Would 1:32 to 1:39 scale autos "fit" into your layout?

For me even a 1:43 is a tough fit.

Since I have very little scale equipment the larger scale is even more obvious.

I shoot for 1:50 or 1:48 tho finding them is slow.

I hunt all over for the few 1/48 scale automotive subjects.  1/43 is to big for scale O trains and way to big for traditional O scale trains.

1/32 is almost a third again to big.....so I can't see anything 1/32 fitting in. Maybe some 1/64 scale items (S scale) would work in the background.......but over scale stuff.....never.

They sure have some nice stuff in the 1/64 scale, especially reasonably priced semi trucks. I have mostly 1:43 with one larger truck that I may get rid of. It's probably a 1/3x something, don't know for sure, but it's way too big. The 1:43's are a bit big, but I can live with that for now anyway.

I;43 is a perfect fit in my mind - for autos.  They are smaller enough that the 10% bump in size with that scale seems to help.  I much prefer it . . . for trucks and buses and big rigs I prefer 1:50 or the occasional 1:48 when I find one.  

1:32, 1:36, 1:39 and etc. don't fit well . . . just too big - at least for me. 

Way too big! Of course, I use Hot Wheels cars in my town of Plasticville

If the track and train was a few feet from the front edge of the benchwork a large auto might look ok at the very front of the scene, but the scene would have to be composed very carefully to make the forced perspective work.

Jeff C

Aren't the Hot Wheels 1/64 scale? And don't they look a little small? I suppose they would be better with the traditional size or O27 stuff or perfect with S gauge. I got a couple of very nice autos in 1/64 (I think Mini Metals) and they just looked too small to me with scale O gauge stuff. Gave them to my grandson. They were very nice autos, but I don't think they make them in 1/43 or 1/48, too bad. 

I agree with this. I have some 1/43 scale civilian autos and some 1/50 military equipment, all will be placed to emphasize perspective.

But bigger? The only place I ever saw this work was a layout I saw years ago which had a viewing window, and the forground in that window was about 1/32 or so, looking like a highway overlook on a hill overlooking the layout. It worked pretty well there but I couldn't imagine this working any other way.

A forced perspective scene is one of those things that either works astoundingly well or it doesn't work at all, but it can be done.

Jeff C

Definitely not.  I just ordered a bucket truck and tow truck from Diecast Direct and when they arrived I realized they are the "New Ray" brand.  They are listed as 1/43 but are very much 1/32 to 1/39!  I looked at them in the box next to a 1/48 car and they were far too big!  

On my layout I use 1/43 cars and light duty trucks, and 1/50 scale larger equipment.  It might not be "scale" but I think it looks good considering the selection of products these scales offer.  

All 1/43 for my O gauge and 1/64 for my S gauge. I had some Hot Wheels and Matchbox vehicles, but they are 1/87 and too far out of proportion, even for S. I do have some tanks that are large, but I'm not sure about proportions since I am not able to compare tanks to regular vehicles very often. 

The 1:32 vehicles are good for G gauge.  We use them on the G&O garden railroad which has both G and O gauge.  We also mix gauges.  We aren't worried too much about scale.  Here are some photos.

The first photo is of a fire scene.  The burning building, vehicles, and helo are out of scale for O.  There is a Lionel train tower being used as fire watch tower.  Two O gauge lines run in front of the scene.

The next photo is of an O gauge train passing the same scene.  There wasn't a fire this day so there are no vehicles.

My last 3 layouts used 1:43 up front, 1:48  (where I could find them) also at or near front and 1:64 trucks and vans towards the back.  All seemed to fit in fine

No, I agree with the others that 1/30 anything is just too large for 0, even full scale 0.  1/43 is fine. (0-guage track is 3 scale feet tall, almost as high as a 1/48 car hood)!

Nothing larger than 1:43 please. It is almost a perfect size next to my Std Gauge. A little large next to O-Gauge tinplate. That is fine with me, afterall we are using these in our pretend worlds.

Hot Wheels and Matchbox are a LOT larger than 1/87 scale. And while they may be out of proportion for S some are very accurate.  Matchbox, now made by Mattel/Hot Wheels, are more 'realistic' while HW's are more fantasy although some good scale cars can be found in the HW line too. Many MBX have a scale engraved on the chssis too that helps.