Armored Trains

Nazgul · Post by **Nazgul** » Tue Mar 29, 2011 11:39 pm

I'm seeking assistance with some questions and would appreciate any help.

1. Is there anyone in the U.S. that sells any of the sets of armored trains that I believe are made in the UK?

2. Can anyone tell me what book(s) I could purchase that contain line drawings of the different trains and their carriages. I'm wanting to make a few basic units and am having an impossible time locating these.

3. I purchased a couple of trains and carriages from Vac u Cast before they closed and just recently rediscovered them in a box. Were they truly 1/285th scale or 220 (z scale)?

Thanks for any help.

Cris

Firefight · Post by **Firefight** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 2:30 am

If you do a search on amazon.com for "Armored Trains" you will get a few hits. It appears that VANGAURD has a book titled "Armored Trains". Also, the squadronshop.com has some books on "armored trains".

"Ros" or "Heroics" (I know they split apart) offers a variety of armored trains, however, they are closer to 1/300 scale than 1/285 scale.

My firend and I own some of the "Leva" trains and they appear to be 1.285th scale.

Not sure if there is a company in the US that sells the armored train set, however, if you do a search on YOUTUBE you can watch a "z scale" armored train run around the track.

Mitch
McAlester, OK
USA

TAMMY · Post by **TAMMY** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 2:45 am

I will try to give some answer

1) I can't help yuou on this pont, but note that they are all 1/300th scale and not particularly good.

2)The difficult are the drawings. There are a lot of photographs and profiles around but not many sized drawings.

Tray these two sites

http://mkmagazin.almanacwhf.ru/armor/bp_rkka.htm

http://derela.republika.pl/danuta.htm

The first is an article but has a lot of drawings for Russian trains, the second is about Polish trains with a lot of profiles but not drawings.

As books I would suggest the following two with many scale drawings (but they are not in English)
- Les trains blindÃ©s 1826-1829 by Paul Malmassari, Editions Heimdal 1989 (is in French and is a very good overall survey of the various countries with a lot of drawings in 1/72 scale)

- Die Panzerzuge des Deutschen Reiches 1904-1945 by Wofgang Sawodny, EK Verlag GMBH (Is relevant to German trains only with a lot of illustrations and a few scale drawings.)

3) Vac u Cast models were in 1/285th. They are now sold by I-94 Enterprises in their 6mm line.

Nazgul · Post by **Nazgul** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 3:14 am

Thanks for the help and information.

Firefight
Thanks for the leads. I've seen one of the books you proposed, great information, but not plans. I'll be sure to check out the rest.

Tammy
Thanks for the web pages. I've never came across them and they'll be a big help. I'll give I-94 Enterprises another look.

If I find out anything I'll post it here for others.

Cris

TAMMY · Post by **TAMMY** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 3:53 am

I made a small mistake. The exact title of the French book is.
Les trains blindÃ©s 1826-1989

I have many other books on armoured trains but most of them as illustrations only. Are you interested to some country in particular?

TAMMY · Post by **TAMMY** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 3:53 am

I made a small mistake. The exact title of the French book is.
Les trains blindÃ©s 1826-1989

I have many other books on armoured trains but most of them as illustrations only. Are you interested to some country in particular?

piersyf · Post by **piersyf** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 3:59 am

"Ros" or "Heroics" (I know they split apart) offers a variety of armored trains, however, they are closer to 1/300 scale than 1/285 scale.

Is actually Heroics and Ros, they separated from Navwar who had the product line until 2 years ago. The new owners have also joined with Armstrong miniatures. Google Heroics and Ros and you should find their website. Best bit is that they take web orders and ship world wide, something Navwar wouldn't do. I have had 2 orders from them recently. The models will be closer to 1:300 scale though. Maybe buy 1 as a reference? They are quite cheap.

Nazgul · Post by **Nazgul** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 7:06 pm

Right now I really don't have have one particular country in mind. Like the my armor collection it will probably start with one and end up covering all of them. Most likely I'll make or buy a few of each car so I can make whatever train I need. I'm just surprised with the variation of cars and trains. At one time I thought of printing out 3 view boxes and using them, but decided against it. Could be I'm trying to fulfill a childhood desire for a train layout and be able to use it micro armor battles (and keep me away from the KV-VI kitbash I've been eyeballing).

At any rate it should be a fun project and I really appreciate the help.

Curn · Post by **Curn** » Thu Mar 31, 2011 7:49 pm

The Z-scale armored train in the before mentioned You Tube videos is made by Z-Panzer of the UK. Although the pictures I have seen of it look great, it ends up being a very expensive model as it is a conversion kit for a Markin steam engine. The chassis donor locomotive alone will set you back a few hundred.

opsctr · Post by **opsctr** » Fri Apr 01, 2011 7:30 am

The H&R trains are actually pretty good and can be upgraded with GHQ equipment (AA guns, etc.) that makes a huge difference. Sorry this isn't a better picture...

I'll try to take a better picture to post this weekend... Will

Nazgul · Post by **Nazgul** » Tue May 17, 2011 9:57 am

Just a few things I've been working on. Waiting for 2 books for reference before I start the more complicated cars. I haven't placed the antennas on the command car. The cupolas are not right, but on the third attempt I conceded and detailed what I had. Might try again later. I also did not put the end plates on the buffers because they'd just get knocked off during a game. Looked at pins, too thick and the heads were too large.

All in all not pretty, but game worthy. When I'm done with the trains I'll make the tracks.

Nazgul · Post by **Nazgul** » Tue May 17, 2011 9:58 am

Accidental repost. Computer brain farted.

ferret701 · Post by **ferret701** » Wed May 18, 2011 8:16 pm

For decent track, you might try and find some of the Bandai (IIRC) ZZ train sets. 1/300 scale, or damn close. Each set comes with tracks, and generally some sort of accessory (bridge, signal towers, etc). Actual working tiny trainset, battery powered. Interesting stuff. Picked up some on eBay a while ago.

Edit: failed to mention that the train models are all modern Japanese trains, so not much use in a WWII context, but very good for representing modern European trains.

Pat Callahan