Newport & Rock Falls: Another Retro Micro-Layout

[Point353]

Do you have any passenger cars with illuminated interiors to run on this layout?

[DKS]

Do you have any passenger cars with illuminated interiors to run on this layout?

Yes.

[muktown128]

DKS, your skill and creativity never ceases to amaze me.  Thanks for sharing your tips, tricks and techniques.

[DKS]

20 March 2021. Despite looking virtually complete, the layout is actually a ways from being done. This morning I compiled a list of things left to do, and there were 24 items. However, I elected to not bother with any of them, and instead did something completely different: I created a new "micro-scene." It was inspired by a pair of wire reels from a very early Arnold Rapido freight loads kit (0649), which I wanted to use but had trouble finding a home for them (interestingly, the tooling would be considered very good even by today's standards). On a whim, I positioned them across the street from the factory. Parked nearby, a pair of Wiking VW vans, doing service as utility vehicles, have working headlights and four-way flashers—I may one day decal them. Granted, the vehicles are illuminated with 0402 and 0201 LEDs, but had I known what I was doing back in the early 70s, I could have created similar effects using fiber optics. To finish up the scene, I wound fine wire onto the reels (brother, was that tedious).









Incidentally, the four-ways will be powered by a grade crossing flasher circuit—really cheap and simple. And yes, it means squeezing in another switch on the already-crowded control panel.

[peteski]

Nice mini scene!
Where did you get those orange vans?  They have a Wiking look to them (newer style VW buses), but I don't recall Wiking making those.  Their rear end, and overall shorty design makes them look like Ford vans from the '60s.

[DKS]

Nice mini scene!
Where did you get those orange vans?  They have a Wiking look to them (newer style VW buses), but I don't recall Wiking making those.  Their rear end, and overall shorty design makes them look like Ford vans from the '60s.

I've no idea where I got them--it was many moons ago--but it would appear they're long discontinued. They came in Wiking set #91501, along with a VW Golf Wagon and a VW Passat Fastback.

https://brooklynlocomotiveworks.com/wiking-vehicles.htm

https://www.nscalesupply.com/wik/wik.html

[Point353]

Where did you get those orange vans?  They have a Wiking look to them (newer style VW buses), but I don't recall Wiking making those. 

https://www.walthers.com/volkswagen-vehicle-set-1-each-golf-i-wagon-passat-fastback-station-wagon-lt-van

[peteski]

Thanks!  So they are relatively modern Wiking models.  Well, to me relatively modern means from the '80s.

Such basic models, but with well-proportioned bodies, molded using finely engraved molds.  Why can't companies like CMW achieve similar results with their vehicles made in 2020?    Yes, it is a rhetorical question.

[DKS]

The question I have is, why does nearly everyone else insist on making toys? I use "toys" to describe vehicles where the manufacturers insist on making the wheels turn. Wiking makes models, where the wheels are solidly molded into the chassis. Why not take the $ needed to make wheels that turn and invest it in better tooling for the bodies? Wiking's first-gen models from 1969 are still better than most stuff made today.

/rant

[keeper]

Nice mini scene!
Where did you get those orange vans?  They have a Wiking look to them (newer style VW buses), but I don't recall Wiking making those.  Their rear end, and overall shorty design makes them look like Ford vans from the '60s.

The prototype is a VW LT, much bigger than a VW Bulli/Bus. Production was from 1975 until 2006.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_LT

Thomas

[peteski]

The prototype is a VW LT, much bigger than a VW Bulli/Bus. Production was from 1975 until 2006.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_LT

Thomas

Thanks Thomas. I'm familiar with those vehicles. I've seen them here in USA.  But in DKS' photos the front of them  (which is an important clue to their identification) was not clearly visible.  They also reminded me of the American '60s Ford vans.  I also didn't remember that Wiking made that model.

Here is the Ford van.  The fairly stubby look and the rear make it look similar to the VW.  Except for the grille, the nose is also similar.






Those VW LT vans in USA were caller "Vanagon".  Of course, Westfaila Vanagon was popular here too.

[peteski]

The question I have is, why does nearly everyone else insist on making toys? I use "toys" to describe vehicles where the manufacturers insist on making the wheels turn. Wiking makes models, where the wheels are solidly molded into the chassis. Why not take the $ needed to make wheels that turn and invest it in better tooling for the bodies? Wiking's first-gen models from 1969 are still better than most stuff made today.

/rant

I agree on all counts.  But it is not just rolling wheels.  It is badly designed rolling wheels, and poorly made molds that produce crude and thick-walled bodies with soft details.  Does it really cost more money to produce a better model than a crappy looking toy?





There are also very well made N scale models which have rolling wheels. Crisply-molded thin-walled bodies, and rolling wheels.

Of course I would be just as happy if the wheels were molded with the chassis. Most of these models spent their time stationary on train layouts, and even are often glued to the road surface.

Sorry for the OT diversion.

[Point353]

The question I have is, why does nearly everyone else insist on making toys? I use "toys" to describe vehicles where the manufacturers insist on making the wheels turn. Wiking makes models, where the wheels are solidly molded into the chassis. Why not take the $ needed to make wheels that turn and invest it in better tooling for the bodies? Wiking's first-gen models from 1969 are still better than most stuff made today.

/rant

Probably because the manufacturer would have to emblazon the package with "Warning: This is a static model. The wheels do not turn."
That might limit sales.
However, if they didn't have that warning, some 'Karen' would inadvertently buy one of those vehicles for her child, thinking it was comparable to a Matchbox or Hot Wheels type of product, and then post all over social media complaining that the wheels on the toy/model don't turn and that her precious child was scarred for life by the experience.
The negative publicity would sink the company.
It's a no-win situation.

[keeper]

Those VW LT vans in USA were caller "Vanagon".  Of course, Westfaila Vanagon was popular here too.

Interesting how different some models are named in other countries.
That Westfalia Vanagon is not a VW LT, it is a VW Bulli T2.

Thomas

[GimpLizard]

Why can't companies like CMW achieve similar results...

I agree completely.

And, as DKS stated, I don't understand why makers of N-scale vehicles insist on having 'rolling' wheels... for essentially static models. Seems to me that molding the wheels integral to the base - like Wiking does - would save on the cost of tooling & assembly. In fact, a simple three piece kit (body, base, window glass) would reduce cost even more. And allow the modelers to paint as they desire.