A beginner's guide to collecting scale models

[aritrim]

This is entirely for a beginner who wants to persue this hobby or has a craving for it but never really felt how and where to start.

Scales:
The standard scales available with most diecast manufacturers are one or more of the following: These scales may differ for other vehicles ex. bikes or trucks. This is mainly for cars.
1:12 (the biggest and the costliest)
1:18 (the most craved and favourite of the collectors)
1:24
1:32
1:43 (Another favourite scales of collectors)
1:64 (Hotwheels cars that you see in shopping malls)
1:87
The ratio factor 1:N is explained as - if you cut the original car (mostly referred as 1:1 by collectors) into N pieces, one piece will be the size of the 1:N car. That is a 1:18 car equals one piece of an 1:1 car cut into 18 pieces. For a quick visualization, the 1:18s are around 10 to 11 inches in length and may vary according to the actual car size. As a beginner you will probably like to collect the 1:18 scale, because it is widely available and nice to look at and comes with most details.

Makes:
Being in India, you do not have much choices when it comes to diecast scale models. Maisto dominates the market followed recently by Bburago. Ocassionally you may find an Autoart or a Road Signature. So basically you have these choices:
Maisto (1:18, 1:24)
Bburago (1:18, 1:43)
Autoart (1:18, 1:43)
Road Signature A.K.A Yatming (1:18)
Signature Road Cars (Mainly vintage models) (1:18, 1:32)
You may totally ingore the scalemodels you find of Maisto for 1:24. They are not only poorly done, but also come with many flaws. The others are fine to have. Signature 1:32 Vintage models are very candid and good to have. They can be found easily. Autoart 1:43s are real gem pieces if you can find them. Complete eye relief whenever you look at one. The 1:18s of all these manufacturers range from bad to best. That is, whatever is available is NOT desirable to have. You have to see a few things before you buy it.

What to collect?
This is the hardest part when it comes down to this hobby. It really depends on what you personally like. Some collect vinatage cars, some collect race and rally cars, some collect road cars, some collect whatever they like.For example I collect vintage cars in 1:32 scale, road cars in 1:18 and 1:43 scale. I do not collect race or rally cars because I do not like them. So ask yourself what you really want. Do not jump and buy something that you will later regret for.

What should I check before I buy a 1:18:
1. Do you really like the actual car for whose model you are buying? That is if you are buying a 1:18 Audi R8, ask yourself do you really like the actual Audi R8?
2. If your answer to 1 is yes, check the following on the model.

• Paint quality. Is it smooth? Are there waves or blisters? If the car has a chrome part, how is the chrome done? Does it feel chrome or does it feel plastic?
• Gaps between parts. That is doors etc. Check the joins particularly.
• Scale factor (This requires a bit of experience, some experienced collectors like Diablo in this forum can detect if a car is truly 1:18 or not. Sometimes it may be 1:19 or 1:20 and it is a manufacturing defect. )
• Engine details. Is it a single mould of plastic or been made of a few parts? Does the engine look nice under the hood?
• Interior details. This is the last thing you should worry about, because the car will be inside a showcase and people who will see it will be hardly be able to see the interior. This is totally for your own satisfaction.
  

If you are satisfied will all or most of the above, you can safely acquire the model. Remember these points mainly hold true for budget manufacturers like Maisto, Bburago because they do not keep a consistent quality for the models. For costly makes like Autoart and Signature, you can easily buy them even without talking a look because they are very perfectly done. This is when you order from online international websites.

Where to get
Walk into any big shopping mall or a toy shop and you will encounter a few Maistos for sure. Shopper's stop, Emami Starmark they always have some stock of 1:18s and other scales. So to start, you can go there and pick up your first diecast model. High-end toy shops also have these scalemodels. Then probably you will come to know about other fellow collectors via this forum, and if anyone has something spare to sell of your choice, you can acquire it. There are online international websites where you can purchase from. If you have a relative staying abroad, mainly US, you can bring one or two models when they come to visit here (Remember these are heavy so do not try to bring 5 or 6 models together).

Budget
For a quick reference I will put some price ranges of the 1:18s here:
Maisto: Rs. 1200 - Rs. 1700 (Some older ones you can get for Rs. 900)
Bburago: Rs. 1400 - Rs. 1800
Autoart: Rs. 2000 - Rs. 4000
Yatming: Rs. 1300 - Rs. 1900
Road Signature: Rs. 1400 - Rs. 2500

1:12s cost around Rs.15,000 to Rs.20,000. There is no hard and fast rule that a smaller scale will be less than the price of 1:18, some 1:43s made by Autoart are costlier than 1:18 Maistos.

Well that is all probably I had in mind to say about it, I am sure other members of this forum will have more inputs to this topic.

[nagacharan]

it is the ratio of scaling the cars original size not the number of piece
hope u understand

[aritrim]

nagacharan Wrote:it is the ratio of scaling the cars original size not the number of piece
hope u understand

Simply put a 1:18 scale diecast car will be 1/18th the size of a real car. Every 18 units of the real car will be represented by 1 unit of a scale diecast car.

If we take a popular 1965 Ford Mustang GT 350 Shelby with dimensions of 181.61 in. long x 68.18 in. wide, we can calculate the size of the 1:18 scale model.

181.61 in. * 1/18 = 10.089 in. long
68.18 in. * 1/18 = 3.788 in. wide

The approximate size of the 1/18 scale model would be 10.089 in. long x 3.788 in. wide.

Since car is a 3-dimensional object each of these 1/18 piece if visualized 3 dimensionally will define a piece or block. That is why 1:18 means if you chop the 1:1 car into 18 EQUAL pieces which is not possible practially, you get a 1:18 block or piece. Or in other words, a 1:18 scale is theoritically one piece of a 1:1 chopped into 18 EQUAL pieces.

Hope this makes it clear.

[nagacharan]

ya thx

[channabasanna]

This has been cracking me for a few days, wanted to know what is the difference between dealer edition models, and the one's we get normally. Any specific reason for being called dealer edition.
Do they have extra features than the normal models (i mean sliding window glasses or such features).

[amit V8]

channabasanna Wrote:This has been cracking me for a few days, wanted to know what is the difference between dealer edition models, and the one's we get normally. Any specific reason for being called dealer edition.
Do they have extra features than the normal models (i mean sliding window glasses or such features).

all i know is, dealer editons in india (ex-kyosho, Autoart etc) are better than the ones available. these are extremely overpriced & you can get a variety of models.

i have seen a dealer edition merc slk priced at INR 3500 whereas the maisto version costs only INR 1500-1600. the quality, fit & finish is awesome. same case for the dealer edition bmw m3 & the motormax m3.

[kvsk4]

channabasanna Wrote:This has been cracking me for a few days, wanted to know what is the difference between dealer edition models, and the one's we get normally. Any specific reason for being called dealer edition.
Do they have extra features than the normal models (i mean sliding window glasses or such features).

Amit is right to great extent about the finish and overall quality being much better in Dealer's Edition models than normal models. But there is more......

Dealer's Edition models are mainly developed on request of the Auto manufacturer to be mainly sold at dealer showrooms of that particular vehicle brand. They are usually not for resale in open market at the time of launch. Almost all the pieces manufactured are mainly consumed by the auto company itself and retailed by them only. There are some scale model manufaturers that manufacture only Dealer's Edition models unlike Kyosho, AutoArt, Minichamps, Norev, Wiking, etc, etc. so we dont hear much about them. However, their quality and developement costs are at par with Kyosho and Minichamps, etc.

On the other hand, the production models that are mainly sold in the open market, which we are used to are mainly manufactured by the manufacturer (like Maisto, Bburago, etc, etc.) by getting the profiles passed from the Automobile company and paying them some royalty. Once profile is approved by and royalty paid to the Auto company the manufacturer then goes for mass production and sells to its dealer/wholesaler/retailer network in different parts of the world.

Dealer's Editions 'can be' country specific, depending upon actual cars running in that country, for example, left hand drive or right hand drive for USA and UK respectively. But normal production models are usually sold with common features every where.

Apart from this quality and price is definitly on the higher side in case of Dealer's Edition models.

One more thing, packing is also usually different in Dealer's Edition than the normal production models.

For more details Diablo and Ari can comment on this.

[channabasanna]

Thanks Amit and KV, would be worth to have one good dealer edition car in my collection. Let me wait to get one such highly detailed beauty.

KV, thats a lot of info

[amit V8]

kvsk4 Wrote:Dealer's Editions 'can be' country specific, depending upon actual cars running in that country, for example, left hand drive or right hand drive for USA and UK respectively. But normal production models are usually sold with common features every where.

i didn't know that.

channabasanna Wrote:Thanks Amit and KV, would be worth to have one good dealer edition car in my collection. Let me wait to get one such highly detailed beauty.
KV, thats a lot of info

my 1st dealer edition is the 1:43 Fiat Linea from a Tata Motors showroom here in Kolkata. also i think the Norev Nano will a dealer edition as well??

[alanjg]

cool one