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Model car AI simulator
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Model car AI simulator
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Model car
A model car, or toy car, is a miniature representation of an automobile. Other miniature motor vehicles, such as trucks, buses, or even ATVs, etc. are often included in this general category. Because many miniature vehicles were originally aimed at children as playthings, there is no precise difference between a model car and a toy car, yet the word 'model' implies either assembly required or the accurate rendering of an actual vehicle at smaller scale. The kit building hobby became popular through the 1950s, while the collecting of miniatures by adults started to gain momentum around 1970. Precision-detailed miniatures made specifically for adults are a significant part of the market since the mid-1980s.
The scope of the vehicles involved in the hobby, according to Louis Heilbroner Hertz author of The Complete Book of Building and Collecting Model Automobiles, encompasses "ordinary or stock automobiles, racing cars ([...]), buses, trucks, specialized service vehicles (especially fire engines), military vehicles, including such equipment as self-propelled gun carriers and mobile rocket launchers; construction equipment, including bulldozers and road rollers, tractors and related farm equipment; mobile showmen's engines, customized automobiles, hot rods, dragsters, the recently popular so-called 'funny cars', early self-propelled road carriages, and so on."
Miniature models of automobiles first appeared in Europe around the time real automobiles did. Then, shortly after, they appeared in the United States. These were toys and replicas often made of lead and brass. Later models made in the early 20th century were slush cast plaster or iron. Tin and pressed steel cars, trucks, and military vehicles, like those made by Bing of Germany, were introduced in the 1920s through the 1940s, but period models rarely copied actual vehicles, likely because of the crudeness of early casting and metal shaping techniques. Casting vehicles in alloys such as zinc-aluminum-magnesium-copper (trademarked as zamak) became popular in the late 1930s and remained prominent after World War II.[page needed]
Many early model cars were not intended either as toys or for collecting. By the 1920s, the manufacturers of real automobiles would design and construct scale as well as full-sized models for design or promotion. Citroën of France, for example, made its own models for promotional purposes as early as 1923. Sometimes styling or concept models were made out of wood or clay, often in 3/8 scale.[page needed] From 1930 until 1968, General Motors sponsored the Fisher Body Craftsman's Guild Competition where hundreds of modelers competed for scholarship money.[page needed][page needed]. The emphasis was to earn recognition for creativity which would lead to possible employment as an industry stylist.
In-house models could also be precise replicas made of similar materials to the real vehicles. For example, Hudson Motor Car Company made twelve precisely crafted 1/4 scale replicas of its 1932 vehicles for promotion at the 1932 New York Auto Show (see Hudson display models). About the same time, but in a different vein, Studebaker made a wooden model of a cabriolet over twice the size of the real car. The vehicle was stationary on the company grounds and large enough to hold a whole band that played mostly for photo shoots (Quinn 2004). As time went by, companies in the United States, Europe and Asia made, provided, or sold toys or precision promotional models to attract succeeding generations to their products. More models also displayed advertising on their bodies for non-automotive promotions.
The scales of toy and model cars vary according to historical precedent, market demand and the need for detail. Many 'in house' models of real car companies are made by professional modelers in full size, or at very large scales like 1:4, 1:5, 3:8, or 1:10 to portray adequate features and proportions. For toys, many European pre-war cars and trucks were made to display with railroad layouts, making 1:87 (1 to 2 inches, or HO scale) or 1:43 (about 4 inches long, or O scale) common scales. Other companies made vehicles in variations around 1:40 to 1:50 scales. Some companies went smaller to appeal to the hands of smaller children (about 1:64 scale or about 3 inches), which improved profit margins in packaging more items per carton, and increasing profit per vehicle sold. Others moved to larger scales from 1:43 toward 1:40, 1:38 or 1:35. Later, popular scales went even larger. In the United States, 1:25 (6 to 7 inches) became the staple size for plastic promotional models, while European manufacturers went to 1:24 or 1:18 (about 9 inches long). The larger 1:12 scale was occasionally seen and more rarely, 1:10 or 1:8. At the other extreme, some very tiny toys since the 1980s were fairly accurate down to about 1:120 (a little over an inch).
Toys in the United States almost always were simpler castings of zinc alloy (zamak), pressed steel or plastic and often castings of only seven parts (a car body, four plastic wheels and two axles) – while more complex plastic and zamak models in Europe often had precision detail with more working features.[page needed] This provides instruction on different regions of the world and their varied cultures, markets, labor and economies.
Europe quickly developed niche marketing after World War II. The greater availability of labor there generally allowed the development of relatively complex toys to serve different markets in different countries. In the United States, less labor availability would not allow for complex toys with opening doors, hoods, and complete interiors with all detail, so they were often single castings with few parts. Sophistication in America did come in the form of detailed (but simply cast) promotional models for automotive dealerships which preceded the appearance of automotive kits for assembly.
Model car
A model car, or toy car, is a miniature representation of an automobile. Other miniature motor vehicles, such as trucks, buses, or even ATVs, etc. are often included in this general category. Because many miniature vehicles were originally aimed at children as playthings, there is no precise difference between a model car and a toy car, yet the word 'model' implies either assembly required or the accurate rendering of an actual vehicle at smaller scale. The kit building hobby became popular through the 1950s, while the collecting of miniatures by adults started to gain momentum around 1970. Precision-detailed miniatures made specifically for adults are a significant part of the market since the mid-1980s.
The scope of the vehicles involved in the hobby, according to Louis Heilbroner Hertz author of The Complete Book of Building and Collecting Model Automobiles, encompasses "ordinary or stock automobiles, racing cars ([...]), buses, trucks, specialized service vehicles (especially fire engines), military vehicles, including such equipment as self-propelled gun carriers and mobile rocket launchers; construction equipment, including bulldozers and road rollers, tractors and related farm equipment; mobile showmen's engines, customized automobiles, hot rods, dragsters, the recently popular so-called 'funny cars', early self-propelled road carriages, and so on."
Miniature models of automobiles first appeared in Europe around the time real automobiles did. Then, shortly after, they appeared in the United States. These were toys and replicas often made of lead and brass. Later models made in the early 20th century were slush cast plaster or iron. Tin and pressed steel cars, trucks, and military vehicles, like those made by Bing of Germany, were introduced in the 1920s through the 1940s, but period models rarely copied actual vehicles, likely because of the crudeness of early casting and metal shaping techniques. Casting vehicles in alloys such as zinc-aluminum-magnesium-copper (trademarked as zamak) became popular in the late 1930s and remained prominent after World War II.[page needed]
Many early model cars were not intended either as toys or for collecting. By the 1920s, the manufacturers of real automobiles would design and construct scale as well as full-sized models for design or promotion. Citroën of France, for example, made its own models for promotional purposes as early as 1923. Sometimes styling or concept models were made out of wood or clay, often in 3/8 scale.[page needed] From 1930 until 1968, General Motors sponsored the Fisher Body Craftsman's Guild Competition where hundreds of modelers competed for scholarship money.[page needed][page needed]. The emphasis was to earn recognition for creativity which would lead to possible employment as an industry stylist.
In-house models could also be precise replicas made of similar materials to the real vehicles. For example, Hudson Motor Car Company made twelve precisely crafted 1/4 scale replicas of its 1932 vehicles for promotion at the 1932 New York Auto Show (see Hudson display models). About the same time, but in a different vein, Studebaker made a wooden model of a cabriolet over twice the size of the real car. The vehicle was stationary on the company grounds and large enough to hold a whole band that played mostly for photo shoots (Quinn 2004). As time went by, companies in the United States, Europe and Asia made, provided, or sold toys or precision promotional models to attract succeeding generations to their products. More models also displayed advertising on their bodies for non-automotive promotions.
The scales of toy and model cars vary according to historical precedent, market demand and the need for detail. Many 'in house' models of real car companies are made by professional modelers in full size, or at very large scales like 1:4, 1:5, 3:8, or 1:10 to portray adequate features and proportions. For toys, many European pre-war cars and trucks were made to display with railroad layouts, making 1:87 (1 to 2 inches, or HO scale) or 1:43 (about 4 inches long, or O scale) common scales. Other companies made vehicles in variations around 1:40 to 1:50 scales. Some companies went smaller to appeal to the hands of smaller children (about 1:64 scale or about 3 inches), which improved profit margins in packaging more items per carton, and increasing profit per vehicle sold. Others moved to larger scales from 1:43 toward 1:40, 1:38 or 1:35. Later, popular scales went even larger. In the United States, 1:25 (6 to 7 inches) became the staple size for plastic promotional models, while European manufacturers went to 1:24 or 1:18 (about 9 inches long). The larger 1:12 scale was occasionally seen and more rarely, 1:10 or 1:8. At the other extreme, some very tiny toys since the 1980s were fairly accurate down to about 1:120 (a little over an inch).
Toys in the United States almost always were simpler castings of zinc alloy (zamak), pressed steel or plastic and often castings of only seven parts (a car body, four plastic wheels and two axles) – while more complex plastic and zamak models in Europe often had precision detail with more working features.[page needed] This provides instruction on different regions of the world and their varied cultures, markets, labor and economies.
Europe quickly developed niche marketing after World War II. The greater availability of labor there generally allowed the development of relatively complex toys to serve different markets in different countries. In the United States, less labor availability would not allow for complex toys with opening doors, hoods, and complete interiors with all detail, so they were often single castings with few parts. Sophistication in America did come in the form of detailed (but simply cast) promotional models for automotive dealerships which preceded the appearance of automotive kits for assembly.
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