bug me? Yep!
The Woodland scenics are not that generic. As you found from the Yahoo groups fcars are identified as to which make they really are.
You wondered what the trucks really represented. There was a list that I had some time ago that identified the trucks as well, unfortunately I can not locate the list.
IMHO you are will be hard pressed to find 1950's vehicles of any better detail that the Woodland scenics, which are certainly not inexpensive.
Did you post a note at the 1/87 yahoo vehicle group asking if anyone could identify the Woodland scenics trucks as to their paternity?.
PRSL6006I did not know Stoney Mountain was still around. Have some of their stuff and like the quality (the castings I have are all pretty clean and crisp)
Stoney Mountain did go out of business for 10 years or more; the owner decided re-open a couple of years ago.