Die Cast Model Cars Technology and the Collector

Posted by admin on April 26th, 2010 filed in Accessories

Die cast model cars are just another one of those things that’s gotten better and better with modern technology. There was a time when someone modeling a die cast scale replica had to get in there on a piece of clay armed with nothing but a few metal sculpting tools to scrape and shape. Quite often, scale model sculpting still comes down to that hands on method, but with modern technology, they can also create such precise, intricate details that the end results would’ve been thought to have been the work of witchcraft only twenty years ago.

Take for example laser etching. This technology has been around for decades, but it was prohibitively expensive until recently, so you weren’t likely to see it being used to create souvenirs for race fans.

Today, though, laser etching is cheap enough that you see it being used in pretty much every collector’s market. If you collect coins, you ought to see what they’re doing with the works of Augustus Saint Gaudens these days. His silver dollar designs have been recreated in such glory and detail from the original models that even the first run of the coins would pale in comparison, all thanks to laser etching.

This process is, of course, applied to die cast model cars, too. If you’ve ever seen one with an intricately detailed hubcap that looks pretty much one hundred percent exactly like a model of the real thing, that’s laser etching at work.

These days you have technology that can scan an item in three dimensions with one laser, and then sculpt it at any scale with another. For us collectors, this is pretty much the coolest thing ever. It offers for a higher level of detail and precision than the human hand is even capable of. Even an idiot savant can’t create a replica car to the same perfectly scaled dimensions as modern technology.

This is one of the reasons why people who collect die cast model cars are usually looking for newer stuff, where most collectors are after antiques. There are some great old rarities in the die cast world, but they just plain don’t have the same level of detail as a more recently produced piece.

Next time you add a new set of wheels to your collection, do yourself a favor and pull out a magnifying glass and take a good look. You’re probably going to be spotting details that are practically microscopic, yet absolutely perfect in scale and appearance.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Julie-Ann_Amos