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But are they true 1/48? Some so called 1/48 ending up as repackaged 1/43..too big for me and 1/50 too small.
Menards has them for sale as "gold line collection" and they are the only Diecast I saw with scale on the box. They look 1:48
There is no way to tell. I bought their van online, which specified 1:48 in the description. When I got it in the mail, it said 1:50 in bold letters in the packaging.
The BMW 3-series are advertised as 1:48 but I measure them and they are much closer to 1:43.
Good luck!
I find the 1:43/1:50 conundrum a pain. I realize that European standards are driving it. It's a shame that the US market was never big enough to force manufacturers to make cars, trucks and earth movers in true 1:48 scale. I was just explaining this to my grandsons last night as we were admiring the Grove crane that I just got and how it compares in size to the 1:48 cars that I have. Classic Construction Models makes their brass pieces in 1:48, but they are costly and aren't practical to use as props on a model railroad. The HO guys have the advantage again. Their stuff is all 1:87.
I seen them in person and those trucks are 1/43 way to big to be 1/48 , in a local Train store the have this particular truck and I compare sizes with a Mack from Menards ...looks too Big. The only 1/50 scale trucks now are the DCP Silverado and the upcoming Fords from SWORD models
Willygee, that is the Menards product you can buy direct for about 50 % less than the website you posted.
I would agree that the model is at least 1:43 if not even larger. See the photos I have taken from my collection. The yellow box truck is New Ray 1:43; ambulance is from Menards (same cab as your posting); green Ford is the exact same as your picture and it is from Menards; white Chevy Tahoe is 1:43 and made by First Response; white pick up in Bobcat dealer paint is 1:50; white International cab over is 1:50 from K-Line.
Hope this helps all see the size more accurately.
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Martin H posted:I bought their van online, which specified 1:48 in the description. When I got it in the mail, it said 1:50 in bold letters in the packaging.
I bought the van too. It is no where near 1:50. It is S Scale or 1:64
willygee posted:But are they true 1/48? Some so called 1/48 ending up as repackaged 1/43..too big for me and 1/50 too small.
A 4% difference is just about negligible in the "O" world... 1/50 is a much better fit for the O-gauge world than 1/43 and will nary be noticed.
A lot of 1/64 equipment fits in quite well, too, especially tractor-trailer units. the 1/43 T-T models are just HUGE compared to most O gauge train equipment.
- This is a very interesting and valuable discussion. For my military loads I can choose from 1/43, 1/48, 1/50, and 1/56. I find that I can even run several flat cars with 1/43 small trucks on one and a 1/56 Abrams tank on the next. They look acceptable because the body styles are very different and small trucks at 1/43 look close to 1/48 where a huge tank at 1/56 also looks 1/48.
- The "running difference" looks acceptable to the eye.
The International COE is bigger that 1/48 , I have a resin Freightliner Argosy in 1/50 scale along with a Scania from WSI and you can really tell the difference I would say is like 1/45..the trailer is 1/50 
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Scaletruck, Thanks for the pictures of the trucks side by side. Wow, what a difference!
It is easy to determine if flat bed and van trucks and trailers are 1:48 scale. Normal, run of the mill flat bed or van trucks and semis are 102" wide. Divided by 48 equals 2 and 1/8 inches wide. Thirty or so years ago they were 96" wide for 2 inches. Very few semi trailers (Weaver 53' van trailers being a notable exception) are scale length. the 13 1/4 inch length of the 53' model road trailer uses a lot of room on a train layout. Imagine dedicating a minimum of two feet in front of every dock on your layout for semis to maneuver.
John in Lansing, Illinois
I just have one New Ray tractor/trailer, a cattle truck. The cab unit is huge (and too modern) so I elected to only use the trailer, but that is huge, too, so may not. The three pickups in the photo above should all be the same size approximately, to be useable in O scale/gauge, and definitely are not.
Typically the only models offered in 1/48 scale in the diecast industry are model airplanes.
hibar posted:Typically the only models offered in 1/48 scale in the diecast industry are model airplanes.
To expand on that, I think it is fair to say that diecast "o" scale stuff is not made with model railroaders in mind. They make it for people who collect 1:43 or 1:50 models, and THEN they try to see if they can't unload a few units on "unpicky" o gauge guys.
We are at the bottom of that hierarchy of customers
The difference between 1/48 and 1/50 is not much ..you can easily mix both scales and not notice anything out of place..sadly not many models are made in 1/48 ( few very expensive CCM Cat Models) and tons of planes.
I have a lot of 1/50 scale truck and trailers and there are a lots of options like Kenworths from Norscot (W900L and T800), SWORD the T800 W, Mack Granite, freighliner century and Peterbilts, . Drake from Australia K200, T909,T908 and the C500,the First Gear Macks and KW T880, also from Netherland WSI Volvo VN 780 , Kenworth T660 ,Peterbilt 387, KW C500 and Western Star ...and a growing number of Trailers Dry Vans, Tankers, flatbeds, and lowboys so theres plenty to choose from . I dont mention any of the huge array of trucks and trailers from TONKIN due the silly scale (1/53)
still there are many trucks or trailers that never will see the light , at least manufacture in big numbers in this case one have to make their own , I do have couple models that I made like the Freighliner Argosy and Merrit livestock Trailer both in 1/50 scale made using CAD and rapid prototype...I also made a Kentucky Moving Van from Styrene.
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