Collector's Guide to Scale Car Models

Collecting scale car models is one of the most popular hobbies and the most common type of collecting. This hobby is accessible both from a financial point of view (scale models are cheap on the average), and practical – such a collection is easy to store at home.

What is Scale Model?

A scale model is a physical model, that represent or copy of an object that is larger or smaller than the actual size of the object. Scale model always maintain the relative proportions of the original object. The ratio of size of the original model and of the scale model is called scale factor. This proportion is usually written as a ratio like 1/24 or 1:64 where the first digit reference an original item and the second number refers to diecast model and show how many times it’s smaller. Larger second number means smaller size of scale model. And bigger size means bigger price tag.

What Scale to Choose?

The most popular among scale models collectors are 1:64, 1:43 and 1:18 scales. These scales have the widest selection of die cast car models available for collectors to choose from. They are the perfect balance between the size of the diecast model and its detailing.

What Scale Car Model Brand to Choose?

There are many scale models manufacturers in the world. Some of them are worth attention, some of them don’t. What makes scale model worth to become part of one’s collection – is a high precision and detailing. Low-detailed scale models may be a good toy for children but a true collector would like to have scale model which is similar to original in high degree.

Wikipedia suggests a huge list of diecast model brands, but I’d like to highlight the following:

Minichamps

Minichamps is a German manufacturer of scale models founded in early 80s. Nowadays they produce in a broad range of diecast models, scaled from 1:6 to 1:64. Price of Minichamps scale models can vary from $35 to $250.

Bburago

Italian manufacturer with good reputation among collectors of die cast models. The company was found in 1976 and today offer a large selection of modern European cars. Most of Bburago’s models are in 1:43 scale. Price range: $20-$60.

AUTOart

Young company established only in 1998. Product range include die cast car models of different scales – from 1:12 to 1:32. Price range of AUTOart scale models: $50-$200.

Amalgam

British manufacturer of high quality and extremely expensive scale car models. Price range: from $50 for small 1:43 scale models to $5000 for big 1:8 scale diecast car models.

Exoto

Another manufacturer of high-end scale models. Company specialize in producing race car scale models from popular racing series. All models are highly detailed and have opening doors and full suspension. Price range: $100-$500.

Kyosho

Italian company with excellent price-quality ratio of its products. Model range includes most of European cars with some Japanese and American models. Price range: $100-$500. Even the cheapest scale models offer good quality and high detailing.

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How to Store Your Collection?

Once you have a collection of scale car models you have to take care of it.

The best place to store your die cast car model collection can be either special display cases or a sealed cabinet with glass doors and illumination. Boxing - it's great from aesthetic point of view, and they are very practical in use also. Notice only that the price of such a "parking space" for one model is quite high (especially for big-scaled models). Separate boxes for each model is not only the most expensive way to store your collection, but also the less practical in terms of valuable space saving, because such boxes also must be stored somewhere.

Choosing a place of storage to your scale cars collection you should focus on the following:

1. Easy access and the ability to show the collection to your friends,
2. Safeguarding die cast models from damage,
3. Reduction the impact of environmental factors that can negatively affect the state of your diecast collection. Remember that exposing the metal parts of your scale cars to the sunlight will cause paintwork and rubber parts to dry and cover with cracks.

If you want your scale cars collection to look impressive, it would be suitable to use shelves made of transparent materials such as acrylic, because it’s 2.5 times easier than ordinary glass and is less fragile, more safety and water-resistant.

Separate room with no windows and heating elements but with air-conditioning will be an ideal place to store your diecast collection.

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