Tipping the Scales: Working in –HOSO–

Let us have an argument, dear readers! My opening salvo shall be this chart:

• HO = 1:87
• S = 1:64
• O = 1:48

As of today-Monday, February 15, 2021-I’m coining a new “catch phrase” for the world of hobbyists that no one has ever used before, evar! It is: “HOSO”; a term that describes working with a mix of HO, S, and O scales that is a necessity for some of us who collect Matchbox and Hot Wheels die-cast cars but also want to move into the world of electric slot cars or model trains. Sadly, the two “worlds” seem to be fundamentally at odds, as they work in different scales that do not meet. However-like those cases when you can sometimes use metric tools to work on a SAE car in pinch, even if it may not be ideal-the different scales between die-cast and scale modeling can be made to work together much of time, if you are determined to do so, and bring a little creativity to your space. Or, also, if you’re blind to how awful your layout really looks to other people! Either works; the point is to be happy, amirite? So, as a die-cast collector turned Thunderjet aficionado, I’m building my track diorama in HOSO!

Thus, we enter the cheap, bulk-produced world of Bachmann PLASTICVILLE!     

https://infogalactic.com/info/Plasticville

Sadly, we can see in the above Wikipedia entry that, like most things created here in the USA, this brand and its designs are now wholly owned by the Chinese. I’m taking a deep breath and letting that go, and finding relief in that the old designs from Plasticville that date all the way back to the early 1950’s are free of these dark influences…and the old ones are what I buy! I have populated the main artery leading up to the spectator entrance of the 4^th iteration of Drag City Raceway with Plasticville buildings for 1 reason, and its not because they are readily available and cheap, although, as it happens, they are! It’s because the scale works. And why does it work? Because, although Plasticville is allegedly produced in O-scale, in reality it is actually between “O” and “S.” And “S” is 1:64, and that’s the scale of the average Matchbox, Hot Wheels, Johnny Lightning, and Greenlight die-cast car!

Well…mostly. But of course, as anyone who knows anything about these toys is aware, that’s not entirely accurate either; there is a big range in scale between these castings; they are, after all, >$1 toys, not scale models:

So you recall me saying at the beginning (don’t you?) that I do not consider myself to be a serious scale modeler; I’m just a big kid playing with my toys. Well, lets take a look at some of these toys and see what our eyes tell us about what’s accurate, about what looks right, and what looks wrong:

But still: Plasticville, really? Why not some nicer O-scale buildings? Well that’s a good question, but in essence I’ve already answered it: the reason is that the newer, much nicer O-scale buildings really are O-Scale, and thus they are too big for my 1:64-scale car collection; I have a friend who model-railroads (I’m using that as a verb, bitches!) in O-scale, and his road traffic is made up of 1:43 scale diecast cars (he has a preference for Dinky and Franklin Mint) and they look terrific on his layout. But he doesn’t use Plasticville-in fact, he gave me 3 brand new P-ville reproductions that he had received as gifts and didn’t want, because he couldn’t use them…because they’re too small.

Beyond this, however, I have one additional reason for using Plasticville buildings on my layout, and it’s the reason that motivates much of what I do, including continuing to collect toy cars into middle age: NOSTALIGA! Not for things that occurred in my own lifetime, as with my copious amounts of 1970’s Hot Wheels and Matchboxes, but for my favorite era that occurred before my time: the 1950’s. As I said earlier, most of the original Plasticville designs date back to this era, and they look it; with their pinkish-white plastics, prosaic business models (“Super Market”, “5 and 10 Store”), and some of their pieces that show distinct influences of “Googie” architecture, even someone who hasn’t studied the industrial design of the era can see quite clearly that these models date from that period.

As time goes on I am likely to upgrade many of these buildings; this layout is only getting started and there is much more work to do, including landscaping, backgrounds, and the construction of an elevated 4-lane freeway on the border of town. For now, though, this is a good beginning, and I’m surprisingly happy with my cheap plastic buildings! With some appropriate weathering and decoration I’m sure I can get them to look pretty realistic. Don’t knock ‘em if you haven’t tried ‘em!