Older vehicles - 1940 or earlier to 1960

[Quinn]

Just wondering if any members can give pointers to earlier vehicles suitable for a Japanese diorama around this period.

I'm about to start a Japanese village to really try to avoid Englishness. I'll be using a few Sankei kits and have

to scratch-build roads and pavements. The vehicles available to me from Japan seem to go back to about 1970.

Oxford Diecast offer a few items that might be ok but too English without modification. One possibility is a "preserved"

tourist-attracting village allowing slightly younger vehicles. 

 

 

I've collected a few photos - mostly along streets rather than detailed shop-/house-front views but hope to collect more

and hints about spacing between buildings by looking at others' models. 

 

Thanks for any help, guidance and suggestions.

 

[bill937ca]

Try Tsugawa (TGW).

 

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/search?typ1_c=104&cat=rail&state=&sold=0&sortid=0&searchkey=tsugawa&spage=1&ItemSeries=Accessories+(Car)

 

Some of their vehicles cover earlier eras.

[Quinn]

Thank you very much for that. I'll compile an order over the weekend, acquire a few to have look.

 

Cheers. 

 

Edit - there, done it. Ordered 5 - all "back order" IIRC so they'll take a few weeks. 

Edited September 23, 2017 by Quinn

[Fenway Park]

Tomytec have issued sets of 1950s and 1960s cars, small vans and pick ups. Also some lorries were available. 

These appear to be sold out on Hobby Search , which is not much help to you, I know. 

Some members on this Forum, may have spares of some of these. You could also contact Model Train Plus whose owner is very helpful and offers excellent service.

Outside of the major cities, cars were few as people could not afford them, so if it is a rural village you will not too many.

 

Malcolm

[ToniBabelony]

Aside from Japanese vehicles, that era also had quite a number of foreign imports running around, with notably US built boat-sized cars (probably brought in by the occupying forces and GIs between 1945 - 1952 and afterwards). These were however mostly present near military compounds and/or city centers with a high income.

[Quinn]

Thank you for these helpful replies.

 

My first bunch of Tsugawa cars arrived and admittedly they're nice. 

But at some cost! Crikey. I must have made the wrong postal choice because they came through Parcelfarce in the UK. Sorry, I mean Parcelforce, through which nothing gets without the customs looking at it. The ordinary Royal Mail is a little more lenient. 

So with the low £ and brokerage and tax, these 5 cars came to just over £60. 

 

I particularly like the Subaru and that quaint Midget van. 

 

 

[railsquid]

56 minutes ago, Quinn said:

So with the low £ and brokerage and tax, these 5 cars came to just over £60.

 

Eek!!!

[katoftw]

The S30 240Z is from the 70s isn't it?

[Quinn]

On 21/10/2017 at 9:17 PM, katoftw said:

The S30 240Z is from the 70s isn't it?

Probably. It's shape isn't unlike sports cars appearing in the 1960s in the UK.  The model wasn't intended for the old-time diorama I hope to start. It will go on the industrial one almost finished. I chose a selection to see how they looked and if any extra "tarting up" would be necessary. 

 

Tsugawa has others more in line with 1950-1970 but at these prices I'll wait to see how the £ goes against the ¥ and try different postage sizes/rates out.