HO Scenery Accessories on OO Layout

[Masbroughlad]

I've had a few ads on Facebook from Hornby. The recent ones have been for Lima HO scenic accessories. I like a lot of them.

My question is - do HO accessories look out of place on an OO layout? I know that adverts used to say HO/OO.

Thanks in advance.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

I know it's not a particularly helpful answer, but it depends...

OO is 1:76 scale, HO 1:87. This makes a big difference when it comes to locomotives or coaches (just compare the old Lima HO Class 33s to their later OO versions), and buildings might look too small alongside OO vehicles, but for some items it won't matter as much. For example if you use HO scale trees from an American or European manufacturer, they won't look out of place alongside UK outline OO trains.
HO stuff used in the right way can help with "forced perspective" to add depth, too.

When you see things like "HO/OO" on packaging, it's usually on track and associated bits, as although OO is 1:76 the track is still 1:87. That's why some choose to swap out track and wheelsets for "finescale" versions which are correctly spaced for the 1:76 models, though this is still quite niche.

Hope that helps.

 

[GusB]

I've had a few ads on Facebook from Hornby. The recent ones have been for Lima HO scenic accessories. I like a lot of them.

My question is - do HO accessories look out of place on an OO layout? I know that adverts used to say HO/OO.

Thanks in advance.

HO is 3.5mm/ft while OO is 4mm/ft. If you're modelling something in HO that's 10ft high in the real world, it'll be 35mm; in OO it'll be 40mm.

It really depends on your tolerance for inaccuracies; for something like a platform bench, it's probably not going to make that much difference, while when it comes to motor vehicles it may be a bit more noticeable.

Could you link to the items you're interested in so that we can have a look?

Let's not forget that by modelling in OO, you're already compromising! The track gauge is 16.5mm, which in the real world translates to 4ft 1 1/2 inches in OO (1:76); this is why we ended up with EM (18mm) and P4 (18.83mm) which use the same scale (1:76) as OO.

Since I started writing, @61653 HTAFC has also added their own thoughts - I'd agree that it very much depends; things such as trees aren't going to cause any problems, but the likes of road vehicles might seem out of place.

At the end of the day, it's your model and you do it your way - no matter how much time you spend trying to make it as accurate as possible, you'll get some rivet-counter coming along to explain how wrong you are. There are two words to deal with this situation, and I don't think I need to explain what they are!

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Let's not forget that by modelling in OO, you're already compromising! The track gauge is 16.5mm, which in the real world translates to 4ft 1 1/2 inches in OO (1:76); this is why we ended up with EM (18mm) and P4 (18.83mm) which use the same scale (1:76) as OO.

Couldn't remember what the abbreviations were for the more accurate track gauges, so thanks!

 

[Masbroughlad]

Could you link to the items you're interested in so that we can have a look?

HC5001 Bratwurst Trailer

HC5001, Bratwurst Trailer, Lima, SkaleAutos, 1:87 Scale HO Gauge, HO

uk.hornby.com

 

[Cowley]

People sometimes use items that are slightly small in scale (HO compared to OO, or European N compared to UK N for example) to force perspective by placing them in the background to make the scene look deeper. It can work quite well if thought out properly.