Hi: A question for Joe Rusz; What is the book where that drawing for the model A is from? I have been looking for drawings of Model A and Model T Fords as well as other vehicles of that vintage and not come up with much.
Thanks
Dick W. (ashtrain)
Not to flog a dead horse (don’t want to get PETA upset) but just to 'splain my mindset, here are two photos of my Hubley around some 1:22.5 model buildings. I guess they appear to be in scale and as even I agree, the dimensions on the model cars are spot on. Anyway, I’ll let you determine if the scale of the car looks right, relative to the size of the building.
The only way I can see it is like when I was making some armchairs for my hotel. At first I went strictly by the measurments I’d taken off an actual chair in our living room and build a model to those specs. It looked puny. Then I decided I’d build the chair to a size that looked right. That worked for me and if I find the ambition the tear open the hotel and expose the lobby, I’ll show you what I mean. Until then, here’s those Hubley shots.
Oops, sorry. Almost forgot about you, Dick. The book, long ago out of print, is called “Ford Model A Album,” by Floyd Clymer and Leslie R. Henry, published by Floyd Clymer Publications. You might try Googling the title and/or try a place like Powells Books in Portland, OR, which seems to have everything, including some great California narrow gauge railroad books I bought there a few years ago.
Thanks Joe - Much appreciated
Talk soon
Dick w
B
B
Help! I can’t delete the fuzzy photo!
What I wanted to tell Bruce et all is this is how old and new compare in size.
Wow, they look so real! (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-surprised.gif)(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)
That’s a great picture, Joe. Makes me feel a bit better about my current model attempt.
Bruce, I asked the guy on duty what year the truck is and he said it’s a 1929 American LaFrance. He had no idea how old the “new” truck is because he’s a paramedic and not the fireman who drives the truck. He guessed it’s a 1990-something. Fire departments don’t buy new rigs every year like some car buyers do. (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-money-mouth.gif)
Meanwhile, getting back to the scale discussion, here’s my 1:29-scale firetruck with the same figure everyone else has. Is he too big or too small? I vote too big.
See it’s not that he is too big… it’s just that the fire truck is too small.(http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-laughing.gif)
I have smaller engines in and in front of my firehouse, but from a distance they look fine. No figures around them though. No one seems to notice the difference between Hubley models and other regular 1/24 vehicles, especially when the larger vehicles are place away from the others and near large structures. They look fine alongside the big Piko (I think) grain building and warehouse. Anyway, the ten foot rule works for me. I like your model A, looks great.
Rich,
My sentiments exactly. If I ever get off my butt and finish my 1:22.5-scale Orbisonia firehouse, I’ll place that slightly smaller, 1:29-scale fire engine in the doorway, along with a swell-looking dalmation dog that Bob “Door Hollow Shortline” Baxter gave me.
BTW, the reason I haven’t finished the firehouse is that I need 42 odd-shaped rafter tails to go under the roof overhang. They’re a bee-itch to make, and that’s enough to deter me. In fact, I have two other buildings that are uncompleted because of simple details. I think I need psychoanalysis. (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-undecided.gif)
Hey Joe,
Any idea where I might get a usably sized Dalmatian dog for my Piko firehouse?
Joe Rusz said:
…here are two photos of my Hubley around some 1:22.5 model buildings. I guess they appear to be in scale and as even I agree, the dimensions on the model cars are spot on. Anyway, I’ll let you determine if the scale of the car looks right, relative to the size of the building.
Buildings, for whatever reason, tend to be a bit more flexible in terms of how our eyes perceive their scale. I think that owes a lot to the fact that buildings tend to come in a far greater variety of sizes than cars or trains, which (with some minor variation) are generally built within a fairly limited range of variation. There’s no preconceived notion of how big buildings “should” be. The only things that really give a building’s scale away is the height of the door, and even that varies in the prototype world. Many train depots have unusually tall doors, so while the building may be built to 1:24, a 1:20 person can stand in front of the door and still look perfectly well-proportioned. We tend to use a lot of selective compression in our modeling anyway, so a building that’s smaller than the prototype is visually acceptable to us. It’s often the accoutrements that surround the building that give it a sense of scale, not the building itself.
Later,
K
Rafter tails tedious, I know. I tried setting up sort of a jig with my 9" band saw, with moderate success. About a 75% success rate. Just had to cut more to make the difference. Tedious.
Devon Sinsley said:
Max Winter said:
Even my 1:16 MM 'dozer looks right as I have no idea how the prototype matches up to any of the rolling stock. Max…
Thats what is menat by “ignorance is bliss” if you don’t know what the real thing should look like comapred to another real thing then in the scale world close will work. I tend to be a nit picker but I think when it comes to comparing sizes of vehicles to trains on a layout close will be fine. After all it is your railraod and what looks good to you in the end is all that matters.
Any excuse to post a picture. The 'dozer in question - 1:16. The Model T firetruck - 1:18. The Shay, its crew and flat car - 1:20.3. The buildings - designed for use with UK outline - 16 mm (1:19) but in reality well underscale. All close enough for me though. Max
Joe Rusz said:
Rich,
My sentiments exactly. If I ever get off my butt and finish my 1:22.5-scale Orbisonia firehouse, I’ll place that slightly smaller, 1:29-scale fire engine in the doorway, along with a swell-looking dalmation dog that Bob “Door Hollow Shortline” Baxter gave me.
BTW, the reason I haven’t finished the firehouse is that I need 42 odd-shaped rafter tails to go under the roof overhang. They’re a bee-itch to make, and that’s enough to deter me. In fact, I have two other buildings that are uncompleted because of simple details. I think I need psychoanalysis. (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-undecided.gif)
Hey Joe - Do you have a prototype photo you can share of the firehouse? I went Googling, but couldn’t find it.
Interesting thread. It might be worth remembering that people were smaller years ago. Look around and notice that generally (I know there are exceptions) people are bigger now, buy at least 3 or 4 inches. Good catch that plastic car seats don’t compress, and that tush-reduction surgery is sometimes necessary!
This the one ?
Listed as the Safety Hook & Ladder Co. by CCCrow Co.
Max,
Your photo does illustrate pretty well that it can be fudged. I would not have noticed difference in scale. And I believe that as others have mentioned in another thread about detail that model railroads are not single focus items, we perceive them as an overall whole so we don’t focus close enough on any one particular spot, we survey. Even though it is a discussion on detail and you posted pictures of a certain thing to illustrate a point I still looked at the whole of the scene and scale differences.
Agree, agree, yes, sure, yep, true dat. Do you guys think I am going to respond to every one of your pertinent comments? Hey, I’m the guy who’s to lazy to cut out 42 rafter tails.
Jon, long time ago, MR had a u-build-it R-Tickle on the Orbisonia Firehouse. I have same. Also I gots the digital archive MR. Also, Part Two, there used to be an HO plaster kit of the Orbisonia by that guy who’s still selling plaster kits. Mr Plaster. Naw, just kidding about his name.