There is quite a fascination with things miniature, whatever they may be.
Most folks have a hobby of some sort, from stamp collecting to Matchbox models, and most people have also had a collection of sorts from time to time of one thing or another.
Then there are the poor souls who are afflicted with a sickness, the heavy earthmoving sickness, and prefer to collect diecast models of the real thing
A lot of our Contractor readers have this sickness including the author, some to the point of actually building models of which there are no commercial products available – guilty on all counts M’Lord!
In recent times, one of the main drivers of the popularity of earthmoving model collecting has been the realization by diecast manufacturers, after decades of apathy, that there actually was a big market for the things and money was to be made. Accordingly, much research was done into what might be marketable and what was an appropriate scale for the finished product.
As those of you with the sickness will know, the most common scale is 1:50, followed by 1:87 and then bringing up the rear, 1:24.
In collecting, one of the deciding factors in choosing a scale is how much room do you have available to display your pride & joys, as some of the models can be quite large, especially when you are collecting models in 1:24.
A very good representative collection of machines can be built up in 1:50 scale without taking over the entire house, and with differences in size and configuration being readily apparent.
Collections may also be of a particular type of machine such as excavators or dozers, in the end its up to the individual as to what they collect.
Be aware that the heavy earthmoving model sickness, while predominantly afflicting males, has also been contracted by females as well, sometimes within the same household.
With the advent of more and better models, a reasonable collection can be had for not too much of a financial outlay if you are careful.
However, a note of caution must be applied – some of the very desirable “limited edition” models cost almost as much as the real thing, so if you’re determined to have a collection, be prepared to have a budget to stick to as well.
Happy collecting !
