by Herschel D. -

The display of model cars is a lot more enjoyable if they are taken out of the original window box and put in a clear-all-around plastic display case. They are available for several scales and the best place for size and shape variety at reasonable prices is Hobby Lobby. Big Lots has some 13” ones for $4.99. K&B Toys has them too. Of course you can get the best variety and can order specific ones at a hobby shop. But you will definitely pay more, too! Some cases have terrain detail such as a paved street complete with manhole cover! A piece of sandpaper can represent desert for a military model. It is also possible to get garage interior dioramas, as well as miniature service stations. Getting a copy of a model car magazine such as “Toy Cars & Models” helps on both display ideas and sources.

You could put a landscape backdrop on the wall side of the case if wanted. There are a lot of details that can be placed in or around a static model car to give it life. Here are some of the miniature details I have used: People (the more animated, the better!), animals, gas pumps, and other service station details, fire plug, sawhorse street barrier, stoplight, parking meter, street lights, lane cones, floor jack, tools and tool box, car show trophy, drink cooler, suitcases, golf clubs, stack of tires, finish pole; music gig details such as a microphone on stand, camcorder on stand, amp, etc.; pedal car, bicycle, motorcycle, etc., etc., etc. These things can be found at hobby shops. Sometimes a cheap party favor set or dollar store item yields details. Some of the items I got from there are my fireplugs, sawhorses and lane cones.

Items meant for Christmas villages are good too. I got street lamps, small gas pumps, mailboxes, fireplugs and more that way. Some of the details are in the doll section. For example, I got two correct scale female figures, that can be posed, in a set that included the equipment that is typically taken along on a music gig from a doll section and put them with an 1/18^th scale New Beetle. I also got a Hallmark Christmas ornament figurine of Clark Gable (dressed as Rett Butler) to pose with a model of a 1935 Duesenberg that he once owned. He is pointing at the car (that’s what I mean by “animated!”).

I also have Marilyn Monroe (Christmas ornaments) in several different poses by several different ‘50s cars. I built a 1/16^th scale 1928 Lincoln that has things like an owners’ manual on the front seat and a cat laying on the back seat. There is a series of very colorful figures called “Homies” that are available at K-Mart, in some vending machines and on the Internet. They are closest to both the 1/32^nd scale and 1/24^th scale. Jada Toys has some 1/24^th scale low-rider vintage cars that include several Homies. The sports/superheroes figurine aisle at toy stores can yield some figures for your car displays too.