OO, O, and N

You’ve often read me squawking about the disparity in scales that the makers of hobby items have foisted upon us over the years. There is no one universal scale or size for the little worlds we build. Some plastic modellers do not find this a hazard at all – all they look for is a box of parts that fits together and can be painted. this is actually admirable, because it means they need not be fussy about what they buy.

For the enthusiasts with a long-term plan, the disparity doesn’t bite that hard either. They have decided what they want to build and are actually a little chuffed if they need to do hard work to achieve it. They can be delighted with one new model or part in a very long time and tend to make the most of what they can get.

The rest of us…and I am somewhere in the middle picking glue off my fingers…want progress and are peeved if we can see great model kits or accessories in some impossibly large or small size. It is like being in a candy store but you can’t buy anything.

I am currently torn between being proud of my 1:18th scale car colection and being frustrated that the components are so large as to be practically un-storable or transportable. Yet they make such good photo models.

I am also wondering if the choice of 1:72nd scale for the airfields was all that good…based upon the fact that you can hardly get any pre-made vehicles in that scale to accompany the aircraft. Would 1:48th have been a better choice? Lots more diecast cars and trucks in the 1:43rd to 1:48th scale…But that would mean a larger layout for a smaller aerodrome.

Even the British outline N gauge railways at 1:148th would have been an interesting thing to combine with 1:144th aircraft…there is quite a growing number of kits for larger aircraft in this scale, as well as a large supply of structures. But I’m not British…

I think I am going to have to pin my hopes on the eastern European companies who will eventually have to quit making variations of Messerschmitts and soviet fighter planes and may well shift to small vehicles. If the British OO diecast makers won’t make North American outline vehicles and the North American diecast companies won’t make 1:76 then perhaps the Czechs, Poles, and Ukrainians can step in and capture a market.