Just for funsies, has anyone tried a mild version of the minituar wonderland airport? Like having a small scene with a small ho scale athearn v tail with a motor to make the propellor spin or something. My first love is aircraft, so I want a small airport scenes with STRICTLY ho scale aircraft, not 1/100. I'm very picky. Please post pics if you have any! I would like to see what you guys have done.
I'm beginning to realize that Windows 10 and sound decoders have a lot in common. There are so many things you have to change in order to get them to work the way you want.
Do you have any idea how big Miniatur Wunderland´s Knuffingen Airport is? Or a Boeing 747 in HO scale?
Making an HO scale small aircraft´s propeller spin, is certainly no biggie, but even a small airfield requires a lot of space to look realistic, even with a heavy dose of selective compression.
Happy times!
Ulrich (aka The Tin Man)
"You´re never too old for a happy childhood!"
I know. Maybe I should have said INCEDIBLY mild. Like a tiny regional airport scene.
A few weeks ago, someone posted a video of a twin Otter float plane at the dock with a prop that spins. A few folks have airplanes 'flying' over their layouts
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Hi Bear!
Thanks for the video! That is truly excellent modelling, although I think the rough starting may be a little overdone. The prop synchronization with the sound of the engine sputtering to life is amazing though.
On the few occasions that I have had an opportunity to ride in a Beaver I was always a bit leery with the way the engines started.
Cheers!!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
hon30critter although I think the rough starting may be a little overdone
I would re-think your insistance on 1/87 aircraft. To the eye, we almost always view airplanes from the ground, so they always look smaller than they are. When you use aircraft of the same scale, they actually look out of scale to every viewer except those in the aircraft service field.
.
Really, have you seen HOW BIG Walthers 1/87 DC-3 is? HUGE!
1/144 scale aircraft should look fine. Certainly a better choice for a home layout.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Have you considered a heliport?
A main rotor would be easier to spin and the whole thing would require less real estate.
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
"Gulliver's Gate" is a relatively new attraction in New York City. It is a model of many parts of the world, built in 1:87 scale. When I was there, they were still working on the model of LaGuardia Airport, which features operating vehicles, taxiing, taking-off and landing aircraft.
They were still coordinating the sensors and actuators when I was there.
There are a lot of trains in the models. I noticed the presence of BNSF and Rio Grande boxcars all over the model space, even in the models of Europe and Asia, so I asked about them, since they were so out of place. My quest led to an introduction to "the train guy," and a relatively simple explanation. They are standard, off-the-shelf Walthers track cleaning cars, but they hadn't gotten around to repainting yet.
Since I was a modeler myself, I spent a good part of the morning getting a behind-the-scenes tour, which I enjoyed thoroughly.
The airplanes are actually 1:87 scale. They make them on site using 3D printing technology.
Anyone interested in modeling should visit this. There is a hefty senior discount and coupons being handed out to take the sting out of the admission price.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I saw that, but there wasn't too much footage about it, and it is even more fictional than minituar wunderland. I like the heliport.
BNSF UP and others modeler I saw that, but there wasn't too much footage about it, and it is even more fictional than minituar wunderland. Like the heliport.
I saw that, but there wasn't too much footage about it, and it is even more fictional than minituar wunderland. Like the heliport.
Well, it's not a model railroad and it does not really strive to be. I thought it was a great display of models and modeling techniques, though. Each "continent" was built far away and shipped here, then re-assembled, so there are models from India, China, Russia, Europe, the Middle East and South America, as well as the U.S. A lot was still going on when I was there, so they had a lot of the workshops visible to the visitors. Talking with the modelers was fascinating as they were happy to discuss what they were doing and how they were doing it.
The club in Elmhurst, IL has a 1/87th DC-3 being used as a gas station roof. They also had some small scale airliners hanging from ceiling.
My club has had a crashed P-38 and a Stuka in the woods of a large hill (yes, both 1:87; Roco made them).
But airplanes in general are pretty hard to find on layouts in my experience.
Who else thought this would be a story about a train taking flight off someones layout?
I personally thought of Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries!
Steve
If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough!
NWP SWPWho else thought this would be a story about a train taking flight off someones layout?
Hmmmm... are you criticizing someone's title for a thread?
This was certainly a more clear title than some other recent threads I can think of. Can you think of any recent threads with poorly chosen titles?
By the way... there is NOTHING funny about a train "taking flight" off of a layout. It has happened to me a couple of times. Nothing funny at all.
If I were to include airplanes on the club layout, they would either be Matchbox Skybusters or Hot Wings planes which are 1/64 scale.
The HO Scale 1/87 scale models are good, but lack stunning paint schemes and moving parts the HW/MBX models have. Realistic aircraft only, No cheap plastic models!!!
I don't know where people get this idea that MBX models are out of scale, they're not out of scale! :)
Currently no one in the club has a module with an airstrip on it, but that could change later on....
I have been looking at the 3d printed aircraft angle for a long time. Did not know that was how they did it at gulliver's gate. Wonder if there is a way I could get the files for some small aircraft. I am willing to donate some space for a decent scene. Maybe if I email the people at gulliver's gate......
I was not criticizing the OPs choice of title it's fine with me, I was just saying when I first clicked on the thread I thought it would be about a train taking a nasty fall off a layout.
I have dropped one of my locomotives once, it was a terrible few seconds, then I realized that the tender survived and only lost a step, which I found.
Funny how thread titles can be interpreted differently, my first thought was a thread about modelers fleeing HO to another scale.
SeeYou190 I would re-think your insistance on 1/87 aircraft. To the eye, we almost always view airplanes from the ground, so they always look smaller than they are. When you use aircraft of the same scale, they actually look out of scale to every viewer except those in the aircraft service field. . Really, have you seen HOW BIG Walthers 1/87 DC-3 is? HUGE! . 1/144 scale aircraft should look fine. Certainly a better choice for a home layout. . -Kevin .
Even the ubiquitous Cessna 172 would take up as much space as a DVD case in HO.
At the other end of things, you'd need a whole 4x8 layout to build a diorama of two C-5s parked on the ramp. I couldn't even fit one C-5 on one of my modules.
Let me caveat what I'm about to say by suggesting that "it's your layout - do whatever you want"
That being said, there's good reason you don't see too many airfields modeled on scale train layouts. Airplanes themselves are bigger than you might think (see the post above about the DVD case size). Any airplane you're going to find on the ground is necessarily sitting on an airfield of some kind, which takes up a deceptively large amount of space. 1000 ft in HO scale is over 11 actual feet long, and even a small "unimproved" air strip is usually a few thousand feet long.
The small heliport suggestion above would be a nice compromise that wouldn't take up too much space. If you must have a fixed-wing plane on the ground on your layout, I recommend modeling the end of a single runway, with the runway extending into the distance on the backdrop. Or you could do something like an air museum with outdoor static displays. Another alternative would be a single plane static display in a city park or someplace similar.
Dan Stokes
My other car is a tunnel motor
HO-Velo Funny how thread titles can be interpreted differently, my first thought was a thread about modelers fleeing HO to another scale.
Thank you! See thinking a thread is about something when you first click is not that big of a deal, I doubt anybody sits there and tries to deceifer what a title means before clicking, it's just supposed to convey the idea not the entire question. In this case HO Flight.
I considered modeling something like a rocket railroad for the Saturn V or something, then I realized it's 5 feet tall in HO, stuff is big!
Same thing with bridges, they're just too darn long!
I would hate see a aircraft carrier or battleship in HO, imagine a Montana Class Battleship (a planned class by the USN had WWII continued) BB-71 USS Louisiana!
Well then... any other layout pics of aircraft?
No more pictures?
I might be a little late to this party but I seem to remember an article with a list of 1:87 aircraft in an issue of FineScale Modeller back in the late 80's or early 90's. It was fairly comprehensive, even listing some "close enough" 1:90 and 1:93 models from the 1950's. There was even an Airfix air traffic control tower in their H0/OO line that could be used, if one didn't mind the European prototype of it.
You are not late at all! I didn't want this thread to die quite so soon. BTW, did this list include any 1:87 passenger aircraft (e.g. a DC-3). Those are the hardest to find, and those are the ones I am looking for.
I have no interest in this topic, so I didn't read all the other postings. However, I'm pretty sure that Walthers made an HO scale DC 3 not that long ago, and there might have been a fighter plane at the same time. Possibly a P51?
maxman I have no interest in this topic, so I didn't read all the other postings. However, I'm pretty sure that Walthers made an HO scale DC 3 not that long ago, and there might have been a fighter plane at the same time. Possibly a P51?
I believe Walthers made a 1:87 DC-3/C-47, a P-51, and a BF109.
BNSF UP and others modeler You are not late at all! I didn't want this thread to die quite so soon. BTW, did this list include any 1:87 passenger aircraft (e.g. a DC-3). Those are the hardest to find, and those are the ones I am looking for.
If you really want a DC-3, the Walthers is a good one. They are hard to find, though. The old Revell/Monogram DC-3 is 1:90, which is close enough for me.
Edit: Found a Walthers C-47 on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Walthers-933-1150-Cornerstone-Heljan-Douglas-C-47-HO-Scale-Kit-Wings-Series/392046815079?epid=1924538213&hash=item5b47cfa767:g:FFgAAOSwaWxa9Jmr
Revell Kit: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Revell-model-kit-DC-3-Airliner-Pacific-Southwest-brand-new-factory-sealed-pieces/163106404423?epid=1700065535&hash=item25f9e63847:g:A9oAAOSw0J9bKWlr
Gary
Even later to the party...
Great idea showing off a small airport. Is that really popular to have? The answer is probably not given the expense alone in modeling an aiport. Of coure you can always get a few model kits of planes and some modified buildings to appear as hangers. I doubt regional aiports require too many buildings. The bigger issue as others mentioned is size.
I was thinking maybe I could do a small regional airport scene with paper HO scale aircraft. I could resize them quite easily in pdf veiwer, print them, and assemble. Now, as to how sturdy they are...