I am looking for 1:87 scale WWII planes and I'm having a hard time finding them does anyone know a website that sells them?
Walthers used to sell a P51, ME109, and C47/DC3 but I dont know if they were true 1/87 or if they were 1/72. They were sold around 10 years ago.
1/87 scale model planes are hard to come by. I decided to go with 1/100, more selection available and usually close enough, especially if they're in background of layout. If I had any in foreground, 1/72 is a a very popular plane scale.
Here are a couple of places that have 1:87 model airplanes listed. Some more modern or older than the WW-II era, but take a look down the pages:
http://www.diecastairplane.com/store/c/2138-1-87-HO-Scale.html (http://www.diecastairplane.com/store/c/2138-1-87-HO-Scale.html)
http://www.hobbylinc.com/diecast/airplanes-aircraft-80-89-scale.htm (http://www.hobbylinc.com/diecast/airplanes-aircraft-80-89-scale.htm)
And here is a discussion on the Model Railroader Forum from late last year. Several out of production 1:87 scale airplanes are mentioned there. Never know when one might show up at a sale, swap meet or on-line.
http://cs.trains.com/TRCCS/themes/trc/forums/thread.aspx?ThreadID=171987 (http://cs.trains.com/TRCCS/themes/trc/forums/thread.aspx?ThreadID=171987)
Walthers had several 1:87 scale airplanes in their Cornerstone Series, but I think these are out of production. Might be some of those around in hobby shops or perhaps on EBay.
We went to the Sonoma County (California) model RR show yesterday. There was a 1:87 scale airliner body (with appropriate cradles, tie downs and masked parts) on a flat car, as if it was being transported for repair or integration with the wings. It looked really good. I think it might have been from Walthers, but not certain.
As to using other scales, just remember that 1:72 is ~17% larger, and 1:100 is ~15% smaller than H0. Judicious placement might work, but the difference in scale would really show up in a flat car load or foreground scene.
Happy RRing,
Jerry
JerryB,
Good info on 1/87 sources, but I believe you got scales reversed in your summary. 1/72 is larger than HO (1/87) and 1/100 is smaller than HO. After all, 1/1 is prototype scale.
Thanks for the catch!
Wording was reversed. Corrected now.
Happy RRing,
Jerry