Large Scale Central

Vehicles for 1:29 scale layouts

I have finally settled on modeling standard gauge in 1:29. Being a fan of vehicles as well as trains, I was curious to find out what sort of vehicles would be available around 1:29.

Disclaimer: I came to g scale from HO, and while I am certainly not a rivet counter, I may be more fastidious about scale than many of you. If the scale of your trains relative to your structures does not concern you, you probably won’t find this post useful. Everyone has their own opinions, and can do what they wish.

Most of the vehicles that I was able to find are in 1/30 scale, though there are also a few in 1/28 scale that could be used. My personal preference would be 1/30, as the trains will be slightly larger than the vehicles, which I think is more realistic. Also, the 1/28 scale models (particularly mid 20th century models) seem to be harder to find than 1/30. But either scale should look good with 1/29 trains.

I have grouped the vehicles into three popular modeling eras, and list the manufacturer and the name of the vehicle model.

Some of the vehicles listed under transition era could also be used in the late steam or early diesel eras as well.

All the vehicles listed below are in 1/30 scale unless otherwise noted.

Steam Era:

  • Ertl 1919 GMC trucks

  • Ertl 1925 Kenworth trucks

  • Ertl 1926 fire trucks

  • Sunnyside 1932 Ford coupe

  • Ertl 1930 Diamond T tanker trucks

  • JLE 1931 IH tanker trucks

Transition Era:

  • Ertl 1953 Ford C500 trucks

  • Majorette 1957 Corvette

  • First Gear 1946 Dodge Power Wagons

  • First Gear 1937 Chevy trucks

  • Ertl 1940 Ford Pickups

  • Ertl 1937 fire trucks

  • Ertl 1948 fire trucks

  • Ertl 1955 fire trucks

Diesel era:

  • Eldon 1971 Ford Pinto Kit (1/29 scale, promo model?)

  • NZG Hyster H250XL Forklift

  • NZG Hyster H60 Forklift

  • Joal Hyster J180 Forklift

Joe, do you have any pictures of these next to a train?

Nice list!

Greg

Joe Loll said:

All the vehicles listed below are in 1/30 scale unless otherwise noted.

Joe, I assume that you are basing this on what the manufacturer has stamped on the bottom of the model?

Dan, and as we all know, they never mislabel anything…

3000 toys has a 1:30 scale section that might be helpful

https://www.3000toys.com/catalog/products.aspx?SALE=1&ORDER=R&SCALE=1/30&setup=&utm_source=MadMimi&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Fall+Sale+Ends+Friday&utm_campaign=20191010_m154521427_Fall+Sale+Ends+Friday&utm_term=1_2F30

Dan, you are correct. I’m taking the manufacturer’s word. It’s not perfect, but I guarantee most if not all of the vehicles I list will be around 1/30. Ebay sellers are much worse. Certain vehicles labeled as 1/30 are 1/34 or 1/36.

Greg, the only vehicle I currently own is the Ertl Ford C500. I’ll have a pic by the end of the month hopefully. I don’t have anything explicitly 1/29 yet. I could take a photo next to some track if you’re interested.

I think we would all appreciate pictures of 1:29 and 1:30 models next to our 1:29 trains, when you get to it.

Greg

I have updated the list to include some more vehicles in the diesel era.

Joe Loll said:

All the vehicles listed below are in 1/30 scale unless otherwise noted.

Steam Era:

  • Ertl 1919 GMC trucks

  • Ertl 1925 Kenworth trucks

  • Ertl 1926 fire trucks

  • Sunnyside 1932 Ford coupe

  • Ertl 1930 Diamond T tanker trucks

  • JLE 1931 IH tanker trucks

Transition Era:

  • Ertl 1953 Ford C500 trucks

  • Majorette 1957 Corvette

  • First Gear 1946 Dodge Power Wagons

  • First Gear 1937 Chevy trucks

  • Ertl 1940 Ford Pickups

  • Ertl 1937 fire trucks

  • Ertl 1948 fire trucks

  • Ertl 1955 fire trucks

Diesel era:

  • Eldon 1971 Ford Pinto Kit (1/29 scale, circa 1970’s, promo model?)

  • Strombecker 1974 Corvette

  • Strombecker 1979 Pontiac Firebird

  • Strombecker 1970’s Chevy Van

  • Daishin 1973 Kenworth Semi Trucks (R/C, circa 1970’s)

  • NZG Hyster H250XL Forklift

  • NZG Hyster H60 Forklift

  • Joal Hyster J180 Forklift

www.3000toys.com has vehicles of different scales. Using the 10’ rule, 1:24 & 1:25 looks fine up against 1:29 trains. I scratchbuild to 1:24 and have some Colorado Model Structures. Unless you want to glue 1:25 models together, large scale trucks will be limited to 1:32. Those 3 scales do not clash as far as I can see.

I used to see contemporary vehicles 1:24 to 1:40 or so at the local grocery store for a couple bucks. I recollect several were about 1:30 with good detail. I bought one for my indoor layout on whim. (also remember seeing some ATV’s that could pass for 1:30)

Ron Hill said:

www.3000toys.com has vehicles of different scales. Using the 10’ rule, 1:24 & 1:25 looks fine up against 1:29 trains. I scratchbuild to 1:24 and have some Colorado Model Structures. Unless you want to glue 1:25 models together, large scale trucks will be limited to 1:32. Those 3 scales do not clash as far as I can see.

Ron, if that works for you, then great. But to my eye the 1:32nd stuff looks too small, and the 1:24/1:25 stuff looks huge next to 1:29 scale railroad equipment. I am I am just too picky.

I haven’t updated this in awhile but here is a table of some vehicles I own and the actual dimensions. ActLength is the actual prototype length and Closer to is the scale the model is closest to based on length only.

David Maynard said:

Ron Hill said:

www.3000toys.com has vehicles of different scales. Using the 10’ rule, 1:24 & 1:25 looks fine up against 1:29 trains. I scratchbuild to 1:24 and have some Colorado Model Structures. Unless you want to glue 1:25 models together, large scale trucks will be limited to 1:32. Those 3 scales do not clash as far as I can see.

Ron, if that works for you, then great. But to my eye the 1:32nd stuff looks too small, and the 1:24/1:25 stuff looks huge next to 1:29 scale railroad equipment. I am I am just too picky.

David, I agree. The reason I put the list together was to help modelers find vehicles that are about the same scale relative to their trains. There’s nothing wrong with using 1/24 cars and 1/29 scale trains if scale accuracy doesn’t concern you. But I came from HO, where everything labelled “HO” was the proper scale of 1:87. Scale accuracy is important to me.

I also came from HO and N, and scale is somewhat important to me. But, I can fudge a little. I am reworking a Tyco 10 wheeler to run on the club’s HO set up. The Tyco is actually closer to 1:72 then it is to 1:87. As for "everything labelled “HO” was the proper scale of 1:87. " not quite “everything”. (https://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)

Close enough. The point I’m trying to make is that vehicles in scale to the trains were/are very easy to get in HO.

In HO, it’s an assumption that the vehicles will be in the same scale (and the correct size) relative to the trains.

I’d like my layout to look as real as possible, and using vehicles that are accurately scaled to the trains will help me to achieve that.

I created the table because I would buy vehicles of the same scale but when looking at the seats, doors, wheels they certainly didn’t look to be the same. Also, figured I could use as an aide to place them. I try to get as close to 1:29 as possible but dont think it will matter much unless they are placed near a figure, structure or train that doesn’t match.
I plan to use the 1:32ish rally cars to create a forest stage race scene away from the trains. It’s like that forced perspective thing the HO scalers do!(https://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)

Dan Gilchrist said:

I created the table because I would buy vehicles of the same scale but when looking at the seats, doors, wheels they certainly didn’t look to be the same. Also, figured I could use as an aide to place them. I try to get as close to 1:29 as possible but dont think it will matter much unless they are placed near a figure, structure or train that doesn’t match.
I plan to use the 1:32ish rally cars to create a forest stage race scene away from the trains. It’s like that forced perspective thing the HO scalers do!(https://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)

You make a valid point Dan. Not everything labelled as being in a particular scale is actually in that scale. I’m only going off of the manufacturer’s word. The only way to determine what on my list is actually in scale would be to buy them all, and compare/measure.

However, I’m pretty confident that every ERTL item is in scale. They are well known in the model business and have a good reputation.

Here are the pics you’ve all been waiting for:

(Greg in particular)

Truck is an ERTL 1/30 scale Ford C500, train is a USA Mighty Moe

I have updated the list to include some more vehicles in the diesel era. The diesel era has proven to have the best selection of vehicles.

(A quick search of the scalemates.com can give you a list of 1/30 scale vehicle kits)

Joe Loll said:

All the vehicles listed below are in 1/30 scale unless otherwise noted.

Steam Era:

  • Ertl 1919 GMC trucks

  • Ertl 1925 Kenworth trucks

  • Ertl 1926 fire trucks

  • Sunnyside 1932 Ford coupe

  • Ertl 1930 Diamond T tanker trucks

  • JLE 1931 IH tanker trucks

Transition Era:

  • Ertl 1953 Ford C500 trucks

  • Majorette 1957 Corvette

  • First Gear 1946 Dodge Power Wagons

  • First Gear 1937 Chevy trucks

  • Ertl 1940 Ford Pickups

  • Ertl 1937 fire trucks

  • Ertl 1948 fire trucks

  • Ertl 1955 fire trucks

Diesel era:

  • Mitsuwa 1965 Buick Riviera (Kit, Circa 1960’s)

  • Paramount 1967 Dodge Charger (Kit, Circa 1960’s)

  • Paramount 1969 Chevy Camaro (Kit, Circa 1960’s)

  • Eldon 1971 Ford Pinto Kit (1/29 scale, circa 1970’s, promo model?)

  • Daishin 1973 Kenworth Semi Trucks (R/C, circa 1970’s)

  • Strombecker 1974 Corvette

  • Strombecker 1979 Pontiac Firebird

  • Strombecker 1970’s Chevy Van

  • NZG Hyster H250XL Forklift

  • NZG Hyster H60 Forklift

  • Joal Hyster J180 Forklift